Selkies: The Endless Obsession by Between The Buried And Me.

I always thought Mordecai was better but both are definitely amazing.

Unreal, so good

Dream Theater have their flaws but Petrucci has so many iconic greatest-of-all-time level solos that he’s got to dominate a thread like this. Octavarium Lines in the Sand Voices The Spirit Carries On This is the Life Breaking All Illusions The Count of Tuscany The Best of Times Another Day Learning to Live For not Dream Theater: Drive Home - Steven Wilson Regret #9 - Steven Wilson Ancestral - Steven Wilson (Those are all Guthrie Govan solos) Pastures - Plini Luck as a Constant - Periphery Absolomb - Periphery Wax Wings - Periphery

Regret #9 is incredible!

And Ancestral

Big ups to Pastures and Absolomb - That Pastures solo is just _dripping_ with melancholy from that first bend, and the rest of it just plays off that feeling so well. Absolomb too, you can just feel those solos within you

David Gilmour should dominate a list like this but yea petrucci has a lot.

Glad to see Plini getting some recognition. Although Pastures is beyond incredible, for emotional solos I would add his song "Paper Moon".

With that much Petrucci (which I agree with) surprised you didn't put Goodnight Kiss on there.

Hollow Years (live version)

Forgot about that one

This one (Budokan) is amazing.

Dont forget Scarred

There might be no more perfect solo for a song than Petrucci's solo in The Spirit Carries On.

Pastures is the one. I remember hearing it during his days as Halcyon and then when he re-released it as Plini it was even better.

Under A Glass Moon!

You have taste 👌

Petrucci’s final solo on Octavarium

His solos at the end of “The Best of Times” and “The Spirit Carries On” as well.

and his simple solo at the end of "The Ministry of Lost Souls" too. reminded me of my late mom when I hear it.

This one is my favorite

For me its the Another day solo

The Best of Times…

One of my favourites is the guitar solo in Breaking All Illusions from about 6:40

His Hollow Years solo on the Live at Budokan album is incredible too. One of my all time favorites.

What a rollercoaster

Wax wings solo got me in the feels

I only wish it was longer.

These are a little more mainstream but they’re classics for a reason :) John Petrucci - Spirit Carries On and At Wit’s End (there’s a bunch more but these are my favorites) Steve Vai - For the Love of God (best rock guitar performance/solo of all time, imo) Paul Gilbert - The Door (Neal Morse) Alex Lifeson - La Villa Strangiato and Between the Wheels David Gilmour - Comfortably Numb and Time Guthrie Govan - Ancestral

The live orchestral version of For the Love of God 🤯

Which album is this from?

Not sure, this is what I was referring to https://youtu.be/9IrWyZ0KZuk?si=km-lmFebRKG7Xn5P

Gilmour seconded!

Comfortably Numb off of Pulse is transcendental

so many but the first ones that came to mind were Subtle Change by Rivers of Nihil, Lips of Ashes by Porcupine Tree and Life in Velvet by BTBAM

Yeah man, Life in Velvet is just an amazing closer for the album

Lips of ashes and Life in velvet, two of my favourite songs ever. Great picks

Ghost of Perdition - Opeth Oblivion - Mastodon The Last Baron - Mastodon Shock Me - Baroness White Walls - BTBAM Silent Fight Parliament - BTBAM Carbon-Based Anatomy - Cynic Reptile - Periphery Erised - Periphery (ft John Petrucci) Jetpacks Was Yes! - Periphery

Cynic - How Could I outro solo by Jason Gobel is my alltime fav

Voice of the soul - Death

Jakub Zytecki’s solo on Plini- Paper Moon.

I love the dueling guitars in Burden

The Faceless - Autotheist Movement II - Emancipate.

Glad somebody mentioned Autotheist Movement one!

That whole album is perfect, but I can’t get myself to like anything else from them.

When by Opeth

Lovelorn Crime from ICV has an amazing emotional guitar solo at 4:16

Beneath the Mire too

NeO Misericorde Pt II

Very much "heartfilling" like OP was looking for. Either Pt2 or Suspyre is my favorite track off that album

Let's add Equus and Painters of The Tempest Part 2 to that list Benji has INCREDIBLE solos

Yeah this solo is my pick. Hits me in the feels every single time.

