My Top 10 Slash Guitar Solos In Honor Of His 54th Birthday

Note: This blog is from last year, but sorta evergreen, so I figured why not give it the Slash birthday bump?!

Today is the 54th birthday of Saul Hudson – better known by his stage name, Slash – and I figured to commemorate the birthday of one of my all time favorite guitarists/rockstars, I’d break down my top ten favorite Slash solos for ya. Now I know there’s music hardos out there that’ll tell me that Slash is the most overrated guitarist of all time because he doesn’t constantly play in a 5/7 time signature with the technicality of John Petrucci or some shit, but let me just shoot that down as the worst take ever right now.

Slash’s insanely versatile, blues-inspired guitar riffs clashing with everything from the brashness and jaggedness of early Guns N’ Roses all the way to love ballads from the likes of Michael Jackson are songs within themselves, to the point where almost all of them can be (and have been) sang by massive crowds all over the world. Slash’s solos are so beautiful you can SING them, and in the realm of rock n roll, there’s few more influential than he is. I’d never call him the most talented guitarist of all time, but he’s certainly up there in the “greatest” conversation for me because of how brilliant his writing is.

Now I’m pretty damn indecisive, and can promise you that this list will change at some point, but as of this writing, here are my top ten Slash guitar solos ever…

10. Lenny Kravitz – Always On The Run (1:56)

Kicking things off is the only track on the list not from the discography of either Guns N Roses or Velvet Revolver, and it’s Lenny Kravitz’ jam ‘Always On The Run’. It’s a sick solo enhanced greatly by Kravitz announcing, “SLASH!” right before it kicks in. Just feels so sweet the second he starts shredding after that.

9. Don’t Damn Me – Guns N Roses (3:24)

From Use Your Illusion I, ‘Don’t Damn Me’ is about as deep a cut you’ll find in this blog but it’s well worthy of its slot here. This is quite possibly the best representation of Slash’s technical skills on the ax, goes hard, goes fast, and goes LONG. As a dude who plays bass and has played bass for many years now, I get carpel tunnel just listening to this solo.

8. Fall To Pieces – Velvet Revolver (2:53)

When that first note kicks in…

Tooooooooo friggin’ smooth!

7. Estranged – Guns N Roses (6:13)

Not only one of my favorite GnR songs, not only one of my favorite GnR videos (most bizarre music video of all time), but one of my favorite solos to ever appear in a GnR song. Kicking in just after the six-minute point in the track, this solo builds and builds and juuuust gets to the cusp of hitting a crescendo, but fades back down and allows the epic to continue right where it left off: on the mellow side. A little bit of a cock tease for sure, but a welcome one.

6. Coma – Guns N Roses (6:05)

This one probably won’t appear on too many other lists, but ‘Coma’ is one of my all time favorite Guns N Roses songs and it’s entirely due to Slash. It’s his brainchild, it’s absolute anarchy, it’s unpredictable, and I looooove how the solo essentially starts with a crazy fast build and then immediately flatlines, and repeats that process over and over again until the main riff drops back in behind the various voices packed one on top of the next chaotically. This one rides the thick line between heavy metal and blues like no other Slash solo for me, so it just rounds out the bottom half of this top ten.

5. Slither – Velvet Revolver (2:42)

I’ll never, and I mean EVER forget watching the video for Slither over and over again as a kid when it first dropped. This supergroup enthralled me from the second they formed, and this was the track that instantly made me fall head over heels with them. Duff’s playing one of my favorite bass riffs of all time, Slash rips it up over him, and then when it comes time to show us if he’s still got his fastball, he throws one over the plate clocking in at approximately 200mph. Holy moly is this solo just fucking fantastic, and dare I say: iconic. Instant classic for me.

4. Double Talkin’ Jive – Guns N Roses (1:21)

Double Talkin’ Jive is a GnR fan favorite among hardcores, and it’ll probably only take one listen to find out why. It’s like a way tighter, more bluesy, and put-together ‘Coma’, in that Axl Rose takes a backseat here and the inmates run the asylum. When Slash’s solo hits, it’s clear he’s in charge, and as clear as it is for jazz musicians when it comes time to hit their solo in swing songs or something. It feels more like a lead vocal track than it does a guitar solo, going back to what I was saying before about how Slash’s solos can so easily be sung, but never loses its nasty, grungey feel all at the same time.

3. Nightrain – Guns N Roses (2:53)

For a song that comes in with as big a bang as ‘Nighttrain’, it leaves…FADING OUT…to an even bigger bang. And that bang is Slash’s raw-ass guitar just tearing shit up as this heavy hitter rides off into the sunset.

2. November Rain – Guns N Roses (7:04)

The epilogue of ‘November Rain’ would be any other guitarists’ coup de grace, the highlight of their career, and the solo they could hang their hat on forever. For Slash, it’s his runner-up. The fact that I have to put this at #2 makes me sick. I gotta do what I gotta do, though, and I’m calling this one like I see it. ‘November Rain’ is Slash’s SECOND best solo of all time.

1. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N Roses (2:32)

I’m not gonna write a ton about this one, because I don’t have to. The ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ guitar solo is the greatest guitar solo ever written, played, and whatever else you wanna call it, for my money. Nothing really comes close to touching it. No sound in my twenty years on this planet has hit my ears quite as smoothly as this solo has. Ever. I could cum just thinking about it. Cliche #1, sure, but cliche for a reason.

So there you have it. I’ve got some honorable mentions below that just missed the cut, but if your favorites aren’t even mentioned down there, hit me up on Twitter (@RobbieBarstool) with what I’m missing!

Happy Birthday Slash!

Honorable Mentions:

Don’t Cry – Guns N Roses (2:17)

Rocket Queen – Guns N Roses (2:17)

Paradise City – Guns N Roses (4:48)

Sucker Train Blues – Velvet Revolver (2:47)

Patience – Guns N Roses (3:24)