10 Greatest Rock Music Guitar Solos Of The 1980s
2. Sweet Child O’ Mine - Guns N’ Roses
According to legend, Slash was mucking around with a melody in the studio one day when Izzy Stradlin overheard him. He liked what he heard and got Slash to lay it down again. This would become the basis for one of Guns N' Roses biggest ever tunes; the almighty Sweet Child o' Mine.
Taken from their humongous debut release, Appetite for Destruction, Sweet Child o' Mine routinely appears in lists of the greatest guitar riffs of all time, but that's no excuse to sleep on its excellent middle section.
Presumably annoyed at the fact he was being made to play some stupid party trick over and over again, Slash let out all of his anger on this song's solo. After beginning with a note that dives down the fretboard, the Slasher seamlessly segues from a soft bed of notes to a ridiculous string of sounds, as the rest of the song picks up behind him.
He completely owns this segment of the song, saying more than he ever could with words. Efforts like this were what turned some guy in a top hat with crazy hair into one of the greatest guitarists to ever walk the planet.