# The 25 Best Instrumental Rock Guitar Solos of All Time > The 25 best instrumental rock guitar solos of all time, ranked. #1 is Eruption by Van Halen, then For the Love of God and Cliffs of Dover. Canonical URL: These are tracks where the guitar carries the whole song, not just a break in the middle. The ranking uses how often each instrumental appears in published guitar-solo lists, from 1950s surf and rock and roll to 1980s shred and fusion. Informed by: [Guitar World – Readers' Top 50 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2013)](https://www.guitarworld.com/uncategorized/copy-top-50), [Bombay Lives – 100 Greatest Guitar Solos (2008)](https://bombaylives.substack.com/p/100-greatest-guitar-solos), [Eric Alper – The 25 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2025)](https://www.thatericalper.com/2025/07/11/the-25-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time/), [Gitarzysta – 100 solówek wszech czasów \[100 solos of all time\] (2006)](https://magazyngitarzysta.pl/muzyka/wywiady/1928-100-solowek-wszech-czasow), [Guitarist – The 20 Greatest Guitar Solos Of All Time (2011)](https://www.musicradar.com/guitarist/the-20-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time-403987), [Guitar Player – The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (GuitarPlayer.com readers' poll) (2024)](https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/the-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time), [Guitar Solo Legends – The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time — Ranked (2026) (2026)](https://guitarsololegends.com/), [Guitar World – The 50 greatest guitar solos of all time (2021)](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-50-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time), [Guitar World (via Sweetwater) – The 100 Best Guitar Solos (2006)](https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/100-best-guitar-solos/), [Chaospin – The 30 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2026)](https://chaospin.com/the-30-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time-definitive-rankings-from-rock-history/), [TheTopTens – Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.thetoptens.com/music/greatest-guitar-solos/), [GuitarMetrics – 25 Best Guitar Solos of All Time (Ranked) (2026)](https://guitarmetrics.com/blogs/mastering-your-guitar-skills/25-best-guitar-solos-of-all-time), [Orchestra Central – 30 Best Guitar Solos of All Time (2023)](https://orchestracentral.com/best-guitar-solos-of-all-time/), [guitarguitar – Top 50 Guitar Solos of All Time (2026)](https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/news/141664/), [Guitar Tricks – 200 Best Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.guitartricks.com/blog/200-Best-Guitar-Solos-of-All-Time), [Ranker – The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-guitar-solos/johnwarner), [Rolling Stone – The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2026)](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-guitar-solos-1235519961/), [Classic Rock – The 100 greatest guitar solos in rock (2018)](https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-100-greatest-guitar-solos-in-rock), [Digital Dream Door – 250 Greatest Rock Guitar Solos (2018)](https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_guitarsolo.html), [Planet Rock – The 75 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2022)](https://www.hellorayo.co.uk/planet-rock/news/rock-news/the-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time), [Planet Rock – The Top 40 Greatest Guitar Solos Ever (2019)](https://www.hellorayo.co.uk/planet-rock/news/rock-news/the-top-40-greatest-guitar-solos-ever), [SensCritique – Top 100 des meilleurs solos de guitare \[Top 100 best guitar solos\]](https://www.senscritique.com/top/resultats/les_meilleurs_solos_de_guitare/192866), [Kobalog – ギター好きが選んだ、歴史に残したい最強のギターソロランキング、トップ２０！！