Quickies: First Quarter 2020 Releases included SONS OF APOLLO, THOUGHTS FACTORY, SHADOWQUEST, SYLOSIS and more...

Between January 3rd and March 27th, there were some very decent releases that didn't get a full review but deserved my attention anyway.

MYSTIC PROPHECY Metal Division (01/10) 
Mystic Prophecy is a power metal band from Germany. The highlight of this band is vocalist R.D. Liapakis who is the only founding member left. He has an unique voice with a cool drive and able to reach some high notes from time to time. Metal Division is already their 10th album. Mystic Prophecy is straightforward power metal with aggression, hooks and catchy melodies. A couple songs are borderline thrash and, thank God, no ballads. While it is a good album and none of the songs are bad, none are truly memorable either. It's a fun listen for power metal fans but for the most part very basic with low repeatability.

SONS OF APOLLO MMXX (01/17)
The 100th or so band from Mike Portnoy releases its second album just x year after the debut. This is another so called "supergroup" that Mike is part of. I didn't care for their debut, I thought it was disappointing given the caliber of the musicians involved. I mean I love all of them in previous bands but together it didn't bring anything new or exciting. MMXX is a step up but still very disappointing. I must the say the single and album pener "Goodbye Divinity" is great and I was really hoping for prog metal such as this track. "King Of Delusion"  and the epic 16' closer "New World Today" kind of get me there again but for the rest, it's pretty basic stuff. I am not a fan of supergroups because they usually lack soul and a signature sound. I don;t know what SOA sound like except when it reminds us a bit of DT.  In sum, it's a OK album and not a bad listen, but it's again underwhelming.

THOUGHTS FACTORY Elements (01/24)

Elements is the sophomore release of the German prog-metal quintet band Thoughts Factory. I was caught by surprise with this release and I am happy I checked them out. The 10 power prog metal songs sound similar to Symphony X and Dream Theater (not the vocals though) but while metallic for the most part, there's also a deep influence of progressive rock (e.g. Ayreon). The production is acceptable, musicianship proficient and the music writing quite engaging, all leading to very memorable songs. I mostly enjoy the addictive melodies sang beautifully by Cornelius Wurth (the only new band member). My only criticism is that a couple of songs in the middle of the album go too slow and soft and the flow looses momentum. With this out of the way, it's a very good disc and a promising new band. For the fans of the aforementioned bands or prog rock/metal in general, I can only recommend this album.

SHADOWQUEST Gallows of Eden (01/27)
Shadowquest is a power metal band from Örebro, Sweden formed as a sort of supergroup featuring Jari Kainulainen (Bass, ex-Stratovarius),  Ronny Milianowicz (Drums), Peter Huss (Guitars), Ragnar Widerberg (Guitars, Witherscape), Kaspar Dahlqvist (Keyboards) and Patrik J Selleby (Vocals, Bloodbound). The debut full-length came out exactly 5 years ago making Gallows of Eden their sophomore LP. Excluding "I Want Out" (Helloween cover), the album features 10 tracks in 50 minutes. Previously they covered Priest's "Freewheel Burning". I must say their cover choices summarize their sound. High speed catchy power metal with traditional metal aggressiveness and melody. The keyboards add a bit of a Stratovarius element to the mix and the vocals are clean and high pitched (but to my taste not exaggerated). There's also a touch of progressiveness. Some songs are pure Priest inspired such as the opener "The Avenger", others Andi Deris era Helloween e.g. "Dr Midnight" and there's also a welcomed 90's era Maiden homage with the closer "The Kinsmen Awaits". Yes there's a lot of PM cliches musically and lyrically (e.g. like an eagle in the sky) but it's well written, executed and produced. For PM fans it's an interesting album worth checking.

