The 10 Best British Guitar Solos of the 1990's
Vložit
- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- Transcribed and performed by James Hargreaves in Richmond, North Yorkshire, May-June 2020.
Apologies, the TAB for my transcriptions of these solos is no longer available to download.
Many images and videos in my CZcams content have been found online without any attribution or credit available. In many cases I have therefore not been able to add a credit in the videos themselves due to lack of information. If your image or video has been used and a credit is required, please email me with your details and evidence of authorship and a credit will be added into the video description.
Many thanks, JH.
As it turns out the best guitarist of the 90's is James Hargreaves...Breaking in to Heaven , Whoa!!
Lol thanks so much!
Absolutely brilliant effort on the Squire solos - they're mentally quick on some of those hammer on / pull off runs. Looking forward to the lessons :)
Cheers Ian! Yeah they were murder to learn hahaha
Yeah I need to get round to doing those bloody lesson videos...
I was watching this thinking Love is the Law surely has to be #1 but there's no way you'll play it.
I actually thought you'd bottle it.
Fair play sir.
PERFECT! 👏🏼
It had to be number 1, Can’t beat a bit of John Squire!
Too right hahaha
Was a life's ambition of mine to crack that solo! A tick off the bucket list
wow amazing stuff, as a 19 year old guitarist fixated on proper good and proper British Indie Rock N Roll this was amazing
Cheers George
Much appreciated!
Amazing piece of guitar playing. Wow. Playing loads of my favourite bands too.
You pulled off every one of those solos, but that "Love is the Law" solo was INSANELY good. Way back in the olden days we used to have to listen over and over to a part to figure it out, which is what it looked and sounded like you did. Well done. So glad I found your channel. Peace.
I’ve been a subscriber for over a year but hadn’t ever ever watched this vid. James you are a fucking genius. I’ve seen most of them solos replicated but yours are as good as the originals. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated your efforts on this video. Thank you 25 mins of pure awe on my part!
Brilliant video James.
Great playing James!!
This video is a masterpiece. Thanks a million, you're great!
Great work on this, you are an amazing player, thank you!
Glad you like it!
the breaking into heaven intro isn’t nonsense once you’ve helped out Dodgy with their 15lb bag
hahahahahahahaha
It gives the song some context and symbolises the four years in the wilderness.
I love you bro! Keep up the good work!
Absolute brilliant and selfless work mate. Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish 👍
Bravo, James. A brilliant job, mate!
You showed me the magic and it only added to it all. I normally don't want magic explained but that was a pure pleasure. Only just discovered your site today but it's a major uplifter!
Cheers Pete! Thanks and welcome
This upload was a proper enjoyable journey down memory lane 👍🏻
90s were such a great time for teenage guitar music discovery, practically every week a new album or single was out. I remember almost melting the Manic’s Kevin Carter cd single (with the First Republic and Sepia b-sides) playing on repeat relentlessly.
Thanks David! Yeah for me the 90's in Britain are the greatest musical moment the UK has had since the 60's.
Definitely a time deserving of more focus
My god man, you are a legend! I was excited when you started with Chasing Rainbows, and was saying I CAN PLAY THAT TOO, then what followed was another level. Love the Squire outro to LITL but never seen it played, didn’t consider how damn skilful you need to be to smash it. Well done mate, excellent work and gradually working back through all your videos. 👍👏🎸
Amazing content. Thank you so much for taking the time to share gems from such an amazing period of music. Cannot wait to see some of the instructional videos. All the best
Thanks Matthew, I appreciate it 👍👍👍
I had been thinking I do need to get the instructional videos for these made! Which one would you prefer to see first?
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar well I am probably going to bite off more than I can chew but I have always wanted to be able to play that squire solo on breaking into heaven although I think it might take me forever to get through it
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar if you could put that one up it would be amazing. All the best and a happy new year to you, your family and all other guitar playing folks watching these amazing videos re music from an amazing era
Just watched the Love Is The Law solo. Wowsers! How on earth you played that, and even remembered all of the notes I have no idea. Sublime. And well done for sticking with it. Many would’ve given up before hitting 200 attempts! 😀
Hahahahaha thanks! Yeah it was bloody murder to learn. But hey, that's a tick off the bucketlist!
outstanding!!! ive been playing that seahorses tune for years but never managed to get it that nailed on. fair play to ya
Thanks Richard! Yeah its a beast. Doesnt help that the book is wrong either
Squire’s solo in driving south on the second coming album is another one that stacks up against love is the law and breaking into heaven in my opinion. Stone Roses fans may not like the second album, but stone roses fans who are also guitar enthusiasts (like myself) think the second coming is a guitar player’s absolute dream to listen to - it has certainly inspired me over the years
Aye, Second Coming was really heavy on the guitar, n took a bit of getting used to after falling in love with the Stone Roses because of their first album. You're bang on but, as a guitar player myself I love Squires work on the Second Coming, what a guitarist he is.
