Boiling it down to essentials, some people clamored for Perf De Castro’s inclusion in the OG Rivermaya reunion because he did great lead guitar work on two of the band’s classic hits.
Arguably, that’s not enough to secure him a spot alongside the four members who were part of the band’s first three albums, where most of the hits came from.
However, Perf’s work in and outside Rivermaya proves how valuable guitar solos can be when played with gusto and grit. Several hit songs by Filipino bands have benefited from guitar work that elevated the tracks beyond being just breathers before the final choruses
I’m going to list down 10 of these classic songs blessed with superior solos, and I can bet that it’s a list more credible than some ranking of this type done by pseudo-experts on social media.
I’m not technically an expert in reading guitar lines but I have been a recording artist and songwriter long enough to know what works melodically. I am not including guitar solos that are merely show-offs.
Let this list weep, in random order.
1. “Kaleidoscope World” (Francis Magalona) – Perf, yeah him, apparently led a troika of guitarists to deliver those fine guitar lines in the final minute and some seconds of the song. None of us ever minded that Kiko, backed by members of Hardware Syndrome, need not reappear once the guitar took center stage, nor has any radio station faded it out because no more vocals is coming to close out. There goes the greatest guitar closer heard on an OPM hit.
2. “Parting Time” (RockStar) – The whole band came a minute and a half into this song penned and sung by lead vocalist Paul Sapiera. We were just being prepared for the instrumental highlight which you can hum if you can’t play it. Back when I was in high school, a classmate could play that superb lead guitar note for note. It’s a pity he did not become a rock star.
3. “Nosi Ba Lasi” (Sampaguita) – This song has quite everything as a rock track: a cool wordplay for a title, a rock goddess for its singer, and nearly 50 seconds of pure guitar solo bliss. Not to mention, the catchy guitar riff in the intro, after the first chorus, and the outro.
4. “Banal Na Aso, Santong Kabayo” (Yano) – The guitar part after the first chorus is something to behold. But Eric Gancio must have felt he needed to deliver more to bring the song to Dong Abay’s Joker laugh before the final verse.
5. “Enveloped Ideas” (The Dawn) – The keyboard riff in this song is an instant new wave Pinoy classic. So strong a recall that we tend to forget the shining moment of the band’s celebrated lead guitarist Teddy Diaz. He was like a comet that passed through the sky – at his brightest during that sequence on the band’s signature song.
6. “Titser’s Enemi No. 1” (Juan de la Cruz Band) – Short, sweet, recallable. Give the late Wally Gonzalez 10 seconds to shine and he would forever.
7. “Your Love” (Alamid) – Dex Facelo is here not because he is my friend, nor the fact he wrote this beautiful song about God. If you’re listening deep enough; right after the second chorus, the instrumentation there prepared us all to hear an Earth-shaking guitar solo. Dex the lead guitar guy did not disappoint.
8. “Arise” (Wolfgang) – Basti Artadi yelled the words “Take you away” before Manuel Legarda showed us why he’s among the finest lead guitarists in Pinoy rock, ever.
9. “Pagsubok” (Orient Pearl) – You can name this tune by listening to the lead guitar part alone.
10. “214” (Rivermaya) – That our Perf guy is appearing in this list for the second time stresses the point why he still made a name for himself even after he left Rivermaya too early. His work here features the best guitar solo in a Rivermaya song, no offense to Rico Blanco and Mike Elgar who are good guitarists in their own right.
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