SYLOSIS Cycle of Suffering (02/07)
Sylosis mastermind Josh Middleton has reactivated the band and returned with the long-anticipated new record. Cycle Of Suffering breaks the band's 3-year hiatus and it's the 5th studio album following up 2015's  Dormant Heart. I honestly thought that after that record, they would take a even more progressive direction. But actually Cycle Of Suffering is pretty straight forward with subtle sparks of experimentation (e.g. the piano here and there). I also felt a hint of Architects influence as Josh is now the guitar player for that band as well. With that said, it still sounds authentic and trademark Sylosis. Melodic and proficient guitar work without getting over the top is one of the highlights. I also like how aggressiveness and melody meet each other. John can sound pissed off and at the same time create anthemic passages. Despite sounding a bit repetitive, it's a very good modern thrash meets metalcore album.

OZZY OSBOURNE Ordinary Man (02/21)
Ordinary Man, almost ten years after Scream, is the twelfth studio album by heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne. This is exactly what you would expect from Ozzy, despite the guitar player Andrew Watt being unknown in the metal scene. For a band that had Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde, it can come as a disappointment but we do have the contributions from Slash and Tom Morello. And the super line-up doesn't stop there. The third single and title track features Elton John on piano and co-vocals. The rhythm section is formed by no one less than Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. All those guests bring a nice variability to the album. With that said, Ozzy sounds just like classic Ozzy, I mean it's hard to believe it's a 2020 recording. Most of the songs are very good, specially the first half of the album. But it looses some energy on the last 5 tracks. We must also highlight the orchestral arrangements and nice addition to his sound. Ordinary Man is not the best work from Ozzy, but it's good and given his age and health, quite impressive accomplishment.

H.E.A.T. H.E.A.T II (03/13)
H.E.A.T is a Swedish hard rock group strongly influenced by 80's melodic rock groups such as Whitesnake. I got introduced to the band when they were the opening act to Edguy in January 2009. At that point they only had their great self titled debut album out. Vocalist Kenny Leckremo left the band after it and somehow I lost track of the band. Now I got two independent recommendations from trusted sources to check H.E.A.T's new output, part II. It's kind of a perfect title for me since I skipped all the other albums in between H.E.A.T and H.E.A.T II. I'm quite impressed with this album, H.E.A.T continue to make text book AOR/Melodic Rock featuring strong emphasis on melody and anthemic choruses. The song writing while not original is fantstic and delivers on the promise. Super catchy and melodic and yet they manage to do so with enough heaviness to keep me interested, guitar solos and the impressive vocal performance from Erik Grönwall. There are a couple of slow tempo ballads in the later part of the album that are too soft for me, and that's my only criticism. I have a soft spot for 80's hard rock, call it guilty pleasure if you will, but it's really difficult to find a band that can execute this style with the right ingredients. H.E.A.T can do it like almost nobody else these days.

Album Review: TEMPLE OF VOID The World That Was (3/27)

Temple of Void is a doom-death quintet from Detroit. Since 2013, they've been combining the somber sound of early British doom with the energy and devastation of old school American death metal. The likes of Morbid Angel and Bolt Thrower form the backbone of ToV's sound. They released their first LP in 2014 but it was 2017's Lords of Death that brought them to the underground spotlight.

With 38 minutes and 5 proper tracks of mid-tempo crushing death doom, Temple of Void returns with the third album The World That Was. "A Beast Among Us" opens the album with 7 minutes of groove, energy and heaviness.  The faster tempo of the first half gives drummer Jason Pearce opportunity to shine. The second half goes vary doomy with dragging tempo and a one minute fade. The energy returns with the single "Self-Schism", a song that shows the influence of early Alice in Chains on the guitar riffs mixed with a hint of post metal. "A Single Obolus" is a minute and a half Spanish guitar song that divides the album. The shortest track on the album follows: "Leave the Light Behind" which relies more intensively on synths and clean singing. At the end of the day, this combination generates a more accessible song. "Casket of Shame" kicks of with grunge guitar riffs and keeps the groove throughout the song. The 10-min epic title track closes the album with elegance. It's the perfect choice as the song uses many of the colors that the band displayed during the entire album.