Well done James 👏👍👌
So surprised and delighted to see History at No. 2 - one of my favourite tracks ever.
And the choices of No. 1 and No. 3 are fantastic too - it seems we like the same stuff 👍🏻
I can play (most of) 1 and 3 but haven’t had a clue where to start on History until now - top work 👍🏻
Any chance you can share the delay settings?
That was brilliant , some of my fav songs on there too mostly the squire and history
Thanks! Yeah History is a tune - doesn't get the recognition it deserves
You did a proper job with that Shirehorses cover at #1. Really glad to know I wasn't the only one that found the tab book to be less than accurate where it mattered.
Yeah the TAB book was miles out, proper annoying!
This is fantastic mate. I couldn’t agree more with your top three. Skin Tyson is a massively underrated player (though Robert Plant hired him, so maybe not by everyone!) History is a work of genius - it’s so good to see you giving it the recognition it deserves. Nobody else from the Britpop era was doing anything like that. And as for John Squire - definitely his two best solos right there. The two best guitarists of the era for me. Perfect choices and perfect renditions - nice one!
Hey V316, thanks so much for that! Yeah I love those top 3 (although each of them was absolute murder to learn hahaha) great fun too though! 🎸🎸🎸
Wow on the manics lick. Awesomeness. Your channel is great 👍 👌 😀 👏 🙌 😄
YOU ARE THE BOSS!
Great work! Used to be able to do Breaking Into Heaven 25 years ago, but I’m well out of practice now. Also your Love is the Law was superb! 👏🏼
Thank you for these videos! So difficult to find guitar content I can relate to with people perceiving guitarists are only interested in metal and heavy rock music.
I'm personally pleased to see Steve Cradock and OCS get a mention here. It's actually 25 years to the day I'm posting this since Moseley Shoals was released.
I am frustrated though that no-one seems to look past The Riverboat Song. On that album alone the guitar work on Fleeting Mind, 40 Past Midnight and You've Got It Bad is at least equal to Riverboat.
It's a longshot but I would love to see a video looking more into Cradock as his work with OCS, Weller and other bands is greatly underestimated in my opinion.
Hi John
I have had a TON of requests for some more OCS stuff, so will probably look into it at some point 👍👍
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar Glad to hear I'm not the only one banging the drum then!
OCS are the reason I picked up the guitar with Robin Hood being the first song I learnt and Riverboat being the first riff.
I always love to retell the story of when Marchin' Already knocked Be Here Now off the number 1 album spot. Noel G sent the band a plaque inscribed with the words 'To the second best band in Britain'.
They replied saying well it's nice to be ahead of Oasis but behind The Beatles 😂
Nice one James
Steve Craddock deserves way more credit and publicity than he ever got
Epic playing. Kudos.
Cheers Chris :)
Much deserved, James. Any chance of a focus on some of the other brilliant indie guitarists of the 90’s? thinking Bernard Butler, Richard Oakes, Graham Coxon...
Definitely a possibility! I am aware I've hardly done anything whatsoever on Suede especially
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar Yes please! Dog Man Star has to go down as one of the best (and often underrated) albums of that decade. Butler was at his absolute peak and I firmly believe that if he stuck around for a few more records, we’d be talking of him in the same way as we speak of Marr in relation to the 80’s.
Great selection and great playing mate. Great to see the Roses in there (as well as The Seahorses). Would defo have Ten Storey Love Song on the "EP" you mentioned! And yeah, the outro to Love is the Law...hats off to you. Ploughing my way through the Seahorses tab book right now, but as you say, wrong in places! You nailed it though!
Thanks James, much appreciated 👍👍👍
driving south
driving south
Extraordinary guitar playing, and glad that the great John Squire is up there. But where’s Graham Coxon? Surely, This is a Low features one of the most stunning, emotive guitar breaks of all time.
Breaking into Heaven is a masterpiece
My favourite Oasis solo is, by far, Supersonic. It just sends me directly to 1994, it's the perfect soundtrack for a settin' sun. I love it. Great job, James, greetings from Barcelona. Wish you luck with your british rock riot.
