The Robert Fripp solo in David Bowie's "Fashion" is one of the top ones for me. I saw an interview with Fripp where he basically thanked Bowie for letting him play... that.
When I saw the video this solo was my first thought. That song blew my mind as an impressionable 13 year old and I have tended to prefer solos like that ever since.
Absolutely expected this solo on the list, also thought Rick would refer to the #20 Andy Summers solo as a Fripp ripoff; a "Fripp-off" if you will. In my attempts to learn it, my transcriptions always were titled, "Fripp Insanity Interval Rip"
Exactly. Crazy fast, quasi-scales noodling is not strange to me at all. In fact they sound conformist. It's the solos that are minimalist, dissonant, off-beat, but perfectly fitting that are the real miracles of creativity. No Fripp? No Belew? GTFOH! Even early Devo managed more outlandish, rule-breaking solos than half of what's on this list.
I love Jeff Beck because he can show up on the strangest list, play beautiful singing things like Cause We've Ended as Lovers or The Final Peace, play rockabilly, and just rock hard & obnoxious too. Always capable of surprise. I also love the Zappa Shut Up & Play Your Guitar albums, fun to see him here. All on the list was fun. The Yes Trevor Rabin thing reminded me of King Crimson from kind of similar vintage for some reason (Discipline-Beat--3 of a Perfect Pair). Belew & Fripp could've made this list somewhere for sure.
When I began playing electric vinyl records were king and I wore the grooves out of Jeff Beck Truth, Clapton Blind Faith and Led Zeppelin.(Not to mention the Stones, etc)
I'd add Adrian Belew's ending solo on David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" . I'd also add John Sykes' solo on Whitesnake's "Still Of The Night" which is just incredible but also melodically quite complex.
What about Reeves Gabrels? His work on Bowie's Earthling is unlike any guitar sound, especially Seven Years In Tibet. It sounds like what Tom Morello is trying for.
Is Bulls On Parade a guitar solo? It sounds like when Tom takes the jack out of the guitar and touches it with his hand to make a squealing sound, maybe with some whammy pedal added. I don’t actually think you need a guitar to play that solo, just the instrument cable.
What often makes Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend," "Altered Beast" and "100% Fun" albums great, aside from the songwriting, are the guitar parts by Richard Lloyd, Robert Quine and Ivan Julian. They may not provide the three qualifications Rick holds for "strange" solos, but they're so unique and may run through entire songs on those albums.
Z Z Top's "La Grange" is the first "weird" solo I remember hearing, and after all these years, it still strikes me as very strange. Let's just make the whole solo pick harmonics! Awesome!
A standout in the "what were they thinking" category has to be Don't Lose My Number by Phil Collins. The scene in the video where the guy asks him who's playing guitar and he name drops Daryl Stuermer, who then rips into a god awful solo that he surely wishes didn't have his name plastered on every time the video plays for the next fifty years... Harsh perhaps, but that's my reckon.
Rick you should really do a sequel to this, or even consider making it a series there are plenty of suggestions already here. My nominee is Misunderstood by Dream Theater
Some of Rick's videos feel like you're just hanging out in a music shop with a guy who seems to work there but just shows you all the cool stuff he's found.
I don’t understand how Adrian Belew didn’t make a single appearance. His work with Bowie, Talking Heads, and King Crimson is a total master class in “outside the box” guitar work, ESPECIALLY, when it comes to solos. Just listen to Bowie’s live version of Station to Station.
I came here to say this. You also forgot his tenure with Frank Zappa. Anyone that's played with Zappa should probably be on this list. I'm happy that Elliot Easton got some love, I think he's underrated. I've always loved that Andy Summers solo, just _because_ it's so WTF? I really do agree with this list.
I would also say that the 1966 song "Eight Miles High" by The Byrds has some of the weirdest soloing going on. There certainly wasn't anything like it during that era.
