Alex Skolnick: Ten Overlooked, Essential Solos of the '70s

Alex Skolnick: Ten Overlooked, Essential Solos of the '70s

To guitar players of a certain generation, it may be hard to accept the following solos as ‘overlooked.’ After all, these songs were mostly hits by superstar acts—it’s difficult to imagine them not having a serious impact on anyone playing guitar back when the songs were new. But for some reason, in the years that followed, these solos would rarely come up in conversations amongst aspiring guitarists.

I’m not letting myself off the hook here. I can remember my pre-teen and teen years, being glued to Van Halen, Ozzy, and Yngwie albums, ignoring guitar playing that felt less ‘current.’ But eventually, I opened my eyes (and ears) to something very important: that in order to be a more complete, well-rounded and diverse musician, no matter what musical style one is drawn to, it is essential that one explore the music of previous eras. And for aspiring lead guitarists, this means listening to and studying some of the great guitar solos of the 1970s.

Still, to this very day, among a majority of guitar players my age—give or take a generation or two—I’ve found scant acknowledgment of guitar solos from this era.

Why is that? more