The "A" List of solos by Steve & co.

The information on this page is compiled by "Hurricane Joe", a musician who plays guitar and writes and records his own music and most importantly, a dedicated and loyal fan of Steve 'Steamin' ' Clark. We do not claim any of the information on this page to be official or correct, but from Hurricane's years of study on Steve and his music, we reckon it's about pretty damn close.

Hi, my name is Joseph Scott aka “Hurricane Joe”. I have been a fan of Steve Clark ever since I saw the High N’ Dry videos back in 1982. Even though I couldn’t play guitar at the time, I always thought that Steve was a great player simply from what I was seeing on Bringin on the Heartbreak and Let it Go. After I saw Steve live in 1987 New Year’s Eve in Tampa, FL, I decided one day I would play guitar. That’s when I really began to study Steve’s style.

I will admit, if you just listen to Steve on album, sometimes it may be difficult to distinguish who plays what, the real light comes on when you see or hear the band live. When you get a soundboard recording, and you have one guitarist in one ear, and the other guitarist in the other ear, that’s when you learn the most. You find a song that you know Steve plays the solo in, and then you listen more carefully to that ear to distinguish who plays what. Using that technique I was able to identify many of Steve’s solos. Use that a long with interviews, and then you start to get an appreciation for Steve’s style, and it becomes easier and easier to tell who’s who.

In the early days, Pete Willis especially used a wah wah pedal on almost all of his solos, Steve rarely used one, exceptions are "It Don’t Matter" and "When the Walls Came Tumblin' Down", - so usually when you hear a wah wah in the pre Phil days, that’s Pete – everything else is Steve.

When it comes to Steve and Phil, it’s much more clearer I think. Phil plays speedy triplets with more tremolo screams. Steve bends a lot more than Phil, with less tremolo. Those are guitar terms, but the more you listen to the different solos especially live, you will know what I mean.

I want to stress that, live is the way to distinguish the styles, not necessarily studio work. Many times they use different guitars, play each others parts and do overdubs, which would happen in a live setting. For instance, Pete Willis didn’t use the wah wah so pronounced on record, when he played live, that’s all you heard. Steve rarely played fast triplets on record, but live Steve was a much more flashier player. You need to listen to Def Leppard live to appreciate Steve’s style.

The Solos "A LIST" - compiled by 'Hurricane'

Unreleased material:

Answer To The Master (demo) - 1st lick at musical break Steve, 1st solo Steve, 2nd Pete

Heat Street - Pete

Medicine Man - Pete

Good Morning Freedom - Pete

Warchild - Pete

See The Lights - Steve

Glad I'm Alive - 1st - Pete, 2nd Steve, 3rd Pete, 4th Steve

Misty Dreamer - 1st solo Steve, 2nd Pete

Beyond The Temple - 1st solo Steve, 2nd Sav on bass, 3rd Pete

Getcha Rocks Off EP:

Ride Into The Sun - Pete

Getcha Rocks Off - Steve

Overture - 1st Steve, 2nd Steve, 3rd Pete, 4th Steve

On Through The Night

Rock Brigade - Pete

Hello America - Steve

Sorrow is A Woman - 1st Steve, 2nd Pete, 3rd duo

It Could Be You - Pete

Satellite - Pete main solo, Steve ride out lick after the last verse

When The Walls Came Tumblin' Down - Steve

Wasted - Steve

Rocks Off - Steve

It Don't Matter - Steve

Answer To The Master - 1st Steve, 2nd Pete

Overture - 1st solo Steve, 2nd Steve, 3rd Pete, 4th Steve

High 'n' Dry:

Let It Go - Steve - main solo, solo at last chorus -ride out solo Pete

Another Hit N' Run - Steve main lead - 1st solo, 2nd solo Pete

High N' Dry - Pete

Bringin' On The Heartbreak - Steve

Switch 625 - Steve

You Got Me Runnin - Steve

Lady Strange - Steve

On Through The Night - Steve

Mirror Mirror - Steve

No No No - Pete

Bringin' On The Heartbreak (remix) - Steve

Me And My Wine - Steve

Pyromania:

Rock! Rock! Till You Drop - Phil

Photograph - Phil

Stagefright - Phil

Too Late For Love - Steve

Die Hard The Hunter - Steve

Foolin' - Phil

Rock Of Ages - Phil (Phil and Steve play the lead in the final verse)

Comin' Under Fire - Steve

Action Not Words - Solo after second chorus Steve, main solo Phil

Billy's Got A Gun - Steve

Hysteria:

Women - Phil - Steve does a solo during the final chorus, then Phil again for the ride out

Rocket - Phil and Steve

Animal - Phil

Love Bites - Steve - Phil does lead during the chorus

Pour Some Sugar On Me - Steve and Phil, Steve does ride out

Armageddon It - Steve main solo, Phil ride out

Gods Of War - Steve

Don't Shoot Shotgun - Steve

Run Riot - Phil

Hysteria - Steve and Phil, Steve does ride out

Excitable - Steve and Phil

Love And Affection - Phil main, Steve does ride out

Retroactive:

Desert Song - 1st solo Phil, 2nd Steve

Fractured Love - Steve main, Phil ride out

Ride Into The Sun (1987 remix)- Phil

Ring Of Fire - Phil main, Steve ride out

I Wanna Be Your Hero - Steve

Miscellaneous:

When Love And Hate Collide (demo) - Steve

Photograph (live) - Steve does the ride out solo

Travelin Band - Steve does main solo, then it's back and forth, Phil, Steve, Phil, Steve, Phil, Steve, then Steve, Phil

Lady Strange (live - during OTTN tour) - Steve 1st solo, Pete second