While I really enjoyed The World That Was from start to finish, only time will tell if it will stick with me. It's not the type of metal I return to very often. But Temple of Void brought a diverse death doom album with very little to complain about. Maybe just some of the surprising twists such as "Leave the Light Behind" did not impress me.

All and all, Temple of Void delivers again top notch music writing and pristine execution. But this time around the band dialed up on the doom and sludge leaving the death metal more on the background. Outside influences from the likes of Alice in Chains or post-metal bands brought even more colors in their crushing palette. You add more prominent synths to give some more atmosphere and the receipt for success is done. 

SCORE: 80/100
Genre: Death Doom Metal
Released by Shadow Kingdom Records on March 27th, 2020

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Rating System
96 - 100 Perfect
88 - 95 Excellent
84 - 87 Great
80 - 83 Very Good
75 - 79 Good
69 - 74 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad

Album Review: HEAVEN SHALL BURN Of Truth And Sacrifice (3/20)

Heaven Shall Burn are a German Death Metal/Metalcore band formed in 1996 and releasing their debut Asunder four years later. The band has a very stable line-up and currently consisting of vocalist Marcus Bischoff, guitarists Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, bassist Eric Bischoff and drummer Christian Bass. I started to follow the band around the release of 2013's Veto which I like a lot. Overall it's not a band that I love all discography or albums from start to finish. Personally it's more of a "best of" band. They have some amazing songs released over the years and put out a fantastic and energetic show.

Following 2016's Wanderer, Of Truth And Sacrifice is Heaven Shall Burn's ninth album and it's the biggest gap between two studio albums. That's because the band allowed themselves a well-deserved break. As a result Of Truth And Sacrifice is massive double album. 100 minutes of music in 19 tracks! Given this scale the band also had a lot of room for surprises and experiments. Conceptually the album is split into two halves Of Truth (CD1) And Sacrifice (CD2).

The Of Truth album kick-off with an engaging intro which clearly can be used to open their concerts. "Thoughts and Prayers" follows and reminds me a lot of "Combat" which is one of my favorite songs. Several other songs are straightforward Heaven Shall Burn as we come to love it (e.g. "Protector", "What War Means" or "Terminate the Unconcern"). "Übermacht" (superior in German), featuring an anthemic and groovy feeling while using some electronic music influences, is the first moment on the album that really feels different from previous releases. It's overall a cool song and the the middle section break works very well. The single "My Heart and the Ocean" is another highlight. A very melo death metal song, almost sounding like Amon Amarth. One of the tools explored this time around was symphonic arrangements and piano. They are used more than once throughout the album. For example during the fully experimental "Expatriate".

The And Sacrifice half opens up with the almost 7-min long "Children of a Lesser God" which is more mid-tempo in the lines of the successful Veto's "Hunters Will Be Hunted". But then "La Résistance" goes too far on the electronic to my taste. It's a Rammstein-like song that we can dace to it. "Tirpitz" and "Eagles Among Vultures" are some other good moments of energetic mosh pit material. Heaven Shall Burn traditionally cover with their own spin some cool songs and also use those as part of their live set list. Most notably "Black Tears" (Edge of Sanity). Now the cover of Nuclear Assault’s “Critical Mass,” is included near the end of Sacrifice. The symphonic element are back in the closer "Weakness Leaving My Heart". An interesting and melancholic way to close the album.

The vocal performance of singer Marcus Bischoff is one of his best to date showing more versatility than ever before. Lyrics are as always based on social and ecological injustices. The production is clean and loud, meaning not very different from previous albums. The amazing artwork courtesy of Eliran Kantor (Testament, Iced Earth, Sodom) is topping off this very special album.

