@@hiimawasteoftime8678 I would say more in the later renaissance type melodies. I’m sure you could find examples of period lute playing. I think it’s just in his DNA. Any road, it’s what I hear and love in his playing - very unique in the context of rock. Also, he makes it work so brilliantly. I hope this was somewhat helpful.
Brian May...is in my eyes is a guy who can only not put solos and guitar into songs. It's Brian's voice..and what a range of voice he gives through that homemade guitar . Brilliant man. Legendary ❤
"he serves the song....." highest compliment you can pay any guitarist IMHO ...........and Sir Brian ALWAYS serves the song! One of the GOATs for sure! 😎👍
“Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy” People always overlook that song, but no solo ever sang like that. Thats the song that made Brian my favorite guitarist. Honorable mention to “Princes of the Universe” for being badass.
That is the ultimate “wow, Brian May made the Red Special sound like an electric violin” song. My absolutely favorite Queen song. (Also, shout out to Freddie for counting to nine in a song written in 4/4 time. So clever.)
Brian May and Gilmour are my two favourite melodic soloists, but Brian can fit all that magic into 30sec to 1min solos, unlike Gilmour who can play for minutes and you wouldn't complain at all either! Different aproach, equally genius
I may quibble about order from time to time but not about the names. Knopfler gets points for still making new music, even after Dire Straits, for many decades on that still worth listening.
Not many good things about being older... but ONE good thing was that I saw Queen's "A Day at the Races" tour live... and they opened with 'Tie Your Mother Down'. Brian's riff starting on its own in roaring AC-30 glory, then light flashes going off timed with Roger's cymbal crashes on those initial chords, then the whole light show and flash pots explodes to life as the drum groove kicks in with the main riff! The single most powerful thing I have ever seen at any show, ever.
Personally I always have goosebumps hearing You Don’t Fool Me solo. He can perfectly express the feeling of the song he plays in almost like singing, nobody can replicate his touch and sound.
“Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon” is an underrated Brian May solo because it just comes in out of nowhere after a minute and a half of a campy, vaudevillian piano-pop song. the guitar-monies burst in, there’s a short melodic run on 1 guitar track, then its rounded off by another section of guitar-monies, then it just ends and you’re like “wait, holy shit, what was that??”
Death On Two Legs!!! The tone, voicings, technique, imagination, creativity, emotion!! My favorite May solo for 50 years!!! And he’s played some great ones in between and since! But hey! Just listen to it!!!!!!
"The March of the Black Queen" is my favourite Queen song, everything in it is 'elegant', dark and dramatic. He doesn't play what we typically call "solos", but he fits incredibly good licks from the middle of the song onwards. They are like a solo that's been broken into two or three fragments and it's really clever
@@Alex-nk8bw I just started lostening to some Queen solos deciding wich one's my favourite. I now can't decide not only which solo I like most, but which song too. Death on Two Legs is equally as 'evil' as TMotBQ; The Millionaire Waltz and Good Old-fashioned Lover Boy are incredibly melodic; there are just too many good options to choose from
thats my "hands down" favorite queen song alongside innuendo, damn brian absolutely rocks in that song playing around the military march tempo masterfully
Brian May doesn't get enough coverage and analysis as one of the greatest guitar players of all time, I think. He's acknowledged, as being up there, but his particular strengths as a composer (fitting with and complementing the song, not simply bolting on or overwhelming it), often mean his guitar playing blends so perfectly with the song as a whole that people almost forget to talk about it!
May is known as a guitar virtuoso, and Steve Vai once said that he played Brians red special with sixpence and realised that whatever it was that gave him his sound was “in his fingers” not his guitar and he couldn’t replicate it. Thats pretty damn high praise.
While I don't play guitar, Sir Brian's complete songs _within_ Queen songs mesmerize me. "Killer Queen" is one I talk about with Queenies because of his brilliant use of the Deacy amp. The Deacy amp, especially in the beginning Queen years, was integral to his unique sound. So many of the songs mentioned in these comments use the Deacy amp to help create the magic that is Brian's sound. Thank you, John Deacon, for your contribution to your bandmate's amazing "voice."
My favorite Brian May solo is from the album News of the World. Song: It's Late. At 3:20 the song changes key into a B-section and Sir May takes off with an insane solo that lasts a minute and finally resolves into another key change. Definitely worth your listen.
I can't prove it, but I'm morally certain that Sir Brian got the idea for this solo from a guitar player in TX named @Rocky Athas, at a Dallas nightclub called Mother Blues. He was using that particular style of tapping (and touch harmonics) before anyone anyone had heard of EVH, and most of the major touring acts (like Queen) had an afterparty there.
Brian's best recorded solo without a doubt is Good Company. To pull off a whole Jazz Band with only guitar tracks is beyond genius, to even imagine that, and then be able to then produce it, and all with limited 70's gear. Can't start to describe how much I love Brian's playing, specially on a Night at the opera. Once in a lifetime band. Cheers Rhett.
“My Bijou”, for me encapsulates Brian May’s mastery of his instrument and his music. The tone is so pure, and the soaring phrases complement the vocal performance by Freddie Mercury, who we find out later was in pretty bad health by then. “Tie Your Mother Down” was a message to the world that Queen had swagger and power.
One solo that doesn't receive enough praise, imo, is the one in Save Me, both the clean and overdriven parts. It's very short, but gives me goosebumps every single time I hear it.
Yes yes yes agree. He does a descending run in there which is so hard to work out what technique he actually uses - it’s like a guitar based “squiggle” and that’s all I’ve got to describe it.
From Queen’s early work I’d like to mention Father To Son from Queen II. Brian goes HARD in that solo and oh boy, that piercing guitar feedback when the solo pauses for a moment. From their later work, I really appreciate classic rock songs like I Want It All and Headlong, where Brian seemed to put an entire album’s worth of ideas and riffs into a single song.
I'd say "we will rock you" is his best solo, it stands alone, without any backing riff or chords and yet it fills the space and blows minds, it gives instant goosebumps and is definetly one of the most badass solos ever writen/played
There's a part in Millionaire Waltz where it's the melody on one guitar (at the 2:56 mark), then halfway through it opens up into multitracked guitars playing the same melody. Gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. It's the audio equivalent of going from black and white to technicolor.
