Wheels of Fire
Eric Clapton plays some of his most energetic solos on this collection. I have this album on vinyl, and have played it til it is almost worn out. I had to buy the CD. You should, too.
A Decade Of Hits 1969-1979
Allman Brothers Band
All their best work on one album. The contrast of style between Dickie Betts and Duane Allman is enlightening and inspiring. Listen to the shift from major scaleforms to blues scaleforms, done so smoothly you hardly notice.
Experience Hendrix: The Best Of Jimi Hendrix
I can't say anything that hasn't already been said much more eloquently by others, so I'll just say try lead pattern 2 on these Jimi songs. I think you'll learn to use it better after you realize how many places Jimi used it.
The Best Of The Doors
There is only one guitarist in this band, and no bass player! They are amazing even without realizing that. Too bad you can't see them live. They were something!
The Best Of Santana
Carlos is amazing. He uses the whole neck, every single fret. Try all five scaleforms against this album. Better get a 24 fret guitar, too.
Supernatural
Carlos does it again! He teams up with some of the best musicians in rock for track after track of grammy-winning guitar work.
Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits
Creedence Clearwater Revival
This one is more for the chords than the leads. Creedence was an ensemble act, meaning the sound depended on all the parts to achieve the sound. No blazing guitar solos, but a clear understanding of how two guitars can work together, and not step on each other's notes.
Hotel California
The Eagles
Listen for the counter-melodies in Hotel California. It might sound like a "jam", but I think they very carefully arranged the guitar solo and response licks so as not to step on each other. All those guitars in perfect harmony, and no two strumming the same chord at the same time. That takes knowledge and skill.
The Cream Of Clapton
This is an excellent sampler of the long and varied career of this master of guitar. Listen to his TONE! Tone like that comes from exactly the right touch on the strings. I have had students ask me what effects they need to get that Layla sound. I say turn the amp up to ten, and PRACTICE!
Led Zeppelin [BOX SET]
Blues meets Rock and Roll head-on. There is a tremendous blues foundation underneath this entire body of work, but Led Zeppelin put their own unmistakable stamp on it and made it all their own.
Feeling Strangely Fine (includes Closing Time)
Semisonic
Listen to the chords! Listen to the voicing (variations in fingerings result in a different spelling or voicing of the chord). Find those fingerings!
Use Your Illusion I Guns N' Roses
This is the better of the two discs in my opinion. They are both good, but if you can only buy one, get this one.
Use Your Illusion II Guns N' Roses
Second disc is still good, it's just that the first one is my personal favorite.
Somewhere More Familiar (includes All For You)
Sister Hazel
The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd [2-CD SET]
Powerful guitar work. Listen to the Tone quality, and remember that this band pre-dates digital effects and sampling. I think the guitar duets are vastly over-looked and under-appreciated. If you play rock guitar, you gotta listen to this.
New Miserable Experience
Gin Blossoms
Many guitar players never learn to play a diatonic Major scale until the chord progression forces it on them. Use the major scale forms against the background of these songs
Relish
Joan Osborne
B.B. King - Greatest Hits
The master of less is more. There are times when a few well-chosen well-played notes are far better than a flurry of notes not-so-well-chosen. B. B. plays the right note with the right vibrato (listen to the vibrato!) every time. I bet Eric Clapton listened to B. B. when he was learning the blues. If you can't afford a Gibson ES-345, use a Les Paul for this. You could use single-coil pickups(like a Strat or a Tele) but you'll need heavy strings.
Deuces Wild - B. B. King
All of B. B.'s followers play duets with him. This is an excellent collection of examples of what you can do with a blues progression.
Damn Right, I've Got The Blues - Buddy Guy
Powerful blues album. Besides the title track, this album has the best version of Mustang Sally ever done.
Greatest Hits - Stevie Ray Vaughan
Words fail me. We all wish we could play the blues like this. By the way, you'll need a Stratocaster with HEAVY strings to get this sound.
Artist Of The Century [BOX SET] Elvis Presley
James Burton is the lead guitarist on most of the solos. That's a Telecaster you're hearing. Too often the Tele gets relegated to country guitar, but in the right hands, a Tele is a Rock and Roll assault rifle on full Auto.
The Chess Box [BOX SET] - Chuck Berry
Chuck takes the same 12-bar blues progression B. B. and all the blues players use, but updates the rhythm, and adds all those double-stops. These licks are the foundation that we frame up the rock and roll house on. Learn these licks, then add your own wallpaper and molding to make your own rock and roll house.
Multiselection Box Set
Besides George Harrison and John Lennon, Listen for Eric Clapton to sneak in on a few tracks. George and Eric hung out together back then. Eric played a few of the guitar tracks on The White Album (that album is actually entitled "The Beatles", but everyone calls it the White Album).
Hot Rocks 1964-1971 - The Rolling Stones
Keith Richards' trademark rhythm guitar is one half of the signature sound of this band. Try and get those voicings (hint: he doesn't always use standard tuning). He is another of the Rock and Roll Telecaster players. Don't need no effects for this sound. Get a Telecaster, plug into a Fender amp (Tube if you can Afford it), and turn up to 7. A light strum comes out clean, a hard one crunches just enough. I use an old tube Bandmaster and a 1969 Telecaster for this sound.
Boston
Wow! Get your favorite guitar-playing buddy and learn the double-guitar parts on this album. Or play one part into a recorder, play it back while you play the other track along with it. This is the best example of parallel leads you can buy. Use humbucker pickups on these songs. I use my Les Paul for this sound.
Live 1975-1985 [BOX SET] - Bruce Springsteen
Tremendous ensemble sound. The E Street Band is a great example of the rule that the whole is much better than just the sum of the parts. It is not so much that these are great individual musicians (though the arguement could be made easily); the point is that as a BAND, these guys are a phenomenon that defies logical analysis. The guitar FITS into the sound. The band is guitar driven, but NOT guitar oriented. No amazing solos, but GREAT sound. Get a Telecaster for this sound.
Bruce Springsteen - Greatest Hits
A lot of the same songs as above, but studio versions.