I like it when you're about to cycle up a big bastard hill and 23:00 comes up on your walkman.
Incidentally I love the first minutes of Breaking Into Heaven. :)
Someone in the comments mentioned Ant’s Guitar Tutorials YT channel and I just checked it out and it is excellent and would make a great companion to this channel. Also I really like all of Dodgy’s Free Peace Sweet album!
Just got round to watching this one. Breaking into heaven solo was really cool... Think the idea of the intro was " they waited 4-5 years for new music why not wait another 4 minutes"
Love is law is also another tune. Thanks for this
Ha good call re the Breaking Into Heaven solo...
My pleasure. This video was an absolute beast to make haha
Thank you - that took me right back! Yes, there was something willfully amateur about Graham Coxon's solos - but he is worth a mention here - though transcribing Coffee & TV wouldn't be much fun! But you really needed Jonny Greenwood's solos for Just and Paranoid Android - they're really intense. Plus Bernard Butler on Suede's first album is great. Can't fault your number 1 spot even though it is pure Jimmy Page tribute. And for effortless simplicity, Weller on the Wildwood track is a nice opener.
I can play live forever solo except for the backwards part at 8:02. Drives me nuts! Great vid
Thanks for watching 👍👍🎸🎸
One of my favourites is Motorcycle Emptiness by the Manics, also the bends by Radiohead was massive.
Yeah I wasn't sure whether to do a Generation Terrorists one for this or Gold Against The Soul... I think the Gen T solos were a bit more hair metal though, and I liked GATS because it was so much more melodic.
And yeah - the solo for 'Just' from the Bends is pretty mint
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar if someone put a gun to my head and made me pick one JDB solo, it'd prob be "Archives of Pain". i saw them two nights in a row when they did the Holy Bible anniversary shows, and the way he plays those riffs and solos *flawlessly* while also pirouette-ing, running around the stage, singing, etc... it's fkn mindblowing.
Wow! love is the law outrageous guitar playing , outstanding 👏 👌 🙌
Thanks a lot 😊
I have 1 ? How does someone write and play a solo of that quality. Squire was so talented as are you Mr Hargreaves.
Thanks Gaz! Yeah that guy could play like a beast
Fantastic !time for me to up my game I think .
Rock n roll...
Wow that is some amazing playing on LITL
Cheers Phil. Took over 200 attempts to crack that one!!!
Great
This was absolutely brilliant. Any chance you could do a deepdive into some more of Tysons solos from all change, my fave 90s album ? Also a solo i always loved was Super Furrys Hometown Unicorn. Its prob dead easy but i always loved it. Great vid mate
Thanks Gary! There may be more Tyson stuff to come in the future - I do like his stuff
Hometown Unicorn is one of my favourites too.
Bravo Sir 👏👏🤜💥🤛
Thanks man 🤘🤘🤘
I only heard Chasing Rainbows and Riverboat Song in the last couple of years when I found a spotify playlist for britpop. I thought they were both awesome :) Never heard of Cash until this video. Such a shame the Stone Roses imploded, they have groove no-one else had there. Good fun video, thanks!
Great video and some astonishing playing on the John Squire solos! I was really interested in your comment about Noel Gallagher's guitar playing regressing over the first three albums. What do you think was behind that? Laziness? Loss of interest?
Blur - beetlebum
Radiohead - just
Suede the asphalt world
You nailed love is the law by the way
Good choices, and thanks!
Great playing and tabs, thank you. I was hoping for something by Graham Coxon but I guess he doesn’t really do a lot of straight out solos.
No worries. Yeah GC is a great player but for some reason he tends to go for odd noises and effects in his solos rather than anything melodic. Don't know if that is him trying to make some kind of statement haha. But I did listen to tons of his stuff trying to find some cool solos and I found tons of riffs, but not a whole ton on the solo front sadly
This is a low.
James did you transcribe them urself? If yes, Does it help your ear and playing a lot? I've been playing guitar for years and I'm generally too lazy to transcribe anything more than the odd riff but I can imagine transcribing a full solo being really beneficial as well as pretty satisfying. Cheers for class content again!
I really wanted Supergrass! It would be very easy for me to pick a solo from the first album "I Should Coco", I would go with the opening track "I'd Like To Know". Admittedly the melodic section of the solo is short but it's followed by a series of riffs that all fit together and make a great moment of guitar. Side note about Dodgy, I liked pretty much all their songs from the first two albums.
