Tournament of Maiden Solos: the Top 10 video!

Which guitar solo is your favourite?

  • Total voters
    32
  • Poll closed .
That's fair. I too prefer the melodic stuff (hence H being my favorite soloist and Jan being my least favorite) but I like when they go outside of the box once in awhile.
 
Dave's POTO and H's SSOASS, for sure. Two amazing solos. The other two are alright, but they sound more like filler leads than solos. Don't get me wrong, they fit the songs very well, but the competition here is stiff.
 
Natalie said:
Great idea and thanks NP for making that handy video!
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Ditto that. And thanks Foro for alerting me to this! :)

Between these 4 solos, it's an easy decision for me. Both of H's solos in SSOASS are explosive, and really help to maximise the intense feel of that section, after the brooding atmospheric interlude which precedes it. Davey's Phantom solo is one of the most memorable solos in Maiden's catalogue, even though it is one of his most understated. He goes for the same feel on his solo in 22 Acacia Avenue, but his Phantom solo is probably the best example of that type of solo from him.

On the flipside, Dave's Eagles solo isn't one that ever comes to mind when I think of his best solos, and the solo in that song never really catches fire until H joins him for the twin melody section. I like Janick's solo in CEA, but again, it's not one that would come into my head when thinking of his best solos. I do prefer it to Dave's Eagles solo though!
 
I chose SOASS first and then had a rather tough choice to make between POTO and WED, I settled on POTO in the end even though both of them are great pieces of work and above average Maiden solos in my opinion.

I love the SOASS and POTO solos, I love them both even more in the context of their relative songs.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Dave's POTO and H's SSOASS, for sure. Two amazing solos. The other two are alright, but they sound more like filler leads than solos. Don't get me wrong, they fit the songs very well, but the competition here is stiff.
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Sara said:
Between these 4 solos, it's an easy decision for me. Both of H's solos in SSOASS are explosive, and really help to maximise the intense feel of that section, after the brooding atmospheric interlude which precedes it. Davey's Phantom solo is one of the most memorable solos in Maiden's catalogue, even though it is one of his most understated.
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UpTheIrons said:
I love the SOASS and POTO solos, I love them both even more in the context of their relative songs.
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Yip, I went for H's SSoaSS & Dave's Phantom lead too.

H's SSoaSS lead is the outstandingly crafted of this four, I would say; it was certainly in my own Adrian Smith Top Ten. Dave's Phantom lead is perhaps mixed &/or produced a little poorly & doesn't showcase quite how good this lead is; but this doesn't disguise the quality.

The Eagles lead is not one I paid much attention to when doing my Dave Top Ten. But, judging by Dave's live 2005 Ullevi version, this lead is perhaps more thought out than I (& perhaps others) gave him credit for. Good, but not Phantom good. Janick's Como Estais Amigos lead is also decent. Like much of Janick's album work it seems to have been largely forgotten. Still, it's not really up there, compared to the competition in this particular round.
Forostar said:
The votes and responses to this first group are overwhelmingly cool! Thanks everybody!
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It sure as hell beats talking crap in the Book of Souls threads...
 
1) The sparseness of Dave's solo in Where Eagle's Dare, his bends and whammy dives, creates imagery of soaring peacefully at high altitude above the warfare. 2) Janick's solo in How Are You Friend has soul.
 
Seventh Son's latter part is, at the moment, the best instrumental section of all catalogue. That includes all solos. Like Mid-Distance Runner mentioned, Where Eagles Dare is low on quantity of actually picked notes, but full of feel and incredible whammy performance. Perfect atmosphere.

For the others, Como Estas Amigo has a really nice solo but it doesn't compare with above mentioned in my book. I don't really like studio version of Phantom Of The Opera, and Dave wasn't pitch perfect back in the day.
 
Brigantium said:
I'm leaning towards that one too. It's Janick isn't it? The other three songs are quite high on my list of Maiden favourites, which makes it difficult. I'm surprised that the Seventh Son one just isn't grabbing me, even though I adore that song and love the drama. It's between Phantom and WED. Thing is, I'm hearing the Where Eagles Dare one in context of being carried along by the momentum of the full song, where it fits brilliantly. I'm not sure it's as impressive when taken in its own right.
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I quote this because the reasoning for choosing is influenced by exactly this sort of thinking.

  • Phantom: I'm a sucker for Dave's melodic solos, this one being no exception, so this is my first choice.
  • SSOASS: Here I don't feel that each solo excels on its own. The solos are all well performed and composed, but it's the overall flow of the composition that makes it special - I don't feel any of the solos are standout performances from Dave/H.
  • WED: It is a quite special Dave solo, but like described by Brigs - the solo fits brilliantly to the song, but it doesn't give me so much on its own.
  • CEA: More emotional than the two previous ones, but also a simpler one. But I often prefer Janick's soloing when he does it this way. In my opinion, he's a damn fine guitarist and can compose a good solo, but often he chooses to go with speed. When he doesn't, he shows that his musical senses are fully intact.

I go with Phantom and Amigos.

Brigantium said:
The intensity reminds me of his Wasting Love solo. Not bad for a monkey murdering Hartlepudlian lad.
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:D
 
Love the way this is set up. Nice work guys.

The POTO solo is slippery and sublime and the WED is sweeping and grand and perfectly fits the song.
I was surprised at how little the 7S one did for me.
But the CEA piece is so emotional and the the release is perfect.
It's my pick and I am glad to see the support it's getting.

This is a topic I have never given any analysis to before.
I'm betting emotional over technical will be the watchword for me.
 
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