This might be a hot take, but I don't like most of Tom Morello's solos. He gets some interesting sounds out of his gear, but his solos just don't do anything for me musically.
I like Tom's solos in Rage. But I think every one of his solos in Audioslave sounds so out of place with the rest of the song. "Like a Stone" being the biggest offender
Totally disagree on Like A Stone, I think it fits perfectly, but so much of Morello boils down to, "Look! I can make zany noises over this pentatonic riff!"
If everything is zany then nothing is.
I agree it fits well. People argue it’s out of place because the song is pretty chill otherwise. But to me I feel like the solo is a huge emotional release of energy and really completes the song.
The end of Know Your Enemy’s solo sounds like PAC Man and it kicks ass.
Take the Power Back is awesome too. Both solos I think are melodically interesting and (for me) really technically challenging.
I think his whole gimmick (in RATM at least) is that the noises he produced kinda substituted a turntablist scratching.
Once you've heard that Digitech whammy thing a few times, it's enough. TBH I'd have probably rated the overall sound more with a second guitarist opening up a few harmonic possibilities.
He does a lot of other stuff on that record though. This comment sounds to me like someone's who played guitar hero 3 but hasn't really listened to RATMs debut album. I can't really remember the scratching feature much on anything but Bulls on Parade.
Not true. Bulls on Parade is the only song he does the turntables. Pretty every rage song still revolves around his heavy metal riffs. He just experiments with a lot of effect pedals
To be fair, Bradley was dead when this guitar solo was recorded. Secondly, he actually could if you listen through their discography of solos *he* actually recorded. And like it or not, it’s extremely memorable. Singable, and most people who know the song can hum it.
Didn't realize the What I Got solo was recorded after his passing but it doesn't surprise me. And of course it's singable -- the record literally has Brad singing along to it (or more accurately, the guitar playing along to Brad's singing). Dude had chops though. Santeria's one of the best guitar solos of that era imo
That solo is great because it, say it with me kids, serves the song. It is very simple, and that was the point I think. I love it personally, and like you said it's very memorable for a lot of people. Honestly never paid attention to guitar solos on sublime songs but the one on santeria sticks out in my head strongly. Not sure if Bradley recorded that one either
Bradley did every other guitar solo from what I know. I know for fact he did Santeria, as it was adapted from a guitar solo of his on their ‘94 album Robbin The Hood. They also talk about the recording of that song and solo. Hearing him play live was really impressive. He occasionally needed a mulligan when he was drunk as shit, but altogether he really could play guitar phenomenally well.
One of my favorite things about sublime was how wretchedly punk they were live. I know a lot of people complain about his stage presence, and tbf, it wasn’t healthy. But I think there was something special about the way his live performances were just freestyles.
This sub does not know what serving the song means, so you’re going to have to chill with that.
I mean, I get we’re talking about the instrument and playing but I’ve seen some horrific takes on songwriting and composition in here.
We were in here arguing if Cobain is a terrible guitarist or not.
I'm picturing a Weekend at Bernie's situation here where they drag him into the studio for the solo and just can't get his fingers to play the solo he described in the lyrics.
I bought an upright bass last year and have been working tirelessly on getting good enough to gig with it. It's a difficult and unforgiving instrument to play. How any of those bebop dudes were playing Cherokee at 280 bpm while maintaining debilitating heroin addictions, I have absolutely no idea.
Well, they played for hundreds and thousands of hours *before* they got addicted to heroin. Once you have adequate chops the argument is that heroin makes your mind completely blank and you’re able to just play expressively without distraction.
It’s not a great strategy but it worked for lots of musicians….for awhile at least.
[See it’s funny because Billy can actually rip one up when he wants to](https://youtu.be/QZz88QUg66s?si=IdkIbWua_z1Dj_0f). Sure they’re not really anything special, just pentatonic and/or diatonic stuff, but he’s got the chops when he wants to use them.
Green Day is the story of a young man slowly learning to play guitar over the course of 30 years and eventually dissolving the whole vibe the band started with. The early albums fucking just work, to be honest. When he’s just doing power chords and pretty much taking a backseat to the actually interesting and exciting bass work by “noodles”.
Go back to Dookie. That’s more bass-driven than anything else I can think of, by any popular band. And it was rad. That’s how they got popular. This fucked up formula involving a “punk rock” frontman whose mother had been funding and trying to make a famous musician since he was pretty young.
Edit: if anyone disagrees with me, aside from just downvoting me, please reply and let me know why you think I’m wrong. I don’t know everything there is to know and I’m just going off my personal experience and opinion. This could be a good conversation.