Melody. Melody. Melody. You said it: “you can sing along with it.” That’s what makes it music instead of just fretting notes. Write a great melody that people can sing along with and we will love your stuff. May, Knopfler, Harrison Gilmour all do that so well, and that’s what makes them great, IMO.
My favourite Brian May solos and why: *Dark and 'evil' solos:* The March of The Black Queen, Death on Two Legs, Stone Cold Crazy, I'm Going Slightly Mad. Innuendo could be here, but it was written and played by Steve Howe of Yes. *Melodically pleasing:* Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, Killer Queen, The Millionaire Waltz, It's a Hard Life, Crazy Little Thing Caled Love, Somebody to Love, It's a Kind Of Magic *Best build up to a cathartic solo:* Bohemian Rhapsody, The Show Must Go On *Bad@ss:* Tie Your Mother Down, Brighton Rock, Stone Cold Crazy (again, it's the first thrash metal song ever), Hammer To Fall, We Will Rock You Most can fit in another category too, but that's where they excell most in
@@peterabbington-blanch4391 I mean, Metallica said it was one of their main inspirations when they started playing. Punk is more of a fast strumming style, while metal has some linear licks, thrash metal is kind of a combination of the two
Excellent video. "It's a hard life" has a superb guitar solo which is often overlooked. It's one of my favorites because of the way it builds into the violin like orchestrations of the second half. It's also of course a great song written by Freddie. Brian's solos in Freddie's piano driven songs are generally beautiful countermelodies.
Brian May is many things, an astrophysicist, a Stereo Photography historian, a Victorian Magic Lantern slide collector, he is what is often called “Renaissance man” in that he is brilliant at everything he chooses to do. He even played the British National Anthem standing on top of one of the towers of Buckingham Palace for our late queen’s jubillee a few years ago, to an audience of millions.
I was at Queen's tour of their "A Day at The Races" & I was blown away by his solos during "Tie your mother down" and it continued for the rest of the 2&1/2 set.
My fav Brian May solo is "The Miracle". It struck me right away the first time hearing it as a kid in the eighties. It still gets me in the feels to this day. But then there is no such thing as a bad Brian May solo. Genius!
Very underrated song. It’s not from an album or a time period where you’d expect to find one of Brian’s best guitar solos but dear god, he put so much emotion into that instrumental break. It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love. I met Sir Brian 8-9 years ago in Westminster. I TOLD the youngsters who never knew who he was to have a selfie with him & that they'd thank me later. He stood there, smiled, had the photos taken with everyone & once they'd googled him after he'd left I can tell you, they really did thank me. He's as lovely a man in person as people says he is & imv, he can hang with any guitarist that's ever picked up the instrument.
My favourite Brian May solo is from "These Are the Days of Our Lives". It's slow but it soars and perfectly evokes the feeling behind the song. I finally managed to get a Red Special last year. Even though it is a reproduction guitar, it is amazing. Its a hell of a lot of guitar for the price you pay too.
I could spend many days going over all my favorite Bm Guitar solos. I fully agree that the solo in 'Tie Ypur Mother Down' is among the greatest in his career. What really make that one among my top 3 is the ending. Nothing flashy, no acrobatics, just a simple vibrato to that high A then BAM, dunzo. It's lime they recorded it live in an empty arena in one take. Such a kick to the balls to end a perfect rock tune.
Great video!! Tie Your Mother Down is dirty...just down low dirty! And I LOVE it! I have a hard time picking a favourite solo: Innuendo comes to mind, Princes Of The Universe, Brighton Rock, White Queen...and I even consider Bijou to be a solo (Freddie essentially sings the bridge). Sir Brian is one of THE GOAT's. Certainly one of my all-time faves, along with Gilmour - what can I say, I love guitarists that can make the strings sing!!
The 24inch scale and the 7.5 radius really make the Bends and Vibrato sing and i mean that is what really grabs my ear in his solos also Brian May is awesome too Obviously and his tone is like no other and f,n killer.
No matter what the style or genre Queen explored, Brian always wrote solos that served the song. John Deacon’s bass parts are awesome too. ‘Son and Daughter’ from the first album is dirty, grungy, riff-tastic perfection.
So many solos and not even limited to just queen songs - black sabbath - when death calls, meatloaf - bad for good, his own solo work - the live solo at Brixton of resurrection after the drum solo and then the unsung brilliance of solos like backchat and you don’t fool me. A genius
recently learned the Tie Your Mother Down solo because the beginning part caught my ear i was like that sounds genius and learned it and was like wow that is genius with the yanked down bend awesome video man!
Great video. Thanks. I saw Queen in 1982 from a close up floor seat. Best concert I’ve ever seen. Billy Squire was the opening act. Back then most concerts were General Admission, and you lined up early and raced to find the best seat possible when the doors opened. Sound, lights, production, it was all fantastic, including Brian May’s playing.
Totally agree with you about how good Brian May is as a guitarist and person. His playing is somehow understated and modest while full of amazing melody and pyrotechnics. Back in the 70's I remember loving the single Now I'm Here which is a great guitar oriented track with an amazing central riff. Brian is a genius. Thanks for posting.
One of my favorite Brian May solos is actually from a cover. When he toured with the Brian May Band he played a cover of Rainbows Since You Been Gone. The solo he played was inspired by the original, but he made it into something incredible.
Totally agree Sir Brian May is a beast !!! Great tone, killer rhythm playing and his solos are so melodic and memorable 🎶🙂 (congrats for your playing and tone 👏)
Hard to pick favorite, but some....Good Company, The Show Must Go On, I Want It All, These Are The Days Of Our Lives, A Winters Tale, Cyborg (from solo album), Resurrection (solo album)...but love his all solos))) His guitar orchestrations are unique till these days!
I was lucky enough to see Queen 3 times in the Uk, and I can honestly say ive never heard anybody make such a colossal noise with a guitar as Brian. It was utterly earth shaking. Opening track of the Hot Space tour at Leeds in 82' he came running on playing the opening riff to 'The Hero'. Never forget it. Changed my life! Got my first guitar soon after. Thanks Bri!