【完コピ必須】 \[The strongest guitar solos worth preserving in history, chosen by guitar lovers: Top 20\] (2019)](https://kobalog.net/entry/guitar-solo-ranking), [Guitarhabits – 50 of The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2014)](https://www.guitarhabits.com/50-of-the-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time/), [NME – 50 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2017)](https://www.nme.com/lists/50-greatest-guitar-solos-1255), [Musician Tuts – The 51 Best Guitar Solos Of All Time (2018)](https://musiciantuts.com/best-guitar-solos/), [Terra – Os 50 melhores solos de guitarra da história \[The 50 best guitar solos in history\] (2022)](https://www.terra.com.br/diversao/musica/os-50-melhores-solos-de-guitarra-da-historia,3ee288e3b4dfedc7eb7aa47aff76bb0cdsmn7fqb.html), [SiriusXM – 50 Baddest Guitar Solos (2024)](https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/siriusxm-50-baddest-guitar-solos.58286/), [Thomann – 25 Iconic Guitar Solos (2024)](https://www.thomannmusic.com/blog/inspire/25-iconic-guitar-solos/), [uDiscover Music – The Best Guitar Solos Of All Time: 108 Amazing Moments (2026)](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-guitar-solos-ever/), [Music in Minnesota – 38 Best Guitar Solos Of All Time (2023)](https://www.musicinminnesota.com/best-guitar-solos/) 1. [Eruption](https://greatestsolos.com/song/van-halen-eruption/) — Van Halen · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1978 2. [For the Love of God](https://greatestsolos.com/song/steve-vai-for-the-love-of-god/) — Steve Vai · solo by Steve Vai · 1990 3. [Cliffs of Dover](https://greatestsolos.com/song/eric-johnson-cliffs-of-dover/) — Eric Johnson · solo by Eric Johnson · 1990 4. [Cause We've Ended As Lovers](https://greatestsolos.com/song/jeff-beck-cause-we-ve-ended-as-lovers/) — Jeff Beck · solo by Jeff Beck · 1975 5. [Jessica](https://greatestsolos.com/song/the-allman-brothers-band-jessica/) — The Allman Brothers Band · solo by Dickey Betts · 1973 6. [Surfing with the Alien](https://greatestsolos.com/song/joe-satriani-surfing-with-the-alien/) — Joe Satriani · solo by Joe Satriani · 1987 7. [Satch Boogie](https://greatestsolos.com/song/joe-satriani-satch-boogie/) — Joe Satriani · solo by Joe Satriani · 1987 8. [Black Star](https://greatestsolos.com/song/yngwie-malmsteen-black-star/) — Yngwie Malmsteen · solo by Yngwie Malmsteen · 1984 9. [Maggot Brain](https://greatestsolos.com/song/funkadelic-maggot-brain/) — Funkadelic · solo by Eddie Hazel · 1971 10. [Europa](https://greatestsolos.com/song/santana-europa/) — Santana · solo by Carlos Santana · 1976 11. [La Villa Strangiato](https://greatestsolos.com/song/rush-la-villa-strangiato/) — Rush · solo by Alex Lifeson · 1978 12. [Scuttle Buttin'](https://greatestsolos.com/song/stevie-ray-vaughan-scuttle-buttin/) — Stevie Ray Vaughan · solo by Stevie Ray Vaughan · 1984 13. [Tender Surrender](https://greatestsolos.com/song/steve-vai-tender-surrender/) — Steve Vai · solo by Steve Vai · 1995 14. [Far Beyond The Sun](https://greatestsolos.com/song/yngwie-malmsteen-far-beyond-the-sun/) — Yngwie Malmsteen · solo by Yngwie Malmsteen · 1984 15. [YYZ](https://greatestsolos.com/song/rush-yyz/) — Rush · solo by Alex Lifeson · 1981 16. [Watermelon in Easter Hay](https://greatestsolos.com/song/frank-zappa-watermelon-in-easter-hay/) — Frank Zappa · solo by Frank Zappa · 1979 17. [Misirlou](https://greatestsolos.com/song/dick-dale-the-del-tones-misirlou/) — Dick Dale & the Del-Tones · solo by Dick Dale · 1962 18. [Rumble](https://greatestsolos.com/song/link-wray-rumble/) — Link Wray · solo by Link Wray · 1958 19. [Mediterranean Sundance](https://greatestsolos.com/song/al-di-meola-paco-de-luc-a-mediterranean-sundance/) — Al Di Meola & Paco de Lucía · solo by Al Di Meola & Paco de Lucía · 1977 20. [Orion](https://greatestsolos.com/song/metallica-orion/) — Metallica · solo by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield · 1986 21. [Samba Pa Ti](https://greatestsolos.com/song/santana-samba-pa-ti/) — Santana · solo by Carlos Santana · 1970 22. [Beck's Bolero](https://greatestsolos.com/song/jeff-beck-becks-bolero/) — Jeff Beck · solo by Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page · 1967 23. [Apache](https://greatestsolos.com/song/the-shadows-apache/) — The Shadows · solo by Hank Marvin · 1960 24. [Freeway Jam](https://greatestsolos.com/song/jeff-beck-freeway-jam/) — Jeff Beck · solo by Jeff Beck · 1975 25. [Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee](https://greatestsolos.com/song/extreme-flight-of-the-wounded-bumblebee/) — Extreme · solo by Nuno Bettencourt · 1990 --- 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/)