The best solo, by far, of Lifeson’s entire career, was the lead from “Free Will.” Somehow both an utterly raw emotional outburst and a statement of musical sophistication, “Free Will” also features his best use of effects and his most epic structural climax. That show-stopping transition from the 6/8 lead break into the 4/4 pre-chorus near the end is a moment of sublime beauty that moves me every time I hear it. I’m not sure a bastardization such as the “progressive rock single” should even exist, but “Free Will” was Rush’s best argument against that bias. It is easily the best sub-six-minute song of their four-decade run.
i also think his solo at the 3.35 mark on Spirit of Radio is really unusual. I'm not sure it would really be called a solo but it's an abrupt, radical shift in the song's rhythm and timbre, leading into two additional slightly less jarring shifts and a final reprise of the song's opening section.
@@edwardx.winston5744 I love the Freewill solo. Alex gets the crown for making his guitar sound like Godzilla! Go ahead.... try to listen to Freewill without hearing Godzilla's ROAR! You can't do it. It is now forever implanted in your brain. You're welcome ;o)
I reckon Adrian Belew's solo from "Elephant Talk" should have been included if only for its weird sound. (though his note choices weren't exactly ordinary either.)
Hey Rick, another amazing and inspiring video. Something that came to my mind, was to give Jimi a spot with his Castles made of Sand solo. But then again, where do you draw the line with all the beautiful music in this world 🎼? Okay gotta go now and play my guitar now! Cheers
Another vote for Vernon Reid and "Cult Of Personality." All his solos really remind me of Coltrane's "sheets of sound" technique from his later years.... which is a HUGE compliment for any guitarist. I remember that song dropping in the middle of an era of sound-alike glam metal and it blew my teenaged mind!
When it first came out, there was nothing in my world that sounded even remotely close to it. It was like, "What is this dude even doing? Does he even know how to play? Whoa! That was epic! Genius!"
Yep, Vernon Reid immediately came to my mind, too. Any number of his solos could fit here. Can't say I like all of them, but I do admire the guy for trying something different.
Would love to see you do a feature of King Crimson, maybe even an interview with Robert Fripp. I met him many years ago, he was was very courteous and brilliant.
Some might say that Fripp's coolest solos are found on early Eno albums. "St Elmo's Fire" and "Blank Frank" are arguably more unique and unhinged than anything on a Crimson album.
Honestly, whenever I think of strange solos I always go with Larry LaLonde's playing with Primus. Like, the stuff he plays on My Name Is Mud, Jerry Was A Race Car Driver, Wynona's Big Brown Beaver and pretty much everything he does in Primus is so weird but it fits the vibe of the band so well. As for other players, George Harrison on The Beatles' All You Need Is Love is a bit of an oddity as well but I still really like it
Couldn't say it better myself. Primus' whole catalog is just a library of unique solos, weird phrasing, offkey and offbeat descending and ascending climbs
Graham Coxon's soloing is unlike anyone else. The solo on Coffee and TV is on the edge of disaster the whole time and the tone is incredible,. He says that he fights the guitar. Rick you need to give him props!
I could not agree more, except that besides Rush, Rick never seems to mention Steve Howe very much. That guy had extremely crazy guitar solos. I guess progressive rock is not held in high regard in Rick's circle.
Lots of strange solos from Adrian Belew and King Crimson - Elephant Talk comes immediately to mind. And speaking of King Crimson, Robert Fripp's Satori in Tangier is definitely "out there".
Fun fact - Fripp and Andy Summers both come from my home town in England, and my aunt (who gave me my first guitar) was in a band in the 60's with Summers and Zoot Money (a well-known jazz pianist in England). Greg Lake, of KC and ELP, was also from the same area, which is how he met Fripp (presumably).
Agreed on both and Baby's on Fire should have 100% been on here, one of the most out there, ahead of its time, solos. Which one by Adrian? Gun Man with Bowie? It's a pick anything deal with Adrian I guess. Rick, I am very disappointed these two revolutionary guitarist were not on here. Nels Cline as well for that matter. Love you Rick.
