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:

BLUE COLLAR – Randy Bachman/BTO

KISSING THE SHADOWS – Alexi Laiho/Children of Bodom
Solo begins around the 2:45 mark

ROUND 1 MATCHES: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg
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 wins 16-4
15 Ronaldo/Moore – Sonic Youth (Total Trash) Vs Tosin Abasi – Animals As Leaders (CAFO) Tosin Abasi wins 13-7
16 Jerry Cantrell – Alice in Chains (Man in the Box) Vs Mick Ronson – David Bowie (Moonage Daydream) Jerry Cantrell wins 11-8
17 Larry Reinhardt – Captain Beyond (Dancing Madly Bacwards Vs Gary Moore (Parisienne Walkways) Larry Reinhardt wins 12-9
18 Jim Heath – Reverend Horton Heat (Galaxy 500) Vs Tony Iommi – Black Sabbath (Dirty Women)
19 Chuck Berry (Johnny B Good) Vs K.K. Downing/Glen Tipton – Judas Priest (Breaking the Law)
20 Alvin Lee – Ten Years After (Working On the Road) Vs Kurt Cobain – Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
21 Randy Bachman – BTO (Blue Collar) Vs Alexi Laiho – Children of Bodom (Kissing the Shadows)

Children Of Bodom might actually sound good if they could find a singer that didn't gurgle the lyrics.

Randy Bachman

Randy Bachman, though I wasn't giving him much of a chance until I clicked on the other link.

im sorry, i know BTO is a classic but KISSING THE SHADOWS – Alexi Laiho/Children of Bodom wins this round for me. alexi laiho is one of the best guitarist's alive today and he is also the lead singer of the band. so when you take that in mind he is playing those riffs and singing. its amazing.

As awful as those vocals are, It doesn't seem like that great a feat.

I don't really care for BTO but after listening to the competition this is a surprisingly easy choice.

Randy Bachman

they may sound awful to you but people who like metal like stuff that sound's like that. i don't think his vocal's are good, but playing the guitar the way he does and screaming like that it is a bit hard.

BLUE COLLAR – Randy Bachman/BTO gets my vote as well.

I'd probably like metal a lot more if those vocalists would knock that off.

I sort of see both sides of the readyeddy/NicMonsteR discussion going on here.

I tend to like music that is a bit heavier, and recognize that very few people can play like Alexi Laiho/Children of Bodom. Great guitarist. It took me a while many years ago to get into Metallica because I don't always get into the "speed" alone part of some metal bands. Whan its wrapped around a song I enjoy, its great, and I came to appreciate them. In this case, I never felt the song, just the speed. For me there has to be a balance, and I understand that lots of people enjoy a different mix. But still a good nom, and I'm glad its here.

I listened to BTO second (and fourth and sixth), and its a side of BTO I really don't remember that well. After listening to the guitar a couple of minutes, I really started to get into it. I don't know Jazz, but from a layman's standpoint, it sounded like it could stand up to a round or so of a Jazz TOC. No, don't do that, but just an observation. Parts sounded like something Savoy Brown would do (why aren't they in this TOC?).

I actually think almost all the rounds have made us make tough choices. In this case, I could have voted either way, both good songs, but ultimately my vote is for BLUE COLLAR – Randy Bachman/BTO.

Thanks for both noms.

While I'll go with the concensus on the vocals, the guitar work on Kissing the Shadows was fun to listen to. But then so was Bachman's and I do enjoy the style of Blue Collar overall far more.

Blue Collar for me please. I don't care one way or another about the vocals on the Children of Bodom track, but nonetheless I felt the guitar on Blue Collar more.

I'll throw a vote to Alex Laiho Kissing the Shadows

I'm going with BTO purely out of spite. Those horrid vocals on Kissing the Shadows help define a subgenre I'll never get into because of that element. I AM getting old when I can't understand how that is enjoyable, but there are a LOT of bands like that out there.
Like punk, it's probably not as much about the music itself.