Top 10 Songs with the Best John Petrucci Guitar Solos

What does everyone think the greatest bit of guitar work by Dream Theater's John Petrucci is?
The Top Ten
1 Under a Glass Moon

Such a technical solo that's unpredictable and so unstandard. Petrucci shows master guitar players how to be unique with every phrase in the progression. It's really a combination of many different mini solos among different styles expertly combined in a coherent, 1 minute story.

The back and forth with piano and guitar is killer enough, but the little three (three, right? ) note stutter right at the beginning of the guitar-only section gets me every time.

This is his best studio solo. No doubt. His live solos are good too, like: Take The Time (Live in Japan 1993) and Hollow Years at the Budokan.

2 The Best of Times

Petrucci is basically playing his heart out for Mike's father. He is playing as if this is his own father. Simply beautiful and it is not a waste of the three minutes. He doesn't flaunt nor does he try to be all shredtastic. Instead, it is a perfect blend of some shredding and heart felt emotion throughout the entire solo. I get the chills every time listening to it.

This solo has the perfect blend between emotion and complexity. There is some nice slower parts along with sweep arpeggios that have a fair amount of speed, but don't get too out of hand. The fade out always makes me want to turn the volume up at the very end to hear what I'm missing out on.

This solo kicks every solo on this list's butt and it kicks Comfortably Numb, Mr Crowley, Sairway to Heaven and every other great solo's butt on both the emotional and the technical aspects.

3 Breaking All Illusions

The build up to this solo is what amazes me every time I listen to this song. The parts keep on getting better as one progresses through the solo. If this is not one of the best solos of sir Petrucci, then I don't know what is.

Without a doubt one of the best. With the 2014 Boston Opera House performance making a staggering and emphatic bid for the top seed.

My favorite guitar solo from Dream Theater. Getting chills every time!

4 In the Name of God

When I first saw that this song was not on the top ten I wanted to cry.

I could not comprehend why a song with 5 back-to-back solos (three of whitch are synchronized with Jordan, and only one is just the keytar) was not NUMBER 1.
So pleas vote this song up it truly is unbeatable!

Best DT solo after Under a Glass Moon... Plain 100% full-speed shredding for the first 45 seconds of the solo and then comes the entire band as Petrucci keeps shredding... Hauntingly epic solo.

This one is worthy of the top 10. Mainly because of how experimental and honestly weird it sounds with the rest of the instruments.

5 The Spirit Carries On

This solo can actually make people cry its played with so much feel.

6 Lines in the Sand

Dream Theatre is not my favourite band but this has always been my favourite solo, ever! I have a love-hate relationship with this song because I don't care much for the first 1-5 minutes (the intro is great) but that solo, sober or drunk, is perfect.

This is the best solo. I've been a fan since 1992, I own everything they have ever done, including bootlegs you don't know about. This solo is the best. John has 100 tied for 2nd and 3rd, but this is the best.

Absolutely stellar solo - so much emotion, blended with perfectly with technicality. Petrucci at his peak!

7 Lie

I really love this song. The whole song makes me feel like I can carry the world. Woah, I love this so much. Can I cry?

8 Home
9 Fatal Tragedy

#11?! Are you kidding me half of this song is solo and epicness. Petrucci rocked the guitar portnoy beat the drums rudess keyboard playing and myungs bass and he wrote this song and also labrie singing

Very fast, complex, and sounds great.

10 A Change of Seasons
The Contenders
11 The Ministry of Lost Souls

The ending solo is amazing. The bridge solo is epic.

The outro solo that goes from 12:50 to end... in my opinion the best solo of DT!

12 As I Am

This is the most epic sounding though it may not be as technical... But to someone who doesn't pay attention to the technicality, this one is the best

Followed by one of their greatest drum solos.

13 Another Day

Awesome melodic solo by Petrucci!

14 Octavarium

This divine solo, ending this masterpiece... After 20 mins of the true Dream Theater, John Petrucci pulls this wonderful guitar solo that, for me, is better than "The Best of Times". Such a feeling. This gives me chills. It really does.

The meaning behind Octavarium just adds to the fact that these guys pour their hearts into the music that they make.The techniques jp uses are perfectly exicuted bdut that comes with playing for over 30 years.

15 Hollow Years

That was an awesome performance by sir john petrucci. The intro and specially after the second verse... That was really cool! I noticed his thoughts of instant and perfect solo. I amaze that he got such a brilliant music sense.

My favorite solo by Petrucci, so emotionally moving yet extremely technical at the same time! Why couldn't this solo be on the album version?

Amazing, especially the live version. I guess I don't need to say anything, just go listen to it!

16 The Glass Prison

The arpeggio solo is really good and the final solo is also awesome... all the solos are great in the song

How is this #9? I can't even play the arpeggio solo at the beginning, it should be #3 at least

17 Stream of Consciousness

This whole song is a technical masterpiece - Portnoy's drum rhythms, Petrucci's guitar-shredding and Rudess's keyboards - an 11-minte instrumental which does not ONCE get boring!

One of the greatest songs I've heard by petrucci.

18 Lost Not Forgotten

I remember first hearing this while on holiday in Spain. I was completely blown away by the solo section at the beginning of the song, which is quite frankly scary. And Petrucci doubles lines with Rudess as well. Makes me want to practice 10 hours a day!

Holy balls this needs to be higher! The tone is killer and he just shreds with absolute sophistication. It's astonishing.

This solo is insane. The tone when the first few notes come in are pure gold. So many different elements make this JP's best guitar solo.

19 Constant Motion

This solo man, it starts out with a great melodic section, it just sounds like the guitar is crying. Then you get into the real fast part, damn. The sweeping toward the end is insane, and then the incredibly fast alt picking triplets at the end. This solo has it all.

Definitely one of the hardest guitar solos to play.

20 Sacrificed Sons
21 The Dark Eternal Night

The shreddage in this song, not only the solos but the entire duration from start to finish, is probably one of the most virtuoso performances in metal history. But the solos; damn, them solos; are some of the few that can combine multiple techniques, fastness, incredible heaviness and maintain it's melodic memorability.
This song is a sure-fire head banger's classic, hands down!

John is a God! This solo is unnatural!

22 Take the Time
23 Panic Attack
24 A Rite of Passage
25 Illumination Theory

The guitar solo at the end. How could you guys miss this out? Yes it's short but it oozes with emotion, amplified more with the string orchestra for the background, feels like listening to "Made in Heaven" music.

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