I think having something from Adrian Belew (King Crimson, Talking Heads, Zappa, David Bowie) would be worth looking at. I feel like he’s criminally underrated for the acts he’s been involved with.
He’s one of those “musician’s musicians.” He’s criminally underrated for a reason, I think. Same thing goes for Ty Tabor and Ian Thornley. Both guitar masters and nobody’s ever heard of ‘em…
@@brendanoshea1472 musicians'musician? No, my friend. I lightly disagree. Who played with Bowie, Talking Heads, King Crimson is not a musicians'musician. He's a musician for evoluted ears. He researches ever something more, something new, something that go beyond the same old song. To me, one of the GOAT
For Zappa, I would recommend 'Them Or Us' played as loudly as your speakers/neighbours will permit...the feedback control on that track is just insane.
Theres a real Miles Davis philosophy to all these...."you gotta learn to play inside before you can play outside" - all these guys can play inside if they wanted but instead chose some weird notes to make it oddly perfect. Great idea for a list, Rick! (and PS - I think Adrian Belew should have been on this list. The master of stunt guitar)
Zappa really couldn't play inside. He had no sense of rhythm, was always trying to make some obscene jokes that didn't quite work, was his own worst enemy all wrapped up in a freakin' genius workaholic. He could twist a phrase or a guitar with equal virtuosity.
Yeah, every time he said "All his solos are weird." which was quite a few times, I thought "Here is comes. Robert Fripp." But it never came. I also thought Syd Barrett could go on this list.
I thought of a few weird but beautiful Fripp solos as well. My favourite of his is "St Elmo's Fire" on Brian Eno's "Another Green World". Sounds like the electrical storm it is meant to be describing in the lyrics. Wonderful.
I kind of agree but i think that some.of His most Out there playing Is with His work outside Crimson, Bowie, Talking Heads, Eno. league of gentlemen. You name It. No For the weird solos he had my Man Adrian Belew
@@matthewcoombs3282 yeah! Did you even hear the solo from Disturbed Being? Its from another Eno álbum and it's from what i like to call, His super sherd era
Yes, exactly. I don't find that solo strange at all. It outlines the chord changes perfectly, and then throws in that cool kinda rockabilly double-stop bit at the end. I played this song with my band and it was really fun to learn the solo.
@@Wizardofgosz I don’t think this list is meant to be negative as such. “Weird” in this context means “very different” but not in a bad way. He says he likes them
The "Just What I Needed" solo is one of my favorite solos of all time. I don't consider it that crazy though, as it is very "tasty" and fits so well. I was really expecting Vernon Reid's solo from "Cult of Personality" to be on this list, though.
I love Rick's confounded expressions whilst running through these solos. Kind of reminds me of Beaker from The Muppets when he senses that something bad is about to happen to him.
Same here, that solo have it all when it comes to weirdness like strange tone and effects, atonality and the syncopated bends. So strange it wasnt included here!
Some great picks! Belew on "Elephant Talk" would be a great addition. This is all rock stuff, though - a lot of free improvisors traffic in strangeness on a daily basis. Anything by Derek Bailey or Sonny Sharrock is stranger than anything on this list. Fred Frith, Nels Cline.. plus many many younger musicians too.
I respect Rick Beato. But I knew he would use examples of those groups. I wouldn't expect for example a guitar solo of those giants or musicians from other countries. For example, Ángel Ontalva and October Equus.
Hellbound 17 1/2 is a recommendation - My Name Is Mud, Jerry Was A Racecar Driver too for mainstream singles. They all have strange left field solos that still really work well.
That's fun seeing Rick who is a masterful guitarist himself playing air guitar and geeking out to his favorite weird solo's of all time. Never change Mr Beato we love ya for your intense and unyielding passion for music.
Can’t have a “strange guitar solos” list without Buckethead! Glad you included him. I remember seeing Buckethead play with Primus in the late 90’s. That dude blew my mind!
I would love to see a sequel like "ANOTHER 20 strange guitar solos". Because let's be honest, it's the strange ones that drive innovation in the instrument and there are sooooo many interesting pieces.
