Your top 5 (or so) John Petrucci guitar solos

[bosk1]

Simple thread topic.  List your top 5 JP guitar solos.  Rank them if you like.  Or just list them.  If you want to list less than 5 or more than 5, that's cool too.  What are some of your favorites?

I was thinking about this yesterday on a drive where I was listening to some music and thinking about my all-time favorite solos.  I thought it was interesting to observe that, for me personally, even though JP is my favorite guitarist, and he has a LONG list of incredible solos, my kneejerk reaction in thinking about favorite solos is to list a bunch by other people before even thinking about any of his.  I was wondering why that is, and I'm still not entirely sure about the answer, but I thought of a few factors that might be playing into it: 

First of all, I started thinking about the fact that a lot of his "solos," especially in later years, are a bit different from more "traditional" solos in mainstream rock.  A lot of times, when he is playing a lead, it isn't a situation where the rest of the band drops out and/or plays a simple, repeating chord progression that JP is soloing over.  A lot of times, he is playing a lead to compliment the other instrumentalists, and they are playing stuff to compliment was he is doing, and he is weaving in and out and back in again to playing what feels like a true "solo."  Or he is weaving in and out of playing solos, riffs, and/or chords.  I don't know if this is correct musically or compositionally, but thinking it through made me want to draw a distinction between a "solo" and a "lead."  I guess all solos would be leads (the way I think of it), but not all leads would be solos, if that makes sense.

Second, in trying to pick JP's "best," it is almost an embarrassment of riches type of situation.  There is just so much awesome playing to choose from that it can be hard to pick some stand-out "bests."

Third, and I guess somewhat related to the first point, his solos are sometimes very long.  And they are sometimes part of a tradeoff or longer instrumental passage where he is playing several solos as part of the longer passage.

Anyhow, just some random thoughts.  I started a companion thread in general music discussion about favorite solos by anyone:  https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57063.0

[bosk1]

Some of my favorites off the top of my head, in no particular order:

Outro solo in Octavarium.
Solo during the "Oh come let us adore him" section of A Change of Seasons.
Wah-heavy solo in Voices
Under a Glass Moon
Out of Reach
Pull Me Under (almost feels too structured, but it works)

[Architeuthis]

This is a tough call, but off the top of my head which could change at any time.
In no particular order.

1. Barstool Warrior
2. Under a Glass Moon
3. Awaken the Master
4. Razors Edge (8vm outro)
5. Behind the Veil

There are so many solos from JP that are just as good as any of these. The new album alone is littered with them, especially the title track.

[bosk1]

Behind the Veil probably belongs on my list too.

[JediKnight1969]

This is the life
Breaking all illusions
Forsaken
Fall into the light
Learning to live

[gborland]

Voices
Razor's Edge
Another Day
Wither
Barstool Warrior

[KevShmev]

Voices
The Spirit Carries On
Lines in the Sand
Trial of Tears
A Change of Seasons (during the Another World section)

[Kram]

Without putting any thought into this off the top of my head -

Voices
8V
Bartstool Warrior
A New Beginning
In the Name of God

[Elite]

So, this is a lot easier to do that the top 5 guitar solos overall, since I have the boundaries of only having to pick JP solos.

Under a Glass Moon
A Change of Seasons (roughly 17:10-18:30)
Innocence Faded (Outro)
Voices (07:24-08:20)
The Spirit Carries On

also the Beyond This Life solo starting at 09:06, but it's in unison with the keys, so I don't know whether it should count

and there's a bunch I had to leave out

[HOF]

Scarred
Lines in the Sand
Trial of Tears
ACOS part V (Another World)
Take Away My Pain

Honorable mention:

Another Dimension

Also, not strictly a solo, but the first half or so of Hell’s Kitchen.

[Volante99]

Scarred
Under a Glass Moon
Lie (Outro)
Breaking All Illusions
Constant Motion

Honorable Mentions:
Lost Not Forgotten
Kindred Spirits
Fatal Tragedy
You Not Me (the only good thing about that song)

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

In no particular order:

Best of Times (might be his best ever in terms of melody + technique)
Breaking All Illusions
Another Day
Under A Glass Moon
Spirit Carries On

Honorable mention: Behind the Veil

[TAC]

Another Day

This is a sneaky good call, especially considering his age at this point.

[Wim Kruithof]

I wanna do a little contribute in the list, which is already so full of beauty… the middle section of the Bigger Picture. That solo is a highlight of the whole album. It is probably one of Petrucci’s very best.

[Volante99]

Rant time:
Being a DT fan I acknowledge I’m a bit biased, and I also realize music isn’t a sport or competition; but for my money, JP might be the most complete guitarist working in metal/hard rock over the 30 years. He’s SO good that as a DT fan I almost take his performances for granted. Regardless of the quality of the album as whole, as a guitar player, I know I’m in for a treat with each and every release.

