snap judgement saturday

[dr_memory]

(With apologies to Dr. Berube, whose “Arbitrary but Fun Friday” schtick I am mercilessly appropriating.)

Your snap-judgment question for the weekend is:

What is the best guitar solo in a rock song that is not by someone who’s last name is Hendrix, Page or Clapton?

My answer: Kim Thayil’s amazing breakdown in the middle of Soundgarden’s “Like Suicide

Comments

[bryant]

Not that you asked me, but that's pretty choice.

[mangosteen]

Eric Johnson, "Cliffs of Dover".

I will accept if you think that Malmsteen-esque instrumental guitar wankery is a different class than "guitar solo", though.

[jacflash]

Any of two dozen things by Ritchie Blackmore, who has been playing rings around Clapton since the late '60s. There's tons of vintage Purple on YouTube... I'll dig up something choice for you later.

[jacflash]

And, uh, dude. "Eruption". AKA the solo that launched a thousand hair bands.

[sinboy]

Beat me to it. Running With The Devil is also toe-tapping good.

[jacflash]

Yeah, see, as guitar virtuosity goes, I don't think EC even belongs in the same conversation with most of the guys mentioned in these comments.

[lil_brown_bat]

Pretty much anything at all by Vernon Reid. Not sure that's what you're looking for, though -- Reid never went for the two-minute-long solo guitar masturbation thing, he'd get it done in maybe fifteen seconds. Some faves:

Someone Like You (personal favorite, can't find a vid)
Middle Man
...and of course the one everyone knows, Cult of Personality

[cheshyre]

Sheer fannishness makes me want to say Brian May, but I just can't pick one.