Of Truth And Sacrifice is much more than an overdose of metalcore, for better or worse Heaven Shall Burn expanded their sound into industrial and melo death and even a hint of groove metal. Additionally they added piano and orchestral arrangements to a few songs bringing a progressive feel to them. I do like Heaven Shall Burn quite s lot but I must say it's intimidating to be confronted with 100 minutes of metalcore. While I appreciate the experimentation, it did not always work for me, specially CD2 has a lot of uncut fat. The good thing is that when you distill those 100 min into a more manageable length, you will get a freaking awesome playlist. 

SCORE: 81(CD1) & 74(CD2) / 100
Genre: Melodic Death Metal/Metalcore
Released by Century Media Records on March 20th, 2020

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Rating System
96 - 100 Perfect
88 - 95 Excellent
84 - 87 Great
80 - 83 Very Good
75 - 79 Good
69 - 74 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad

Album Review: CODE ORANGE Underneath (3/13)

Code Orange is an American hardcore band that formed in Pittsburgh in 2008. Since formation, the band's punk style has gradually grown more abrasive and heavy metal-influenced.  I Am King (2014) is considered their breakthrough LP but it was the even better Forever (2017) that pushed their sound to new and interesting places. Forever, being referred to as a "modern classic",  was considered one of the top album of 2017. Therefore the expectation for their fourth album Underneath were quite high. 

Despite being generally classified as hardcore, it's difficult to define Code Orange's sound. Since Forever, the hardcore sound is heavily fused with Nu-Metal (e.g. Slipknot and Deftones) with a touch of industrial. But while still aggressive Underneath also adds a bit more of alt rock with some moments even reminding me of Alice in Chains. The new endeavor brings 14 tracks in 48 min. After the intro track featuring industrial samples, we get the second single "Swallowing the Rabbit Whole". It's a heavy and yet groovy track that can resemble early Machine Head. The next couple of tracks follow similar style. Another groovy headbanger is "Last Ones Left". "Sulfur Surrounding" is the third single and it's a good choice as it blends the more melodic clean vocals side with the aggressive sound from the early albums. But the album is full of interesting turns. Bringing their sound way beyond noisy hardcore. "Who I Am" is pure Deftones, a mid-tempo song with a sing along chorus, it works for me! This is certainly a more accessible song without getting lame. On that note "The Easy Way" features such a catchy chorus that I challenge you not to sing along. They have more rabbits in their hats, "Autumn and Carbine" is borderline grunge in the lines of Alice in Chains. Actually the album looses me after this track. Underneath is a bit too long, 35 min would've been a more appropriate length for me.

I appreciate the tasteful use of industrial samples, it gives a modern feel to their music without distracting us from the music. Don't know why they like to add those complete stop of a song in the middle of it for a fraction of a second, it's really irritating. (e.g. "Fear"). But maybe that's what they are going for. The production is dynamic, uncomfortable, noisy and scary. This all fits very well with the current state of the world. I also like the artwork even though looks too familiar (Scorpions' Blackout?).

There's enough heaviness and aggressive short tracks to keep the old fans satisfied but at the same time Code Orange expanded their sound to a more accessible alt rock territory that will certainly bring new fans. Overall it's an impressive accomplishment to perfect this blend and help defining modern extreme metal. While I personally have some small issues with the album, I can understand why and foresee Underneath topping the year-end lists again.

SCORE: 80/100
Genre: Hardcore
Released by Roadrunner Records on March 13th, 2020

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Rating System
96 - 100 Perfect
88 - 95 Excellent
84 - 87 Great
80 - 83 Very Good
75 - 79 Good
69 - 74 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad

Album Review: WOLF Feeding The Machine (3/13)

Wolf is a Swedish heavy metal band from Örebro. They released their debut self titled album in 2000. Following 2014's Devil Seed, Feeding The Machine is the 8th album and features new band members Johan Koleberg on drums and Pontus Egberg on bass guitar. Niklas Stålvind (vocals/guitar) is the only original member left. Wolf makes Swedish NWOBHM metal, if that makes sense. They blend well with the new wave of traditional heavy metal that includes bands such as Enforcer, Ram, and Visigoth.

