23 replies to this topic

[Texas King]

OK. Which guitar solo is better to your ears?





This sentence about song "Freewill" from the Watchmojo's list of Top 10 Rush Songs(it's ranked No. 10 on their list) induced me to create this matchup:
"At just over five minutes it's filled with Geddy Lee's trebly bass lines Neil Peart's complex drum fills and a shredding guitar solo from Alex Lifeson that could give Eddie Van Halen a run for his money."

Like both solos a lot, but I'll pick Freewill by a nose!

Edited by Texas King, 21 August 2017 - 01:45 PM.

[Mithrandir]

Freewill by quite a bit.  One of my all time favorite solos.  I do like EVH, but Alex is much more my style.

[Lorraine]

I love Alex, but he's no Eddie.

Thanks for including the VH vid, Tex!  

Edited by Lorraine, 21 August 2017 - 01:55 PM.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

In most cases, in terms of skill and dexterity, an Eddie solo would beat an Alex one. However, between these two solos I think Alex has the edge.

[treeduck]

Eddie wins the battle easily! Don't forget we're talking kick ass here.

[Lorraine]

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 03:05 PM, said:

Eddie wins the battle easily! Don't forget we're talking kick ass here.

Eddie won in the first :52 of the song.

[custom55]

Ignore the singer, please.  Eddie is on fire.

[Lorraine]

custom55, on 21 August 2017 - 04:41 PM, said:

Ignore the singer, please.  Eddie is on fire.

I don't think he is too bad of a singer.  Better than Sammy.  In my opinion.

But he seemed a bit cocky to me.  He couldn't pull being cocky off like Dave.

Edited by Lorraine, 21 August 2017 - 07:20 PM.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

Lorraine, on 21 August 2017 - 04:17 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 03:05 PM, said:

Eddie wins the battle easily! Don't forget we're talking kick ass here.

Eddie won in the first :52 of the song.

But that's the intro, not the solo. This poll is about the solo. Eddie's solo in Mean Street song is awesome but it's pitted against one of Alex's best ever.

[treeduck]

1-0-0-1-0-0-1, on 21 August 2017 - 06:48 PM, said:

Lorraine, on 21 August 2017 - 04:17 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 03:05 PM, said:

Eddie wins the battle easily! Don't forget we're talking kick ass here.

Eddie won in the first :52 of the song.

But that's the intro, not the solo. This poll is about the solo. Eddie's solo in Mean Street song is awesome but it's pitted against one of Alex's best ever.

Eddie's solo in Mean Street is one of his best too.

[toymaker]

Alex - for memorability, structure, tone, and technique - not to mention how he incorporates elements from the riff thematically, and also sits beautifully within an equally amazing rhythm section.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 06:50 PM, said:

1-0-0-1-0-0-1, on 21 August 2017 - 06:48 PM, said:

Lorraine, on 21 August 2017 - 04:17 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 03:05 PM, said:

Eddie wins the battle easily! Don't forget we're talking kick ass here.

Eddie won in the first :52 of the song.

But that's the intro, not the solo. This poll is about the solo. Eddie's solo in Mean Street song is awesome but it's pitted against one of Alex's best ever.

Eddie's solo in Mean Street is one of his best too.

It's certainly a good solo. His tone is perfect and it fits the song perfectly. But I wouldn't rank it in his top 10.

[treeduck]

1-0-0-1-0-0-1, on 21 August 2017 - 06:58 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 06:50 PM, said:

1-0-0-1-0-0-1, on 21 August 2017 - 06:48 PM, said:

Lorraine, on 21 August 2017 - 04:17 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 03:05 PM, said:

Eddie wins the battle easily! Don't forget we're talking kick ass here.

Eddie won in the first :52 of the song.

But that's the intro, not the solo. This poll is about the solo. Eddie's solo in Mean Street song is awesome but it's pitted against one of Alex's best ever.

Eddie's solo in Mean Street is one of his best too.

It's certainly a good solo. His tone is perfect and it fits the song perfectly. But I wouldn't rank it in his top 10.

That isolated guitar version reminds me of the times in the 80's in music shops when guys would pick up a guitar and try playing stuff like that. They never sounded as good as that though obviously! They all had the "bedroom" tone.

[Lorraine]

1-0-0-1-0-0-1, on 21 August 2017 - 06:48 PM, said:

Lorraine, on 21 August 2017 - 04:17 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 03:05 PM, said:

Eddie wins the battle easily! Don't forget we're talking kick ass here.

Eddie won in the first :52 of the song.

But that's the intro, not the solo. This poll is about the solo. Eddie's solo in Mean Street song is awesome but it's pitted against one of Alex's best ever.

I know that's not the solo.  I still think Eddie is better.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

Lorraine, on 21 August 2017 - 07:19 PM, said:

1-0-0-1-0-0-1, on 21 August 2017 - 06:48 PM, said:

Lorraine, on 21 August 2017 - 04:17 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 03:05 PM, said:

Eddie wins the battle easily! Don't forget we're talking kick ass here.

Eddie won in the first :52 of the song.

But that's the intro, not the solo. This poll is about the solo. Eddie's solo in Mean Street song is awesome but it's pitted against one of Alex's best ever.

I know that's not the solo.  I still think Eddie is better.

So do I. Overall, Eddie is more skilled than Alex. Eddie's lead work is legendary, and his rhythm playing is amazing, and underrated. But IMO, Alex's solo in Freewill is better than Eddie's in Mean Streets.

[Lucas]

The intro to Mean Streets is incredible, and stands as one of the most kick ass starts to an album ever ..

But the solo in Mean Streets is when Eddie began to leave it up to Ted Templeman and the rest of the production crew to piece together solos from various takes - which I am not a fan of ..

That intro is legendary and the song is great, but that solo always felt lame to me

Freewill wins this one

[treeduck]

This is cool...

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 09:32 PM, said:

This is cool...

Very cool. Eddie's tone on VHI often gets cited as the best ever, but I think Fair Warning features the best heavy guitar sound ever put to tape. Still, his sound on VHII is excellent, as the above track illustrates.

This is also cool. He makes this sound so easy, and it very isn't. This is swing and groove at 100MPH.

[treeduck]

1-0-0-1-0-0-1, on 21 August 2017 - 10:00 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 09:32 PM, said:

This is cool...

Very cool. Eddie's tone on VHI often gets cited as the best ever, but I think Fair Warning features the best heavy guitar sound ever put to tape. Still, his sound on VHII is excellent, as the above track illustrates.

This is also cool. He makes this sound so easy, and it very isn't. This is swing and groove at 100MPH.

That one is insane. And no one else would ever have thought to play like that.

[goose]

1-0-0-1-0-0-1, on 21 August 2017 - 06:58 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 06:50 PM, said:

1-0-0-1-0-0-1, on 21 August 2017 - 06:48 PM, said:

Lorraine, on 21 August 2017 - 04:17 PM, said:

treeduck, on 21 August 2017 - 03:05 PM, said:

Eddie wins the battle easily! Don't forget we're talking kick ass here.

Eddie won in the first :52 of the song.

But that's the intro, not the solo. This poll is about the solo. Eddie's solo in Mean Street song is awesome but it's pitted against one of Alex's best ever.

Eddie's solo in Mean Street is one of his best too.

It's certainly a good solo. His tone is perfect and it fits the song perfectly. But I wouldn't rank it in his top 10.

It's pretty short, actually.  2:25-2:45.

ETA:  In fairness, I think we need to add from 3:20 on, the outro.   Which is epic.

Ed for the win when that's thrown in.

Edited by goose, 21 August 2017 - 11:09 PM.