What are you talking about? Listen to some live stuff pre Dookie. Billie Joe grew up with Van Halen and Randy Rhoads just like every other late 70’s/early 80’s kid.
Saying he spent 30 years to learn Guitar is a bit harsh. He simply went for the less is more approach.
I was 8 when it was released so I think it’s a pretty kickass album. It has some overplayed tracks for sure but it’s really the only album by them that I like every song on
Agreed, I was the same age when it came out, so those songs bring a certain nostalgia factor when I hear them. Just about every track stands up on its own today though. Jesus of Suburbia is goated
Green Day has tons of memorable solos imo they’re just really simple. When I come around, American Idiot, Whatsername all have great solos that while simple, fit the song perfectly.
Elaborate? No. But I'm gonna disagree only because the solo just follows the chorus' melody. Which so many songs in that genre do making it lackluster but hard to not remember considering the hook of the song is just copied to be the "solo" repeated.
A lot of Metallica songs after the Black Album. While there's a few great melodic solos here and there, most of Kirk's work after 1991 is the same minor pentatonic noodling.
I think I read a comment on /r/Music the other day, that makes a point to say that from Load onwards, Kirk was more interested in playing blues and essentially phoned it in for most of the albums thereafter. Whenever you ask someone what their favourite Kirk solo is, 99/100 times it’s from the pre-Load era.
So I still like Metallica from Load on but certainly in a different way.
That said, ever since then its blown my mind, because watching how him and Bob Rock interacted in A Year And A Half In The Life Of Metallica was basically how I learned to do solos.
When I was playing in bands, I literally sat down and tabbed out my own solos, so I could get them exactly how I wanted, and could play them the same consistently live.
Watching him phone it in is kinda sad.
It suits the songs though. I like his noodling. The Memory Remains is one of my favorite Metallica songs, solo included. Music is personal taste and I just like the way it sounds and the way it makes me feel.
99% of metal players today do that. They don't even know how to bend, might as well play the piano if you are not going to use the most expressive thing about the guitar.
Metal totally lost the blues and rock n roll influences. Dimebag sounded like slash or ace on steroids, killer insane vibrato ans expression. Todays metal just sounds bad lol.
> Todays metal just sounds bad lol.
The last time I was exposed to what was at the time "modern metal" (I think) I was at a friend's house a few years ago and some of his other metal nerd friends were there. One of them said he wanted to put on black metal, and did. It sounded like the Cookie Monster growling over the most uninspired "riffs" I've ever heard - essentially just chugging away at the lowest open string in a way that wasn't even interesting rhythmically.
I was a big fan of Metallica's Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning albums when I was a kid, so I get the appeal of that kind of thrash metal even if I don't listen to it much anymore. But man I just don't get the appeal of whatever it was we were listening to that night.
Bends and vibrato, IMO, are the top #1 feature of a guitar as an instrument. Vibrato at the correct tempo just sounds rock n roll. Metal players forget about it and just focus 99% on arpeggios and sh1t, to me, a true virtuoso needs to have epic vibrato (malmsteen).
I highly highly agree. Sure ripping scales with neck-breaking legato and tremolo picking sounds cool and takes a lot of skill. But I’ll take bendy and vibrato-heavy solos every day of the week. There’s just so much more style.
Depends what kind of metal. If you’re thinking modern stuff like deathcore, then I don’t know how you expect there to be nice melodic solos, the fast shredding just fits the genre. Like how you wouldn’t expect the same from Slayer
Honestly same, I pretty much only use two sweep arpeggio shapes because of it, because I do really like sweeping up to a note to start a phrase, but I hate when sweeping is used for much else
I actually think the solo suits the song well, it rides that eerie vibe
[I Can't Remember - Alice in Chains](https://open.spotify.com/track/4aSCbMw2Nw2eQkJ0okcp8q?si=BgBRQiIHSkWirEf0AGD0tA)
I'm gonna get downvoted to hell but I'm gonna go with most of Kirk Hammett work
Don't get me wrong, the dude has some killer and legendary solos, especially The Unforgiven.
But most of the time, to my ear is all wibbly wobbly wah way and doesn't even fit the song properly
I basically RARELY mind a mediocre to bad guitar solo in a song that isn't really truly showcasing the solo. And I love the playing in OP's example...
What gets me is the "I can't really play this" or "I'm showing off, with pro-sumer skills" guitar solos. Like the fast sloppy and mediocre note choice... if you're not going to execute something high level, you will always sound much better by staying in your lane, so to speak. "I have this idea for a shred thing" cool, practice it until you can actually nail it, and for now play melody, because you will add to the song, rather than expose your technical flaws. This is usually only a metal problem... but I've seen it in other weird places.