This is my first time listening to Wolf and after a couple of spins it becomes clear that it's one of those albums that are difficult to review. On one hand everything is OK: musicianship, song writing, and production. On the other hand, that's also the problem, it's just OK! Nothing really sands out as above average or different from the other bands aforementioned. Yes it's fun to listen to some tracks but Feeding The Machine crams 12 songs in 47 minutes and without some variability, the second half blend in together without memorable moments to keep me interested.

There are good moments with some headbanger songs that will work well live specially in a summer festival. The album opener "Shoot to Kill" (nice guitar solo and twin guitars riff) and the single "Midnight Hour" being some examples. The riffing and groove of the title track is also quite interesting, although the chorus is underwhelming. The closer and longest track "A Thief Inside" is an interesting one in which the band explores a bit with a mid tempo more progressive structure featuring interesting base lines and a longer guitar solo. Niklas delivers the vocals but also remains on the average. It resembles Udo Dirkschneider or Blackie Lawless but not as aggressive or remarkable as those icons. The guitar work is also decent featuring fist pumping riffs (such as in "Mass Confusion") and proficient guitar solos. The rhythm section do their job but rarely take the spotlight. 
Wolf should be praised to keep the traditional heavy metal alive. They put together a collection of no non-sense metal anthems that will bring joy to a live audience headbanging to those tunes with their fists up. The album as a whole however doesn't bring anything new or distinctive. For the fans of NWOBHM and traditional heavy metal this is a safe bet (too safe?) to have some fun.

SCORE: 74/100
Genre: Heavy Metal
Released by Century Media Records on March 13th, 2020

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Rating System
96 - 100 Perfect
88 - 95 Excellent
84 - 87 Great
80 - 83 Very Good
75 - 79 Good
69 - 74 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad

Album Review: MY DYING BRIDE The Ghost Of Orion (3/06)

My Dying Bride are an English Doom/Death Metal (early)/Gothic/Doom Metal (later) band formed in Bradford in 1990. Along with Anathema and Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride were a forerunner of the British death doom and gothic metal genres during the early 1990s. Aaron Stainthorpe (vocals) and Andrew Craighan (guitars) are the two original members remaining.

It feels like a great occasion for an album from My Dying Bride as we live this moment of a virus outbreak, financial crisis and horrible gray weather. It can't get much 'more doom' than that! The Ghost of Orion is the sextet 13th studio album. It comes after a turbulent period with Aaron’s daughter being diagnosed with cancer (thankfully recovered in the meantime) and one guitar player and drummer leaving the band. Given those circumstances, Andrew wrote the album by himself and it is the band's longest gap (5 years) between studio albums to date. Despite all of that, it's interesting that the tone and mood of the album is not as dark or depressive as I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, it's still intensively depressing and heavy but also catchy and accessible at moments. The album features 6 proper long songs. There are also two short songs: the title track, a pseudo instrumental song without any drums (we can barely hear the whispering lyrics) and closer "Your Woven Shore" (a church choir vibe).

I was not familiar with the band's sound so I can't compare The Ghost of Orion to their past records. But I was intrigued by the album's first single, "Your Broken Shore" and decide to give it a try. This beautiful track has it all and exemplify the record: Guitar riff driven music, mid-tempo layered with sorrowful violins and keyboards by Shaun Macgowan, melancholic instrumental breaks intertwined with heavy drum fills and the impressive vocal performance of Aaron. He manages to go seamlessly from beautiful clean singing to deep death growls. Overall the album relies heavily on the clean vocals and beautiful catchy melodies. Songs like "To Outlive the Gods" and the second single "Tired of Tears" are perfect examples. They represent the more accessible side of the record: no death growls, around 8 min, catchy choruses and overall just great songs. By the way how great is the title "Tired of Tears"? Then, we must talk about the track "The Solace" because it is very unique due to the female vocals by Lindy Fay Hella (Wardruna) sang over guitar riffs. The whole song goes like this and transmit a folk vibe. It also serves as a watershed in the album. The second half is "less accessible" (yet also great) and features two epic songs. The 10-min tracks have again death growls and long instrumental passages. "The Old Earth" being the heaviest song on the album. Some small moments reveal the fantastic song writing and attention to details. For example: The instrumental interlude on "The Long Black Land" where we have this moving guitar arpeggios with violin and a choir setting the tone, but broken three times by some very solid drum riffs before the whole band joins back in. Genius.