Oh, there's so many great solos by BM. It's Late, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Hammer to Fall -- just to name a few. The one thing you said that hit home for me was that all of his solos "serve the song." THAT is exactly why I love Brian May. He very rarely just twiddly, twiddlies -- it's all VERY intentional.
I've seen Queen several times live and i always loved Brighton Rock when Brian plays with his echo. Can't say which one is his best solo, i love them all! They're so melodic and emotional... and the sound of his Red Special is absolutely unique. Brian is a genius. What a difference to today's shredders!
Its impossible to pick the best of Brian's solo because he has never failed to provide the perfect combination of skill, feel, nuance, drama and musical awareness. Some that came to mind tho - Bijiou, I want it all, Killer Queen, ...Days of our Lives, Invisible man....
I’ve loved Sir Brian’s playing since the first time I heard it in the mid 70s…the best vibrato in the business, and one of my own greatest influences. Great vid!
I watched Brian talking about Rory Gallagher, and he really idolized Rory. He hung out after gigs when he was too young and asked Rory how he got his sound. Brian said Rory was packing his own equipment and treated him with respect. When he mentioned the Vox, he went out and bought one. Brian mentioned he saw Rory at a gig maybe 15 years later and Rory treated him with respect, and Brian realized that he treated him exactly as he did when he was a snot-nosed kid. Brian said one of the most important skills he learned from Rory was to not be a Dick. I think that the solo is more based on Rory's playing. Brians best solo? Too many to rate. Brian is just a great guitarist....and a great guy.
This is a great story, Rory and Brian. The funny thing is that, in reality, Rory was one year YOUNGER than Brian (one can check their respective dates of birth) ! Yet Rory was accomplished and got famous much sooner, so that’s why Brian saw him like that before he himself got famous ! In his eyes, Rory was the guy while he was just a kid !
@@Dreyno Yep, from what I heard Vox amps of that era weren't as clean or flat as their American counterparts so you needed an external pedal or equivalent to boost the treble.
@@nerdyneedsalife8315 Nope. They weren’t as clean because of the valves used and the way they were wired but a Vox had very cutting trebles. The Treble Booster was used to drive the amp harder into overdrive because guitarists were starting to use more gain as part of their sound and the Rangemaster added a few db of gain more sustain. It didn’t really add much treble and was really just a boost/sustain pedal (originals weren’t a pedal. They were a box with a knob on them that sat on top of your amp) Most people had to use the tone cut on their Vox to tame the excessive treble.
Dragon Attack - an aggressive solo that suits the song perfectly, then breaks up in the end into an incandescent feedback howl. Good Company - capturing the sound and feel of an old jazz band - all with multi-tracked guitars, while bragging 'no synths' on the album cover - unique genius-level musicianship. Bohemian Rhapsody - it's hard to make this list without it. One of those iconic 'perfect' solos, not a note out of place, impeccably constructed and performed - in the way a Gilmour solo like Comfortably Numb is. God Save The Queen - the perfect showcase of Brian May's multitrack technique. Brighton Rock - multi-tracked stereo-panning pyrotechnics with a Hendrix feel.
Oh Man. I'm a huge Queen fan also a musician. I graduated music school in a piano and saxophone class. I know almost everything about this band. And you know what? For me this song and guitar solo is on 30th or 40th place. This is the power of this band. When you ask 30 people about their best song and best solo probably you' get 30 different answers. Long live Queen, long live sir and doctor Brian May (as well Roger Taylor and John Deacon)
Sir Brian May is a one off, there's no other guitarist like him and there never will be again, he's so quirky and unique in his choices of tone and phrasing, just fabulous! ROCK ON FOREVER PROFFESOR MAY! 🤟👍❤️ Great video Rhett, thanks!
almost every Brian May Solo puts a smile on my face, it's so.......... I don't know. Among all those shredder kings, guys like him still remain the top of the list. Greets from Germany
Let's not forget what a great songwriter and singer he is, as well. Oh, and he and the band were just sheer CLASS. What a killer lineup of great musicians and stately dudes.
Having played in a Queen tribute band for a few years, I have a soft spot for Hammer To Fall, Innuendo, and especially Who Wants To Live Forever. In WWTLF, the way the feel goes from super restrained in the first few notes to almost all-out by the last phrase, and that bluesy moody feel always felt special, I always had a blast playing that. Ah, and of course, the fast solo in I Want It All, loads of fun. Sir Brian May is a bona fide genius...in more than one way !
I can't make up my mind, but here are some guitar parts I love: - I want it all (especially the album version) - It's a hard life - My Fairy King - the guitar/piano harmony is from out of this world And as a special mention: Innuendo first that flamenco style, then the hard rock version. (I know, there was a guest player for the accoustic part, therefore special mention...)
Great video, Rhett! I can remember when Brian May only made the list of "best unsung". [sad]. I SUCK at guitar, but if I could master just ONE solo, it would be "Somebody To Love". That said - my FAVORITE Brian May solo is that twisted, crazy thing that follows the key change/break in "It's Late" from the News Of The World album. It's amazing - and practically copy-proof! [SIDEBAR] 1979, Overton High School, Memphis TN, live on stage, Duncan Hudson (drums), Kye Kennedy, (guitar) James Mathews (bass), and yours truly on vocal, performed "Tie Your Mother Down" before a packed auditorium - and the entire student body and faculty were forever changed! A photo was captured and published in the Year Book.
Having seen the first 4 shows that they ever played in SF, I became a believer. All the shredding that happened after the 70s left me cold. He’s so much more melodic … and he ROCKS HARD
I don‘t love all eras of queen but the first 3 albums are just the most creatively fearless stuff ever. Brian was so incredibly unique and a lot of the songs are almost early metal songs.
‘He serves the song ‘ Spot on ,so much variety in style of queen yet every solo sounds like he spent a day thinking about each note ,no excess notes ,just a perfect solo for every song .