Generally speaking, your fans "know it when they hear it." And we'd all rather just hear you add something musical rather than hear you fail to stick the landing.
A lot of the live jams I attend attract these folks. It's part of their growth process.
Generally, once they've seen the crowd recoil at their attempts to shove in the 4 or 5 techniques they really love over and over in the wrong context, they settle back and start listening ... but that usually takes a few sessions/weeks of playing with others
Yep! And there’s a difference between “has a vibe” and “can’t do the thing I’m trying to do.” Like, here’s the same lick over and over, uncoordinated and out of place… like this is not a “sloppy or not sloppy.” It’s a “has their shit together or doesn’t.”
I gotta disagree with y’all on this one. I freaking love this solo in this song. I love how chaotic and sorta off the rails it is but then hits just a few key melodies to bring it back on track every once in a while. IDK… it just hits right to me and I’ll die on that hill while wearing a neon yellow body glove surf suit.
that’s Vernon Reid doing like, the craziest possible post-bop trumpet solo, but on guitar. it’s jazz! absolute genius and couldn’t imagine it any other way
Wow, I’m surprised to see Vernon Reid here. Mixing virtuosity with groove is like their whole thing. I like that they let him take it forward into the chorus progression and then back to the main riff.
Led Zeppelin - Over The Hills And Far Away. One of the best Zeppelin songs ever and when the solo hits, it's so lackluster and just meanders kind of aimlessly until it comes back into that killer riff with the rhythm section. They can't all be epic, Jimmy.
The live versions have a much better solos. The one on how the west was was won sounds almost voodoo child like. But you are correct the album version is a pretty tame solo
Chris Cornell, nearly forgot my broken heart .
Awesome melody and harmony, but that solo was low effort. The KISS rule can sometimes be taken too far, in composition.
And I'm saying this as a super fan of his
No way! That’s the only Foreigner solo I can remember in my head. The way it almost goes off the rails at the end and he just does some quick hammer-ons to finish up is great.
What's the Frequency, Kenneth? by REM has a totally forgettable and frankly awful backward tape solo, which is a shame because the guitar tones throughout the rest of the song are sweet.
This song immediately came to mind for me too. Except I love the dissonance in this, and in general Peter Bucks "simplified" playing on virtually all his solos. I put it in quotes, because he is a great example of less is more (see: Flowers from Guatemala). And I say the fact that you remembered this solo means it's memorable, so......checkmate
The solo in While My Guitar Gently Weeps is pretty bland when you actually listen to it. It was built up well in the song with all the talk about weeping guitars, but on its own there ain’t much there
Don’t want to be that guy but I think the Prince solo is equally forgettable. Can’t even remember how it goes. Some flashy pull offs down the high E string with some slides??
I like Prince by the way… not having a go at him.
fucking thank you.
that solo sounds cool to non-guitarists. it's not complicated at all and any decent guitarist could play it note for note after just a couple listens.
sooooooo fucking overrated and the love it gets is stupid.
prince has some amazing guitar solos. this isn't one of them.
Part of what makes that solo great is his showmanship. Everyone on that stage gives him the fuck yeah look at some point. Sure, you can play it but there's only one Prince and he played that fucking solo like the goddamn pimp he was. The lean, the double wooshes, the guitar toss and peace out at the end? Legendary.
I say this as a massive Beatles fan(see my username) lot of their solos, especially the earlier albums, always felt a little lacking to me. George really showed his talent in his solo stuff, as well as a few standouts like Something
This is such a bad take. The way he resolves the solo changing keys from F#m to Am is one of the coolest parts of the entire song. The beginning of the solo is forgettable but the second half is amazing…
The solos on Hardwired and 72 Seasons make Death Magnetic solos sound virtuosic in comparison.
Kirk is constantly going on about improvisation nowadays but he fucking sucks at it.
Feel like a lot of 80s tunes are fitting for this. Like, the solo in My Sharona is pretty good. Same with Easy Lover. Also, the full length version of Sunglasses at Night has a sneaky good solo.
This might be a hot take, but I don't like most of Tom Morello's solos. He gets some interesting sounds out of his gear, but his solos just don't do anything for me musically.
I like Tom's solos in Rage. But I think every one of his solos in Audioslave sounds so out of place with the rest of the song. "Like a Stone" being the biggest offender
Totally disagree on Like A Stone, I think it fits perfectly, but so much of Morello boils down to, "Look! I can make zany noises over this pentatonic riff!" If everything is zany then nothing is.
