AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Queen, and more legendary bands have been included in a new countdown of the best guitar solos.
Rolling Stone unveiled its 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time list this week, featuring a “full-blast mix of different genres, generations, grooves.”
“All hail the guitar solo — one of the most indestructibly great art forms in all of modern music,” the publication writes in the list intro. “There’s nothing quite like the thrill of a glorious six-string explosion — a long, twisted, never-ending saga that stretches from ‘Free Bird’ to ‘Purple Rain,’ from ‘Johnny B. Goode’ to ‘Eruption.’ Some classic solos come from virtuoso shredders; others are just a blast of awesomely sleazy licks. But they’ve all burned their way into our brains.”
The top 100 is notable varied, with metal, rock, funk, and punk songs and acts making the cut.
There are legends like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix sitting alongside newer guitar stars such as St. Vincent and MJ Lenderman.
According to the intro, sales or airplay didn’t factor into the final list — “just the six-string brilliance on display.”
“We also took into account that the solo makes the song, and that it doesn’t just repeat the melody line,” Rolling Stone adds.
The list kicks off with AC/DC‘s “You Shook Me All Night Long” at No. 100.
“With its shuddering vibrato, major-minor contrasts, and steady build, it’s a quick, little Ph.D.-level school on the art of rock lead playing, all from a guy in schoolboy shorts,” Rolling Stone writes. “It’s impossible to imagine a change to even a single bend or flourish. [Angus] Young’s ‘solos always had a purpose,’ Joe Perry once said. ‘Instead of using all the traditional tricks, he found a way to get inside those licks and be inventive.'”
The top 10, meanwhile, features the likes of The Beatles, Steely Dan, Chuck Berry, Prince, Van Halen.
Check out the full list here.