@@porkbelly0713 I too would like this to turn into a series. Like, put together 5-10 more like these every few months and see how much more influential they'll be, especially for the younger audiences (not to mention the new players & bands on the internet).
@@ccelik97 I also would like to see this, and not just a part two. This has been some kind of great discussion on this topic. I am subscribed so it will pop up for me if he does another one
I was thinking, "Man - if Beato doesn't place Jeff Beck in here somewhere then he is out of his freakin mind". Thankfully I was rewarded in the end :) My faith in you has been re-enforced!
I was waiting for Buckethead, Zappa and Vai to pop up in that Top 10! Well done as always. A notable mention, if I may! "The Battle of Bob" by my dear friend Mattias Eklundh. Absolutely gorgeous and bizarre piece of guitar music.
Absolutely. Most of IA’s playing is weird and pure technical playfulness. He could easily make the list. Not sure he’s that well known outside of Scandinavia (orJapan) though..
Glad to see Jeff Beck getting recognition for being the best guitarist from whatever planet he came from. I wasn’t sure if you were going to go with sidetracked painter Syd Barrett for his avant-garde sprawling guitar-noise collages throughout his catchy little pop tunes. They sound like noise at first, but upon further review, a great deal more interesting.
I’ll second at least one other commenter: Surprised none of Vernon Reid’s stuff (Living Color) made the list, especially some of that weirdness in “The Cult of Personality”! Right up there with The Edge’s deliberate freak-out on “Bullet the Blue Sky”!
@@Anautistictherapist sitar guitar, its a guitar but it has a thing by the bridge that just basiclaly gives it permenent fretbuzz, giving it a sitar sound. basically a guitar with a built in effect
@@gzahnd Along with Andy Summers...which is ironic considering in a lot of ways they have a very similar approach/influences and positioning in their respective projects.
Rick, I absolutely love your videos. I am not a guitarist though I've wanted all my life to take lessons (National Park Ranger then medical school kinda got in the way though). I have loved music, especially rock guitar, ever since my big brother gave me a Clapton 8 track (yes) with Bell Bottom Blues on it. For this list I was wondering if "Country Hat" (Peter Haycock, Climax Blues Band off of "FM Live") could have earned a place on this list especially! Tell me what you think.
In my opinion in this list should be some songs from Radiohead like "Paranoid Android" or "Just". They have absolutely insane and weird solos, but really complicated and beautiful.
Yep, 100% agree and looked to find this comment. I love all of his choices but the solo from Paranoid Android should definitely place higher than some of these!
Seconding Vernon Reid ("New Jack Theme" and "Fight the Fight" are so out, they're in) and Marc Ribot ("Clap Hands"? Absolutely nuts.) and there definitely needs to be some Jonny Greenwood ("Just" or "Paranoid Android") and Reeves Gabrels (especially his work with Bowie in Tin Machine and the "Earthling" album)
I love Adrian Belew’s solo’s on Talking Heads Remain in Light. Another one that comes to mind is Vernon Reid. Great Alex Lifeson pick! It sounds so different. I am happy that you mention Frank Zappa. I hope you can do an episode on his music sometime.
@@SpawnofHastur IKR? It doesn't help that the album wan't mastered well. There is a remastered version out there on the internet where you can really appreciate the work. You can finally hear the individual instruments.
