# Heart-Shaped Box guitar solo

> Kurt Cobain's guitar solo on Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana (1993) starts at about 2:41. From the album In Utero. Ranked #388 of all time across 80 lists.

Canonical URL: <https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-heart-shaped-box/>

Nirvana, 1993, from *In Utero*. Solo by *Kurt Cobain*.

Cobain's short, detuned-sounding solo bends notes just off pitch, turning sourness into the point.

Heart-Shaped Box, from In Utero, has a short solo in which Kurt Cobain bends notes just off pitch, and that sourness is the point. The effect is unsettling, like a melody seen through warped glass, and it matches the song's mix of tenderness and discomfort. His tone sounds thick and slightly detuned, and the phrasing is deliberately simple, sticking close to the song's own melodic shape instead of adding flashy runs. Cobain rarely treated the solo as a showcase, and here he uses it to push the song's mood further into strangeness. Listen for the bent notes that never quite resolve, leaving a feeling of unease hanging in the air as the song returns to its chorus.

Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana is ranked #388 in our consensus of 80 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Kurt Cobain and the song was released in 1993. It appears on 1 lists, placing as high as #17 (Rick Beato (YouTube)).

## In our lists

- [The Most-Taught Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/most-taught/) — #18
- [The 25 Greatest Grunge Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/grunge/) — #15
- [Rolling Stone vs. Everyone](https://greatestsolos.com/list/rolling-stone-vs-everyone/) — #5
- [The Best Nirvana Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/nirvana-guitar-solos/) — #2
- [Top 20 Guitar Solos of 1993](https://greatestsolos.com/list/best-guitar-solos-1993/) — #7

## Sources

- [Rick Beato (YouTube): Top 20 Strangest Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EzehYUhtT4) — #17
- [Rolling Stone: The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-guitar-solos-1235519961/) — #70

### Who played the guitar solo on Heart-Shaped Box?

Kurt Cobain played the solo on Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box (1993).

### Where does Heart-Shaped Box rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#388 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 80 published lists; it appears on 1 of them.

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