# The Best Nirvana Guitar Solos

> The 18 best Nirvana guitar solos, ranked. #1 is Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991), then Heart-Shaped Box and Come as You Are. Every video starts at the solo.

Canonical URL: <https://greatestsolos.com/list/nirvana-guitar-solos/>

Nirvana made the guitar solo an act of rebellion, with Kurt Cobain swapping shred technique for melody-doubling leads, feedback and deliberate noise. His approach redefined what a rock solo could be for a whole generation in the 1990s.

Informed by: [Last.fm - Nirvana top tracks](https://www.last.fm/music/Nirvana/+tracks)

1. [Smells Like Teen Spirit](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-smells-like-teen-spirit/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1991
2. [Heart-Shaped Box](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-heart-shaped-box/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1993
3. [Come as You Are](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-come-as-you-are/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1991
4. [Drain You](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-drain-you/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1991
5. [Breed](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-breed/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1991
6. [In Bloom](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-in-bloom/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1991
7. [Aneurysm](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-aneurysm/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1992
8. [Love Buzz](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-love-buzz/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1989
9. [Territorial Pissings](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-territorial-pissings/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1991
10. [Pennyroyal Tea](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-pennyroyal-tea/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1993
11. [About a Girl](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-about-a-girl/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1989
12. [Scentless Apprentice](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-scentless-apprentice/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1993
13. [Radio Friendly Unit Shifter](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-radio-friendly-unit-shifter/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1993
14. [You Know You're Right](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-you-know-you-re-right/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 2002
15. [School](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-school/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1989
16. [Serve the Servants](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-serve-the-servants/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1993
17. [Dive](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-dive/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1990
18. [Stay Away](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-stay-away/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1991

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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/)