I like a good guitar solo, and often that can be the climax of a great song. A good guitar solo won't save an atrocious song, but a great solo will sure as hell improve an already great song (if it fits, of course). I also like making lists.
Here we go! (only one solo per guitarist)
20. Rhapsody - Gargoyles, Angel of Darkness [Luca Turilli]99% of Luca Turilli's solos are no-holds-barred shred. The one that is my favourite is one of the only exceptions, but man is it great. It's just based on a simple melody, and it's not overly long, but that melody is so great, and the way that Luca plays it makes me wish that he'd written a few more solos that involved this melodic, slower approach than flying over the fretboard at the speed of light (approximately). Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to get rid of them completely, 'cause Luca's an awesome shredder, but none of his shred solos go beyond great. This one does. This is one is amazing.
19. Beyond the Bridge - Where the Earth and Sky Meet [Peter Degenfeld-Schonburg]Beyond the Bridge's
The Old Man and the Spirit is one of my favourite progressive metal releases in the last five years, and a large reason for this is the fact that the band never seem to play fast to show off. Every moment on that album serves a purpose, and this guitar solo is a perfect example of that. Placed in the middle of a moving ballad, it's slow for the most part, until it explodes into a fast part just near the end that is just emotional and necessary as any other part of the solo, acting as a perfect release of emotion. While I love the whole album, the climax of this guitar solo has always been one of my absolute highlights, from the first listen on.
18. Pain of Salvation - Rope Ends [Daniel Gildenlöw/Johan Hallgren]Technically, these are two solos, but it's my list, and they work so well together than I could never rank one over the other anyway. As it is, the whole instrumental section is beyond fantastic, but those two solos are truly the highlights of this song. I love the subtle shift in mood before the second solo, with the backing instrumentation going heavier, and the whole song switching from 4/4 to 15/16 in a way that feels completely natural. Like with the previous solo, there's some fast runs thrown in, but they are completely necessary for the development of the solo, not for showing off. While many Pain of Salvation songs feature a good or even great guitar solo, these two back-to-back guitar solos are the only ones that I'd call awesomely amazing.