The 8 Best Jimmy Page Guitar Solos That Aren’t ‘Stairway to Heaven’
Jimmy Page sits on a short list of all-time guitar heroes. He wrote dozens of memorable riffs during his Led Zeppelin days (he seemed proud of one that took fans out of their comfort zone), but his solos are nearly legendary. Page’s “Stairway to Heaven” solo typically ranks among the best of all time in fan polls, but it’s hardly his only standout solo. Let’s rank the eight best Page guitar solos from his Led Zeppelin days that aren’t “Stairway to Heaven.”
8. ‘Fool in the Rain’
Page once said his drug use never got out of hand to the point it interfered with his Led Zeppelin responsibilities. Still, his relative lack of songwriting involvement on In Through the Out Door paints a different picture.
Yet whatever demons Page faced in the late 1970s didn’t stop him from cranking out one of his best solos on “Fool in the Rain.” It’s not one of the face-melters we’ll see further down the list, but Page’s understated solo still shows moments of shredding and is perfect for what the song needs. It carries the song for more than a minute starting at 3:50.
On an album dominated by John Paul Jones’ keyboard playing, Page jumps in and provides one of his best solos as a reminder of his fretboard prowess.
7. ‘You Shook Me’
Page once said the key to Led Zeppelin I was that all four band members had a chance to shine. “You Shook Me” is a fine example.
We get a Jones organ solo, a Robert Plant harmonica run, and several walloping John Bonham drum fills. After everyone else has a chance to shine, Page takes over four minutes in and melts the fretboard. He seems to lose his way about 30 seconds later, but just when you think the solo might be over, Page comes back in and guides it back into the main riff.
6. ‘In My Time of Dying’
Page might have some more incendiary solos on his resume, but a few things push this Physical Graffiti song up the list:
- Page takes two solos. One starts at the 4:57 mark and lasts 40 seconds. The second, which comes in at 6:35, goes on a bit longer.
- Both solos (but especially the second) seamlessly weave in several technical moves. Page does some slide work, dive bombs, extreme bends, and shifts guitar tones.
- “In My Time of Dying” is Led Zeppelin’s longest song at more than 11 minutes, and the band nailed the album version in one live take, per Centennial Media’s Legends of Music Spotlight: Led Zeppelin. That means Page performed two physically demanding solos while recording an epic song in one go.
For those reasons, “In My Time of Dying” stands as one of Page’s best guitar solos.
5. ‘Dazed and Confused’
You have to stick with the atmospheric blues of “Dazed and Confused” to get to the solo, but the reward is worth it.
Page starts some sonic explorations roughly 2:30 into the song, but it’s all a preamble for a solo that truly takes off at 3:34, lasts more than a minute, and includes some flashy fingerwork throughout. Shout-out to John Paul Jones’ galloping bass line, which helps the listener brace for what’s to come.
Page’s “Dazed and Confused” came moments after his “You Shook Me” shredding. Those two songs from the 1969 debut sent a powerful message: That Page was a masterful soloist in a band that played music like no one else.
4. ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’ (‘Coda’ version)
It’s essential to distinguish which version of “I Can’t Quit You Baby” we’re discussing. The studio cut from the 1969 debut album hits hard. Coda’s live version, which Page pulled from a 1970 performance, takes the guitar heroics to a new level.
Page plays several mini solos throughout Coda’s “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” but when he takes over roughly two minutes in, he absolutely shreds. His fingers flash on the fretboard for nearly a minute; after a pause to catch his breath, Page returns to complete one of his best solos, non-“Stairway” division.
When you realize he did it live in one take with no overdubs, his accomplishment is even more astounding. On an album that is surprisingly solid for a collection of leftovers, Coda’s “I Can’t Quit You Baby” ranks as one of the best songs on the album.
3 ‘Achilles Last Stand’
Our list of Jimmy Page’s best solos that aren’t “Stairway to Heaven” includes one that might be better — “Achilles Last Stand.” Who says so? The guitarist himself.
Page put a ton of work into his “Achilles” solo, and it wasn’t just the playing. He composed the song and laid down several backing tracks on the tune, which clocks in at more than 10 minutes. Not only that, but he had less than three weeks to record Presence since The Rolling Stones were breathing down his neck to use the studio.
Page considers his “Achilles Last Stand” solo, which is masterfully restrained and perfectly fitting for the song, better than “Stairway.” We definitely understand his reasoning.
2. ‘Heartbreaker’
A Page two-fer.
The guitarist truly flies solo — no backing at all — for more than 45 seconds and blends rapid-fire picking, hammer-on notes, and flashy fingerwork before walking back down the fretboard. Then Bonham and Jones join in for the second half of the solo that hits just as hard today as it did in 1969.
The “Heartbreaker” solo is one that listeners can almost conjure from memory, which proves how amazing it is. No list of Page’s best guitar solos would be complete without it.
1. ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’
You could take almost any Page solo from this list and make a case for it to be No. 1, but we’re making a case for “Since I’ve Been Loving You” in the top spot. The song slowly builds up to the solo, and then the guitarist takes over with an expressive and impressive solo.
Page’s playing at times sounds like a high-pitched wail of someone crying, which perfectly syncs up with Plant’s lyrics about being wronged. There’s fast fingerwork, big string bends, and notes that seemingly utilize every part of the fretboard. Page’s best solo lasts for more than a minute and rejoins the song effortlessly.
The story behind the solo is nearly as good as the performance. Page popped into a Memphis, Tenn., studio, plugged into whatever amp was lying around, and churned out his “Since I’ve Been Loving You” solo in one take without using any effects pedals.
That might be why the engineer who worked the session said this Page solo is the best of all time. We don’t know about all time, but this is the best Jimmy Page solo that isn’t “Stairway to Heaven.”
For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.
