Jimmy Page’s five best guitar solos
The streets of Sheffield seem to be paved with music. People who walk these streets do so with a song in their hearts, proud to call the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Richard Hawley, Pulp and Def Leppard their own. However, one night in the 1960s, before any of these bands had even so much as hummed a tune yet, the pavements were once again paved with music, but this time in the form of Jimmy Page’s face.
Page’s first time touring, before The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, was playing as the lead guitarist for Neil Christian and the Crusaders. Even back then, he turned heads with his guitar-playing ability, and people were coming to gigs with the sole intention of seeing Jimmy Page play live. It was all a bit too soon for Page, though, as the persistent playing and travelling resulted in him collapsing on the streets of Sheffield one night. He left the tour that day and decided to focus on becoming a session musician.
While Page might have been disheartened by the fact his first tour ended so abruptly, it ended up being a blessing in disguise. His work as a session musician opened him up to a range of different styles of music, which he ended up implementing into Led Zeppelin. “I wanted Zeppelin to be a marriage of blues, hard rock and acoustic music topped with heavy choruses,” he said, drawing from his time in the studio, “A combination that had never been done before.”
Throughout his time performing in Led Zeppelin, he wrote some of the most eclectic-sounding and exciting solos ever played on a six-string. Even now, when kids buy their first-ever guitar, they play a slowed-down version of ‘Smoke On The Water’, pick-catching strings and notes unclear, confused at how someone like Jimmy Page could pick up the same instrument and play something as beautiful as ‘Stairway To Heaven’. So, what are the best guitar solos he ever wrote?
The five best Jimmy Page guitar solos:
‘Stairway To Heaven’
There’s no point in building suspense for this one; everyone knows it will come up, so let’s get it out of the way. ‘Stairway To Heaven’ isn’t only one of Jimmy Page’s best moments on the guitar; it may be the best guitar work in rock. Every facet of Page is on display throughout this track, and it’s a beautiful piece of art that doesn’t seem to relinquish in that beauty, no matter how much time passes or how many times people listen to the song.
All of those elements that Page said he wanted to inject into Led Zeppelin, the marriage of blues, hard rock and acoustic music, are fully displayed in this song. The tranquil and subdued plucking that ushers in the track, which steadily transforms into the face-melting guitar solo and hard rock outro, is a testament to the artistry of the six-string. The solo is often revered as the best ever written, and to this day, Page claims to have improvised the whole thing. It really is a reflection of one of the greatest guitar players of all time.
‘Whole Lotta Love’
The ‘Whole Lotta Love’ solo is an exceptional piece of music, not only because the solo itself is great but because of how the band leads into it. The song ‘Whole Lotta Love’ is an energetic and fun song to listen to, and it would be easy for Led Zeppelin to go straight from the chorus into the solo, but they decided to take a moment and create an atmospheric approach to the track. They do this by bringing the music down and just having Robert Plant screaming occasionally, alongside the sound of wind brushing past, as if trapped inside the confines of a collapsing mind.
The result is that when the solo eventually kicks in and Jimmy Page’s iconic guitar lines are heard, it doesn’t just sound like a guitar solo but like a beacon home. There are very few rock songs where it feels as though you have earned the guitar solo, but that’s exactly how it feels on the classic ‘Whole Lotta Love’.
‘Black Dog’
Can you really call something a solo if it’s impossible to tell where the solo ends and a riff begins? ‘Black Dog’ is notoriously Led Zeppelin’s most complicated song, and the convoluted time signatures that both John Bonham and Jimmy Page play around with are the main contributions to that. Despite the complex nature of Jimmy Page’s guitar playing, the song still sounds cohesive, and the solo can easily be traced, making it accessible despite being chaotic. This blend is what people love about Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin as a whole.
The track was so complicated that its creator, John Paul Jones, had to come out and say that he didn’t intentionally make it complex; it just happened that way. “I actually wrote it in rehearsal from Jimmy’s house on the train,” he said, “My dad was a musician and he showed me a way of writing down notation on anything. And so I wrote the riff to ‘Black Dog’ on the back of a train ticket.”
‘Kashmir’
Even though a lot of people adore the song ‘Kashmir’, Robert Plant was always sad that it didn’t get recognised more. “I wish we were remembered more for ‘Kashmir’ than ‘Stairway to Heaven’,” he said, “It’s so right. There’s nothing overblown, no vocal hysterics. Perfect Zeppelin.” The song is a great example of what Zeppelin does well: creating a sound that is unrelenting and completely addictive.
Page’s guitar playing and solo throughout the track contribute towards this feeling in a big way. His ability to make one guitar sound like an army of them is a unique trait that he seems to possess. Despite being responsible for so many hits, even he heard ‘Kashmir’ and knew it was unlike anything he had ever written. “The intensity of ‘Kashmir’ was such that when we had it completed, we knew there was something really hypnotic to it,” he said, “We couldn’t even describe it, such a quality.”
‘Achilles Last Stand’
Presence was one of the most challenging records Led Zeppelin ever recorded, both for personal and professional reasons. During a period of uncertainty and tension within the band, Page remained unwavering and, as a result, created some of his most complex and powerful music. The solo on ‘Achilles Last Stand’ is an everlasting tribute to his robust creativity and skill, even during periods of turmoil.
“It was done in one evening, the whole of the arrangement,” he said when discussing the track, “To be honest with you, the other guys didn’t know: ‘Has he gone mad? Does he know what he’s doing?’ But at the end of it, the picture became clear. It was a little vignette, every time something comes around.”
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter
All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.