"Long Away" on "A Day at the Races" came to mind first. The first Queen song I remember listening to is "Killer Queen", which features ncredible guitar sounds. "In Only Seven Days" from Jazz has the same guitar orchestra approach. Some very delicate guitar playing can be found on "Who Needs You" from the "News of the World" record, including a nice acoustic guitar solo. "It´s Late" on the same album has great rhythm guitar tracks and an interesting solo. "Somebody to Love" is unforgettable, of course.👍👍
You briefly mentioned that key to Brian May's sound is a treble booster in to an AC30 (the normal channel IIRC), but there is another amplifier he used a lot in the early days - the Deacy. This was a transistor based practice amp, that the bass player John Deacon made, based on a transistor radio they rescued from a dumpster (John had recently completed a degree in Electronic Engineering) and he turned that radio in to a practice amp. You can hear that Deacy amp in Killer Queen, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon, etc.
One of my favourite guitar players - absolute genius. My personal favourite is in fact Killer Queen. That riff on tie your mother down is great, too... Great video, Rhett!
I’m just writing to say that when someone says “I’ll put a link at the description” I think it’s fair to assume that there should be a link in the description… Nice video! 👍
Briliant Video Rhett. Thanks a lot. I would like to add one tiny piece of information. In an BBC Radio special in 2005, hosted by Gary Moore, btw, Dr. May mentioned, that his inspiration for the main lick of "Tie Your Mother Down" came from Rory Gallagher, from the song "Morning Sun" from Rory's band "Taste", which was a huge influence on the young Brian May. That radio special ( I do have a recording of that) was a celebration of Rorys music, on the 10'th anniversary of his passing. Brian mentiones in a couple of interviews on that same show, how he got inspired of using AC30s and Rangemasters by Rory, and also a lot more of inspirations he got from Rory.
Brian May is an absolute master guitarista. I think Rhett nailed it: Brian's solos are well thought out composition in themselves. My favourite solo must be The Invisible Man. It's short but crazy in the best possible way.
So happy to see Somebody to Love first up there. Not only one of my favourite solos, but I think if I had to introduce Queen to someone who (somehow) hadn't heard Queen before, I would pick that song, even over Rhapsody etc. To me it's quintessential Queen, the song builds gloriously, it's layered, Freddie's performance (particularly in the second verse) is so emotive, and Brian's playing is - as always - incredibly vocal. Just the best sound.
This is why Brian May is so amazing. I'd kove to see you deep dive on Dean DeLeo's solos. He has that same ability to craft a melodic solo that says something. Love that style of soloing.
I have literally never heard anyone compliment his solo in Back Chat but it’s a great example of what he can bring to a song when he’s keeping it very simple and not relying on his usual studio wizardry (and on a song which, famously, John Deacon didn’t want any guitar on at all)
FANTASTIC video, Rhett! Brian May along with Jimmy Page are the reasons I started playing guitar. The Killer Queen guitar tone changed my life. Someone needs to do a video on the Flash Gordon soundtrack being the greatest soundtrack of all time. It is a rock opera that actually sounds operratic. Great job!
Great video! I think my favourite Brian May solos are from Save Me and Resurrection (from his first solo record). They're very different from each other, but so good in their own way.
I really enjoyed this video, it's a good insight into how solos are built. Did you know Harley Benton does a Red Special copy? It's not too expensive and it's really close to the original. If you like Queen like this, you might wanna check it out.
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Whats your favorite Brain May solo?
Brighton Rock. Easy
That has to be You Don't Fool Me; it has everything.
Dragon Attack!
Killer Queen :)
Killer Queen all day
Brian is quintessentially English in his Melodies, almost baroque. There’s never been anyone quite like him: brilliant.
So true!
Have you ever heard of Mick Ronson?(Bowie collaborator), Brian said Mick was one of his main influences
Yes, this. How does his playing feel English.😂
@@hiimawasteoftime8678 I would say more in the later renaissance type melodies. I’m sure you could find examples of period lute playing. I think it’s just in his DNA. Any road, it’s what I hear and love in his playing - very unique in the context of rock. Also, he makes it work so brilliantly. I hope this was somewhat helpful.
@@Yourbankaccount yes, I have heard Mick: enormously talented. Like Brian, his playing always complemented the song, perfectly - very gifted!
Brian May...is in my eyes is a guy who can only not put solos and guitar into songs. It's Brian's voice..and what a range of voice he gives through that homemade guitar . Brilliant man. Legendary ❤
"he serves the song....." highest compliment you can pay any guitarist IMHO ...........and Sir Brian ALWAYS serves the song! One of the GOATs for sure! 😎👍
“He made a solo you can sing” is basically the punchline here surely. His sense of melody was incredible.
“Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy”
People always overlook that song, but no solo ever sang like that. Thats the song that made Brian my favorite guitarist.
Honorable mention to “Princes of the Universe” for being badass.
Was just about to type this,amazing construction and composition
I was also about to make a comment about that song! i love it, always been one of my favourite queen songs, and the solo is beautifully crafted!
Top 3 song for me from Queen! Love this song! Way underrated, needs more love.
Princes is phenomenal!
That is the ultimate “wow, Brian May made the Red Special sound like an electric violin” song. My absolutely favorite Queen song. (Also, shout out to Freddie for counting to nine in a song written in 4/4 time. So clever.)
Brian May is a fucking guitar genius. Love his style and tone.
Brian May and Gilmour are my two favourite melodic soloists, but Brian can fit all that magic into 30sec to 1min solos, unlike Gilmour who can play for minutes and you wouldn't complain at all either! Different aproach, equally genius
Same. Gilmour, May, Knopfler in that order for me.
I may quibble about order from time to time but not about the names. Knopfler gets points for still making new music, even after Dire Straits, for many decades on that still worth listening.
Knopfler and Green are incredible too!
My top 3 : May, Gilmour and that guy nobody talk about when it comes to best guitar players : Mike Oldfield !
John Frusciante too!!!!
Not many good things about being older... but ONE good thing was that I saw Queen's "A Day at the Races" tour live... and they opened with 'Tie Your Mother Down'. Brian's riff starting on its own in roaring AC-30 glory, then light flashes going off timed with Roger's cymbal crashes on those initial chords, then the whole light show and flash pots explodes to life as the drum groove kicks in with the main riff! The single most powerful thing I have ever seen at any show, ever.
