5 Great Solos That a Band’s Lead Guitarist Didn’t Record

Within a rock band, there are usually defined roles.

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Even among groups with multiple guitarists. Often, one covers the rhythm parts while the other takes the lead. For example, Izzy Stradlin and Slash from Guns N’ Roses, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett in Metallica, and the roles of Tom Petty and Mike Campbell within The Heartbreakers.

Sometimes it’s not so obvious. Like The Rolling Stones’ weaving interplay between Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. But, returning to the ones with an identifiable lead guitarist, it’s hard to imagine anyone else filling those shoes.

This list takes a look at five great solos that the band’s lead guitarist didn’t record.

“Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica from Metallica (1991)

Metallica’s lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett has recorded some of rock history’s most memorable solos. From “Master of Puppets” to “One” to “Enter Sandman,” his high-speed licks, often filtered through a wah-wah pedal, are instantly recognizable. Yet, James Hetfield’s towering guitar solo on the Black Album ballad “Nothing Else Matters” stands as one of the group’s finest. Hetfield must have known it was going to be good. Before the break, he howls a guttural, Yeah!

“Taxman” by The Beatles from Revolver (1966)

Though George Harrison wrote the tune, he struggled to record the guitar solo. As an ode to Harrison’s Indian classical music inspirations, Paul McCartney laid down a blistering piece of raga rock. His frantic playing has the effect of one scribbling on a page—a flurry of jagged and modal notes. It’s perfectly “George,” while also giving the feeling of panic when the taxman’s at your door.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles from The Beatles (1968)

Another one by Harrison. However, a guitarist they called “God” at the time—Eric Clapton—does all the weeping on this one. It’s peak psychedelia, with Harrison’s cycling chords, the woozy phasing in the production, and a song lyric about a philosophical pain so deep it induces a sobbing guitar. Meanwhile, Clapton indeed makes his guitar wail. It foreshadows the duo’s later collaboration on Cream’s “Badge.”

“Champagne Supernova” by Oasis from (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)

If you write an ambitious tune like this, you’re going to need the Modfather to bring it home. On his seven-and-a-half-minute epic, Noel Gallagher plays the signature guitar parts. The “Supersonic”-adjacent licks you can sing. But as the song rises to the kind of sky where you’ll find Lucy, diamonds, and who knows what else, Paul Weller enters with a kaleidoscope of swirling blues, connecting Britpop with its progenitor.

Where were you while we were getting high?

“Train Kept a Rollin’” by Aerosmith from Get Your Wings (1974)

It’s one thing when a bandmate or a high-profile guest takes your spot. But when the producer has to call in someone else because what you’re playing isn’t good enough, it hurts. When Aerosmith covered “Train Kept a Rollin’,” producer Jack Douglas called upon hired guns Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner to record the parts. Brad Whitford told Guitar World he and Joe Perry didn’t take the news well. Still, Whitford said he became a better musician because of the experience.

Photo by Michel Linssen/Redferns