As a companion piece to the controversial 100 “greatest” guitarists of all time, here’s something even more controversial: The Top 50 Worst Guitar Solos of the Millennium.
I know I left out plenty of deserving guitar dudes on this list (there’s a lot of hammered shit out there, y’know). I took care to exclude bozos like Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, and John McLaughlin because, frankly, their styles seem to have less to do with pure rock-n-roll than that of say, Eddie Van Halen. Anyway, it’s a good bet that some of you will consider some or all of these solos the best of all time.
Here’s the Top 10 (with the worst being number 1):
- “Let It Rain” by Derek and the Dominos; Soloist: Eric Clapton
- “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd; Soloist: Gary Rossington, Ed King, Allen Collins
- “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” by Ten Years After; Soloist: Alvin Lee
- “Demand” by Phish; Soloist: Trey Anastasio
- “Renegade” by Styx; Soloist: Tommy Shaw
- “Fuel to the Fire” by Rory Gallagher; Soloist: Rory Gallagher
- “Hot Blooded” by Foreigner; Soloist: Mick Jones
- “Do You Feel Like We Do” by Peter Frampton; Soloist: Peter Frampton
- “I Like to Rock” by April Wine; Soloist: Brian Greenway
- “Venom Soup” by Ted Nugent; Soloist: Ted Nugent
(via Waxy.org Links)
Radar Love. Enough clams for a bowl of chowder.
Don’t really care for most of those songs. I don’t really see the point of chastising songs that aren’t really meant to be hard rock for lackluster solos (i.e. Let it Rain, Free As A Bird, etc.).
Frampton is overrated, though.
ur retarder! allen colling and rossington were great guitar players…and wat the hell…do u actually think ne of clapton’s solos are the worst of the century…u obviously dont play guitar and if u do…u SUK
collins* lol
dude, are u a fuckin retard? most of those solos suck, but freebird? what the hell do u call rock n roll?
btw, reed is 100% right
The word “retard” is more popular than I thought.
It’s not MY list. I’m just posting the information. Complain to Pitchfolk Media for the stupidity.
Free Bird’s solo would be more bearable…if it wasn’t so fucking long.
Bearable? dude do you play guitar at all? that Free Bird solo is quite possibly the greatest solo I’ve EVER heard. I’m trying to learn it, and I found that a lot of it, the left hand moves so fast that I can’t keep up… and I’ve been playing since I was 5 years old.
ANYONE WHO THINKS FREEBIRD IS THE 2ND WORST SOLO EVER DOSENT KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT ROCK, ITS THE SECOND GREATEST SOLO EVER BEHIND STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, MAN YOU NEED TO LEARN A LITTLE ABOUT ROCK MUSIC THERE MY FRIEND
Dude your so stupid you must suck at playing Guitar Freebird is one of the greatest guitar solos of all time next to eruption by Van Halen and November Rain those are great solos you must seriously suck at guitar if you think freebird is a bad solo It was voted Top ten greatest solo of all time
whoever wrote this list is a retard. There is no way in hell freebird should be on that list.
whawt the hell? if you go to the website you will see the things they sed. trey is one of the best guitar players ever and whoever wrote those things should go kill themselves cuz he is awesome. demand is a bad song, but how do you call trey bad?
Holy shit. Usually something like this would really piss me off, but this is way too much. Give me one good reason why Free Bird should be at #2. Remember this is for the “worst” solos. Free Bird at #2 isn’t even the worst of it. I mean, this guy actually put ERIC CLAPTON on here, and JEFF BECK. You simply can’t do that to two of rock’s all-time greats. That’s complete bullshit. And then I saw Dazed and Confused as well. I almost shit myself. The first thing wrong with that is……..IT’S BY JIMMY PAGE!!! It goes back to the Clapton, Beck thing, you just don’t do that. The second thing wrong with that is………IT DOES NOT, IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM, SUCK!!! It’s easily one of the GREATEST solos ever. I’ve seen it as high as top forty on various lists of the greatest solos and anyone who’s ever heard it can easily varify that. And then, I know it seems sad, but I found something ten times worse than all of this list’s other flaws combined. I know, it’s shocking but Pink Floyd’s Comforably Numb found it’s way to the #42 spot on this pathetic, piece of shit excuse for a list. Let that sink in for a second, then listen to Comfortably Numb, even if you’ve heard it before. I was at a total loss for words. This guy is by far the biggest dipshit in the world when it comes to list-making. Has he ever even heard Comfortably Numb? And if he has has he ever heard it sober? I think not. This guy, who ever he is, has no credibility as a list-maker, and will surely rot in Hell for the sins he has commited against all of the Gods of Rock who reside on this list.
