(Don't Fear) The Reaper guitar solo
Blue Öyster Cult, 1976, from Agents of Fortune. Solo by Buck Dharma.
The bridge where everything explodes.
Buck Dharma's guitar holds the whole song together, from the chiming, circular intro riff to the bridge where everything suddenly gets louder and stranger. The solo comes out of that dark, stormy interlude, and Dharma plays clean, melodic lines with a bright SG tone, stacked over layered rhythm parts. It never turns into a showcase; it tells the story of the song's turn toward darkness and back. Guitarists love it because the intro and the lead are both easy to recognise and satisfying to learn. Listen for the way the solo climbs out of the bridge's chaos and hands smoothly back to the familiar riff, as though nothing had happened.
(Don't Fear) The Reaper by Blue Öyster Cult is ranked #142 in our consensus of 80 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Buck Dharma and the song was released in 1976. It appears on 3 lists, placing as high as #3 (Rick Beato (YouTube)).
In our lists
- See Them Live — #50
- One and Only — #19
- The Road Trip 50 — #33
- The 25 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Solos — #23
- SGs & Telecasters — #21
- The Best Blue Öyster Cult Guitar Solos — #1
- Top 20 Guitar Solos of 1976 — #7
Sources
- Rick Beato (YouTube): Top 10 Underrated Guitar Solos of All Time — #3
- Ranker: The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time — #46
- Rolling Stone: The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time — #60
- Classic Rock (Louder): The 100 greatest guitar solos in rock — #70
Who played the guitar solo on (Don't Fear) The Reaper?
Buck Dharma played the solo on Blue Öyster Cult's (Don't Fear) The Reaper (1976).
What guitar was used on the (Don't Fear) The Reaper solo?
A gibson sg, according to widely reported accounts.
Where does (Don't Fear) The Reaper rank among the greatest guitar solos?
#142 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 80 published lists; it appears on 3 of them.