I love the production values on The Ghost Of Orion. First of all, it's very dynamic. Then, the guitars sound thick and heavy which goes very well with the excellent low and thick drumming sound. I also appreciate that the keys are low in the mix to support the harmony and rarely taking the emphasis. This choice not only gives the album this old school doom sound but also let the violin shine in great contrast with the heavy guitars and drums. Finally the artwork resembling a Baroque style painting such as Rembrandt's work is beautiful and memorable.

Overall The Ghost Of Orion is a very good album from a legendary band that went though a lot and almost didn't make it. However, the commitment of Aaron and Andrew kept the fire alive and we can only be thankful for that. This display of heaviness under an intensively depressing atmosphere delivers many shades of the doom color pallet. I am looking forward to visiting My Dying Bride'a discography.

SCORE: 82/100
Genre: Gothic Doom Metal
Released by Nuclear Blast Records on March 6th, 2020

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Rating System
96 - 100 Perfect
88 - 95 Excellent
84 - 87 Great
80 - 83 Very Good
75 - 79 Good
69 - 74 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad

Top 20 Guitar Solos Of The 20th Century By BeMetalways

Just a few years after discovering rock and metal, I started to play the guitar. Unfortunately, I don't play it often these days but I still love it. This list is heavily influenced by the first songs I learned or the first guitar heroes of that time (late 80's/early 90's). The criteria is a mix of musical proficiency and emotions. But mostly, guitar solos that mean something to me. The playlist on Spotify can be found here.

20-Money by David Gilmour (Pink Floyd, 1973)
Another guitar here of mine while I was growing up. Out of one of the best rock albums of all times, Money has a collection of very cool solos as only Gilmour sensibility and phrasing can produce. We can split the solo in three parts, the high tempo solo following the sax solo, the bluesy part which sounds amazing specially on headphones and then the final high tempo part.

19-Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming by Steve Morse (Deep Purple, 1996)
Steve joining DP was a positive surprise to me at the time. This song is by far my favorite of his tenure with the band. It's such a unique and amazing riff using artificial harmonics which seamlessly blends with the guitar solo.

18-Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy by Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, 1996)
It's such a fun song. The solo is quite short but Paul shreds through it and the cherry on top of the cake is the use of a drill machine to close the solo.

17-Cemetery Gates by Dimebag Darrell (Pantera, 1990)
The mighty Dimebag! I love this song and the solo specifically because it starts very melodic and then goes into shredding mode like only he could so it.

16-Crazy Train by Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne, 1980)
Another one on the list who left us way too soon. Of all the possible choices, I choose this one because my University band use to play this song and I always loved when the solos kicks in. In any case, anything Randy recorded was magical. So safe choice.

15-Painkiller by Glenn Tipton (Judas Priest, 1990)
One of the best albums of all time! This solo is regarded by many as Tipton at his best. It's so energetic and yet melodic and technical.

14-Symphony Of Destruction by Marty Friedman (Megadeth, 1992)
This ones brings the memories when it was released and I had a high school band. Very nicely constructed solo by Marty, I love how he uses the whole neck in relatively short solo.

13-5150 by Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen, 1986)
There's can't be best of guitar list without Eddie. A genius! You can really pick any of his solos, if live even better. I choose 5150 also because I was learning how to play it during high school and fell in love with the riffs and solo on this.

12-Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, 1983)
Another hero from my teenage years who left us way too soon. This is of course blues and therefore different from any other players in the list. His unique style was so impressive. Particularly here in the way Stevie uses the whole fretboard and different techniques.