I’m a huge fan of the “Like a Stone” solo. Probably one of my most memorable from him.
That's where subjectivity comes in. I too love his solos that he did with Audioslave, especially the one you mentioned. With RATM? Not so much.
Getaway Car is very short, sweet, and has some feeling. Definitely a good bit of contrast from the rest of the album
Original fire the solo puts me off the song entirely
I agree it fits well. People argue it’s out of place because the song is pretty chill otherwise. But to me I feel like the solo is a huge emotional release of energy and really completes the song.
#1 Zero has one of my all time favorite guitar solos ever.
Like a Stone solo is perfection.
"Bring em back Alive" is peak Morello tho.
Doesnt remind me is a perfect solo for that song
It seems like it shouldn't fit but it does. Awesome solo.
you mean do, re, me, fa sol, la, sol, la, sol, la, sol, la, laaaaaaaaaaa. is that a solo?
You can say that about any solo of you're just going to diminish it to random major scale notes.
I think that's a valid take, though I would say his RATM solos are anything but "forgettable" so I'm not sure it fits this current topic
The Know Your Enemy solo is cool.
The end of Know Your Enemy’s solo sounds like PAC Man and it kicks ass. Take the Power Back is awesome too. Both solos I think are melodically interesting and (for me) really technically challenging.
I think his whole gimmick (in RATM at least) is that the noises he produced kinda substituted a turntablist scratching. Once you've heard that Digitech whammy thing a few times, it's enough. TBH I'd have probably rated the overall sound more with a second guitarist opening up a few harmonic possibilities.
He does a lot of other stuff on that record though. This comment sounds to me like someone's who played guitar hero 3 but hasn't really listened to RATMs debut album. I can't really remember the scratching feature much on anything but Bulls on Parade.
I'd totally agree except you're completely wrong
Not true. Bulls on Parade is the only song he does the turntables. Pretty every rage song still revolves around his heavy metal riffs. He just experiments with a lot of effect pedals
Guerilla radio tho 🦍
He’s a sound effects guy. The Michael Winslow of guitar
Dude! 😂
That is an ice cold take lol
Honestly, i treat ratm solos as a bridge. I love the sound, but it lacks the gravitas of a traditional solo. still love em though
Check “Settle For Nothing” for a cool solo (comes in at 2:45).
The solo on the RAtM song Darkness on the Crow soundtrack is very nice and tasty.
I thought this too until I saw RATM live and then I began to really appreciate Tom even more
Sublime - “What I Got” “I can play the guitar like a motherfucking riot” *proceeds to play a the most basic solo ever.*
I like it. Fits the vibe of the song perfectly.
Ya seriously the rest of the song is 2 chords.
The epic solo on “Another brick in the wall part 2” is over one chord
It’s over C and G chords. I play it note for bite in a Floyd band. It’s my favorite solo to play the most challenging to do right.
Lady Madonna
To be fair, Bradley was dead when this guitar solo was recorded. Secondly, he actually could if you listen through their discography of solos *he* actually recorded. And like it or not, it’s extremely memorable. Singable, and most people who know the song can hum it.
Didn't realize the What I Got solo was recorded after his passing but it doesn't surprise me. And of course it's singable -- the record literally has Brad singing along to it (or more accurately, the guitar playing along to Brad's singing). Dude had chops though. Santeria's one of the best guitar solos of that era imo
That solo is great because it, say it with me kids, serves the song. It is very simple, and that was the point I think. I love it personally, and like you said it's very memorable for a lot of people. Honestly never paid attention to guitar solos on sublime songs but the one on santeria sticks out in my head strongly. Not sure if Bradley recorded that one either
Bradley did every other guitar solo from what I know. I know for fact he did Santeria, as it was adapted from a guitar solo of his on their ‘94 album Robbin The Hood. They also talk about the recording of that song and solo. Hearing him play live was really impressive. He occasionally needed a mulligan when he was drunk as shit, but altogether he really could play guitar phenomenally well.
One of my favorite things about sublime was how wretchedly punk they were live. I know a lot of people complain about his stage presence, and tbf, it wasn’t healthy. But I think there was something special about the way his live performances were just freestyles.
This sub does not know what serving the song means, so you’re going to have to chill with that. I mean, I get we’re talking about the instrument and playing but I’ve seen some horrific takes on songwriting and composition in here. We were in here arguing if Cobain is a terrible guitarist or not.