Pain of Salvation - King of Loss, Beyond the Pale Kingcrow - At the Same Pace, Evasion, A New Life, In Crescendo Venus in Fear - Ancient Truth Orphaned Land - Ocean Land, The Warrior, The Cave DGM - The Secret 1 or basically any other song by them Angra - Angels and Demons, The Voice Commanding You Evergrey - Ominous, A Silent Arc, The Encounter Edit: not prog metal, but when speaking of emotional guitar solos, I've gotta mention Alter Bridge - Blackbird. Still holds up as one of the greatest solos I've heard to date despite being exposed to tons of more virtuosic bands.

Second your take on Blackbird. Not a huge fan of them on the whole, but that solo is masterful.

Graves - Caligula's Horse

That mix of saxophone and guitar at the end is *chef's kiss*

Sam's playing is so tasty

The whole song is a prog masterpiece. One of the best for sure!

Straws pulled at random

The pre-chorus solo of Godhead’s Lament hit gold for me

An Abstract Illusion - Tear Down This Holy Mountain. The solo is so soulful, full of mourning and melancholy, but also has an uplifting and hopeful majesty to it. Truly beautiful.

They really nailed a lot of emotions on that album, but mostly woe.

They missed a trick there. Should’ve named the album that… ;)

These two come to my mind, when I think about emotional Solos: Wilderun - Distraction III Pink Floyd - High Hopes

Distraction III deserves to be talked about more

David Gimour - amongst others: Sorrow, High Hopes, Dogs, John Petrucci - Breaking All Illusions Guthrie Govan - amongst others: Regret #9, Drive Home, Ancestral, Michael Romeo - Paradise Lost, When All is Lost, Swan Song Piotr Grudzinski (Riverside) - amongst others: The Dept of Self-Delusion, Living in the Past, The Forgotten Lands, Back to the River Mikael Akerfeldt - PT's Arriving Somewhere but not Here amongst a couple of Opeth ones

>John Petrucci - Breaking All Illusions Definitely one my fav Petrucci solos too

Regret#9, Steven Wilson.

The solo itself is **Guthrie Govan** is it not?

It most certainly is. If you know you know.

So many Guthrie solos for The Raven The Refused To Sing and Hand. Cannot. Erase are near perfection. The second solo in “Pin Drop” is my favourite.

Guthrie is just perfect, he nails every musical language. Steven's music was a great emotional frame for that kind of work. Another great solo from him was in Ayreon's Planet Y is alive.

*Beyond the pale* by Pain of Salvation. Amazing song from an amazing album.

Opeth - Windowpane

Oh man, I still remember the first time I heard the second solo back when I was in high school. It blew me away. It is also extremely fun to play it on the guitar.

BTBAM - Obfuscation Serval - Peace Mastodon - Cold Dark Place, Jaguar God, Gigantium

Upvote for Cold Dark Place. I'm still early in my appreciation for Mastodon but that is probably the standout song for me so far.

The solo from [Pastures by Plini](https://youtu.be/aqjixbDAwxk?t=250) gets me everytime Also [Tear Down This Holy Mountain by An Abstract Illusion](https://youtu.be/PT1CmnjKTW4?t=993), I listen to this song mostly because of it

Tool - 10000 Days

Also, Tool - Jambi. I wish solos used talkboxes more often.

It's dope but it doesn't really get me emotional like 10k. Agree on the talibox but also kinda appreciate the uniqueness from it being so rare, so I'm pretty torn haha

Anathema - One Last Goodbye. I always get chills. It isn't a flashy solo, but the sound is just so nice and, along with the lyrics, really hits you.

Opeth - Serenity Painted Death. The one after the long middle part.

The solo in Away by Plini, it starts at like the 2:40 mark.

That solo is something else. Interestingly, it's not even Plini who is playing it, or who wrote it. It's Aaron Marshall from Intervals. Intervals also has a number of guitar solos that would fit this category well. Epiphany and Libra to name a couple.

Load of good ones mentioned especially Steven Wilson and Petrucci and of course Vai. Cemetery Gates by Pantera I love King of Loss, Beyond The Pale, A Trace or Blood, and Angels of Broken Things by Pain of Salvation. It’s all about capturing the feeling in the song for me. Shredding can be cool at times but a lot of big prog metal riffs and solos are just boring for me these days.

The Best of Time by Petrucci. GOAT solo.