He’s the total package- rhythm skills, melody, tone, scary shred abilities, and (especially in the early Images/Awake period) extremely inventive playing. The fact that he wrote the guitar parts for an album like Train of Thought in 3 weeks (!) also proves the man has some otherworldly, one-in-a-million prodigy ability. Oh- and more often than not; his live playing is nearly flawless.

Most amazingly, his lead playing has remained relatively fresh after all these years, and he continues to evolve. He doesn’t rely or fall back on a set of licks, either. Some of his shred contemporaries like Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert, amazing and inventive in their own right, still have a bag of tricks/licks they’ve been playing since 1984. While I prefer his more jazzy, diverse early work, even I have to admit that LTE3 contains some really interesting guitar work, and he’s clearly still trying to push the boundaries.

JP is simply one of the best, ever.

[Architeuthis]

Well put!  I agree on all counts.  I still think he is the heavy weight champion of the world and has not been de-throned by anybody.  A better title for JP would be "King of Strings"!   

[wolfking]

The Spirit Carries On
At Wit's End
Another World
Behind the Veil
Scarred

The outro of TCOT is close and Glasgow Kiss probably finds it's way in but I kept it strictly DT.

[TAC]

Rant time:
Being a DT fan I acknowledge I’m a bit biased, and I also realize music isn’t a sport or competition; but for my money, JP might be the most complete guitarist working in metal/hard rock over the 30 years. He’s SO good that as a DT fan I almost take his performances for granted. Regardless of the quality of the album as whole, as a guitar player, I know I’m in for a treat with each and every release.

He’s the total package- rhythm skills, melody, tone, scary shred abilities, and (especially in the early Images/Awake period) extremely inventive playing. The fact that he wrote the guitar parts for an album like Train of Thought in 3 weeks (!) also proves the man has some otherworldly, one-in-a-million prodigy ability. Oh- and more often than not; his live playing is nearly flawless.

Most amazingly, his lead playing has remained relatively fresh after all these years, and he continues to evolve. He doesn’t rely or fall back on a set of licks, either. Some of his shred contemporaries like Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert, amazing and inventive in their own right, still have a bag of tricks/licks they’ve been playing since 1984. While I prefer his more jazzy, diverse early work, even I have to admit that LTE3 contains some really interesting guitar work, and he’s clearly still trying to push the boundaries.

JP is simply one of the best, ever.

I completely agree!

The Spirit Carries On
At Wit's End
Another World
Behind the Veil
Scarred

A lot of people have mentioned this. I'll have to give it a listen.

[KevShmev]

Petrucci, for me, is like Gilmour, Lifeson and Stolt in that he has so many great solos that I could list dozens and still feel like I left off dozens of great ones. 

[hunnus2000]

Wow - where to begin? 

But for starters:

Under a Glass moon
Breaking All Illusions
Out of Reach
This Dying Soul
Illumination Theory

[TheCountOfNYC]

Instead of a top five, I’m gonna list my favorite solo from each album.

When Dream and Day Unite: Afterlife
Images and Words: Under a Glass Moon
Awake: Innocence Faded
Falling Into Infinity: Lines in the Sand
Scenes From a Memory: The Spirit Carries On (my favorite guitar solo of all time)
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence: Goodnight Kiss
Train of Thought: As I Am
Octavarium: Razor’s Edge
Systematic Chaos: The Ministry of Lost Souls outro
Black Clouds & Silver Linings: The Best of Times
A Dramatic Turn of Events: Breaking All Illusions
Dream Theater: Along for the Ride (this album has JP’s weakest solos IMO)
The Astonishing: A New Beginning
Distance Over Time: At Wit’s End
A View From the Top of the World: Invisible Monster

[Dave_Manchester]

In DT:

1. The Best of Times
2. Octavarium (The Razor's Edge)
3. Stream of Consciousness (outro solo)
4. Hollow Years (Live at Budokan)
5. Home (the shreddy one at around 9 minutes that leads out of the instrumental section)

Honourable mention: In The Name of God (Live at Budokan outro solo)

Outside of DT:

1. In The Moment, from 'An Evening With John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess' (the entire song)
2. When The Water Breaks, from LTE 2 (from about 14:30)
3. Temple of Circadia, from Terminal Velocity (from about 4:10 to 5:20)
4. The Oddfather, from Terminal Velocity (from about 5:30)
5. Key to the Imagination, from LTE 3 (from about 11:30 to the end)

[SeRoX]

The Killing Hand
A Change Of Seasons (Another World)
Lines In The Sand
Voices
View (My new fav.)

Actually it's so hard to list.