Personally I always have goosebumps hearing You Don’t Fool Me solo.
He can perfectly express the feeling of the song he plays in almost like singing, nobody can replicate his touch and sound.
“Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon” is an underrated Brian May solo because it just comes in out of nowhere after a minute and a half of a campy, vaudevillian piano-pop song. the guitar-monies burst in, there’s a short melodic run on 1 guitar track, then its rounded off by another section of guitar-monies, then it just ends and you’re like “wait, holy shit, what was that??”
I love that song and solo so much.
The fact that he uses effects that make his guitar sound like how a brass instrument with a cup mute would sound is just so brilliant.
It's so perfect and so concise it's literally FUNNY. So great...
My personal favourite is "These are the days of our lives" the phrasing in that solo is just absolutely off the charts good.
Death On Two Legs!!! The tone, voicings, technique, imagination, creativity, emotion!! My favorite May solo for 50 years!!! And he’s played some great ones in between and since! But hey! Just listen to it!!!!!!
Yep. Sets the emotional tone for that whole record, culminating in Bohemian.
I love that song, especially the intro, sometimes rivals the heaviness of the contemporary rock scene
"The March of the Black Queen" is my favourite Queen song, everything in it is 'elegant', dark and dramatic. He doesn't play what we typically call "solos", but he fits incredibly good licks from the middle of the song onwards. They are like a solo that's been broken into two or three fragments and it's really clever
Ah, a connoisseur. 🙂 Queen II is hands down their best album imho, and March of the Black Queen one of the highlights.
@@Alex-nk8bw I just started lostening to some Queen solos deciding wich one's my favourite. I now can't decide not only which solo I like most, but which song too. Death on Two Legs is equally as 'evil' as TMotBQ; The Millionaire Waltz and Good Old-fashioned Lover Boy are incredibly melodic; there are just too many good options to choose from
I really enjoy Queen II. Heavy guitar-driven prog rock at its finest. And nobody played synthesizer...
thats my "hands down" favorite queen song alongside innuendo, damn brian absolutely rocks in that song playing around the military march tempo masterfully
Brian May doesn't get enough coverage and analysis as one of the greatest guitar players of all time, I think.
He's acknowledged, as being up there, but his particular strengths as a composer (fitting with and complementing the song, not simply bolting on or overwhelming it), often mean his guitar playing blends so perfectly with the song as a whole that people almost forget to talk about it!
May is known as a guitar virtuoso, and Steve Vai once said that he played Brians red special with sixpence and realised that whatever it was that gave him his sound was “in his fingers” not his guitar and he couldn’t replicate it. Thats pretty damn high praise.
While I don't play guitar, Sir Brian's complete songs _within_ Queen songs mesmerize me. "Killer Queen" is one I talk about with Queenies because of his brilliant use of the Deacy amp. The Deacy amp, especially in the beginning Queen years, was integral to his unique sound. So many of the songs mentioned in these comments use the Deacy amp to help create the magic that is Brian's sound. Thank you, John Deacon, for your contribution to your bandmate's amazing "voice."
My favorite Brian May solo is from the album News of the World. Song: It's Late. At 3:20 the song changes key into a B-section and Sir May takes off with an insane solo that lasts a minute and finally resolves into another key change. Definitely worth your listen.
I can't prove it, but I'm morally certain that Sir Brian got the idea for this solo from a guitar player in TX named @Rocky Athas, at a Dallas nightclub called Mother Blues. He was using that particular style of tapping (and touch harmonics) before anyone anyone had heard of EVH, and most of the major touring acts (like Queen) had an afterparty there.
The best Queen song ever.
My favorite Queen song.
I agree entirely- It’s Late is easily my favourite Queen song and Brian May solo. Also, The Prophet's Song from A Night At The Opera.
Yes I remember an interview many many years ago where he stated that.
Brian's best recorded solo without a doubt is Good Company. To pull off a whole Jazz Band with only guitar tracks is beyond genius, to even imagine that, and then be able to then produce it, and all with limited 70's gear. Can't start to describe how much I love Brian's playing, specially on a Night at the opera. Once in a lifetime band. Cheers Rhett.
When I first heard good company all I could do was shake my head in disbelief. That song really is the best.
perhaps you wanted to say "queentessential"😏
“My Bijou”, for me encapsulates Brian May’s mastery of his instrument and his music. The tone is so pure, and the soaring phrases complement the vocal performance by Freddie Mercury, who we find out later was in pretty bad health by then.
“Tie Your Mother Down” was a message to the world that Queen had swagger and power.
One solo that doesn't receive enough praise, imo, is the one in Save Me, both the clean and overdriven parts. It's very short, but gives me goosebumps every single time I hear it.
YES!
Yes! , Save Me is my favourite Brian May solo, particularly on the album "Live Killers". Very melodic demons shreiking :)
Yes! Top three BM solos for me!
Yes yes yes agree. He does a descending run in there which is so hard to work out what technique he actually uses - it’s like a guitar based “squiggle” and that’s all I’ve got to describe it.
From Queen’s early work I’d like to mention Father To Son from Queen II. Brian goes HARD in that solo and oh boy, that piercing guitar feedback when the solo pauses for a moment. From their later work, I really appreciate classic rock songs like I Want It All and Headlong, where Brian seemed to put an entire album’s worth of ideas and riffs into a single song.
I'd say "we will rock you" is his best solo, it stands alone, without any backing riff or chords and yet it fills the space and blows minds, it gives instant goosebumps and is definetly one of the most badass solos ever writen/played
There's a part in Millionaire Waltz where it's the melody on one guitar (at the 2:56 mark), then halfway through it opens up into multitracked guitars playing the same melody. Gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. It's the audio equivalent of going from black and white to technicolor.
Came here to say this. I love the Millionaire Waltz solo.
Somehow at 40 years old and a queen fan I'd never heard that track, checked it out thanks to your comment, awesome, thank you
Listen to the Earls Court version, he nails the solo and the echoplex execution.
I'll go with the most self-indulgent and overblown may solo....Brighton Rock. Great video!
