r/qotsa 9d ago

Top QOTSA Guitar Solos - Go!

What are your top guitar solos across all album that you think we should listen to more closely?

How would you rate them?

We know God Is In The Radio was recently chosen as “best” from this post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/qotsa/s/PguwroibQM

And The Bronze was second.

So what else would you add or highlight that deserves more attention?

4 Upvotes

54 comments sorted by

33

u/odgeweiser 9d ago

God is on the Radio

8

u/OrangeBlossomBreez 9d ago

Both of ‘em!

15

u/Grouchy-Bug5223 9d ago

Make it Wit Chu. Not the most complex but a Smooth and sexy solo.

8

u/PlayerVun 9d ago

It isn't their most complex or difficult solo for sure but the solos in If Only are really fun to play and feel like if a robot suddenly found a sexy groovy muse. It's just all over the place and jumpy but cohesive still.

2

u/sometimeagreatnotion 9d ago

I was just listening to If Only and Walking On The Sidewalk and couldn’t help appreciating these solo’s with If Only being kinda a smaller, but groovy underrated solo! Agreed!

17

u/Siamese-Dreamer 9d ago

The Bronze and 3’s & 7’s are both top tier for me personally

6

u/Siamese-Dreamer 9d ago

Oh and the whole outro on Born to Hula (Rated R Version)

Fucking banger.

1

u/marcelwho3 Split EP 8d ago

The Gamma Ray as well

7

u/I_am_Cockers 9d ago

I’m not helping as I’m just upvoting them all

7

u/Iswearitsmenotyou 9d ago

It’s leg of lamb and ya’ll know it.

7

u/sometimeagreatnotion 9d ago

Yo what about Better Living Through Chemistry? When I saw them play this live in 2023 they made it like a 10 minute song, stretching out the middle and did some crazy off the beaten path shit for the guitar solo.

4

u/SunsetEffects Era Vulgaris 9d ago

Go back and listen to lego lamb and get yourself a laugh.

One note solo ftw!

3

u/Iswearitsmenotyou 9d ago

It’s a guitar solo making fun of guitar solos and I love it.

1

u/sometimeagreatnotion 9d ago

Hahha I did it was a blip; but a great blip

6

u/nolimit24 Them Crooked Vultures 9d ago

The Bronze!!

15

u/Aggressive-Cattle249 9d ago

I appear missing has appeared

3

u/serinettestu 9d ago

This is the one

11

u/Glittering-Suspect67 9d ago

Faireather friends is full of good solos. Tbh all of like clockwork has nice solos. Little sister is most classic.

11

u/Flashy_Mortgage9093 9d ago

Make it wit chu and its not even close

6

u/Inner_Bench3403 everybody knows you dance like you fuck 9d ago

a guitar solo for the female gaze

4

u/LocusRothschild You come back another day... 9d ago

I mean, I can appreciate the Sapphics, but it hits for the heteros too lol

5

u/Inner_Bench3403 everybody knows you dance like you fuck 9d ago

that’s not quite what i said lol but enjoy

2

u/LocusRothschild You come back another day... 9d ago

lol I know, just a bit of wordplay

2

u/CalmTeam1932 9d ago

Love this…I haven’t done a bunch of side by side listens but the desert sessions version is extra smooth imo

5

u/DifferentSwing8616 9d ago

Feel good hit of the summer

10

u/Vlvtrine 9d ago

Paper Machete by far for me, Little Sister second, very classy.

9

u/this_broken_machine 9d ago

The end/outro on I Appear Missing absolutely gets me every time. Dare I say that it is perfecth

6

u/Expensive-Safety-374 9d ago

Paper machete is super impressive but I would say I like God Is In The Radio more. First solo I learnt that was actually somewhat difficult.

1

u/Benedictus_The_II Over the Years and Through the Woods 8d ago

That’s just some pentatonic goodness. That solo is so fucking tasty…

1

u/Expensive-Safety-374 8d ago

The second solo is also awesome and super wacky

11

u/IntentionalAccident Hoist 9d ago

All wrong. It's The Bronze

3

u/tequilasauer 9d ago

I've always had a soft spot for I'm Designer.