[goo-goo]

These Walls

[wasteland]

The Top 5 (in no meaningful order)

Goodnight Kiss
Key To The Imagination
Lines In The Sand
Scarred
The Spirit Carries On


The Top 20 in the Studio (in chronological order)

Afterlife
Take The Time (outro)
Learning To Live (8:35-8:53)
Voices
Scarred (7:33-8:51)
Another World
When The Water Breaks (10:07-10:49)
Lines In The Sand
Peruvian Skies
The Spirit Carries On
Goodnight Kiss
Razor's Edge
TMOLS
The Best Of Times
Breaking All Illusions
Chosen
At Wits End
Beating All Odds (outro)
Key To The Imagination (outro)
Rupture Of The Deep (2nd Solo)

[HOF]

A Change of Seasons (roughly 17:10-18:30)

This one is really good. Kind of similar to the Trial of Tears solo I think.

[Trav86]

Voices
The Spirit Carries On
Lines in the Sand
Trial of Tears
A Change of Seasons (during the Another World section)

This. But Octavarium (The Razor’s Edge) would be an honorable mention.

[svisser]

It is hard to list my top 5, but my #1 will probably always be The Best Of Times outro solo.

Other than that, my favs are actually on live performances. His extended solo on Hollow Years at the Budokan, the extended solo on The Spirit Carries On for Score, and the extended solo from Take The Time on the double feature DVD.

[bosk1]

The Spirit Carries On
At Wit's End
Another World
Behind the Veil
Scarred

A lot of people have mentioned this. I'll have to give it a listen.

Can't speak for anyone else, but for me, what takes it over the top is the last half when the rhythm underneath the solo changes.  Up to that point, it is good, but isn't what I would consider a "standout" solo.  But then that change happens, and the solo starts to go in a different direction that simultaneously builds on and departs from the first half, and builds to an amazing climax.

[hefdaddy42]

Voices
The Spirit Carries On
Lines in the Sand
Trial of Tears
A Change of Seasons (during the Another World section)

That looks pretty good to me.

[Pettor]

I am happy the wonderful solo in Our of Reach got some recognition!

1. Lines In The Sand (live at Bucharest)
You can see how in the moment he is on this one. People talking about removing click track, then I think this is evidence nr 1. Also fantastic use of talk box!

2. Breaking all Illusions
Sounds even better live and is just everything JP in one solo.

3. Barstool Warrior
Short and super sweet. Perfect!

4. At Wit's End
Has been growing more and more to the point it just clicked 100%.

5. Ending of Octavarium
The perfect ending to a song that craves it. The whole song build and partly relies on the ending being as big as it gets, and this solo really is that.

But as stated, there's so much to pick from.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Glad to see Best of Times solo getting so much love here. It's a standout moment on the album too. Aside from the expertly constructed melody, JP pushed himself to include some challenging sweeps-- something he is not known for. It's just a shame we'll probably never hear it live. 

[TAC]

The Spirit Carries On
At Wit's End
Another World
Behind the Veil
Scarred

A lot of people have mentioned this. I'll have to give it a listen.

Can't speak for anyone else, but for me, what takes it over the top is the last half when the rhythm underneath the solo changes.  Up to that point, it is good, but isn't what I would consider a "standout" solo.  But then that change happens, and the solo starts to go in a different direction that simultaneously builds on and departs from the first half, and builds to an amazing climax.

Just listened to it. DT12 is not really a go to album and BTV is not a go to track.

What stood out to me was not the solo, but how damn good James sounds.

[erciccio]

In chronological order:

 - Under a glass moon (that whammy bar thrill!)
 - Voices (how to use a wha to deliver emotions)
 - The Spirit Carries on (great emotions, and relatively easy and fun to play)
 - Octavarium- Razor Edge (not technical, but simply perfect! Such a great match with the background harmonic changes!)
 - The Best of Times (a good mix of emotions and techniques, and it's also a great guitar exercise...it actually contains some of the few JP's sweeps I can play relatively well...)
 - Breaking all Illusions (there is nothing reallys special about it...but I love the song and how the solo fits in it!)
 - Chosen (easy and fun to play)

Outside Dream Theater i really love the final solo in Key to the Imagination...again, nothing super technical or special in it, but it's just beautiful to listen to and very fun and  didactic to play!

I would also mention a couple of solo sections that are not musically beautiful but are great as technique development exercises:
 - the Glass Prison arpeggios (for alternate picking over arpeggios)
 - the final solo in Gemini (for sweeps a-la Jason Becker)
 - the quintine neoclassical section in Erotomania (for alternate picking /string skipping over and odd metric)- I really struggle with this one...

[DT1138]

Hard to narrow it down to 5, so here's 7 for you...

Damage Control
Enigma Machine (the part where everything slows down)
Forsaken
Fatal Tragedy
Panic Attack
The Test That Stumped Them All
Under A Glass Moon