I'm always glad to see Brian May get props. As respected as he is, I don't think he gets elevated to the status he deserves.
Totally agree!! Still remember the magic of watching THAT song at the Live at Wembley 86. I was blown away 🙌🏻🎸🤘🏻
Brian May has no best solo, because all his solos are the best.
Great video man, Brian and all the three other guys of Queen are my heroes !
Great video. Never quite realized just how much Angus and Brian can sound similar to each other. And the both have impeccable phrasing and rhythm.
Melody. Melody. Melody. You said it: “you can sing along with it.” That’s what makes it music instead of just fretting notes. Write a great melody that people can sing along with and we will love your stuff.
May, Knopfler, Harrison Gilmour all do that so well, and that’s what makes them great, IMO.
My favourite Brian May solos and why:
*Dark and 'evil' solos:* The March of The Black Queen, Death on Two Legs, Stone Cold Crazy, I'm Going Slightly Mad. Innuendo could be here, but it was written and played by Steve Howe of Yes.
*Melodically pleasing:* Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, Killer Queen, The Millionaire Waltz, It's a Hard Life, Crazy Little Thing Caled Love, Somebody to Love, It's a Kind Of Magic
*Best build up to a cathartic solo:* Bohemian Rhapsody, The Show Must Go On
*Bad@ss:* Tie Your Mother Down, Brighton Rock, Stone Cold Crazy (again, it's the first thrash metal song ever), Hammer To Fall, We Will Rock You
Most can fit in another category too, but that's where they excell most in
I always thought Stone Cold Crazy was a response to Punk; that is you can be a proper musician and play Punk as well.
@@peterabbington-blanch4391 I mean, Metallica said it was one of their main inspirations when they started playing. Punk is more of a fast strumming style, while metal has some linear licks, thrash metal is kind of a combination of the two
Excellent video. "It's a hard life" has a superb guitar solo which is often overlooked. It's one of my favorites because of the way it builds into the violin like orchestrations of the second half. It's also of course a great song written by Freddie. Brian's solos in Freddie's piano driven songs are generally beautiful countermelodies.
Brian May is many things, an astrophysicist, a Stereo Photography historian, a Victorian Magic Lantern slide collector, he is what is often called “Renaissance man” in that he is brilliant at everything he chooses to do. He even played the British National Anthem standing on top of one of the towers of Buckingham Palace for our late queen’s jubillee a few years ago, to an audience of millions.
And fearless defender of badgers.
I was at Queen's tour of their "A Day at The Races" & I was blown away by his solos during "Tie your mother down" and it continued for the rest of the 2&1/2 set.
My fav Brian May solo is "The Miracle". It struck me right away the first time hearing it as a kid in the eighties. It still gets me in the feels to this day. But then there is no such thing as a bad Brian May solo. Genius!
Great vid... Sir Brian May IS one of the most original greats.
Totally agree Rhett! One of my favourites is “You Don’t Fool Me”. Nobody talks about it and is one of the best in my opinion ❤
Very underrated song. It’s not from an album or a time period where you’d expect to find one of Brian’s best guitar solos but dear god, he put so much emotion into that instrumental break. It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.
My favourite Brian moment is when he impersonates an entire jazz band on "Good Company". Just astounding!
Crazy Little Thing Called Love. I met Sir Brian 8-9 years ago in Westminster. I TOLD the youngsters who never knew who he was to have a selfie with him & that they'd thank me later. He stood there, smiled, had the photos taken with everyone & once they'd googled him after he'd left I can tell you, they really did thank me. He's as lovely a man in person as people says he is & imv, he can hang with any guitarist that's ever picked up the instrument.
My favourite Brian May solo is from "These Are the Days of Our Lives". It's slow but it soars and perfectly evokes the feeling behind the song.
I finally managed to get a Red Special last year. Even though it is a reproduction guitar, it is amazing. Its a hell of a lot of guitar for the price you pay too.
Every Brian May solo is a masterpiece. Zero show off. 100 percent music
I could spend many days going over all my favorite Bm Guitar solos. I fully agree that the solo in 'Tie Ypur Mother Down' is among the greatest in his career. What really make that one among my top 3 is the ending. Nothing flashy, no acrobatics, just a simple vibrato to that high A then BAM, dunzo. It's lime they recorded it live in an empty arena in one take. Such a kick to the balls to end a perfect rock tune.
Sleeping on the Sidewalk. Such an underrated song with slick guitar work
My favourite brian may solo is, surprisingly, from These Are The Days of Our Lives. It's so delicate and so tasteful. The guy has magic in his fingers
Brian May's playing is serious goals. Thanks for sharing, Rhett!
Great video!! Tie Your Mother Down is dirty...just down low dirty! And I LOVE it! I have a hard time picking a favourite solo: Innuendo comes to mind, Princes Of The Universe, Brighton Rock, White Queen...and I even consider Bijou to be a solo (Freddie essentially sings the bridge). Sir Brian is one of THE GOAT's. Certainly one of my all-time faves, along with Gilmour - what can I say, I love guitarists that can make the strings sing!!
His solos are always so melodic & recognizable. You always know when it’s him.
The 24inch scale and the 7.5 radius really make the Bends and Vibrato sing and i mean that is what really grabs my ear in his solos also Brian May is awesome too Obviously and his tone is like no other and f,n killer.
Now it all makes sense, I know why I identify and like your videos so much. This is my favorite Queen song/solo also! It's the Queen connection
Great job!
I always loved the solos in march of the black queen
brian may is and always will! be my number one favo. guitarist of all! time!
Brian May is the reason I fell in love with guitar.
No matter what the style or genre Queen explored, Brian always wrote solos that served the song. John Deacon’s bass parts are awesome too. ‘Son and Daughter’ from the first album is dirty, grungy, riff-tastic perfection.
So many solos and not even limited to just queen songs - black sabbath - when death calls, meatloaf - bad for good, his own solo work - the live solo at Brixton of resurrection after the drum solo and then the unsung brilliance of solos like backchat and you don’t fool me. A genius
recently learned the Tie Your Mother Down solo because the beginning part caught my ear i was like that sounds genius and learned it and was like wow that is genius with the yanked down bend awesome video man!
