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Your Ten Favorite Alex Lifeson Solos


ctbadger
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I gave no thought to inserting this in top 10 I was at this gig and never really appreciated how good this is until I played it recently, geddy said this was a very challenging track to perform live for him guess that playing intense bass riffs while playing synths wasn't easy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5gH8ehjm5I
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Really tough every time I see this. So here it goes.

 

 

1. Limelight

2. La Villa Strangiato (Exit Stage Left)

3. Freewill

4. Digital Man

5. Red Sector A

6. Ghost Of A Chance

7. No One At The Bridge

8. Red Barchetta

9. Jacobs Ladder (Exit Stage Left)

10. Xanadu (Exit Stage Left)

 

 

The man IMO is by far for me the most accomplished in regards to the sheer number of incredible emotive solo's in the history of rock guitar players (the only guys in his league IMO in that regard are Gilmore and Page). His phrasing is legendary and he has had such a profound influence on me as a player. By far one of the most overlooked guitar heroes by the general public in history. Most people praise Geddy and Neil and never mention Alex when it comes to Rush. In musician circles we talk about Alex as much as any other guitar players and any member of Rush for that matter.

 

Picking 10 was near impossible. I left off a couple of dozen more that I love dearly LOL.

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Spirit of Radio

YYZ

Clockwork Angels

La Villa Strangiato

Headlong Flight

The Main Monkey Business

Xanadu

Passage to Bangkok

Limelight

Mission

 

So hard to do just ten. So here's the 10 I've forgotten about that really need to be on that list:

 

Red Barchetta

Freewill

Ghost of a Chance

2112

The Twilight Zone

Between the Wheels

Cut to the Chase

The Main Monkey Business

Bravest Face

Seven Cities of Gold

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Alex is a guitar god and solo legend. Almost every song pre hiatus has a kick arse emotional solo.

 

Dont you love the look you get when discussing guitar greats with non Rush fans when you INSIST Lifeson MUST be at or near the top of the list?

 

 

.

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One that perhaps is less obvious comes to mind: The Main Monkey Business

 

 

Amazing tone and phrasing.

I agree. The speed Alex conjures up on that in one part blows my mind. IMO Neil really shines on that instrumental
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was out walking tonight and just happened to put a bit of Signals on the headphones for first time in a while, mann there's a few fantastic solos from Al on that album but when Digital Man's came on i thought 'there's really nothing better than this'

 

it isnt a guitar solo, more a four-dimensional spatial landscape of sound.

 

thing is though, the dude easily the most prolific of great imaginative guitar solos ever, there's nobody up there with this guy. you could easily pick 30+ from the guy's repertoire to fit the bill.

 

the man's a god.

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Hard to say but these would definitely make the list:

 

Xanadu

La Villa Strangiato

Free Will

Tom Sawyer

Analog Kid

 

I haven't comprised my own list yet but I was happy to see TS get mentioned. Regardless of whether people are tired of it, if they think it's overplayed, etc, that is one kick ass solo.

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"BETWEEN THE WHEELS"

 

It moves me for some reason. I can't explain it. It's beautiful.

Also it's one of my favorite songs to play to on the drums. It just pumps me up!!!!

 

The hi hat accents to the ride cymbal during the solo makes me want to explode. God, and the ride to china boy parts just get me all worked up.

 

 

This ^^^^^^^

 

Those descending riffs towards the end are as majestic and emotional as anything he's ever done.

 

Big Money - a wonderfully pathos-laden solo complemented by a driving yet supportive rhythm section.

 

Analog Kid - perfectly captures the wind-tossed tempest of adolescence

 

The solo and outro on "Presto" are sublime.

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Seven seas of gold is the worst Rush song ever the ultimate album filler where is the guitar solo?

Conflating a Queen classic and Rush with that title, mate!

 

Queen's Seven Seas of RYE is a gem. Seven CITIES of Gold would be better without the plodding tempo.

Edited by goose
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Limelight

Emotion Detector

The Necromancer

Jacob's Ladder

The Weapon

Between the Wheels

Fly by Night

Working Man

The Larger Bowl

Freewill

I agree with half of this surprising how much Emotion Detector gets metioned it's a good call on top of that list and difficult to argue with.
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Favorites:

 

La Villa

Red Barchetta

Different Strings (short but sweet)

The Main Monkey Business (all of them)

The Trees (middle part not a traditional solo, but the guitar is featured)

Limelight

Jacob's Ladder (like The Trees, not a solo but guitar is front and center)

The Larger Bowl

By-Tor

Marathon (throwing a deserving bone to the synth era)

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Just about every solo from the "synth period" is gold. Emotional, tasteful, all have great sounds. Songs like Afterimage, Emotion Detector, Subdivisions, Digital Man, Open Secrets to just name a few. That being said, the 90's had some amazing ones as well, like "Cut To The Chase", "Animate" (basically every single song on CP), Ghost Of A Chance, Dreamline (especially live), Totem Pole, etc.

 

 

Oh who am I kidding i've never disliked 1 single solo from Alex he's just the freaking bomb

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