Seriously dudes, get a life. Who cares whats on the list ? Having said that, anyone who ‘plays guitar’ and can’t play the Freebird solo is just plain crap. I learned it in an afternoon, and I am not a great guitarist, by any means. I like the song, and the solo, I think it doesn’t belong on the list. I’m just not dumb enough to post ‘ur loser’ to the guy who made the list. That’s just lame.
Easy hippy
Trey Anastasio being included on any list involving “worst guitar solos” is pretty funny. I’m not a hippy, burnout or anything else everyone is going to call me. The man can play. Go listen to the pixies faggots
FREE BIRD IS NOT ONE OF THE WORST GUITARESTS OF ALL TIME
wat are you people dumbasses or something??? free bird is one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. it’s been ranked in the top 3 in over 10 guitar magazines and 20 polls and obviously you kids are too dumb to realize that. i feel stupid even trying to argue about this. saying free bird is that bad is like saying jimi hendrix was a horrible guitarist, and if you DO think that, you need to take up some diferent kind of music like spanish rap, you stupid ignorant retards.
alrighty, one thing, all of those solos listed may not be the most difficult to play, but come on, i bet noone else could come up with a better solo for that song. and who cares if its long, its about feel. i play guitar, and i can take every one of those solos and learn them in about 3 minutes.
lol, since you were 5, thats pretty sad if you cant play the freebird solo, im sorry… thats just terrible.
(you have stupid fingers)
I was lookin for a list of the best and googled this list of the worst and read all the comments, and i agree this list is crap. I have seen most of the stuff on this list performed live and in person, the nonad who made this list must of slept through it.
For the most part i dont agree with the list, i.e. Freebird, but for the people who are posting who seem to be against putting guitar legends on this list just on the basis that they are guitar legends and are completely immune to creating bad solos i seem to remember hearing an SRV song that had a pretty aweful solo. And where the hell is the King of the Aweful Solo himself Mr. CC Deville!@#$
that list is crap, free bird is one of the best if not the best solos ever, and you have it as the second worst, you obvioulsy dont know anything about classic rock or music period
Phish is a great band, and they reason one of there songs may not sound right is that a lot of there stuff is experimental and improvisational. Their not another one of these plaster molded Rock and Roll bands. You need to look past the scratch and examine the surface.
the person who wrote this list doesn’t know what real music is and they’re full of crap. pulling teeth or Anastesia by metallica isn’t the best solo ever but it doesn’t deserve to be in the 50 worst solos. I haven’t heard very many bass solos but it’s by far the best one i have heard. Also putting motorheads ace of spades on the list just because the got it stuck in their head at some bar is bullsh*t, it’s a great solo.
free bird is soooo good u idiot
I dispute the placement of Renegade at number six.
That is without a shade of doubt in my mind, the worst guitar solo that I have ever heard. If I really think about it…you can nominate every solo that Tommy Shaw has ever played with Styx. I’ve watched video of their old concerts, and I’m awed by how pathetic they are live. They’re overblown and corny. Journey and Styx pretty much sums up everything wrong with 70′s rock.
And Free Bird could easily be a great guitar solo, or a terrible one. It goes on for a whopping five minutes…but it just repeats over and over again for the most part. Regardless of that, it’s an absolute spectacle to behold during a live Skynyrd show, and I wouldn’t have put it on the list (though I certainly see how you could).
And in response to the person who asked if I actually play…yes I do.
And Free Bird’s solo isn’t that hard to play…that challenge of it is memorizing it.
Arite guys uhh theres a few thigns that i have to say about this the first being that freebird doesnt deserve to be on this list but thats not the point the point is that all of u seem to have missed one thing
ALVIN LEE ON THE TEN WORST GUITAR SOLOS OF ALL TIME???????
Alvin Lee is a god he has the fastest hnds i have ever heard no one can even come close to paralleling his ability the live version of good morning little school girl is just a 5 minute blur of rediculousness
uhh if anyone belongs on this list it is Kurt Cobain with his aful smells like teen spirit solo and Neil Young with his comlete inability to play lead guitar
why dont u go take your POS made in korea fender squier strat and go play some blink 182 u talentless dumb ass you know zero about playing lead guitar and music in general
YOU ARE A SNORLAX!!!!! THOSE GUITAR SOLOS IS DA SHIZNIT UNLIKE YOU!!! SNORLAX!!!!
