10 Greatest Rock Music Guitar Solos Of The 2000s

The world faced a great many questions going into the 2000s. What technological advancements would a new millennium bring? What new political developments would occur? How long would NSYNC stay together? But there was one question that troubled fans of rock music above everything else - what would happen to the guitar solo?

It had completely fallen out of fashion during the 90s, but it did seem as if more and more artists were shunning this traditional staple of the genre. Thankfully, for fans of people getting blisters on their fingers, this trend would not continue.

The 2000s saw a massive shift in the rock music world, as indie bands began to enter the mainstream and pop punk enjoyed its stint at the top. Whatever strand of rock you were into, there were great guitar solos to be found everywhere from bands both old and new.

These solos are all great for very different reasons. The 2000s was a proper mixed bag when it came to instrumental sections, so this countdown has been designed to show off the length and breadth of what the art form had to offer.

One of the bands often credited with shepherding in the rise of indie music in the 2000s, The Strokes cemented themselves as icons of 21st century guitar music with their album Room on Fire and, most memorably, its second single.

Reptilia, which got a solo release in 2004, was cool, edgy, and had a riff so catchy it is permanently seared into many music fans’ frontal cortices. Yes, that is the plural of “cortex”. You learn something new every day.

The humble six-string does a lot of heavy lifting across the song and not just in the repeated refrain that dominates the track. The solo starts off fairly simple, but gets much trickier as it goes on, expressing the subtle genius present in so much of this band’s music.

Is it the flashiest display of fast fretting ever seen? No, but that’s not the point. So much of 2000s indie rock is about rejecting the conventions of the past, which the solo on Reptilia does whilst still maintaining a slight nod to the finger-shredding displays of old.

There’s a reason so many people still love The Strokes today.