Great video. Thanks. I saw Queen in 1982 from a close up floor seat. Best concert I’ve ever seen. Billy Squire was the opening act. Back then most concerts were General Admission, and you lined up early and raced to find the best seat possible when the doors opened. Sound, lights, production, it was all fantastic, including Brian May’s playing.
Totally agree with you about how good Brian May is as a guitarist and person.
His playing is somehow understated and modest while full of amazing melody and pyrotechnics.
Back in the 70's I remember loving the single Now I'm Here which is a great guitar oriented track with an amazing central riff.
Brian is a genius.
Thanks for posting.
One of my favorite Brian May solos is actually from a cover. When he toured with the Brian May Band he played a cover of Rainbows Since You Been Gone. The solo he played was inspired by the original, but he made it into something incredible.
Totally agree Sir Brian May is a beast !!! Great tone, killer rhythm playing and his solos are so melodic and memorable 🎶🙂 (congrats for your playing and tone 👏)
Thank you 🎉 what a great video! Tie your mother down is my favorite song too!
Hard to pick favorite, but some....Good Company, The Show Must Go On, I Want It All, These Are The Days Of Our Lives, A Winters Tale, Cyborg (from solo album), Resurrection (solo album)...but love his all solos))) His guitar orchestrations are unique till these days!
I was lucky enough to see Queen 3 times in the Uk, and I can honestly say ive never heard anybody make such a colossal noise with a guitar as Brian. It was utterly earth shaking. Opening track of the Hot Space tour at Leeds in 82' he came running on playing the opening riff to 'The Hero'. Never forget it. Changed my life! Got my first guitar soon after. Thanks Bri!
Oh, there's so many great solos by BM. It's Late, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Hammer to Fall -- just to name a few. The one thing you said that hit home for me was that all of his solos "serve the song." THAT is exactly why I love Brian May. He very rarely just twiddly, twiddlies -- it's all VERY intentional.
I've seen Queen several times live and i always loved Brighton Rock when Brian plays with his echo.
Can't say which one is his best solo, i love them all! They're so melodic and emotional... and the sound of his Red Special is absolutely unique. Brian is a genius.
What a difference to today's shredders!
Its impossible to pick the best of Brian's solo because he has never failed to provide the perfect combination of skill, feel, nuance, drama and musical awareness. Some that came to mind tho -
Bijiou, I want it all, Killer Queen, ...Days of our Lives, Invisible man....
I love Queen, I love Brian May and I love Tie Your Mother Down. Great video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I’ve loved Sir Brian’s playing since the first time I heard it in the mid 70s…the best vibrato in the business, and one of my own greatest influences. Great vid!
I watched Brian talking about Rory Gallagher, and he really idolized Rory. He hung out after gigs when he was too young and asked Rory how he got his sound. Brian said Rory was packing his own equipment and treated him with respect. When he mentioned the Vox, he went out and bought one. Brian mentioned he saw Rory at a gig maybe 15 years later and Rory treated him with respect, and Brian realized that he treated him exactly as he did when he was a snot-nosed kid. Brian said one of the most important skills he learned from Rory was to not be a Dick. I think that the solo is more based on Rory's playing.
Brians best solo? Too many to rate. Brian is just a great guitarist....and a great guy.
This is a great story, Rory and Brian. The funny thing is that, in reality, Rory was one year YOUNGER than Brian (one can check their respective dates of birth) ! Yet Rory was accomplished and got famous much sooner, so that’s why Brian saw him like that before he himself got famous ! In his eyes, Rory was the guy while he was just a kid !
Interesting story.
Vox and a Dallas Rangemaster. The Rangemaster was the magic ingredient.
@@Dreyno Yep, from what I heard Vox amps of that era weren't as clean or flat as their American counterparts so you needed an external pedal or equivalent to boost the treble.
@@nerdyneedsalife8315 Nope. They weren’t as clean because of the valves used and the way they were wired but a Vox had very cutting trebles. The Treble Booster was used to drive the amp harder into overdrive because guitarists were starting to use more gain as part of their sound and the Rangemaster added a few db of gain more sustain. It didn’t really add much treble and was really just a boost/sustain pedal (originals weren’t a pedal. They were a box with a knob on them that sat on top of your amp) Most people had to use the tone cut on their Vox to tame the excessive treble.
Dragon Attack - an aggressive solo that suits the song perfectly, then breaks up in the end into an incandescent feedback howl.
Good Company - capturing the sound and feel of an old jazz band - all with multi-tracked guitars, while bragging 'no synths' on the album cover - unique genius-level musicianship.
Bohemian Rhapsody - it's hard to make this list without it. One of those iconic 'perfect' solos, not a note out of place, impeccably constructed and performed - in the way a Gilmour solo like Comfortably Numb is.
God Save The Queen - the perfect showcase of Brian May's multitrack technique.
Brighton Rock - multi-tracked stereo-panning pyrotechnics with a Hendrix feel.
Hammer to Fall, the full version from The Works album. How the guitar scream into the first part of the solo is amazing and pure Brian touch!
Oh Man. I'm a huge Queen fan also a musician. I graduated music school in a piano and saxophone class. I know almost everything about this band. And you know what? For me this song and guitar solo is on 30th or 40th place. This is the power of this band. When you ask 30 people about their best song and best solo probably you' get 30 different answers. Long live Queen, long live sir and doctor Brian May (as well Roger Taylor and John Deacon)
Sir Brian May is a one off, there's no other guitarist like him and there never will be again, he's so quirky and unique in his choices of tone and phrasing, just fabulous! ROCK ON FOREVER PROFFESOR MAY! 🤟👍❤️
Great video Rhett, thanks!
Growing up in the 70's, (I was born in 1967), you just couldn't avoid how great Queen was. I've been a fan since I heard Queen II.
Is my guitar hero since my 12 years, today I ve 43. He is the King of Queen ❤
almost every Brian May Solo puts a smile on my face, it's so.......... I don't know.
Among all those shredder kings, guys like him still remain the top of the list.
Greets from Germany
Killer Queen was always my favorite Brian May solo. The tone, clarity, and voicing are amazing.
