So, having listened to this solo a lot lately, I've come to a strong opinion.
Joe Walsh's best guitar solo is not on a James Gang record. Or a Barnstorm record. Or a solo record. Or an Eagles record. Nope. None of the above. I bet you are thinking "what the heck?". Keep reading!
No, Joe Walsh's best guitar solo is on a Don Henley record. The record is "I Can't Stand Still". The song is none other than "Dirty Laundry". The first guitar solo. The "falling down the stairs" solo. The solo that seems on the surface to be the most un-Joe Walsh-ish solo one could find. Yup, that one! Yet if you take a deep dive on it, it's full of Joe-isms. It's probably his most chops-intense one that he's ever done, IMO.
This guitar solo is soooo underrated and not talked about enough. Heck, even I until this week have under-appreciated it. But now - it is my FAVORITE Joe Walsh guitar solo. Other than Hotel California, which I consider a joint effort, Dirty Laundry is my favorite Joe Walsh guitar solo and has become so highly valued by me, I'd put it on my list of favorite guitar solos period. I've been wearing it out on Spotify this week.
Now in seriousness, best is subject to subjectivity, but I DO think it's his most complicated solo, yet it retains all of the soul and swagger that makes Joe Walsh, Joe Walsh, and not Steve Lukather. Speaking of Luke, the second solo is great too, don't get me wrong. And I'd argue it's quite unlike Luke. In fact, years ago I thought someone had the two mixed up on who did which one. It's not shreddy, which I love but yet again if you take a listen, the phrasing is not that of Walsh. It's got that LA signature thing on there I associate with Mike Landau, Dann Huff, etc and the 80s LA studio cats. A lot of those guys sound alike to me.
So, if you like guitar or just want to get a glimpse on what I'm talking about, or you just want to prove me wrong - go listen to the studio track on any format of your choosing. Probably the clearest you're going to hear the actual solo. Then go watch it on the F1 DVD if you want, or maybe an Eagles HFO era bootleg like Christchurch. Felder does Luke's solo, Joe does his own of course. And Stu does Luke's solo on F1 DVD.