Critics' Picks

Scored only from editor-written lists by music magazines and guitar magazines.

1. 1
   Stairway to Heaven

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1971
2. 2
   Sweet Child O' Mine

   Guns N' Roses · solo by Slash · 1987
3. 3
   Eruption

   Van Halen · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1978
4. 4
   Comfortably Numb

   Pink Floyd · solo by David Gilmour · 1979
5. 5
   While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   The Beatles · solo by Eric Clapton · 1968
6. 6
   Hotel California

   Eagles · solo by Don Felder & Joe Walsh · 1976
7. 7
   Johnny B. Goode

   Chuck Berry · solo by Chuck Berry · 1958
8. 8
   Purple Rain

   Prince · solo by Prince · 1984
9. 9
   Beat It

   Michael Jackson · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1982
10. 10
    Free Bird

    Lynyrd Skynyrd · solo by Allen Collins & Gary Rossington · 1973
11. 11
    All Along the Watchtower

    Jimi Hendrix · solo by Jimi Hendrix · 1968
12. 12
    Marquee Moon

    Television · solo by Tom Verlaine · 1977
13. 13
    Bohemian Rhapsody

    Queen · solo by Brian May · 1975
14. 14
    Sultans of Swing

    Dire Straits · solo by Mark Knopfler · 1978
15. 15
    Sympathy for the Devil

    The Rolling Stones · solo by Keith Richards · 1968
16. 16
    Something

    The Beatles · solo by George Harrison · 1969
17. 17
    Maggot Brain

    Funkadelic · solo by Eddie Hazel · 1971
18. 18
    Crossroads

    Cream · solo by Eric Clapton · 1968
19. 19
    Ball and Biscuit

    The White Stripes · solo by Jack White · 2003
20. 20
    Highway Star

    Deep Purple · solo by Ritchie Blackmore · 1972
21. 21
    You Really Got Me

    The Kinks · solo by Dave Davies · 1964
22. 22
    Paranoid Android

    Radiohead · solo by Jonny Greenwood · 1997
23. 23
    Crazy Train

    Ozzy Osbourne · solo by Randy Rhoads · 1980
24. 24
    Let There Be Rock

    AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1977
25. 25
    Machine Gun

    Jimi Hendrix · solo by Jimi Hendrix · 1970