5 Guitar Solos We Wish We Could Hear Again For The First Time

Everybody remembers their firsts — first kiss, first day at school, first time they heard a track. In terms of the latter, there are songs featuring guitar solos that stop you dead in your tracks. They possess it; that something special that grabs you by the throat and whispers in your ear, "Listen."

This isn't a case for them being included in an all-time best solos ever list. Of course, something like "November Rain" is far from Guns N' Roses' most underrated song and could be seen as a genuine contender for any feature about sublime guitar work, but these are bits of music that transcend rankings and such. They're soul solos — music that you wish you could erase from your memory just to go back and experience it for the first time all over again.

As always, this isn't simply about one writer's opinion and terrific taste in music. The guitar solos picked here are ones that have touched the lives of others, who still rave about the first time they heard the magic years (and decades) later.

Power metal is one of metal's popular subgenres, combining the gravitas of classic rock with the speed and fierceness of heavy metal. DragonForce became the poster boys for the genre in the 2000s, thanks to the lightning-quick "Through the Fire and Flames" from their stellar album "Inhuman Rampage."

"Through the Fire and Flames" announces its arrival with guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman not just shredding their six-string axes like the IRS calculating your tax return, but also doing things to their instruments that are almost impossible to imagine without seeing them. The speed at which Li and Totman tear through the frets and move down the strings is jaw-dropping. As it turns out, this is only the appetizer, as the DragonForce duo whip up a fast feast of ferocity that has you checking the settings of the track to make sure you didn't accidentally double or triple the playback speed.

Under the YouTube video for "Through the Fire and Flames," one commenter wrote, "And so, the hardest 'boss fight' in gaming was born." It's true, since the track was featured in music video games like "Guitar Hero Smash Hits." This turned out to be many people's introduction to DragonForce's music, as they had to match the speed and technical expertise with which Li and Totman performed. Needless to say, it was quite the challenge.

Michael Jackson scored the most No. 1 hits in the '80s. The King of Pop dominated the decade, and a number of his songs can lay claim to being among the best music ever released. One of his most famous tracks is "Beat It," which is from his iconic 1982 album "Thriller."

While the song features the traditional groove and catchy lyrics you would normally associate with MJ, the song comes alive in the third act due to the appearance of one Eddie Van Halen. The master guitarist doesn't moonwalk here — he power slides in with a scorching solo that's typically him but also lends itself incredibly well to Jackson's music. It's one of those rare moments when someone says aloud, "Huh. I didn't think that would work, but this is awesome." As Van Halen revealed to CNN years later, he actually convinced the sound engineer to change the structure of the track. "Took him maybe 10 minutes to put it together," Van Halen said. "And I proceeded to improvise two solos over it."

On Reddit, nobody disputes the legacy of "Beat It." However, there's a debate that Van Halen's contribution may have been the difference in elevating the song from good to great here. "The solo is way better than the rest of the song," a Redditor wrote. "When did Sesame Street pop end up with such a shredder? The EVH solo is the most underrated part of that song."

When Ozzy Osbourne split from Black Sabbath, he had everything to prove. As part of Sabbath, he had the incomparable Tony Iommi to call upon for crushing guitar work. So, for his solo band, he enlisted the talents of the young Randy Rhoads. This gifted guitarist may have passed away at a young age, but he left his mark on Ozzy and the music world with his abilities. His stupendous shredding on "Crazy Train," which is from 1980's "Blizzard of Ozz," has become the stuff of legend.

Not only did Rhoads produce a now-iconic main riff that's often imitated but never duplicated, but his melodic solo saw him unleash a timeless double-tap finger dance that had everybody viewing him as the next master of rock. "As a junior high kid at the time, we all thought Randy Rhoads was a literal god among men," a Redditor stated.

Decades after the release of "Crazy Train," Ozzy revisited the original recording on "Ozzy & Jack's World Detour" and discussed how listening to Rhoads' playing was "bittersweet" since the guitarist would pass away a few years later. The Prince of Darkness and his son, Jack, remained silent in appreciation and awe of Rhoads' isolated solo track. Ozzy called the solo "f***ing awesome," and that's definitely the best and most unfiltered description of it yet.

Rage Against the Machine became known for their politically charged and defiant music, but Tom Morello's guitar style features some of the most innovative playing — not only of his generation, but in the history of music as a whole. Morello has never been afraid of experimenting with eccentric sounds and unexpected tricks to morph his guitar into a completely different-sounding instrument at times. He's definitely one of those guitarists you have to see to believe.

"Know Your Enemy" — from the group's eponymous album — kicks mud in everybody's face, but Morello's solo is something else when it drops in from another world. Upon first listen, the impression is, "What the heck is that? How did he do that with his guitar?" It's weird but wonderful. Morello told Ultimate-Guitar that it wasn't easy to put together the solo for "Know Your Enemy," but he pulled it off through "really fast toggle switching and then some really quick legato runs." According to Morello, he "practiced 20,000 hours to be able to play like that."

To quote one person in the comments section of the YouTube upload of the song: "Bro made his guitar sound like a PlayStation 1." Can't dispute that statement.

When it comes to guitar solos that changed rock, Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine" often gets mentioned as a major one, and why shouldn't it? It's sublime. However, there's an argument to be made that "November Rain" — from the 1991 GN'R album, "Use Your Illusion I" — fires out a better and more emotive (perhaps even weepy) lead section from Slash.

To be fair, you do need to listen to the solo while watching the outrageous music video. Slash lets his instrument croon, as the wind blows in his hair and he's surrounded by dust. Why? Who knows, but even so, this section hits right in the feels, turning the emotional meatgrinder inside and making you believe in the crazy little thing called love. Slash returns at the end of the song to lay down another saucy solo that squeals and wails with delight and slithers into your mind and heart forever.

The music video for "November Rain" has over two billion views on YouTube, and the comments section is as much of a riot as the video itself. Commenting on Slash's impressive solo, one user wrote, "Dude walks out of a church ... lights a cigarette ... plays the coolest riff wearing the most badass leather jacket. Only Slash can do it."