# The 25 Best Shred Guitar Solos of All Time

> The 25 best shred guitar solos of all time, ranked. #1 is Eruption by Van Halen, then For the Love of God and Cliffs of Dover. Every video starts at the solo.

Canonical URL: <https://greatestsolos.com/list/shred/>

Shred is guitar playing built on speed, tapping, sweeping and whammy-bar control, set off by Eddie Van Halen and codified by the 1980s virtuosos. This list ranks tracks by their presence in published guitar-solo polls, from Eruption to recent instrumental releases.

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), [Thomann – 25 Iconic Guitar Solos (2024)](https://www.thomannmusic.com/blog/inspire/25-iconic-guitar-solos/), [SiriusXM – 50 Baddest Guitar Solos (2024)](https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/siriusxm-50-baddest-guitar-solos.58286/), [Guitar World – The greatest guitar solos of the 21st century... so far (2023)](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-greatest-guitar-solos-of-the-21st-century-so-far)

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. [Surfing with the Alien](https://greatestsolos.com/song/joe-satriani-surfing-with-the-alien/) — Joe Satriani · solo by Joe Satriani · 1987
5. [Satch Boogie](https://greatestsolos.com/song/joe-satriani-satch-boogie/) — Joe Satriani · solo by Joe Satriani · 1987
6. [Black Star](https://greatestsolos.com/song/yngwie-malmsteen-black-star/) — Yngwie Malmsteen · solo by Yngwie Malmsteen · 1984
7. [Hot for Teacher](https://greatestsolos.com/song/van-halen-hot-for-teacher/) — Van Halen · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1984
8. [Tender Surrender](https://greatestsolos.com/song/steve-vai-tender-surrender/) — Steve Vai · solo by Steve Vai · 1995
9. [Far Beyond The Sun](https://greatestsolos.com/song/yngwie-malmsteen-far-beyond-the-sun/) — Yngwie Malmsteen · solo by Yngwie Malmsteen · 1984
10. [Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee](https://greatestsolos.com/song/extreme-flight-of-the-wounded-bumblebee/) — Extreme · solo by Nuno Bettencourt · 1990
11. [Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mr-big-daddy-brother-lover-little-boy/) — Mr. Big · solo by Paul Gilbert · 1991
12. [Play With Me](https://greatestsolos.com/song/extreme-play-with-me/) — Extreme · solo by Nuno Bettencourt · 1989
13. [The Attitude Song](https://greatestsolos.com/song/steve-vai-the-attitude-song/) — Steve Vai · solo by Steve Vai · 1984
14. [Through the Fire and Flames](https://greatestsolos.com/song/dragonforce-through-the-fire-and-flames/) — DragonForce · solo by Herman Li, Sam Totman · 2006
15. [Always with Me, Always with You](https://greatestsolos.com/song/joe-satriani-always-with-me-always-with-you/) — Joe Satriani · solo by Joe Satriani · 1987
16. [Scarified](https://greatestsolos.com/song/racer-x-scarified/) — Racer X · solo by Paul Gilbert, Bruce Bouillet · 1987
17. [Little Pretty](https://greatestsolos.com/song/steve-vai-little-pretty/) — Steve Vai · solo by Steve Vai · 2016
18. [Rise](https://greatestsolos.com/song/extreme-rise/) — Extreme · solo by Nuno Bettencourt · 2023
19. [Waves](https://greatestsolos.com/song/guthrie-govan-waves/) — Guthrie Govan · solo by Guthrie Govan · 2006
20. [Damage Control](https://greatestsolos.com/song/john-petrucci-damage-control/) — John Petrucci · solo by John Petrucci · 2005
21. [Flying in a Blue Dream](https://greatestsolos.com/song/joe-satriani-flying-in-a-blue-dream/) — Joe Satriani · solo by Joe Satriani · 1989
22. [Speed Metal Symphony](https://greatestsolos.com/song/cacophony-speed-metal-symphony/) — Cacophony · solo by Marty Friedman, Jason Becker · 1987
23. [Atomic Mind](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nick-johnston-atomic-mind/) — Nick Johnston · solo by Nick Johnston · 2013
24. [Get Out of My Yard](https://greatestsolos.com/song/paul-gilbert-get-out-of-my-yard/) — Paul Gilbert · solo by Paul Gilbert · 2006
25. [Kissing the Shadows](https://greatestsolos.com/song/children-of-bodom-kissing-the-shadows/) — Children of Bodom · solo by Alexi Laiho · 2000

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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/)