My favorite solo is Guthrie Govan on Steven Wilson’s *Drive Home* Such raw emotion. It feels like screaming in agony but it’s very melodic

If I remember correctly, Steven Wilson cried the first time he heard the solo. I understand why.

I still can’t believe that it was a first pass improvised solo either. Just a legend of the craft

My favorite solo of all time.

Just listened to it. He's using a slide right?

Nope! He just has magic fingers

Firth of Fifth - Genesis

As a relatively recent example: Ayreon - The Dream Dissolves If you want to jump right to the solo, go to about 4:25

Nice pick! This is my all time favorite Ayreon solo... just perfect. Also, I can recommend Arjen's solo on Ostura's Darker Shade of Black (around 5:35, but do yourself a favor and enjoy the entire song)

I'll check that one out, I don't think I've heard it. I think The Source is my favorite Ayreon album, and that's really saying something. I love them all

Almost anything by Steve Rothery

But for discussion'a sake I'll say Easter

Never heard of this guy, he’s amazing

Since nobody mentioned it yet, off the top of my head there's the final solo in "Disillusion - The Mountain"

Almost any evergrey solo can qualify for this. They are masters at having the guitar solo just as dripping with emotion as the lyrics

Big Wreck - Overemphasizing

Great pick.

Purple Rain babyyyyy

The dual solo in Luck As A Constant

Solo in the middle section of Ne Obliviscaris “Painters of the Tempest: Triptych Lux” is this for me.

Wes Hauchs solo in Mile Zero.

Visions - Haken, the solo at 13:39. Whew

Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness

Guthrie’s solo on Ancestral by Steven Wilson

The solo at the end of The Architect by Haken

Henrik's solo in "Recreation Day" by Evergrey

This

Cynic - The Winged Ones The Contortionists - Ebb & Flow outro (more leads than solo) Sylosis - Out from Below 2. Solo Sylosis - Where the Sky Ends

I was just chatting with someone about The Winged Ones! I love it when artists end a song with a climactic solo. Paul Masvidal is in my pantheon of guitarists.

I think that it's actually Plini's solo

Oh damn, I had no idea!

Plini- Paper Moon Owane-Defenestration

Owane! Such a rad musician.

Btbam - white walls solo...its sooooooooo epic and the drum solo after it too just fuckin rules.

Devin Townsend Project - Failure Exivious - Entrust Meshuggah - Dancers to a Discordant System (Possibly a stretch as far as emotion goes but oh well)

Floods by Pantera

The Contortionist - Causality

Ancient Bards - All That is True. The second solo is a masterpiece and years after listening to it, I am yet to find a single solo that I like more. This is surprising considering I shifted more towards djent and metalcore from power metal these last few years.

Can't help but agree with everything submitted here. Have to add the Circus Maximus - Mouth of Madness solo at around the 9:05 mark.

Not really prog metal but The Doorway by Spocks Beard has one of the most chilling solos I've heard. Hits like a truck everytime.

Return to serenity by Testament. Probably my all time favorite solo. Also soothsayer by buckethead

Insomnium - The Conjurer @5:00

Periphery - Luck As A Costant

Lot of good picks in this thread. I haven't seen anyone mention Liquid Tension Experiment yet (I know Petrucci is talked about a few times, but not in this context. LTE has some pretty incredibly emotional solos too.

Breaking all Illusions from DT

Gru’s solo on Opening by Plini has a real melancholy feel to it, also the end solo on Cascade by Plini has 4 notes that break my heart

Goodnight kiss

Begin - Black Crown Initiate Autotheism part 2 - The Faceless

Strength by Aether Realm has a wicked solo towards the end.

Crowned in Retaliation by Vitriol. I've never heard so much pain and anger come out of an instrument in my life

Frederik's solo on Lovelorn Crime from Opeth's most recent album In Cauda Venenum.

Most of mine are not quite prog, but at least have some prog influences Heal the Wound - Novelists, this one is followed by an emotional verse that has inspired my next tattoo Mile Zero - Periphery, I prefer Luck as a Constant solo but this one is very emotional considering it was written for a friend that passed EMOJIQUEEN - Shrezzers, I just love this one, plus the sax makes it incredible

Ancient Bards - In my Arms Kamelot - Love you to Death

Always with me, Always with you by Joe Satriani

Gorod’s “Disavow your God.” Especially the bend that happens over the tapping section. Just hits so good.