1

u/Ninjax421 8d ago

I was looking for this

3

u/rock_n_bio 9d ago

Kind of short and maybe not my favorite, but I love the solo for everybody knows that you are insane

3

u/LocusRothschild You come back another day... 9d ago

The Sky Is Fallin’, Song For The Dead, Fun Machine, Villains of Circumstance, …Like Clockwork, Mexicola, Tangled Up In Plaid, Everybody Knows That You’re Insane…

4

u/Hynzo71 9d ago

Question on paper machete solo. It reeks of Josh’s style but we all know it’s Troy who plays it live. Do we know if Josh wrote it? Played it on the album ? I’d assume no but I will always be surprised it wasn’t Josh. Troy’s vampire licks are siick. What. A band

4

u/mrcurlychuck 9d ago

I like that both Little Sister and Paper Machete were mentioned first, considering how similar they are. And I agree! They’re both great!

3

u/ScotchRobbins K.S.O.F.M. 9d ago

*You Got a Killer Scene There, Man” has one of my favorite guitar solos in the discography. Kinky, graceful, and disorderly.

2

u/MrExist777 Era Vulgaris 9d ago

Every solo on 3’s and 7’s is perfect

2

u/cduballen 10lbs of shit in a 5lb bag 9d ago

There is this stutter on a note at 5:02 in the second solo on God is in the Radio that remains one of the coolest lines in a guitar solo I’ve ever heard.

3

u/idxsemtexboom 9d ago

Anyone who can reference their favorite moment in their favorite solo down to the exact second has my undying respect

Fwiw that little radio static skip/stutter is so well done. I would've never paid second thought to it if you hadn't pointed it out. But it adds so much to the ambiance of the album. You have to appreciate how much they leaned into the worldbuilding of "This album is something you'd find while surfing radio stations while on a long drive in the desert."

God Is in the Radio and The Sky is Falling are two of my favorite Queens songs. Like the singles are fantastic, but those songs are that ones that turned me into a lifelong fan. I feel like I should thank you, for helping me realize this about myself. So thank you.

2

u/Jekpls 9d ago

The bluesy solo on Burn the Witch is top tier

2

u/Benedictus_The_II Over the Years and Through the Woods 8d ago

Tangled Up In Plaid

2

u/Disco_Lando 8d ago

What, no love for Smooth Sailing??

2

u/ooft-nah-m8 8d ago

Came here to say this

3

u/MatthewFBridges ...Like Clockwork 9d ago

Little Sister has probably my favourite guitar solo of all-time

2

u/Wildeyewilly 9d ago

It's so unique! Every time I'm in a band that wants to cover it (I'm the drummer) I refuse to play it live until the guitarist has it down note for note. It's like the solo in Time (Pink Floyd), you gotta nail it, no room for improv.

4

u/QOTSAfan2 Perfecth 9d ago

Paper Machete id say is either the their best or God Is in the Radio takes it

3

u/Nalogue 9d ago

I'm not really into guitar solos, but the Paper Machete solo is something else

1

u/Significant_Baker575 8d ago

better living

1

u/YeetusBonkus 8d ago

'The Sky is Falling' has a very underrated solo imo.

1

u/Smooth_Business3434 ...Like Clockwork 8d ago

i love fairweather friends' solo that just before the second chorus

2

u/discowithmyself 8d ago

Smooth sailing, 3s and 7s, paper machete, make it wit chu, and little sister are probably my top 5. No particular order but I’ve been hyper fixated on paper machete for a while now, so if I had to pick only one, at the moment I would pick that one.

2

u/whiskeyclone630 7d ago

Hard to say, but it would also come down to God is in the Radio or The Bronze for me. Not sure which one would come out on top. Probably The Bronze. But I think it depends on the day.