Yeah I love Supergrass' Gaz Coombes riff work, and I REALLY loved the In It For The Money Album
Loving the John Squire pieces throughout the channel James. Have you ever looked at doing Tears on the Second Coming? Genuinely love the guitar work in that and the transition from Acoustic to Electric. Not sure if they ever did that live? Great work. Eggs banners Nash.
Eggs? EGGGS? with-the-lads-and-the-nash-and-the-lads-and-the-eggs-and-the-EEEGGGGGGGS
Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaads
It was a staple of The Second Coming tour.
@@SeanJepson7 Yeah, I seem to recall Brown murdering it on one of the bootlegs. Leeds maybe? Still great though.
@@weavehole Yeah he murders it in Leeds, and Leicester and, and..
@@SeanJepson7 :D
Muy bueno!! Solo le agregaría el solo de Greenwood en "Paranoid Android" de Radiohead. Y me encanta el solo de Noel en "Live Forever" pero, vamos, no es tan difícil 😁
Also I recon most of the trem stuff was improvised on the spot
It’s all nonsense but it’s beautiful
Yes, live he doesn't play it note for note on the 110% speed parts, just just vaguely approximates
Great list, and superb renditions. Kudos. May I ask whether Animal Nitrate was close to making the list? It's the only solo I can think of from Suede/Butler actually.
Hi VA - yeah the Animal Nitrate solo is great fun... perhaps it should have been on there!
Not strictly on topic (released in late 89, contains lyrics "Follow me / Into the nineties" :) ) but Felt's New Day Dawning has a lovely two and a half minute guitar solo to close out the song. Worth a look if you don't know it.
Great video nevertheless :)
Cool, cheers
It’s great and clearly influenced don’t look back in anger
Which one harder between river boat song or hundred miles high from OCS?
great video! Hounslow's finest were def The Bluetones, though :)
Got to give a shout out to some underrated guitar players/solo's from this era - Super Furry Animals Gruff Rhys' solo on hometown unicorn......Adam Devlin of the Bluetones - his solo Can't be trusted..... And The Verve's Nick McCabe - a unique player.... this is music
Manic Street Preachers - You Love Us
Oasis - Bring it on Down, Champagne Supernova
Radiohead - Lucky, Paranoid Android, Just
great run down, have to disagree about the intro of breaking into heaven lol .... funnily enough the first two gigs I ever saw were the Seahorses at Southampton guildhall then Cast at portsmouth guildhall in summer 1997. no recollection of the cast gig but I do remember seeing the guitar tech setting up and hearing that delayed sound, I remember thinking I know what song thats for....
can't believe you slagged off "Second Coming" (just like the British press at the time). That LP is criminally underrated. Not most but any band would kill to have written a tune from that album in 2023
Tears John Squire.
I thought there is gonna be Animal Nitrate or any of Suede's songs in it but anyway, this is a good list and massive playing skill with the great great ears.
well done on this ..i thought same about seahoeses
Cheers Paul
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar note as well stone roses did an extended guitar solo on some versions of i am the resurrection....I have it on a compilation album great guitar playing by js
Brilliant stuff. Why do you put rmthe /slide symbol I thought as your hammer in
I use the left or right slash symbol to indicate legato or slides, you have to look above the tab where there will be an H meaning hammer, a P meaning pull off, an S meaning slide, or a B meaning bend
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar when you make you tabs, the slide symbol I thought was /. You have that as a hammer on.
in my tabs it can mean hammer on or slide or bend, depending on the letter written above (h s or b)
Great playing James. Really good; but come on, where is ‘we are the pigs’ by suede. Blistering solo.
Hi Jonathan, I appreciate it thanks. I'm gonna be honest, I haven't listened to much Suede (one of the few britpop bands I have somewhat steered clear from) because as a teenager I really really didn't like them. However, I may give them another listen through adult ears and see what I reckon...
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar give ‘Dog Man Star’ a spin. It’s a sit down in the dark album really but as mentioned ‘we are the pigs’ has a stunning solo and ‘The Asphalt World’ is epic. Be interested to know what you think. Keep up the good work!
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar Bernard Butler. Most underrated guitarist ever. Absolute class. as you are:)
That breaking into heaven solo is mega...I actually love the roses 2nd record because of the bloated guitars...I can’t get enough squire and considering he has a relatively small catalog...thank god we have Second Coming so I can go back and listen to a guitar player, who at that moment in time, decided he was gonna just fucking flat out have it
Cheers to the seahorses tune too ...totally wicked!