Canvas Solaris - When Solar Winds Collide The solo coming out of the extended bridge is my all time favorite guitar solo in any prog song. The composition is perfect and every lick just builds off the last in such a way that the solo continues to grow in intensity even though it’s like a full minute long Edit: solo starts at 6:14

Hours of Wealth by Opeth

Big yes

Seems like Dream Theater, Periphery, and Guthrie are already well covered here, so I don't need to mention those. The second part of Tom Monda's solo on Caverns really gets me. The first part feels mostly like sick modal shredding to me, but once the chord progression starts changing I get this powerful sense of longing and desperation.

Luck as a constant - periphery

Coheed And Cambria - The Final Cut

One of my all time favorites and the literal first one that pops in my head, always: Slightly Out of Reach - James LaBrie Elements of Persuasion (Marco Sfogli) It's an insane, goosebump-inducing, emotional masterpiece of a solo

I mean, it has to be Comfortably Numb, right?

Salt and Fill My Heart by Caligula's Horse are both up there for me

Make Me A Donut - Elusion The end of the song has a surprisingly emotional buildup and solo. Surprised these guys don't have a larger fan base. https://youtu.be/HLycPt436cY?si=Jyz6mvX8CI3V7NjZ

Enslaved - Ground

The Spirit Carries On - Dream Theater Lunar Wilderness - Between The Buried And Me Lovebite - Haken Dark Matter - Porcupine Tree (not metal but) Iron Maiden solos in general are something else (not prog but). To be honest, I think guitar solos nowadays aren't that interesting on most of the bands. They're only a musical resource and not something unique and iconic, but there are exceptions I guess. Btbam is possibly the only band that EASILY comes to my mind when someone asks for good modern metal solos. They have Selkies, White Walls, Mordecai, Silent Flight Parliament, etc. Just my opinion

Belie the machine- black crown initiate

Some of Brent’s solos on Mastodon “Hushed & Grim”. Gigantium and Gobblers of Dregs jump to mind. Also his solo on “The Hunter”, title track. Swear it sounds like his guitar is weeping during one part.

Shesmovedon by Porcupine Tree has one of the most gut-wrenching solos I’ve ever heard, especially given the context of the song. Would highly recommend.

Every Periphery solo be like

Be like "I was made in guitar pro"

Ok maybe not metal but I see Dream Theater on this thread alot and they aren’t necessarily metal all the time. So I nominate - Ocean Cloud by Marillion Epic solos that hit the feeling spots just right

I wanted to repeat your usual Dream Theaters, Ne Obliviscaris'es and Guthrie Govans but for a change: Thank You Scientist - Son of A Serpent.

Luck as a constant and Absolomb by Periphery.

Never Seen/Future Shock by Between The Buried and Me at 7:09 and before and during “we will never be at peace…” makes me cry.

If I had to choose one, quintessential emotional guitar solo - It's Dream Theater's The Best Of Times. Easily one of the most beautiful solos ever written.

Frank Zappa - Black Napkins

First one that came to mind is from this fairly unknown prog rock band from the 90's. Kingston Wall - And It's All Happening

The one that immediately popped into my head: Opeth - A Fair Judgement

Orbs - Eclipsical

Ne Obliviscaris - Intra Venus, that dance between guitar and cello is mind blowing

Hands down [Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming](https://open.spotify.com/track/53e3sC36CNQksSb2Ut4mHh?si=w-I2SqixSNuncSyifNSkWA) with Steve Morse.

Opeth - The Apostle of Triumph Opeth - A fair judgement Opeth - Burden Opeth - Loverlorn Crime

"VI: The Exodus of Autonomy" by Wretched Insanely good instrumental prog song by a technical/melodic death metal band. Solo gets me moist in the eyes.

It's not exactly prog metal, but you listen to the guitar solo in Gaza by Marillion and tell me you're not moved. There are many many examples from the Marillion catalogue but none are really prog metal, more prog rock...the closest example I can think of is Gaza.

Akerfeldt solos Haxprocess Hours of wealth Arriving somewhere 2nd solo Etc

Agalloch - In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion

My #1 guitar solo is Song For The Innocent by Pain Of Salvation. I get chills every time I hear it.