*Everyone complaining Fripp and Belew aren't in this list* ... a fan of Fripps since he was first on the cover of Guitar Player with his Frippertronics (circa 1980?), and a fan of Belew since 1983 re his playing with Frank... *COME ON!* EVERYTHING they do is strangely beautiful and odd. *That's a given!* That's who and what they are all about. They're *so* unique. *They are in a league all by themselves.* You hear Andy playing on "Driven To Tears" (I *also* remember the first time I heard that-- it was on WDHA [Eddie Trunk was a DJ in our town!]... it took me a year to discover that was a Police tune! I just remember the lead and thought it had to be Alex Lifeson, because of YYZ). That's a strange lead coming from The Police. It wasn't Andy's usual lead. Even the comment I left about my brother Jason Becker's beloved friend and former bandmember when Jason was 17-18 years old-- Marty Friedman. Marty grew SO MUCH between Cacophony and his solo album and playing with Megadeth. Every lead Marty played on Megadeth's *SYMPHONY...* album *was* strange for the genre-- so melodically beautiful-- no boring shredding that metal players, including me at the time, used to use to get from point A to point B in their leads (IYKYK). Every note Marty played in those leads was there for a reason. If I saw Fripp or Belew on this list I would be asking, "WHY are they in this list?! They pushed the envelope every time they played! some players create strange for a living because it's who they are: two of the most well know are Fripp and Belew. I wouldn't expect them to be in this list. It's kind of a given that they're playing with a different set of cards, so to speak.
Pulling a Counterparts track for this list was a great call by Rick - that album flies under the radar, but it's fantastic, and it's got peak Alex. Also check out the track Cold Fire.
@@MehYam2112 Yeah, they went for a more raw sound on that album and it definitely worked. I heard Alex had a difficult time with just plugging straight into the amp or with minimal effects and it was a struggle. Very good album with many solid tracks compared to RTB.
@@ghostwheelinshadow Yeah is actually a great solo with his chord call/answer thing in the last 1/3rd. Haha, I've listened to it twice and I really like it. I'm a drummer and bass player so I never actually listened to Alex all that much. I remember when I was learning YYZ the solo, the note choices I thought I was learning a Zappa piece. Lots of nuance and articulation with his picking as they're not full pinched harmonics but definitely added color and style to his playing.
So often overshadowed by Les’s huge presence but I was kinda surprised none of Ler LaLonde’s eclectic solos made the list. Primus really threw music a curveball and I love it!
When you said "Les" my mind immediately went to Les Paul. In that time period there was nothing else even close. Sped up tracks and sound effects! LaLonde should have definitely been included in this list, too.
He would also be one of my choices. Lots of jazz noodling and metal-shreddle on Rick's list, which is fine, but my thing is more the weird rock stuff like Radiohead
I think what I like most about this channel, is the pure celebration of music. We're talking about the top 20 strangest guitar solos of all time and nowhere is Rick saying these are in poor taste or quality. Instead it's like "hey check this out. It's different." I love that.
Steve Howe's bizzare diminished solo from the song Sound chaser off the album Relayer should be on this in fact most of Howe's solos were pretty strange and brilliant
His solo on "the heat of the moment" is certainly strange. But if it's brilliant, It must be a brilliant solo to a completely different song, that a drunk mixing engineer accidentally put on the wrong song. It sounds like Howe didn't show up to the recording session, so the rest of the band just threw Howe's guitar down some stairs and recorded the random sounds it made on the way down.
Jonny Greenwood definitely deserved a mention. 'Paranoid Android' is probably the first song I think of when it comes to strange solos. Also Stephen Malkmus from Pavement has a couple of weird ones, my favorite one has to be the 'Rattled by the Rush' solo.
I agree with Fripp or Belew on the list but King Crimson would get blocked unless Rick can get Toyah to dance on the screen of his video during the solo.
Kim Thayil was always going to be in here. A tab book of Soundgarden way back when simply said ‘random combination of notes and scratchings with an absence of musicality’ for one of his solos instead of any tablature.
Great guitarist who hopefully will never be forgotten for his contribution to rock music. Yes , Cornell sang and wrote but Kim screamed! *fuck Heroin. Always holds back and kills.
Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead should definitely be on here. He rips apart and modifies guitars and plays some insanely unique stuff. Perhaps Mark Knopfler should also be on here. Pretty bizzare stuff.
Excellent choices culminating with Jeff Beck. I agree with a previous comment that Adrian Belew deserves a look, especially the King Crimson Beat and Discipline work.
he could have put some Devo on here as well but at least we got some Zappa and Yes. i agree though, i always respect Bowie and the musicians he worked with. gonna go listen to Fashion now!
