Top 10 Metal Songs with the Best Guitar Solos
Few things in metal are as thrilling as a mind-blowing guitar solo. The kind that sends chills down your spine, makes you instinctively reach for an air guitar, or leaves you wondering how a human being can even play that fast. Some solos are all about precision and technical skill, pushing the boundaries of what a guitar can do. Others are packed with emotion, turning a simple series of notes into something unforgettable. And then there are those rare solos that do both, combining speed, complexity, and feeling into a single breathtaking moment.This list is all about the legendary solos that define songs, elevate albums, and cement guitarists as icons.
This is definitely the best of the best in all metal solos. No other guitarist on this list can play this solo because their technique and melodic control are inferior compared to Marty Friedman's, especially not Kirk Hammett. This solo is the best in musical terms. One is simple pentatonic wanking and simple tapping. Fade to Black isn't metal. It's a power ballad. Mr. Crowley is also pentatonic wanking that I like. Hangar 18, Lucretia, and Five Magics should be in the top five. Marty Friedman is God. He hasn't played metal in years, and his composition, skill, technique, and melodic shredding are still unrivaled today.
Both the top two solos on this list are my favorite. But I think One would win in my opinion because it's fast as well as melodic. Don't get me wrong, guys. Marty Friedman is a complete genius and probably is more skilled than Kirk, but this solo suits this song as anything. If you want to tell a person what Metallica is, tell them to listen to this song.
I think the Megadeth fans should leave behind a pointless conflict and stop hating everything connected to Metallica. Instead, use your heart for a moment, and you will feel the power, the energy, and the feeling in this Hammett solo.
I voted for this because the solo is an integral part of the composition of Mr. Crowley. It is more than a moment for the guitar to shine. It is more than just basic peacocking. Without this solo, Mr. Crowley as a composition leaves something to be desired. With it, the song is basically complete and strong.
The solos in this song almost act as a refrain or a chorus. The notes played by the guitar are important compositional material that could be played by a variety of instruments, but they must be played to complete the musical thought. They tie the entire song together and dramatize the points made in the lyric/verse melody.
Fade to Black is Metallica's best solo, and the most emotionally stirring metal solo, a real masterpiece. I also want to say that I am disgusted by a lot of you metal elitists, "Oh, I hate Metallica and only like Megadeth!" or the other way around. Realistically, you should just listen to what you like and accept that.
You really have to be in tune with the rest of the song to appreciate the solo. Fade to Black is about a boy with suicidal thoughts who wants to die, and the lyrics describing it are in the first person. So it's like the solo at the end is like him going out of this Earth with such a bang, or maybe that's just me. Anyway, this solo is wonderful.
This solo's pace is wicked, furious, and speaks for the song itself. Painkiller is the pinnacle of Priest's career and metal in its purest form. The solo's change in pace and horrifying mood swings are exactly the sound you'd hear if the Painkiller was within your vicinity. The ultimate heavy metal song is home to a guitar solo that fits it perfectly.
Glenn Tipton, born in 1947, still has far better technical skill and is more creative in making guitar solos than most younger guitarists, such as Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine, Randy Rhoads, and Dimebag Darrell combined. Just listen to his solo work, Baptizm of Fire. It's a neoclassical shred masterpiece.
This is easily the best metal solo and would easily be in the top 5 guitar solos of all time, in my opinion. It is a combination of many factors such as perfect speed (not too fast), the melancholy and emotive mood, and even the superb bassline that somehow mirrors the rest of the solo, which is something very rare.
I believe this is the best metal solo ever written by the best metal guitarist of all time. Every time I hear this solo, I always have to try and stop myself from bursting into tears.
This is not a regular metal solo. It is an art on a guitar's fretboard. The slow, the fast, the shred, and the melody. No one can come as close as Dimebag Darrell when writing a solo for your song, and this is his best! Period.
The whole song has nine solos. Nine solos in one song. And the quantity does not diminish the quality. I loved the Marty Friedman - Dave Mustaine era. The solos are pretty awesome, though Tornado of Souls will forever be at the top of every metal guitar solos list.
I almost voted for Tornado of Souls, but then again, this is the greatest metal song of all time in my opinion, and the solos are absolutely magnificent. Megadeth rocks!
I have seen this live, also Tornado of Souls and Holy Wars. Hangar 18 is hands down the best solo, live, studio, wherever. Ridiculously good soloing in this song!
UP THE IRONS! I'm tired of everyone picking Metallica songs just because it's the only metal band they know about. Go back and listen to the greatest masterpieces of all time, and you'll see that a song like Powerslave has a far better solo than One or some other Guitar Hero tracks like that.
There is something very deep about it. It manages to be melodic but heavy at the same time.
Man! This song has the best solo ever! Listen to that bass play and the guitars, just simply amazing! Steve, Bruce, Dave, Adrian... All of you are simply amazing.