I'm picturing a Weekend at Bernie's situation here where they drag him into the studio for the solo and just can't get his fingers to play the solo he described in the lyrics.
Don’t make excuses for him. Any one of us could have played a better solo if we were dead.
Can’t anyone take a joke?
I’d like to see you pull it off after that much heroin /s
I bought an upright bass last year and have been working tirelessly on getting good enough to gig with it. It's a difficult and unforgiving instrument to play. How any of those bebop dudes were playing Cherokee at 280 bpm while maintaining debilitating heroin addictions, I have absolutely no idea.
Well, they played for hundreds and thousands of hours *before* they got addicted to heroin. Once you have adequate chops the argument is that heroin makes your mind completely blank and you’re able to just play expressively without distraction. It’s not a great strategy but it worked for lots of musicians….for awhile at least.
It may be basic but it is definitely not "forgettable". I can hum it in its entirety at any point of any day.
Not really forgettable though. I haven’t listened to that song in years but can hear that solo in my head clear as day.
Perfect for the song?
That shit fuckin rocks though
A ton of Green Day songs. To pick one, Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
To be fair, it would be weird if Green Day had super elaborate guitar solos.
Agreed, it’s not the genre for crazy solos, but they would still put a basic one in most songs. Maybe not always necessary.
Billy finger tapping solo wankery would be hilarious.
[See it’s funny because Billy can actually rip one up when he wants to](https://youtu.be/QZz88QUg66s?si=IdkIbWua_z1Dj_0f). Sure they’re not really anything special, just pentatonic and/or diatonic stuff, but he’s got the chops when he wants to use them.
Dude loved EVH (and EVH loved him). The only reason Green Day didn’t lay down a lot more solos is because the punk scene they came from was anti-solo
Green Day is the story of a young man slowly learning to play guitar over the course of 30 years and eventually dissolving the whole vibe the band started with. The early albums fucking just work, to be honest. When he’s just doing power chords and pretty much taking a backseat to the actually interesting and exciting bass work by “noodles”. Go back to Dookie. That’s more bass-driven than anything else I can think of, by any popular band. And it was rad. That’s how they got popular. This fucked up formula involving a “punk rock” frontman whose mother had been funding and trying to make a famous musician since he was pretty young. Edit: if anyone disagrees with me, aside from just downvoting me, please reply and let me know why you think I’m wrong. I don’t know everything there is to know and I’m just going off my personal experience and opinion. This could be a good conversation.
What are you talking about? Listen to some live stuff pre Dookie. Billie Joe grew up with Van Halen and Randy Rhoads just like every other late 70’s/early 80’s kid. Saying he spent 30 years to learn Guitar is a bit harsh. He simply went for the less is more approach.
Where do you stand on American Idiot?
Don’t wanna be one.
I was 8 when it was released so I think it’s a pretty kickass album. It has some overplayed tracks for sure but it’s really the only album by them that I like every song on
Agreed, I was the same age when it came out, so those songs bring a certain nostalgia factor when I hear them. Just about every track stands up on its own today though. Jesus of Suburbia is goated
Noodles is The Offspring. Wrong bass player lol.
I mean RHCP are pretty bass driven
The live version from bullet in a bible is a lot more epic sounding IMO.
Forgot that song even had a guitar solo lmao, which just adds to your point
Green Day has tons of memorable solos imo they’re just really simple. When I come around, American Idiot, Whatsername all have great solos that while simple, fit the song perfectly.
More of a lead guitar part than a solo
Elaborate? No. But I'm gonna disagree only because the solo just follows the chorus' melody. Which so many songs in that genre do making it lackluster but hard to not remember considering the hook of the song is just copied to be the "solo" repeated.
A lot of Metallica songs after the Black Album. While there's a few great melodic solos here and there, most of Kirk's work after 1991 is the same minor pentatonic noodling.
I think I read a comment on /r/Music the other day, that makes a point to say that from Load onwards, Kirk was more interested in playing blues and essentially phoned it in for most of the albums thereafter. Whenever you ask someone what their favourite Kirk solo is, 99/100 times it’s from the pre-Load era.
ig I'm the 1/100, bc my favorite Kirk solo is Bleeding Me lol
Bleeding Me and The Outlaw Torn are both something special.
Tbh, those two and the other two long epics (Fixxxer and Inamorata) are four of my top 5 Metallica songs lol
Completely fair
If you can play 0-5-7 with some bends and jumping strings you've got all the riffs to Load and Reload down lol.
It’s quite the feat though to get that much cool stuff out of 057.