Robert Fripp's solos on David Bowie's 'Scary Monsters' surely are worth a mention! Somebody has already rightly mentioned Fripps work on 'Fashion'. How about covering some XTC sometime Rick, surely they have come up with some of the most inventive guitar interplay ever! Great songs too!
For your consideration, "The Great Curve" from Talking Heads Remain in Light, Adrian Belew (who is now 72!, time zooms). The ending solo is jaw dropping. To channel Greg Koch, it sounds like Adrian is wrestling a great sonic beast into submission.
Rick seems to have an odd blind spot for both Adrian Belew & Robert Fripp; I've brought it up before to no avail. It's possible that it's a block issue, but IMO, there is no other legit excuse, especially considering the topic of this video. Fripp and Belew, in King Crimson, and w/ the various other outfits they each worked with (Talking Heads, Eno, Bowie, etc) basically redefined the parameters of electric guitar sound, it's bizarre that Rick never seems to mention this.
Interesting to see that Belew is popping up more than anyone else here, with Fripp probably a close second. KC bandmates & maybe the two most brilliantly weird guitar bandmates ever.
@@dstroviolin Some other commenter noted that KC, and so probably also Fripp, are blockers. So that helps explain Fripp's absence, but Belew did some amazing work for other artists, I wonder why it's overlooked on this channel
Was really expecting to hear something from Omar Rodriguez-Lopez in here. He's often popping up with interesting timbres, phrasings and harmonic elements that I only really associate with him and/or Robert Fripp. Crossing my fingers for a Part 2 in the future. Anyone here looking for suggestions, the solo in the middle of The Mars Volta's "L'via L'viaquez" is a prime example 👍🏻
@UC5OYAofGUxX0EmBUMqohsBA As far as I'm aware, Frusciante plays the first 2 solos then it's Omar for the third solo in the "breakdown" section about 6 minutes in.
Marty going to Megadeth after he and Jason did their solo work after retiring Cacophony was... let's just say hearing *Symphony...* for the first time, I was blown away with the leads, I wasn't good friends with Jason yet, so did not know Marty had joined Megadeth-- I immediately looked in the liner notes. That's the only Megadeth album I still listen to. Marty's work in that album to the heavy metal "leads" up a notch. He never shredded: every note was played for a reason. Hearing that when it was released was glorious. Such a melodic player! Still best friends with JB. Marty is the real deal, cool and kind, down to earth guy who happens to be an ingenious guitarist. Did I say melodic?
Kind of surprised to not see Maggot Brain by Funkadelic. Eddie Hazel's solo throughout the piece is something to behold; one of the strangest and interesting solos I've ever heard. It's sad how Eddie Hazel never seems to get the recognition or respect as a guitarist and musician he deserves.
Eddie Hazel and Funkadelic are so sadly overlooked. I got to see Michael Hampton perform it live a few years ago and it's an unforgettable experience. Only guitar solo that's moved me to tears.
@@Akaite79 Saw Funkadelic in February 2018, B B King's bar, with my son. Absolutely amazing night. There was a real young lad playing the solo of Maggot Brain. Pretty sure George C said it was one of his grandsons. Completely tore the place open.
Eddie Hazel"s playing period !...and not just that album all of his other work on the other Funkadelic albums. That guy was a cosmic Funk genius !!....very underrated .
Talking Heads is never on your radar, but Adrian Belew played with them on Remain in Light and really made the layered masterpiece - The Great Curve - into a new realm with animal ferocity that harkens to Yes, Owner of a Lonely Heart, but has its own life in this absolutely unique incomparable track.
You missed ‘Cult of Personality’ by Living Colour. That solo makes me want to scream in agony every time I hear it. Vernon’s rhythm playing is so absolutely precise and then this solo is just nuts. I was learning to play guitar when it came out and my teacher said “don’t do that.”
On you tube you have all these predictable videos with 10 best guitar solos of all time and then you listen to this and you are 10 light years ahead. You always learn something new when you watch Rick Beato.