comfortably numb is good,but its overrated guitar solo.
purple rain solo is better,more focused

Good ears. I've always known that the solo to Purple Rain was influenced by Gilmour's solo. Take a listen to Journey's song "Faithfully" and the solo in it by Neal Schon. It's even more clear that Prince loved this solo.

blackguitaristz said:

Of coure that might not be surprising as Schon was once a member of Santana, so I suppose that its possible that P followed his progression on to Journey.

Do you know if Prince has commented on Schon as a guitar player?

I have never heard any Pink-Floyd influence in Princes guitar soloing, i doubt if he even knows their music very well.

Purple Rains guitar solo sounds way more blues-rocky then Pink Floyd far more polished, pop-style of soloing, its IMO far more influenced by the likes of The raw, intuitive styles of Jimmy Hendrix and B.B. King.

David Gilmour has covered Purple Rain a few times in concert in the past as well.

blackguitaristz said:

Of coure that might not be surprising as Schon was once a member of Santana, so I suppose that its possible that P followed his progression on to Journey.

Do you know if Prince has commented on Schon as a guitar player?

Really, i think its wishfull thinking from some of yours, but Princes guitar playing doesnt connect in any way to Pink Floyd.

Really, i think its wishfull thinking from some of yours, but Princes guitar playing doesnt connect in any way to Pink Floyd.

To the original question: I doubt it. Other than the obvious "slow-tempo rock ballad guitar hero moment" thing. Harmonically, they both utilize a minor pentatonic feel, but so does every other rock guitar solo in recorded history. Prince plays major pentatonic ideas as well, and Gilmour favors a melodic minor sound. Their styles aren't really related past the obvious blues base. Gilmour is more melodic/lyrical and nuanced; he doesn't really play fast passages at all. Prince takes more of a "showman" approach and has series of tricks he tends to go to -- fast repeated phrases (esp. evident on "Joy In Repetition" from Aftershow), pick-scraping, etc. -- that many guitar players think of as cliches, but he plays them with such tremendous conviction and flair he always gets away with it.

As far as the specific solos in question, "Comfortably Numb" (and I assume we're talking about the big solo at the end, not the earlier breaks) is far superior musically (and Gilmour even bests it live with just about every version I've heard, but particularly the one from Pulse). The recorded "Purple Rain" solo is pretty simple, and doesn't really go anywhere once he locks into that A-Bb-C motif before the first turnaround, which he then comes back to after the "ooh-ooh" audience singalong, playing that same three-note figure for the entire last chorus of the solo (hardcore fans will also note that he plays the same simple motif for an extra chorus or two on the original First Avenue tracks; these were judiciously edited from the final version). Live, though, this solo can be much more soul-stirring: I think my favorite might be the go-for-broke version from the Syracuse Purple Rain show. I don't think I've heard one better, and I've heard many. He really caught fire that night. But Gilmour's solo is more melodic and sophisticated; the ideas are developed so that it sounds almost through-composed, but no less emotional. It rightly deserves its reputation as one of rock's great solos. I highly recommend checking out the Pulse DVD and Delicate Sound of Thunder for definitive versions.
[Edited 12/17/06 22:49pm]

TedW said:

I feel like I'm back in school again...Super analytical posts like this take all the fun out of the thread

David Gilmour has covered Purple Rain a few times in concert in the past as well.

Riverpoet31 said:

Nah, Prince was very hip to Pink Floyd. How could he not be? Any music from the 60's and 70's, regardless of genre, Prince was going to be hip to it. P said himself, while growing up, all he listened to FM radio. Which of course, played rock of the day. Zeppelin, The Stones, Santana, Queen. Include to that list, Pink Floyd. I wasn't a rock station that DIDN'T play Pink Floyd. They were too popular. There was no way Prince wouldn't have been hip to that band. Oh and Hendrix spelled his name "Jimi".

thebanishedone said:

i disagree Comfortably Numb imo way better.

Ive always thought the guitar playing on The Sensual Everafter is Floydish

Tom said:

- Wow, I am not a Pink Floyd fan, but this is something I would like to hear! Gilmour is a great player.

blackguitaristz said:

Who u telling? Yeah, I know Chas changed it. To make it more catchy. If we wanna go that way, Jimmy wasn't even Hendrix's real name. It was Johnny Allen.
No , his manager changed Jimmy to Jimi

To the original question: I doubt it. Other than the obvious "slow-tempo rock ballad guitar hero moment" thing. Harmonically, they both utilize a minor pentatonic feel, but so does every other rock guitar solo in recorded history. Prince plays major pentatonic ideas as well, and Gilmour favors a melodic minor sound. Their styles aren't really related past the obvious blues base. Gilmour is more melodic/lyrical and nuanced; he doesn't really play fast passages at all. Prince takes more of a "showman" approach and has series of tricks he tends to go to -- fast repeated phrases (esp. evident on "Joy In Repetition" from Aftershow), pick-scraping, etc. -- that many guitar players think of as cliches, but he plays them with such tremendous conviction and flair he always gets away with it.

As far as the specific solos in question, "Comfortably Numb" (and I assume we're talking about the big solo at the end, not the earlier breaks) is far superior musically (and Gilmour even bests it live with just about every version I've heard, but particularly the one from Pulse). The recorded "Purple Rain" solo is pretty simple, and doesn't really go anywhere once he locks into that A-Bb-C motif before the first turnaround, which he then comes back to after the "ooh-ooh" audience singalong, playing that same three-note figure for the entire last chorus of the solo (hardcore fans will also note that he plays the same simple motif for an extra chorus or two on the original First Avenue tracks; these were judiciously edited from the final version). Live, though, this solo can be much more soul-stirring: I think my favorite might be the go-for-broke version from the Syracuse Purple Rain show. I don't think I've heard one better, and I've heard many. He really caught fire that night. But Gilmour's solo is more melodic and sophisticated; the ideas are developed so that it sounds almost through-composed, but no less emotional. It rightly deserves its reputation as one of rock's great solos. I highly recommend checking out the Pulse DVD and Delicate Sound of Thunder for definitive versions.
[Edited 12/17/06 22:49pm]

TedW said:

Nice post and I agree with it. Like I mainly posted, the solo that influenced Purple Rain's solo is Neal Schon's solo to "Faithfully". I'm glad they edited out the 3 note motif from First Ave. It goes on waaay too long. The edited down version is much better. And obviously, this is what Prince based his live version from. The Syracuse version and probably as good as it was because Prince already knew that it was going to be used for a video release. Although the 3 shows I saw at the Forum earlier in the year, his solos on PR were even better. Prince really steps it up a notch when a lot of other celebs are in the audience. Which definately was the case whenever he played L.A. Or when his on television. The AMA from 85 is proof of this.

GustavoRibas said:

I saw him perform it with Tom Jones, of all people. I love Gilmour, but I didn't dig his version that much once the oh s**t! he's playing Purple Rain! shock factor passed...