# The 17 Hardest Guitar Solos Ever > The 17 Hardest Guitar Solos Ever: #1 is La Villa Strangiato by Rush, then One and Painkiller. Every video starts at the solo. 17 solos, ranked. Canonical URL: This is a consensus of four published 'hardest solos' lists (Metal Hammer, Guitar Lobby, guitarguitar, WatchMojo), limited to solos that appear on more than one of them or come from recognised benchmark pieces. It climbs from the hard classic-rock and thrash solos (La Villa Strangiato, One, Tornado of Souls) through Eruption and Cliffs of Dover to modern pieces like Electric Sunrise, Through the Fire and Flames and Guthrie Govan's Fives. Each video jumps straight to the solo so you can see the hands. 1. [La Villa Strangiato](https://greatestsolos.com/song/rush-la-villa-strangiato/) — Rush · solo by Alex Lifeson · 1978 2. [One](https://greatestsolos.com/song/metallica-one/) — Metallica · solo by Kirk Hammett · 1988 3. [Painkiller](https://greatestsolos.com/song/judas-priest-painkiller/) — Judas Priest · solo by Glenn Tipton & K.K. Downing · 1990 4. [Domination](https://greatestsolos.com/song/pantera-domination/) — Pantera · solo by Dimebag Darrell · 1990 5. [Tornado of Souls](https://greatestsolos.com/song/megadeth-tornado-of-souls/) — Megadeth · solo by Marty Friedman · 1990 6. [Eruption](https://greatestsolos.com/song/van-halen-eruption/) — Van Halen · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1978 7. [Tender Surrender](https://greatestsolos.com/song/steve-vai-tender-surrender/) — Steve Vai · solo by Steve Vai · 1995 8. [Spanish Fly](https://greatestsolos.com/song/van-halen-spanish-fly/) — Van Halen · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1979 9. [Cliffs of Dover](https://greatestsolos.com/song/eric-johnson-cliffs-of-dover/) — Eric Johnson · solo by Eric Johnson · 1990 10. [Under a Glass Moon](https://greatestsolos.com/song/dream-theater-under-a-glass-moon/) — Dream Theater · solo by John Petrucci · 1992 11. [Far Beyond The Sun](https://greatestsolos.com/song/yngwie-malmsteen-far-beyond-the-sun/) — Yngwie Malmsteen · solo by Yngwie Malmsteen · 1984 12. [Technical Difficulties](https://greatestsolos.com/song/racer-x-technical-difficulties/) — Racer X · solo by Paul Gilbert · 1999 13. [Perpetual Burn](https://greatestsolos.com/song/jason-becker-perpetual-burn/) — Jason Becker · solo by Jason Becker · 1988 14. [Jordan](https://greatestsolos.com/song/buckethead-jordan/) — Buckethead · solo by Buckethead · 2006 15. [Electric Sunrise](https://greatestsolos.com/song/plini-electric-sunrise/) — Plini · solo by Plini · 2016 16. [Through the Fire and Flames](https://greatestsolos.com/song/dragonforce-through-the-fire-and-flames/) — DragonForce · solo by Herman Li, Sam Totman · 2006 17. [Fives](https://greatestsolos.com/song/guthrie-govan-fives/) — Guthrie Govan · solo by Guthrie Govan · 2006 ## Quick answers ### What is the hardest guitar solo ever? There is no single answer. Guthrie Govan's Fives tops Metal Hammer's list, and Through the Fire and Flames tops Guitar Lobby's. Both are near the top of most rankings because they need extreme speed and accuracy the whole way through. ### Is Eruption hard to play? Yes. WatchMojo ranks it #1 on its hardest-to-learn list because of the tapping and whammy work. Most lists still put it below modern technical pieces, which is why it sits mid-list here. ### What should I learn before attempting these? Work through intermediate solos first, especially Crazy Train and Sultans of Swing. Build clean alternate picking and legato with a metronome, then start with La Villa Strangiato or One. --- GreatestSolos ranks the greatest guitar solos by consensus across published lists. Agent guide: [llms.txt](https://greatestsolos.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://greatestsolos.com/sitemap.xml) · [Dataset (CSV)](https://greatestsolos.com/data/greatest-guitar-solos.csv) · [How we rank](https://greatestsolos.com/method/)