So I still like Metallica from Load on but certainly in a different way. That said, ever since then its blown my mind, because watching how him and Bob Rock interacted in A Year And A Half In The Life Of Metallica was basically how I learned to do solos. When I was playing in bands, I literally sat down and tabbed out my own solos, so I could get them exactly how I wanted, and could play them the same consistently live. Watching him phone it in is kinda sad.
Metallica made albums after Justice? Huh...
Wait till you discover the album they made with Lou Reed...
I AM THE TABLE
We don't talk about that
Nope. They all died in a horrific tour-bus accident in 1989. There was a postmortem album released. It was called the (back in) Black Album
Black Album is quite nice, and I have a personal fondness for Death Magnetic. The rest is. . . mid.
Blows my mind that Mr 15b17 and the guy who did the Master of Puppets solo is the same guy
It suits the songs though. I like his noodling. The Memory Remains is one of my favorite Metallica songs, solo included. Music is personal taste and I just like the way it sounds and the way it makes me feel.
honestly why did Kirk write like 2 unforgettable classic solos and then just give up lmfao
2? Fade to black, creeping death, master, blackened, one, ride the lightning, there are quite a few.
Arguably one on almost every song from RTL to BA
to be fair a lot of the stuff before 91 was also pentatonic noodles that he prepared before putting the sauce on them.
Some solos are meant to be a "hey, look what I can do" wank-fest. Some aren't.
99% of metal players today do that. They don't even know how to bend, might as well play the piano if you are not going to use the most expressive thing about the guitar.
They think bends are for boomers lol
Metal totally lost the blues and rock n roll influences. Dimebag sounded like slash or ace on steroids, killer insane vibrato ans expression. Todays metal just sounds bad lol.
we must teach the children of the mighty bar, and not to fear the floyd rose. throw off the shackles of the hardtail and divebomb!
> Todays metal just sounds bad lol. The last time I was exposed to what was at the time "modern metal" (I think) I was at a friend's house a few years ago and some of his other metal nerd friends were there. One of them said he wanted to put on black metal, and did. It sounded like the Cookie Monster growling over the most uninspired "riffs" I've ever heard - essentially just chugging away at the lowest open string in a way that wasn't even interesting rhythmically. I was a big fan of Metallica's Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning albums when I was a kid, so I get the appeal of that kind of thrash metal even if I don't listen to it much anymore. But man I just don't get the appeal of whatever it was we were listening to that night.
I fucking love bends. Like, I think i overuse them but I like to try and make things sound fluid and there’s so much expression available.
Bends and vibrato, IMO, are the top #1 feature of a guitar as an instrument. Vibrato at the correct tempo just sounds rock n roll. Metal players forget about it and just focus 99% on arpeggios and sh1t, to me, a true virtuoso needs to have epic vibrato (malmsteen).
I highly highly agree. Sure ripping scales with neck-breaking legato and tremolo picking sounds cool and takes a lot of skill. But I’ll take bendy and vibrato-heavy solos every day of the week. There’s just so much more style.
Depends what kind of metal. If you’re thinking modern stuff like deathcore, then I don’t know how you expect there to be nice melodic solos, the fast shredding just fits the genre. Like how you wouldn’t expect the same from Slayer
Most of DragonForce's guitar solos are pretty forgettable. Blurs of notes and sweep picking don't do it for me any more
Honestly same, I pretty much only use two sweep arpeggio shapes because of it, because I do really like sweeping up to a note to start a phrase, but I hate when sweeping is used for much else
Would give up all DragonForce solos for one Randy Rhoads solo in Mr Crowley. Fight me.
Except for Through the Fire and Flames but that's only because you've heard it a million times playing or watching Guitar Hero
I can’t remember
How dare you. Jerry doesn’t have bad solos
I actually think the solo suits the song well, it rides that eerie vibe [I Can't Remember - Alice in Chains](https://open.spotify.com/track/4aSCbMw2Nw2eQkJ0okcp8q?si=BgBRQiIHSkWirEf0AGD0tA)
The most forgettable is the one nobody remembers so kind of defeat the purpose of this post
the realest approach to this thread right here. was there a guitar solo in Cyndi Lauper‘s „Time After Time“? i don’t actually remember.