11-Tumeni Notes by Steve Morse (Steve Morse, 1989)
I love this album and specially this song. It's basically an arpeggio lesson and it can be argued that the whole song is a guitar solo. So much to learn from it...

10-Edge of Thorns by Chris Oliva (Savatage, 1993)
One of the most underrated players in this list, Chris left us way too soon but his legacy remains. He was a very melodic player and this masterpiece of a song is one of the best examples.

9-Sweet Child O' Mine by Slash (Guns N' Roses, 1987)
Who hasn't heard this one? If Chris was underrated, Slash may be overrated, but still he also has a great sensibility for melodic solos and despite this song being a cliche, I still like it. It bring a lot of memories from the 80's.

8-Stairway To Heaven by Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin, 1971)
Sorry for another cliche song, but there's a reason why! It's a brilliant song from one of the best bands in rock music and an absolutely amazing player.

7-For the Love of God by Steve Vai (Steve Vai, 1990)
This was a new album when I started playing guitar and I was mesmerized by this song. It's almost a 6-min solo. It is not only super technical (using 7 strings) but so beautiful and melodic. So many techniques and tools are used that it becomes a guitar master class for students.

6-One by Kirk Hammett (Metallica, 1988)
Growing up learning rock guitar in the 80's means that you were influenced by Kirk and James in one way or another. This album was particularly important to me and with the song book in hands I learned most of those songs and solos. I loved Kirk's playing in the 80's, his solos sounded great and yet they were very fluent to play.

5-Far Beyond the Sun by Yngwie Malmsteen (Rising Force, 1984)
This one needs no introduction! Another almost 6-min solo. No need to say how influential this song, album and player have been to so many guitarists. I regret that when I was at my peak year I didn't try to learn it. Now it's just not possible.

4-Stranger in a Strange Land by Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden, 1986)
Maybe the first guitar solo I ever learned how to play from my personal guitar hero. I love the big emphasis the song places on this solo. It's very melodic with a build up that gives me goose bumps every time.

3-2 Minutes To Midnight by Adrian Smith & Dave Murray (Iron Maiden, 1984)
I bought the guitar book with all tabs from Powerslave and Somewhere in Time. This song was probably the second Maiden song I ever learned how to play. I love both solos and specially how they transition into each other. I really enjoyed playing it, Adrian's part using the pentatonic  scales, simple and yet effective.

2-Comfortably Numb by David Gilmour (Pink Floyd, 1979)
The master of playing and choosing the right notes at the right time. David is absolutely a major influence to me and Pink Floyd. Here we don't have just one, but two solos. The very slow and melodic one at the middle of the song and the longer one at the end. I actually miss when bands would finish songs with guitar solos. This is an absolute guitar masterclass.

1-Crushing Day by Joe Satriani (Joe Satriani, 1987)

This song and solos are so amazing that I literally wanna cry when I listen to it. It brings me tons of memories as I spent countless hours trying to learn it. Joe is by far my favorite virtuoso player and I love his discography. His sensibility and technique is just jaw dropping. 

Honorable mentions: 

Let It Be by George Harrison (The Beatles, 1970)
My favorite rock band didn't quite make it to the list but Harrison has to be acknowledged. This was one of the, if not the, first solos I tried to learn. Like the whole song, it features great melody, and additionally the heavy guitar tone gives it a lot of punch.

Flight Of The Icarus by Adrian Smith & Dave Murray (Iron Maiden, 1983)
By far the two most influential guitar players as I was learning how to play. Not surprisingly from my favorite metal band. But regardless, this is a fantastic solo, well, it's actually 3 solos. First Dave then Adrian in the middle of the song and then the final solo from Dave. Overall it represents the work of those two. It's short but impressive and very melodic. Dave uses lots of licks in his first solo as he usually does and then the transition to Adrian's solo with the initial bend is just perfection.