Mediterranean Sundance/Rio Ancho (Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia ‘Friday Night in San Francisco’)

Quite possibly the finest guitar album you can buy. These three monster guitarists sit down… play a little and the crowd go nuts. It’s just a beautiful gig chocked full of excitement. This is what happens when a good crowd reacts to great players!! Do yourself a favour… I INSIST you own this record now!!

Over the Mountain (Ozzy Osbourne ‘Diary of a Madman’)

Diary of a Madman is a darker album than the first Ozzy/Randy album Blizzard of Ozz and I always preferred it that way. The solos on this are absolutely sublime. So out of control and wild … yet somehow incredibly accurate and difficult to play. I still can’t quite get parts of this to sound right when I attempt it… I’ve no idea just what it is he did to make it sound how it does. It’s just awesome! The Blizzard solos were all beautifully crafted and well written. The track Tonight also has Randy playing some incredibly lovely emotional stuff… and Believer was always a fave solo too. Well worth checking these out. Sadly this was to be Randy’s last output. It would have been so very interesting to see just where he was going to take his creativity. Rumours abound as to just what he was going to do… some even claiming he had already told Ozzy he was to quit to make his own record. RIP Randy.

Elephant Talk (King Crimson ‘Discipline’)

I am such a big fan of Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp. This album marked the rebirth of King Crimson and for many is considered the finest record ever made. The musicianship is of course rather good indeed. Very, very good. This is where you come to learn how to weave two guitar players together. And make elephant noises with guitars!! The two finest guitar players I have seen performing live to date. Awe inspiring!

Unchained (Van Halen ‘Fair Warning’)

The best Van Halen song'¦ surely?! Absolutely amazing riffage. There is nothing else to say!

Five-Five-FIVE (Frank Zappa ‘Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar’)

This is one of my favourite instrumentals. Vinnie Coliauta just rips his drumkit apart in this and I’ve loved just how he tears these groups of fives up. And so does Frankie! He has such a mastery of phrasing and metric modulation and it’s almost like he and Vinne have a little competition. All three of the Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar records are absolutely blinding and pretty much a treasure of instrumentals from some of the finest players the world will likely ever see.

What do you think folks? What great guitar tracks do you love from 1981 that I should check out?
Pauly.