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:

MR. SCARY – George Lynch/Dokken

GREEN GRASS AND HIGH TIDES – Henry Paul/The Outlaws

ROUND 1 MATCHES:
1 Chet Atkins Vs Buddy Guy Chet Atkins wins 11-9
2 Clapton/Allman Vs Joe Satriani Satriani wins 13-8
3 John Mayer Vs Duane Eddy Duane Eddy wins 11-10
4 B.B. King Vs Alex Lifeson B.B. King wins 16-5
5 Jimmy Page Vs Eric Clapton Clapton wins 12-7
6 Adrian Smith Vs Mick Jones Adrian Smith wins 12-9
7 Pete Townshend Vs Friedman/Becker
8 Ronnie Montrose Vs Allen Collins
9 Angus Young Vs Steve Clark
10 J Mascis Vs Snakefinger
11 George Lynch Vs Henry Paul

vote: MR. SCARY – George Lynch/Dokken

on general principal.

GREEN GRASS AND HIGH TIDES – Henry Paul/The Outlaws

Rock Band has made me dread this song, but it has also given me an appreciate for how insanely good the playing is.

Green Grass And high Tides

I loves me some Green Grass And High Tides. Almost nominated it for the 70s Rock Wars.

Green Grass and High Tides forever!

I could go back and forth for a while on this, so I am going to go with my first instinct.

Henry Paul and Green Grass and High Tides.

I'm going with Green Grass and High Tides as well...

Put me down for Green Grass and High Tides.

is it was "dream warriors" by dokken i would have voted for dokken but GREEN GRASS AND HIGH TIDES – Henry Paul/The Outlaws is by far a better guitar song.

George Lynch and I once had a "bromance" for about 30 minutes. He's a very down to earth guy and we had a great conversation. Awesome dude. He's also one of the fastest and cleanest guitarists from the hair band era. Mr. Scary doesn't show off enough of his chops, but it's more than adequate in my mind against Henry Paul's work.

George Lynch - Mr. Scary

A vote for The Outlaws and Green Grass and High Tides, please! What awesome guitar licks!!

Not usually my thing, but I'll concede George Lynch's skill here

Mr. Scary - George Lynch

Not the best by Mr. Lynch, but good enough to move past in this round.