After 10 years of listening to metal every day, several hours a day (all subgenres, decades, and countries), this is the solo that still impresses me the most because it's timeless. Definitely ahead of its time (1976). Of course, currently, there are more advanced techniques, and I totally enjoy them, but this solo is really special.
Although it's probably the longest metal solo ever, it's not boring even for a second because it's epic but also fast, technical, intense, and melodic. It's top 10 material, but the list is getting too mainstream again, so who knows.
Very good solos, but I would definitely place Tornado of Souls at the very top. Rust in Peace was the pinnacle of guitar work. Though Marty has always been the "lead" lead guitar player of the RiP era, Mustaine's solo on this one is really intense.
In my opinion, this solo is a little better than Tornado of Souls. But both are awesome.
Beautiful solos. Marty and Mustaine work perfectly to direct the listener's energy through this epic, complex masterpiece.
The Newcomers
How is this not in the top 50? Beautiful solo by John Petrucci.
An awesome solo. I was surprised that nobody had added it here before.
Even though the guitarist is not well-known, this solo is much better than many of the ones ranked above it. It is very technical and melodic as well.
Anyone, after listening to this solo, will want it to be in the number one spot. I don't know how one can play this on the guitar. Antti Kokko rules.
By far the best! Don't get me wrong, I love Tornado of Souls and every solo above this, but the true genius of this solo is its speed. Yes, but there are no fancy sweeps or string-skipping-impossible-to-play techniques. It is simple. And the melodies are incredible. Fast, yet melodic. It's a sin that this guitarist isn't worldwide famous. This is the best guitar solo ever, hands down!
I myself played Tornado of Souls. It's great. It's different. I've played Metallica stuff, easy but sounds good. What about Synyster's stuff? He can shred everything, in any type of song. The most modern guitarist ever. If I am the universal reference for music, I would place it at #2, right after Tornado of Souls. You guys, please listen and then vote. How can you rank a solo without listening to all the others? Common sense, right? I think you got it now.
The blistering speed of this solo mixed with the melody behind it makes this solo so incredible. If you don't think it's good, go try to play it yourself. I assure you, it will take you a year to learn. That's how long it took me to learn half of it, and I still can't play it at full speed.
This song moved the New Wave of British HM forward. For 1978, this song would go on to inspire Metallica's Fade to Black and others. Tipton's solo is the greatest of all time for me!
One of Priest's more downbeat songs, with the harmonic, drawn-out soloing by Tipton and Downing.
Glenn Tipton is the solo God of the metal gods. This solo brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it!
This solo is hard and fast. But still, I don't like this solo.
This is the best heavy metal guitar solo because I have the most respect for its meaning. I've searched all over the internet and read articles about the meaning of this song, and no one has it right. The song is about the fact that we all are going to die, and there is nothing you can do about it.
One of the greatest solos ever written. Deserves to be higher on this list. My favorite is still Tornado of Souls, though.
Such depth. Greatest solo ever! I can listen to the solo on repeat. Just amazing.
This solo is way better than most of the current top 10. This guitar is on fire!
The arpeggio part at the beginning of the solo is simply epic!
Really fast technical solo by Yngwie. Also, nice interplay between the guitar and keyboards.
The entire song is a guitar solo.
This is one of the best metal solos I've heard so far. In my opinion, it should be ranked much higher than 18. Great job, Children of Bodom! Keep up the great work.
Really insane guitar work. Tornado of Souls is untouchable, but this is a shred-fest. A headbanger's paradise.
This should be much higher than #44.
The first metal song that became a really huge hit was in 1972, although nobody knew it was metal because the term metal didn't exist, and most importantly, the features of the genre were not clear at all. After decades of metal evolution, we can now firmly say: it's metal at its best. This is because it's based on Bach scales, and the long, smashing solo is also classically inspired, with Bach-like chord sequences.
The solo contributed immensely to the incredible success of this prototype metal song, alongside the riff and speed, of course. This great solo of a genre-defining song deserves lots of credit in general and a decent spot on this list, in particular.
Everybody should know about this solo, especially the Dave Murray one!
This solo is so underrated. It's better than Powerslave, I'd say.
It's not super complex, but it is gorgeous, and the way it ties into the riffs (yes, there is more than one amazing riff in this song, it's Iommi for Christ's sake) is absolute perfection. So if we are talking about the best solo in terms of how it fits the song and the beauty, emotion, and overall quality, this has to be it.
My favorite Sabbath song. Dio rules, and the bass lines are just made too perfectly. An awesome solo by Tony as well.
Really fast solo by Tony Iommi, probably metal's most influential guitarist.
This is 154? You've got to be kidding me. This is definitely the best solo from Dio's band, much better than the one in Holy Diver (which is the better song, but that doesn't matter) which is currently sitting at number 42. Honestly, this is regularly listed as one of the best solos in metal, yet the people on this site seem to forget it all the time.