I've been thinking about making this post for awhile now. It's based mostly on the music I've been listening to in the last ten years, which as you will see could be coming from any time and place. I'm not one who keeps up with much of anything anymore, and my listening habits are a mix of new stuff, new stuff by old artists, great old stuff I've never heard, and even relistening to classics. I've reviewed my music collection and online sources looking for the best guitar performances. There have been some great songs that do not feature exceptional guitar playing, and actually, I listen to a lot of non-guitar music now. This list focuses on guitar performances I found to be exceptional.
As a 39 year old guitar player, I have completely left behind the teenage nonsense of fast being good and faster being better, or if it's difficult to play, it's good. I've seen all the tricks. I've heard someone play something like 25 notes per second. I just don't care about such things anymore. At this point I'm looking for the meaning, the melody, the harmony, the creativity, and just the overall feel of everything in context. Those are really the things that make music great. Those are the things a typical listener really wants to hear. Another way to put it is as a rock guitarist, will you succeed based off of great riffs or fast guitar solos?
Number 1:
When you acquire a Joe Satriani album, you know the worst stuff you're going to hear is good guitar playing, and it only goes up from there. The song mostly starts off with drums and bass before the first guitar section begins. This is a masterful example of maximizing the usage of the tone. He starts off hitting single notes and begins to work in intervals (two notes) to great effect. The tone makes these combinations of two notes really gritty and intense. Then he moves into a section that features a change in tone and a constant stream of notes that seems akin to a Bach keyboard arrangement. I had to look up a live performance to find out he's using the bottom string open to get a really huge note range as he moves up the neck. The next section functions as a chorus and is standard good stuff for him.
Number 2:
Vinnie Moore is one of those great guitar players that got started in the neo-classical metal era that came to some prominence in the 80s. He has never had the benefit of playing a rock smash hit. Later on he ended up in the band UFO, which does not have any huge hits I'm aware of. His solo albums feature instrumental guitar tunes mostly of the rock and metal genres, definitely not the right kind of music for reaching the masses. After his second solo album, he moved away from all neo-classical metal for a more blues rock kind of approach on a lot of songs. Sometimes he even tries his hand at Latin or flamenco style playing.
On this track we have a pretty good intro. As he moves into the next section, things are starting to get good. That simple rhythm guitar riff has the right kind of hang to be awesome, and then he comes in with a super strong transitional lead to propel us into the next section. This is where Vinnie Moore shows he can do the blues rock thing with the best of them. One of the things that has always impressed me about Moore is his strong sense of melody is always present whether he's playing long notes or a zillion notes per second. He works in a few fast segments that start on off beats, which ultimately draws on his abilities he pivoted on in his neo-classical shredder phase. After that he moves into a multi-track section I'm pretty sure is three tracks. Although, it clearly features a left-right channel interplay. One track makes a phrase and holds a note while the other follows suit. The two separate tracks join together in unison with possible input from a third. Aerial Visions is overall a great album, but this song stands out as the highlight.
Number 3:
After my initial exposure to B.B.King, I thought that stuff was easy. I thought, "I could do that." I'm not even a blues player, but I picked up a guitar and tried to crank it out. Not even close. B.B.King admitted to having never developed much on rhythm guitar, because they always put him up front. This song starts with his legendary guitar playing featuring his distinctive, recognizable guitar tone. There are plenty of great B.B.King guitar intros, but this one sticks out as one of his best. It's followed by his soulful voice. In addition to his guitar playing, he just happened to have a voice that aged like wine. It seems to have gotten better the older he got. By the time Eric Clapton gets a turn, the bar is set too damn high even for him to follow. It's almost like he's just filling up time at that point. Who the hell can put Eric Clapton in that position?
Number 4:
I frequently ended up hearing some of my favorite guitar players refer to Steely Dan. I found a used copy of their first album and from there I began to listen to all of them from first to last. I'm finally on the last one after several years. This song comes from their fourth album Katy Lied. They refer to it as unlistenable. There was some mishap in the studio. I don't remember the story but the production quality that is normally exceptional for Steely Dan is lacking here.
When listening to this album, I noticed there was a guitar player that was playing with such an attitude and killing it on this track. I didn't even look up who it was since I mostly listened to music while driving. The next album came along and I noticed another guitar player on was also exceptional. Then I found out these two wonderful guitar players were Larry Carlton. You can also find Carlton laying down excellent soloing on
Number 5:
According to the info I have, the guitar playing was done by the late, great Walter Becker and hired hand Hugh McCracken. Although, I find the intro interesting and peculiar because some other instrument finishes the guitar intro, I find the later section about the Cuervo Gold and fine Columbian is where the guitar playing is exceptional. This part of the song is what I would say is the highlight of an already great track, because of the vocals and overall feel of the section. The guitar track, which I'm not sure who performed, seems to be weaved in there as a counter melody to what was already exceptional. At the end the guitar track picks up the slack and transitions back to a repeat of the previous song sections.
Number 6:
The Aristocrats are a three piece band featuring Guthrie Govan on guitar. They consistently have taken a 3 by 3 approach to song writing, with each of the 3 members putting together 3 arrangements each. Anyway, I include this song after being impressed by the mere performance of it on the album. After hearing a lackluster live performance, I can really appreciate the final product here. Yes, I'm aware that these days when recording you can try twenty times per day for a month. You can punch in a hundred times or a thousand times and all of that instead of doing a continuous performance. What was put forth on the album was polished to perfection. The reverb (or is it delay) on the guitar, the rate of depression and rocking of the bar, the hang, and the feel of everything is just extraordinary. I initially thought this song had to be written by Govan, but it was actually written by bass player Bryan Beller. It's Guthrie Govan's performance that made it great.
Number 7:
Tokyo Jukebox is now a series of albums by Marty Friedman featuring instrumental arrangements of popular Japanese songs, mostly pop music and some rock. Overall Tokyo Jukebox 2 was disappointing with a dark or dull production overall. This song was the highlight for me. I love the additions and subtractions in his arrangement. The original is more of a light pop ditty, and he uses a dance beat foundation as he has done in previous songs. I actually call the genre of these songs dance metal. I'm sure some heavy metal purist probably hate it, but I actually really like it. The lead guitar playing at 1:14 builds up into an extraordinary release and is one of the most notable parts of the song. If you'd like to hear the source material and hear how he rearranged it.
Number 8:
Marty Friedman is my favorite guitarist, and he has an extensive catalogue of excellent work now featuring plenty of heavy metal and rock instrumentals that are quite excellent. On the other hand, you will come across plenty of lighter rock songs and ballads that are also done exceptionally well. On his latest solo album of originals, this is one of his best songs ever. It's a lighter form of rock featuring a piano and a vocal chorus in the background. The songwriting and arrangement here is masterful.
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