The guitar solos that live rent-free in my head

A love letter to the moments where time slows, bends, and climbs an octave higher.

Some solos are fast. Some are flashy. Then there are the ones that feel like the room tilts a little, the air thickens, and you catch yourself holding your breath. This is about those moments.

Two of my all-time favorites couldn't be more different, yet they hit that same nerve: Pink Floyd's "Echoes" from Live at Pompeii and Jimmy Page's solo on "Stairway to Heaven." Both have that mix of patience, tension, and absolute emotional payoff.

Echoes – Pink Floyd (Live at Pompeii)

There's a reason people get weirdly poetic when they talk about "Echoes." It's not just the amphitheater, the lava rocks, or the fact that the band dragged a full stage rig into a place where ancient Romans once sat. It's the way David Gilmour plays like he's sculpting air.

The moment

Around 5:50, Gilmour hits that octave climb—a slow, deliberate walk up the neck from a simple F# minor motif. Ninth fret. Twelfth. Higher. Each bend hangs in the air long enough to make you lean forward.

The 2016 remix sharpens the whole thing. The highs are glassy without being harsh, the separation cleaner, and every sustain has more room to bloom. Same emotional punch as the original, but with the dust brushed off.

Why it works

• It's patient. Zero rush.
• Octave displacement builds tension without ever showing off.
• The amphitheater does half the work. Natural reverb is basically another band member.
• The remix reminds you how intentional every note was.

Gear rabbit hole (because we're all weak):

• Guitar: Gilmour's Black Strat, a late-'60s Fender Stratocaster he modified endlessly.
• Amps: Hiwatt DR103 heads into WEM Starfinder 4x12 cabs.
• Core effects: Binson Echorec (the heartbeat of the tone), Fuzz Face, Vox wah, DeArmond volume pedal, and a Leslie 147 for that swirling "is the guitar singing?" texture.

If you want to dive deeper, the Christie's Black Strat write-up and Gilmourish's Pompeii rig breakdown are gold mines.

Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)

You can roll your eyes because it's overplayed. You can complain about guitar-store kids butchering the intro. None of that changes the fact that Jimmy Page built the blueprint for the "rock ballad eruption," and nobody has topped it since.

The setup

For five minutes "Stairway" simmers. Acoustic guitars, recorders, Tolkien energy. Then at 5:55, the dam breaks.

The solo

Page launches into nearly two minutes of improvisational chaos. It sits mostly in A minor pentatonic, but he throws in those signature triplet runs, wide bends, and a vibrato that practically screams.

The looseness is part of the charm. It's not polished. It's alive.

Tone and tools

• Guitar: His '59 Gibson Les Paul Standard "#1", gifted by Joe Walsh.
• Amp: A slightly overdriven Marshall.
• Effects: None. Just a Les Paul abusing tubes.

Why it works

• After six minutes of tension, the solo hits like a pressure valve.
• It ramps from soulful to frantic without losing control.
• You can hum it. A two-minute solo that people can whistle is rare.

Cultural footprint

• The "No Stairway" joke in Wayne's World exists because everyone tried to play this solo.
• Nearly every "Best Guitar Solo Ever" poll puts it in the top two.
• It's still the template for how to build a climax in rock.

Why these solos stay with me

Both solos are lessons in restraint. Gilmour builds space. Page builds tension. Neither relies on technical flash to land the punch. They're reminders that the best solos aren't scales—they're storytelling.

If you're building your own list or writing about guitar moments that move you, start with the emotion first. The gear and theory just help explain why your stomach flips when the octave hits or when the pentatonic run crests.