These are the Days of our Lives solo always gets me.
Let's not forget what a great songwriter and singer he is, as well. Oh, and he and the band were just sheer CLASS. What a killer lineup of great musicians and stately dudes.
Having played in a Queen tribute band for a few years, I have a soft spot for Hammer To Fall, Innuendo, and especially Who Wants To Live Forever. In WWTLF, the way the feel goes from super restrained in the first few notes to almost all-out by the last phrase, and that bluesy moody feel always felt special, I always had a blast playing that. Ah, and of course, the fast solo in I Want It All, loads of fun. Sir Brian May is a bona fide genius...in more than one way !
I can't make up my mind, but here are some guitar parts I love:
- I want it all (especially the album version)
- It's a hard life
- My Fairy King - the guitar/piano harmony is from out of this world
And as a special mention: Innuendo first that flamenco style, then the hard rock version.
(I know, there was a guest player for the accoustic part, therefore special mention...)
Flick of the Wrist, weaves beautifully all through the song
Great post love Brian May and queen. He has so many great solo’s but a personal fav of mine is a more recent one from ‘ I want it all’
Great video, Rhett! I can remember when Brian May only made the list of "best unsung". [sad]. I SUCK at guitar, but if I could master just ONE solo, it would be "Somebody To Love". That said - my FAVORITE Brian May solo is that twisted, crazy thing that follows the key change/break in "It's Late" from the News Of The World album. It's amazing - and practically copy-proof!
[SIDEBAR] 1979, Overton High School, Memphis TN, live on stage, Duncan Hudson (drums), Kye Kennedy, (guitar) James Mathews (bass), and yours truly on vocal, performed "Tie Your Mother Down" before a packed auditorium - and the entire student body and faculty were forever changed! A photo was captured and published in the Year Book.
Having seen the first 4 shows that they ever played in SF, I became a believer. All the shredding that happened after the 70s left me cold. He’s so much more melodic … and he ROCKS HARD
I don‘t love all eras of queen but the first 3 albums are just the most creatively fearless stuff ever. Brian was so incredibly unique and a lot of the songs are almost early metal songs.
Everything was fun and laughs until Hot space came out! 😅 then they straighten their path again with The works.
@@RafaelCC20 yeah kinda, but I‘m a bit of an elitist when it comes to queen.
‘He serves the song ‘
Spot on ,so much variety in style of queen yet every solo sounds like he spent a day thinking about each note ,no excess notes ,just a perfect solo for every song .
The Brighton Rock solo on the Live Killers album where he uses the delay so masterfully is unparalleled and deserves a honorable mention IMHO
Great take and highlight of Brian May’s guitar solo prowess.
"Long Away" on "A Day at the Races" came to mind first. The first Queen song I remember listening to is "Killer Queen", which features ncredible guitar sounds. "In Only Seven Days" from Jazz has the same guitar orchestra approach. Some very delicate guitar playing can be found on "Who Needs You" from the "News of the World" record, including a nice acoustic guitar solo. "It´s Late" on the same album has great rhythm guitar tracks and an interesting solo. "Somebody to Love" is unforgettable, of course.👍👍
You briefly mentioned that key to Brian May's sound is a treble booster in to an AC30 (the normal channel IIRC), but there is another amplifier he used a lot in the early days - the Deacy. This was a transistor based practice amp, that the bass player John Deacon made, based on a transistor radio they rescued from a dumpster (John had recently completed a degree in Electronic Engineering) and he turned that radio in to a practice amp.
You can hear that Deacy amp in Killer Queen, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon, etc.
One of my favourite guitar players - absolute genius. My personal favourite is in fact Killer Queen. That riff on tie your mother down is great, too...
Great video, Rhett!
I’m just writing to say that when someone says “I’ll put a link at the description” I think it’s fair to assume that there should be a link in the description…
Nice video! 👍
Briliant Video Rhett. Thanks a lot. I would like to add one tiny piece of information. In an BBC Radio special in 2005, hosted by Gary Moore, btw, Dr. May mentioned, that his inspiration for the main lick of "Tie Your Mother Down" came from Rory Gallagher, from the song "Morning Sun" from Rory's band "Taste", which was a huge influence on the young Brian May. That radio special ( I do have a recording of that) was a celebration of Rorys music, on the 10'th anniversary of his passing. Brian mentiones in a couple of interviews on that same show, how he got inspired of using AC30s and Rangemasters by Rory, and also a lot more of inspirations he got from Rory.
Brian May is an absolute master guitarista. I think Rhett nailed it: Brian's solos are well thought out composition in themselves.
My favourite solo must be The Invisible Man. It's short but crazy in the best possible way.
So happy to see Somebody to Love first up there. Not only one of my favourite solos, but I think if I had to introduce Queen to someone who (somehow) hadn't heard Queen before, I would pick that song, even over Rhapsody etc. To me it's quintessential Queen, the song builds gloriously, it's layered, Freddie's performance (particularly in the second verse) is so emotive, and Brian's playing is - as always - incredibly vocal. Just the best sound.
This is why Brian May is so amazing. I'd kove to see you deep dive on Dean DeLeo's solos. He has that same ability to craft a melodic solo that says something. Love that style of soloing.
I have literally never heard anyone compliment his solo in Back Chat but it’s a great example of what he can bring to a song when he’s keeping it very simple and not relying on his usual studio wizardry (and on a song which, famously, John Deacon didn’t want any guitar on at all)
FANTASTIC video, Rhett! Brian May along with Jimmy Page are the reasons I started playing guitar. The Killer Queen guitar tone changed my life. Someone needs to do a video on the Flash Gordon soundtrack being the greatest soundtrack of all time. It is a rock opera that actually sounds operratic. Great job!
Great video!
I think my favourite Brian May solos are from Save Me and Resurrection (from his first solo record). They're very different from each other, but so good in their own way.
I really enjoyed this video, it's a good insight into how solos are built. Did you know Harley Benton does a Red Special copy? It's not too expensive and it's really close to the original. If you like Queen like this, you might wanna check it out.
Loving the new studio setup its so aesthetic