I&W
Awake
SFAM
6DOIT
BC&SL
He's good everywhere but these stand out to me in both guitar sound and content. I tried to stick with max 5 because otherwise I could name them all. These 5, without thinking too much about it, stand in my mind as the most colorful stuff he's done. These four also happen to be my favorite DT albums. Is that a coincidence? Well, the songwriting and the guitar riffs/solos go hand in hand. They amplify eachother. If the song is great and the solo fits that song, it's like a multiplier combo. I've listened to Liquid Tension Experiment and his solo records quite a lot and I adore his recorded performances on the G3 tour, but to me JP is best in the context of Dream Theater.
Why didn't I pick Falling Into Infinity? Peruvian Skies, Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears feature splendid guitar work and I also really like that he played vintage guitars on some of those. Still, the album overall just doesn't have that JP unleashed feeling to me.
Why didn't I pick Train of Thought? He shreds like a madman on that one and I think it's totally awesome. Well, without listening to it I seem to have a hard time recollecting some of those guitar leads aside from the epic ending guitar solo of In The Name of God.. which isn't on the album version but on the Live At Budokan release. God, that solo is so great. Come to think of it, Hollow Years' solo from the same live album (originally a track from Falling Into Infinity) would also be my favorite FII solo, but it's not on the album release. That all said - I love it when they add extra live 'improv' stuff like that.
Why not Octavarium? The riffs and leads don't really stand out to me even though all the songs here are great. This is such a strong record as a collective where nobody really overplays.. great stuff.
Originally I selected four records but decided I should include Black Clouds & Silver Linings because his sound on that record is insanely heavy as well, with The Best of Times probably being his most emotionally powerful moment as a guitar player. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about the melodies in that guitar solo. Marty Friedman has Tornado of Souls, John Petrucci has The Best of Times. It's that good, I think.
Okay, and an honorable mention to A Dramatic Turn of Events even though I have my reservations about every Mangini-era album for some reason. Breaking All Illusions is just great.
This was a long post and I went off the rails probably - I just enjoy writing down my thoughts so sorry if it seems incoherent. Cheers.
EDIT: How can I forget A Change of Seasons?