Thanks John! Both were an absolute beast to learn haha
Driving South by Stone Roses should’ve been on this list! It got me into blues playing
If I could leave 100 likes I would!
....INCREDIBLE.....
Thanks so much!
I would have swapped out the Cast for Suede. And no Coxon?! Wow.
But yeah, Squire at 1, 100%.
I only ever jam to this stuff, just can't be bothered to learn anything. But will try and do some of these. Superb video, thank you.
Hey, thanks for that 👍👍🎸🎸
Re Coxon, I did check out loads of his songs, but found lots of his solos just really weird, focused often on noise rather than melody... which solo from blur would you have included?
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar - My vote would go to either This Is a Low or Coffee & TV.
Agree, This is a low has a great solo which fits the emotion of the song powerfully. The solo on Bad Head is also very nice if it’s melody you’re after.
John squire was more page in the seahorses for love is the law
Yeah, Jimmy P was the obvious massive inspiration for this. JP was also the inspiration for the Stone Roses recent reunion - Squire saw the Zep reunion at Wembley I think it was, or the O2 or something, and afterwards decided to reform the Roses.
Tears from Second Coming is quality guitar work too, sound like Stairway to Heaven. None of these guitarists even come close to John Squire, but Steve Cradock is really good. The two of them are miles above the rest. John Squire is up there with some of the best, love watching him play.
but let's be honest, if this was the 10 best solo's of the 90's they'd all be John Squire 🤣
If I could SMASH that like button I would JUST for the fact you did Love Is The Law!!!!
Cheers Craig! Yeah that one was an absolute bugger to learn
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar I bet! I’m still dead serious about having you do a solo on one of my tunes at some point!
No list complete without Jonny Greenwood
Which Radiohead song would you have put in the list?
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar think if it needs an element of popularity too it’d have to be Just or Paranoid Android, but personally I might pick My Iron Lung
Was thinkin earlier where’s champagne supernova?well we played a solo that fit the img so good.Also good times fr the second coming is another belter.I think I would had breaking into heaven befor love is the law and good times might b better than BITH
Fucking hell, you nailed Breaking into Heaven and John Squire is like a guitar god to us brits! The Seahorses - Do it yourself - is pure nostalgia.
Good video. The Second Coming album is amazing. And the intro sets the tone 👍 soz😂
A Maximum High, not Let it Ride....
Here in the states I think myself and five others knew who Dodgy and Shed Seven were. Shame. Seahorses fit in nicely. Bluetones solos on Expecting To Fly earned a spot I reckon.
Bloody hell, James, I can see why 200 attempts needed. I expect you’re now a better player as a result?
also: no Suede? "The Asphalt World" is def top 5 imo
As much as I love the Stone Roses I think I’m with the Seahorses on this one, and tell John to just give it a bloody rest, mate
Dodgy being Hounslow's finest, the Bluetones might have something to say about that.
hahahahahaha I do actually prefer the Bluetones...
Only discovered they were from Hounslow after making this video though. Thought they were northern for ages! They sound northern
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar Didn't The Bluetones live in Dodgy's old house? 🤔
Agree. They had some great guitar solos as well - Bluetonic, Solomon Bites the Worm, Marblehead Johnson
Is that £15 or 15lb :)
Pretty hood list but the lack of Suede/ Bernard Butler is disappointing & a point of contention.
I think I would have included something off Generation Terrorists, maybe Motorcycle Emptiness.
Yes I considered it... and that is a really good album, but I just felt it was a bit more glam rock rather than proper British 90s rock, you know? It was so heavily influenced by the 80s. Still a good album though
No Nick McCabe and The Verve? Radiohead?
Nick Mccabe could easily have been in there despite of his atmospheric playing & soul music styles.
Honestly thought the seahorses had a better sound than the stone roses
I did prefer them too
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar love your channel mate you do a great job what’s your take on the bluetones my personal favourite from the Brit pop era
@@jamiemccabe6322 Love them! Did a vid on 'Slight Return' a bit back
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar I’m just gettin back into guitar again had one about a year now and it there song nae hair ont I don’t know what it is about it’s not a blistering riff or anything but sounds great to play
are you even aware of 'late in the day - supergrass" or "fallout - mansun" admittedly there's no way you could play them, then you would be Gaz Coombs wouldn't you 😂
That cast one sounds horrific. Like riverdance meets starlight express
None of these are hard. Anything by Bernard Butler is