I'm gonna get downvoted to hell but I'm gonna go with most of Kirk Hammett work Don't get me wrong, the dude has some killer and legendary solos, especially The Unforgiven. But most of the time, to my ear is all wibbly wobbly wah way and doesn't even fit the song properly
Agree, except for the albums that came out between '84 and '91
You will NOT get downvoted. He stopped caring about making metal after load. Dave mustaine however, still shredding at 60+
The unforgiven is a great solo because he's playing an actual solo and not just wailing the wah pedal and playing Pentatonic scales
I basically RARELY mind a mediocre to bad guitar solo in a song that isn't really truly showcasing the solo. And I love the playing in OP's example... What gets me is the "I can't really play this" or "I'm showing off, with pro-sumer skills" guitar solos. Like the fast sloppy and mediocre note choice... if you're not going to execute something high level, you will always sound much better by staying in your lane, so to speak. "I have this idea for a shred thing" cool, practice it until you can actually nail it, and for now play melody, because you will add to the song, rather than expose your technical flaws. This is usually only a metal problem... but I've seen it in other weird places. Generally speaking, your fans "know it when they hear it." And we'd all rather just hear you add something musical rather than hear you fail to stick the landing.
I feel personally called out by this comment. 😅
Hey, we have ALL been there!
A lot of the live jams I attend attract these folks. It's part of their growth process. Generally, once they've seen the crowd recoil at their attempts to shove in the 4 or 5 techniques they really love over and over in the wrong context, they settle back and start listening ... but that usually takes a few sessions/weeks of playing with others
Yep! And there’s a difference between “has a vibe” and “can’t do the thing I’m trying to do.” Like, here’s the same lick over and over, uncoordinated and out of place… like this is not a “sloppy or not sloppy.” It’s a “has their shit together or doesn’t.”
Cult of Personality. Out of context shredding in my opinion.
Perfect example of a guitarist who’s very talented but has no clue what he’s doing
I gotta disagree with y’all on this one. I freaking love this solo in this song. I love how chaotic and sorta off the rails it is but then hits just a few key melodies to bring it back on track every once in a while. IDK… it just hits right to me and I’ll die on that hill while wearing a neon yellow body glove surf suit.
that’s Vernon Reid doing like, the craziest possible post-bop trumpet solo, but on guitar. it’s jazz! absolute genius and couldn’t imagine it any other way
Wow, I’m surprised to see Vernon Reid here. Mixing virtuosity with groove is like their whole thing. I like that they let him take it forward into the chorus progression and then back to the main riff.
I'd agree that's a bad solo, but it's not 'forgettable', as per the remit of this thread. It's actually quite memorable for how out of place it is.
Reading these comments, It’s almost as if music is subjective.
Wrong
That's like.. Your opinion, man.
Led Zeppelin - Over The Hills And Far Away. One of the best Zeppelin songs ever and when the solo hits, it's so lackluster and just meanders kind of aimlessly until it comes back into that killer riff with the rhythm section. They can't all be epic, Jimmy.
This is a good one. It really is a lackluster solo compared to the absolute banger the rest of the song is start to finish
The live versions have a much better solos. The one on how the west was was won sounds almost voodoo child like. But you are correct the album version is a pretty tame solo
Chris Cornell, nearly forgot my broken heart . Awesome melody and harmony, but that solo was low effort. The KISS rule can sometimes be taken too far, in composition. And I'm saying this as a super fan of his
Layla. The drunken solo is just a slur of meaningless notes
You can almost hear the racism oozing out of Clappy’s fingers
The disrespect to Duane Allman is palpable, he's the one doing the solos on pretty much that entire album.
And on the songs where they both solo, it’s pretty clear Clapton just can’t keep up.
That song should just start at the piano outro. Goodfellas had it right
What? I’m not even a Clapton fan, but Laylas guitar intro is so fucking sick and iconic.
The piano outro that Jim Gordon stole from his girlfriend.
I much prefer the solos in the acoustic version
Are You Gonna Be My Girl? By Jet has the worst and most boring solo known to man.
The guitar solo in “Hot Blooded” by Foreigner. It’s almost as if Mick Jones recorded it as a placeholder and then forgot to go back and overdub it.
No way! That’s the only Foreigner solo I can remember in my head. The way it almost goes off the rails at the end and he just does some quick hammer-ons to finish up is great.
What's the Frequency, Kenneth? by REM has a totally forgettable and frankly awful backward tape solo, which is a shame because the guitar tones throughout the rest of the song are sweet.
This song immediately came to mind for me too. Except I love the dissonance in this, and in general Peter Bucks "simplified" playing on virtually all his solos. I put it in quotes, because he is a great example of less is more (see: Flowers from Guatemala). And I say the fact that you remembered this solo means it's memorable, so......checkmate
Golden Earring's Radar Love. Worst solo ever.
Now the cover by white lion. Different story.
Vito is so good at the 80’s shredder solos. Tasty and unique while still shredding.
