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, hear we go:

DANCING MADLY BACKWARDS – Larry Reinhardt/Captain Beyond

PARISIENNE WALKWAYS – Gary Moore

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) Henry Paul wins 14-7
12 Yngwie Malmsteen (Arpeggios from Hell) Vs Brian Setzer (Switchblade 327) Brian Setzer Wins 12-9
13 Sterling Morrison – Velvet Underground (Oh! Sweet Nothin’) Vs Daniel Ash – Love and Rockets (Yin and Yang and the Flowerpot Man) Sterling Morrison wins 12-7
14 Zakk Wylde – Ozzy Osbourne (No More Tears) Vs Robin Trower (Day of the Eagle) Robin Trower leads
15 Ronaldo/Moore – Sonic Youth (Total Trash) Vs Tosin Abasi – Animals As Leaders (CAFO)
16 Jerry Cantrell – Alice in Chains (Man in the Box) Vs Mick Ronson – David Bowie (Moonage Daydream)
17 Larry Reinhardt – Captain Beyond (Dancing Madly Bacwards Vs Gary Moore (Parisienne Walkways)

Deet-dee-dee!

Gary Moore (Parisienne Walkways)

Well, unlike the last two rounds, this is another tough one for me. Gotta go with

DANCING MADLY BACKWARDS – Larry Reinhardt/Captain Beyond

though.

My head just exploded!

There's a conspiracy against me. I know it. Jesse Ventura, I demand you investigate!

I wish I had a van because that Captain Beyond video just give me a lot of ideas of stuff I could airbrush onto the side of it.

But about the music Gary Moore didn't do a lot for me i just felt a bit empty, Captain Beyond wasn't really my thing either but there was a lot more going on there and I can see why others might get into it.

Captain Beyond

I guess that Larry Reinhardt wins.

I'm going with DANCING MADLY BACKWARDS – Larry Reinhardt/Captain Beyond.

I was actually more interested in the drumming on Dancing...

PARISIENNE WALKWAYS – Gary Moore

i have to go with PARISIENNE WALKWAYS – Gary Moore. i love me some good blue's guitar and man this guy was pumping it out. the other song was good to but i felt it lacked something.

Dancing Madly Backwards had some good riffs in it. It is hard to have a good riff song go against a good solo song.

I liked Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore quite a bit, and when I first started listening, the mellowness took be away for a couple of minutes, and the guitar was so smooth. But in the end, there's just so much interesting stuff going in Dancing Madly Backwards.

A vote for DANCING MADLY BACKWARDS with Larry Reinhardt/Captain Beyond.

DANCING MADLY BACKWARDS with Larry Reinhardt

Got to say, Captain Beyond is right up my alley and Gary Moore is as well, so this was tough.

I'll go with Captain Beyond

I'll go with Larry Reinhardt. Feeling a bit more proggy than bluesy today.

I'm feeling Bluesy today.

Parisienne Walkways