The 5 Best Soft Rock Solos Of The '80s

Whether it was a grinding electric guitar, a saxophone set on "stun," or a piano played like it was on fire, the best solos from '80s soft rock were always a dependable display of musical virtuosity and melodic freedom. They never failed to add excitement and wake up what might otherwise be a repetitive tune, and they gave the players a chance to show off a little. As a result, there are some iconic solos that pushed the "soft" portion to its limits by putting decidedly powerful emphasis on "rock." Rather than becoming soft-rock flops that only earned respect decades later, these songs struck lightning from the jump and all became hits, giving the soloists a broader audience and a bit of pop-chart applause for their grand efforts.

Picking out the soft rock songs from the '80s with the best solos wasn't as challenging as it seemed at first. Once we examined all the tunes that had solos at all, we weeded out the ones where there was little to no excitement added. What was left on the list was a rogue's gallery of amazing musicianship that brought each song to a rousing crescendo — which is the whole point of including a solo in the first place. From the masterful piano work on "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range to the timeless sax line in "Only the Lonely" by the Motels, these solos are as crucial to the songs they adorn as the melody and lyrics.

Sax solos were a hallmark of some of the best tunes of the '80s, and few were as affecting as the one that gave "Arthur's Theme" by Christopher Cross a gritty heft that grounded the song's earnestness. Written by Cross with big help from power songwriting couple Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, with an assist from Sager's sometimes-collaborator Peter Allen, the song earned a coveted spot in the adult contemporary world. It was a second No. 1 for Cross that lasted for three weeks, propelled in great part by a crackling sax solo that added vital energy to the ballad.

True, the solo doesn't reinvent the wheel, and the baying saxophone may just follow the melody line, but it delivers urgency that gives the song layers of soul the piano work and vocal only hint at. It's raw yet sophisticated, a perfect embodiment of the ultra-wealthy New York playboy character in the film. The raspy notes provided by jazz great Ernie Watts tear through the urbane polish of the rest of the arrangement like a buzzsaw. You may not know Watts' name, but you've heard his sax in songs from artists ranging from Dizzy Gillespie and Pat Metheny to the Jacksons and Elton John. His sax-y assist helped this Oscar-winning and three-time Grammy Award-nominated soft rock classic earn some real-world gold to go with its musical brass — or woodwinds, to be more accurate.

Few bands epitomized the soft rock sound of the '80s more thoroughly than Air Supply. But that didn't mean a smooth, straightforward love song like "Even the Nights Are Better" couldn't have a cranking guitar solo squarely at its center. In fact, Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell opting for a slice of electrified crackle added an emotional apex that couldn't be conveyed any other way. It was a hint that this pillow-soft tune had a steel core kept under wraps until the moment was just right. Once it happened, it was like the tender heart of the song showed what it was really made of and turned into an essential love song that flies under the radar today but made major waves back in its time.

There's not just one but two electric axes covering the scales in this high-pitched run, a dual-guitar harmonic solo played by guitarists David Moyse and Rex Goh. The pair-up gives the solo unexpected layers that make it feel even more intense. That kind of virtuosity may not be entirely responsible for taking the song to No. 5 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for four weeks in 1982, but it certainly didn't hurt matters.

"Only the Lonely" by the Motels features a sax solo that screams with romantic angst, this time from a new wave band that inadvertently launched one of the greatest soft rock songs of the entire decade. Martha Davis may have captivated audiences with her husky voice and open-hearted longing, but the big payoff was the roaring solo passage that affirmed what we were all thinking: This song needs to wail, darn it, and it wails in spectacular fashion.

Saxophonist Marty Jourard had the chops to deliver what turns out to be the epitome of an '80s soft-rock-sax sucker punch to the gut. Davis and Jourard are the only members remaining in the Motels from their hit-making era — including a No. 9 showing for "Only the Lonely" — which means anyone who's lucky enough to catch them performing live gets to hear one of the '80s' best solos played by the man who laid down the original.

When Bruce Hornsby laid down the rollicking solo at the center point of his 1986 No. 1 hit "The Way It Is," he reminded the music world that yes, the piano is actually capable of creating rock 'n' roll, even if it sometimes happens to be of the softer persuasion. Hornsby and his band the Range combined soulful Americana-adjacent lyricism with energetic keyboard work that rooted the song in irresistible rhythm. And when he rounded the corner to the middle spot where something special was called for, he let loose with a piano solo that elevated the whole piece, shooting notes off at unexpected angles and leaving listeners breathlessly awaiting what came next.

Hornsby's solo hops time signatures within phrases, giving the notes the feeling of a stumble that's totally under control. The effect is a more straightforward version of a jazz figure that shows off his talents without losing control of the greater purpose: connecting two halves of the song while stirring emotion and building tension that gets released in the return of the main melodic motif. It helped a song revisiting the social injustices of the South make a more powerful pop statement. If your head bobs along with everything before the solo, your shoulders get in on the action once the modest frenzy begins.

Rock icons Journey gave their sound surprising new urgency with their 1983 single "Faithfully," which was destined to become a soft rock standard from day one. It was a No. 12 Billboard hit when it finally reached its tipping point, propelled in large part by a sobbing textural landscape featuring a fearsome solo from guitar prodigy and sole original Journey member Neal Schon, who was playing at the top of his game on this romantic weeper. His first-rate playing gave the song a powerful final act that no soft rock solo has ever matched, in our opinion.

Written by keyboardist Jonathan Cain, "Faithfully" gives the heartache of being on the road an anthem heavy with piano work. But then Schon puts all of his magic on the fretboard with a searing lead-out solo that starts with a sweet countermelody before descending into absolute feedback fire. It's as if all the emotion that's been kept under restraint during the rest of the song is unleashed in a torrent of flashy finger work. The impact is an explosive finish-up that plays favorably against Steve Perry's upper-range vocals to create a human-to-guitar duet that rankles the nervous system, in the best possible way.