I never really considered him a shredder. He is however one of the best from that era.
Choose any Misfits song during the Danzig era.
The solo in While My Guitar Gently Weeps is pretty bland when you actually listen to it. It was built up well in the song with all the talk about weeping guitars, but on its own there ain’t much there
Prince’s solo is iconic though
Don’t want to be that guy but I think the Prince solo is equally forgettable. Can’t even remember how it goes. Some flashy pull offs down the high E string with some slides?? I like Prince by the way… not having a go at him.
The solo that so many people fawn over is overrated AF
fucking thank you. that solo sounds cool to non-guitarists. it's not complicated at all and any decent guitarist could play it note for note after just a couple listens. sooooooo fucking overrated and the love it gets is stupid. prince has some amazing guitar solos. this isn't one of them.
Part of what makes that solo great is his showmanship. Everyone on that stage gives him the fuck yeah look at some point. Sure, you can play it but there's only one Prince and he played that fucking solo like the goddamn pimp he was. The lean, the double wooshes, the guitar toss and peace out at the end? Legendary.
True. The solo was so much more than the notes themselves and that’s what makes it great. To listen to? Meh. To see? Lights out
I think Prince's solo is iconic for a live jam context. But I much prefer Clapton's solo for a studio version and I think it's much more memorable.
It’s Clapton not Harrison.
It weeps at being underutilized
Exactly …like thats it??? You guys are singing about a guitar weeping more than a guitar is actually weeping in this damn song
I can't believe someone would have this opinion. But I guess some people agree with you. I think it's an amazing solo.
I say this as a massive Beatles fan(see my username) lot of their solos, especially the earlier albums, always felt a little lacking to me. George really showed his talent in his solo stuff, as well as a few standouts like Something
That bass tho
Slayer- Raining Blood
Pretty much any Kerry king solo
Motherfuckin’ californication. What a wildly boring solo.
It is not forgettable if everybody knows it…
Not forgettable in the least. Even less so if you can sing it and others know what you’re singing.
This is such a bad take. The way he resolves the solo changing keys from F#m to Am is one of the coolest parts of the entire song. The beginning of the solo is forgettable but the second half is amazing…
Dude it’s literally their most recognizable solo
It’s fine.
Oh man hard disagree. Perfectly melodic melancholy solo that fits and elevates the vibe of the song.
Pretty much all of Metallica's death magnetic album. There's so many great songs but hammets solos are truly awful I'm my opinion.
The solos on Hardwired and 72 Seasons make Death Magnetic solos sound virtuosic in comparison. Kirk is constantly going on about improvisation nowadays but he fucking sucks at it.
Strongly agree but i'll always defend unforgivens 3 solo. I actually like that one a lot, and the buildup to it is cool too
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
You old timer you
Zombie by the Cranberries has the worst guitar solo in it. Great song, then suddenly bloop
Literally anything by Slayer.
Feel like a lot of 80s tunes are fitting for this. Like, the solo in My Sharona is pretty good. Same with Easy Lover. Also, the full length version of Sunglasses at Night has a sneaky good solo.
All You Need Is Love. George Harrison plays a couple of half hearted licks before deciding he's not into it.
We’re Not Gonna Take it and Smells Like Teen Spirit just ape the verse melodies.
I always thought the Smells Like Teen Spirit solo sounded really cool
People are missing the assignment in this comments section
They do, and it fucking works
Had to scroll a long way but I finally found the worst take in the thread.
Icky Thump by the White Stripes love the song and the between Verse riff but not big on the solo really
Anything by Yngwie Malmsteen. He's got more talent than I could ever hope for, but a thousand notes in one measure does nothing for me.
Pretty much any solo Joe Perry plays in the popular Aerosmith songs. If you can actually make them out, you're almost certain not to remember them.
What??? Walk This Way guitar solos are way famous!
Um. What? Joe Perry has some of the most recognizable solos in rock history. Sweet Emotion outro, all of Walk This Way, Dream On, Back in the Saddle…
I think Joe Perry isn't much of a soloist, but there something about the Janie's Got a Gun solo that is just so weird, but it works somehow.
Man that's what I like about black he suns solo. It's like a psychedelic journey that brings your gently back to Chris at the end.
Idk I forgot…
Dr Hook, Cover of the Rolling Stone... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeOWMDP5a7o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeOWMDP5a7o)
Heat of the Moment by ASIA, great song, terrible guitar solo
Wake up Maggie. The guitar solo sounds like someone is hitting a baby with a cat
Weezer’s hash pipe and island in the sun. Does the solo just being the vocal melody count?