Welcome one and all to the Guitar Wars. These battles feature songs nominated by you, the folks from the Realms. This isn’t about who the better guitarist is, or what band is better. This is about the instrument and the song. Great solos are something that make us sit up and take notice, but the guitar is more than that. There are great riffs like the one in Beat It, which was not done by Eddie Van Halen. You know, that awesome riff that permeates the song is also the part that EVH had nothing to do with.

There are ways that the guitarist wraps his playing around the melody and makes a perfect fit that’s so subtle and imperceptible that most times it gets missed. And of course, there are the solos, some with blinding speed and some played so eloquently and with so much feel that you can get lost in one sustained note after another.

You are hear! Hendrix, Clapton, Lifeson, Atkins, Page, Abasi, Santana, Morello and a host of others will be popping up. Come on in and check out the virtuosity of these and others. Find new songs you can add to your shuffle or just reminisce on songs you may not have heard in a while. Enjoy.

Listen to each song and pay attention to the guitar part and vote for the song whose guitar part you liked better. Maybe you’re a fan of the slide, or finger-picking or electric solo, but give each song a chance and then vote for the performance that you liked better. We’ll go round by round and match by match until we have a winner. That song will be crowned best overall guitar song to listen to on the Realms. All the songs will have the main guitarist or guitarists listed along with the band’s name and the name of the song. Critique it if you want, and judge it as you will, but keep in mind, this isn’t a battle of what band or artist is better. I for one may not be a fan of a certain band or solo artist, but that will not keep me from voting for a song of theirs if that song has one of the most gorgeous guitar solos ever heard.

Matchups will close on the fifth day after they are posted.

So, without further adieu, here we go:

NO MORE TEARS – Zakk Wylde/Ozzy Osbourne

DAY OF THE EAGLE – Robin Trower

ROUND 1 MATCHES:
1 Chet Atkins (Orange Blossom Special)Vs Buddy Guy (Baby, Please Don’t Leave Me) Chet Atkins wins 11-9
2 Clapton/Allman – Derek & the Dominos (Layla) Vs Joe Satriani (Oriental Melody) Satriani wins 13-8
3 John Mayer (Slow Dancing in a Burning Room Vs Duane Eddy (Rebel Rouser) Duane Eddy wins 11-10
4 B.B. King (The Thrill Is Gone) Vs Alex Lifeson – Rush (Working Man) B.B. King wins 16-5
5 Jimmy Page – Led Zeppelin (Black Dog) Vs Eric Clapton – The Beatles (While My Guitar Gently Weeps) Eric Clapton wins 12-7
6 Adrian Smith – Iron Maiden (Sea of Madness) Vs Mick Jones – The Clash (Lost in a Supermarket) Adrian Smith wins 12-9
7 Pete Townshend – The Who (Pinball Wizard) Vs Friedman/Becker – Cacophony (Concerto) Friedman/Becker wins 8-7
8 Ronnie Montrose – Montrose (Space Station #5) Vs Allen Collins – Lynyrd Skynyrd (Free Bird) Allen Collins wins 13-6
9 Angus Young – AC/DC (Fling Thing/Rocker) Vs Steve Clark – Def Leppard (Switch 625) Angus Young wins 12-9
10 J Mascis – Dinosaur Jr (Pick Me Up) Vs Snakefinger (Climbing the Ladder) J Mascis wins 16-4
11 George Lynch – Dokken (Mr Scary) Vs Henry Paul – The Outlaws (Green Grass and High Tides)
12 Yngwie Malmsteen Vs Brian Setzer
13 Sterling Morrison – Velvet Underground (Oh! Sweet Nothin’) Vs Daniel Ash – Love and Rockets (Yin and Yang and the Flowerpot Man)
14 Zakk Wylde – Ozzy Osbourne (No More Tears) Vs Robin Trower (Day of the Eagle)

Robin Trower definitely.

What is, "My vote is for Robin Trower as well."

I'll take Foreign Flicks for $500, Alex.

Robin Trower and Day of the Eagle for me as well.

I like Ozzy more, but the guitar work in that song doesn't really strike me.

I'll go with the crowd on this one - Robin Trower to advance.

its not looking like my choice will be very popular but NO MORE TEARS – Zakk Wylde/Ozzy Osbourne is so much more fun and technical. the other song's guitar sounds like generic rock/blues riffs which bore me. sorry

I really thought I was going to go with Zakk on this one, but I think it's more nostalgia that had me in his corner. I think more than anything I love his sound in this song. It's so growling; so mean. And the first time I heard his solo, I didn't believe he wasn't using a tremolo, it just sounds too strong.

HOWEVA...this isn't Zakk's strongest work. It's a great sound, and fits the song well, but it's not jawdropping. Zakk's a great guitarist, but maybe something from his Black Label Society should have been picked. To me, this is like the Duane Eddy song, where it has a great sound - but you have to look at everything. Well, I'm looking at everything that Robin Trower is bringing in this song, and I like it. He still sounds great after all of these years. He brought more than enough to take Zakk out in this round

ROBIN TROWER - DAY OF THE EAGLE

I saw a link to a Steve Stevens Trower cover on You Tube. I'm disappointed I didn't think of something from his Atomic Playboys album. His sound is so different other guitarists.

My impression with this battle is that it is a guitar solo vs a song. The Robin Trower song was much stronger guitar-wise but No More Tears has one of the best guitar solos ever. Regardless of what Latverian diplomats say, this was the time when I felt that Zakk Wylde was completely on and was not stale and in a rut as he seems to be presently.

No More Tears because that solo is awesome!

Sure, I'll go with Robin Trower.

Much as I like Zakk Wylde and what he does with this Ozzy number, I've been a Robin Trower fan since seeing him play with Procol Harum (which might explain why I had "Outside the Gates of Cerdes" on my first draft of noms for this thread).

Certainly, I like his entry here well enough to cast my vote for...

Day of the Eagle -- Robin Trower, please!

What I like about this Robin Trower song is that everything goes together so seamlessly. The guitar is great, but isn't trying to overpower the bass or the vocals. Individually and collectively the parts fit. And the transitions between the parts of the song all make sense. Rocking and smooth!

My vote is for Robin Trower with Day Of The Eagle.

As much as I hate voting against Robin Trower, Zakk Wylde is the better guitartist and he proves it on this track.

I happen to like both guitarists here and have listened to both extensively. I do think Zakk has better examples of his work. Trower goes out and gives us some awesome riff-rock to get things going and the best that Zakk does here on the Ozzy song is the guitar part of the line of the song, and the solo however good, just din't capture me the way Robin Trower's did. It was close, but this was Trower's magnum opus and I give him the edge on this one.

Day of the Eagle