One of his most classic solos occurs in his ode to another guitarist: Check any of the many recorded versions of “Keith Don’t Go.”Ī great guitarist of amazing technical ability, Steve Vai has kept one foot in hard rock, and the other in serious composition. But Nils Lofgren’s no slouch of a songwriter himself, and his solo projects give him more room to stretch out than Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young do. When you’re a current, full-time member of both Crazy Horse and the E Street Band, your status as a great songwriter’s guitarist is unshakeable. Satriani would turn down numerous lucrative band offers to pursue his solo mix of fusion, metal, and prog.ħ3: Nils Lofgren (Crazy Horse, E Street Band) “Surfing With the Alien,” the title track of his hit ‘87 album, was four solid minutes of impossible licks, but the track still had the gonzoid appeal of a vintage surf instrumental. Flashy guitar solos by anybody but Eddie Van Halen were falling out of fashion in the late 80s until Joe Satriani made them fun again.