ALVIN LEE!!! HAHAHA WORST GUITARIST EVER. Playing fast doesnt mean shit. You want to hear a real guitarist rip off some great improve/soloing listen to a friend of mine called Trey Anastasio. Alvin Lee, haha Jeff your a retard, learn what real music. Alvin Lee, HAHAHAHA
yo wats goin on people. First off id like to say that freebird should not be on this list because in my opinion and in many oothers peoples opinion freebird is the greatest guitar solo, but i have a strong feeling this guy was just messing around to see the reactions people would have if freebird was on the list
dickey betts played guitar on ramblin’ man. duane was in the ground by then. listen to the allman brothers. listen to blue sky. you boneheads
Dont diss Yngwie man…Van Halen Maybe…but not Yngwie..thats just too much. When you can play as good, fast and right as he can..then you can diss Yngwie…
I pretty much agree with that list, apart from free bird. Free bird is the WORST guitar solo, so it should be at #1. I mean, could they have ruined that song any more? It was a fairly nice composition, and the slide guitar was a great addition, but then: “Hey, how can we finish the song? I KNOW LET’S GLUE A MIND-NUMBINGLY DULL, REPETETIVE, TUNELESS SOLO ON THE END LOL !!!!!!!1!!!!1!!eleven.” I could have forgiven them for that, even, but why did they have to make it SO LONG? That solo goes NOWHERE. It’s a bunch of repetetive pull-off licks piled up one after the
other. BORING.
stop talking
good boy
Check your ears, most of these solos kick ass. The people making this list must be avid Britney Spears fans.
LS are a bunch of rebel flag carrying rednecks.
They don’t deserve credit!
Just to let you know, probably the best solo ever, the solo in Stairway to Heaven that Jimmy Page did was also pieced together in the studio, like the one did on Comfortably Numb. So if the solo from Comfortably Numb is on the worst list cause it was pieced together in a studio then your saying Stairway’s is just as bad, which we all know is retarted.
Allen collins, Ed king and Gary Rossington rock and free bird is one of the greatest songs of all time, not my favorite skynyrd song but you cant disrespect skynyrd and clapton like that because they are two of the biggest influences in rock today
i thinh you cant make a top ten abuot the worst guitar solos. because my band maybe would reach top 1. you have to put o kwown guitar players
angus young of acdc is a lot better than hendrix. angus could play anything hendrix could blindfolded, hands tied up and fingers chopped off
heres the top ten
1 angus young
2 jimmy page
3 eric clapton
4 robert johnson
5 randy rhoads
6 eddie van halen
7 jimi hedrix
8 paul stanley (kiss)
9 eric clapton
10 b.b. king
angus young is a lot better than jimmy hendrix! He could play with out music, blindfolded, he can dance while playing, and he can play w/out fingers.
i love you micayla
Alvin Lee kicks ass, don’t hate. One of the baddest dudes ever, and he had GREAT tone. He was more than just a standard blues guitarist.
what the hell???? Free Bird is one of the greatest guitar solos ever!!?? where the hell did you get your info from because its not true
are you a dumb ass!!! Phish?? what the hell??!! they are one of the greatest bands! you have so problems dude
omfg are you kiddin me Free Bird’ solo is one of the greatest of all time what music are you astute in, Britney Spears and DMX? Also this whole list is bougus give or take 1 or 2 how dare you mention Eric Clapton’s name in worst solo list you’re going to hell
angus young is a lot better than jimmy hendrix! He could play with out music, blindfolded, he can dance while playing, and he can play w/out fingers.
angus young of acdc is a lot better than hendrix. angus could play anything hendrix could blindfolded, hands tied up and fingers chopped off
heres the top ten
1 angus young
2 jimmy page
3 eric clapton
4 robert johnson
5 randy rhoads
6 eddie van halen
7 jimi hedrix
8 paul stanley (kiss)
9 eric clapton
10 b.b. king
those are just as ignorant as the worst solo’s list
no way can paul stanley be up there kiss was about show no quality
angus young can kiss my ass jimmy hendrix is not every1′s number 1 of all time for no reason he played a lefthanded guitar upside down for god’s sake angus isnt in my top 20