why are guitar solos not cool anymore?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jimistone
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Sorry but I just couldnt leave this dead horse alone....

Heres why I think Guitar solos went belly up. Its simple MARKETING by the record companies. When they release music by guys like Satch, Vai, Eric Johnson and so on they target the "guitar solo" loving demographic. Not to mention that the new bred of guitarist cant even come close to the forementioned guitar gurus. So its heavy on the Lyrics and "The new power chords" and hey if you can solo better the Neil Young heres a fookin music contract kid. It seems to me that if you cant play like the G3, why solo anyway, your just wasting good tracks. Heh, tell that to Neil, I wonder what he would say. Its cool that Grunge isnt about ability, hell RAPs been doing that for years, why not rock?
 
Listen to this band!

My band is called Driftwood, (I play rythm guitar) we are a local Toronto band. We are at the moment looking for a new singer but thats a different story.
Now, this will change your mind about new bands today doing what the media and production companies want you to. The lead guitairst in my band has many licks and solos that ou will not here in today's mainstream music. Download our songs and listen to the lead guitairsts and then you will all be supirsed that its a 16 yeard old playing what you hear.
Visit http://www.angelfire.com/emo/driftwood0/rogo/home.html and go to the discography section to get our songs and leave us feedback in the guestbook!
 
My 2 cents a few days and a couple hundred posts too late;

As a former solo guitar lover who appreciates good tone and melodic interplay but can't improvise well I see many issues at play here.

They pendulum does swing and often for a good reason (but sometimes it's just for marketing).

The appearant death of the guitar solo (or solo's in general) in popular music was IMHO a needed response to the line of thinking that "no song is complete without one".

LESS IS ALWAYS MORE unless any addition makes a real contribution to the song as a whole.

Is it wrong to ask "Does this song need a solo?" NO!

Is it wrong to not even ask? IMHO YES! YES! 1,000 times YES!

Guitar and other solo's for musically artistic purposes is like glue and soldering....just enough is JUST RIGHT! ....and don't put it where you don't need it! Please!

I don't say this because I dislike solo's but rather that I LOVE good inspired work...my favorite music is JAZZ! and I LOVE a good fretless bass solo or sax solo too....

There are places for shred fests at the usual NAMM Shows or "all star events" and jamm sessions etc... but creating artistic relevant popular music with good songwriting as the focus should always take priority over the obligatory but uninspired wank off.

Personally I think one of the best most tastefull guitar peices I have heard in years has to be whoever played on "Carnival" by Natalie Merchant. It just sends chills up my spine everytime I hear it. The guitar plays EXACTLY enough fill on the verses to set the mood...it just evokes a response, grabs your attention but is soooo subdued to leave proper space for the vocal line. Then the guitar solo flows so smoothly as an extension of song and mood he or she is half way through it before you realize there was a transition.

I am reasonably sure the guitar player could have drawn much more attention to themselves with more flashfull attention grabbing riffs but shows mature restraint without being timid. I will take that kind of player everytime over any jaw dropping pyrotechnics.

Victor Wooten (bass player for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) can give me carpet burn on my chin every time I see him play but he NEVER loses track of the groove.

I guess I can sum it up this way:
The instruments (including guitar) exist for the song.

If the song is only an excuse to show off your instrument it won't be much of a song. That's what happened to the guitar solo and many people are living happily ever after.

I hope good guitar soloing in moderation makes a comeback but it will be a short swing of the pendulum if we stray again into uninspired excess.
 
when singing and melodies come back in fashion...

leads won't be far behind...
 
guhlenn said:


Thank god for Nirvana to end all that solo crap... there really WAS too much... and if you like solo's that much just buy a vai or satriani album or some shit like that...
Click to expand...

uh...I don't know the exact figure here, but I would say more than half of nirvana's songs had solos in them.

can somebody back me up here?
 
Gidge said:
.......and who wants a Strat with one pickup (a humbucker at that).....
Click to expand...

People who play punk music. That's who. The dude in Alice in Chains' signature G&L guitar was like this. Only one damn pickup. I believe Malcom Young of AC/DC does not use the neck pickup. Slash didn't use the neck pickup very much. You got a problem with this? Maybe some people don't like the bassy bluesyness of the neck pickup. I never use the neck pickups cuz unless you are trying to wank like Hendrix, they sound like shit.

...a humbucker at that. Yes, tis the invader on the tom delong strat and it is one of the hottest pickups you can buy. So hot it constantly overloads many guitar wireless systems when the gain on the transmitters are all the way down!
 
guhlenn said:


Thank god for Nirvana to end all that solo crap...
Click to expand...

this has got to be one of the most ignorant things i've seen on the board and it really fires me up.

Let me list all the nirvana songs just off the top of my head that have solos in them:

1. School
2. About a Girl
3. Negative Creep
4. Love Buzz
5. Smells like teen spirit
6. In Bloom
7. Come as you are
8. Breed
9. Serve the servants
10. heart-shaped box

Yeah buddy, they really ended all the solo crap.

IMO no one wants to solo anymore cuz it's been done. No one wants to draw attention, the kind of attention slash or evh, etc to themselves. Also, perhaps the attention span of the youth is getting very short and there is no room for guitar solos, only 2 1/2 minute songs.
 
fenix said:


this has got to be one of the most ignorant things i've seen on the board and it really fires me up.
Click to expand...

Good. It was my intention to do soo..

Moving on..

The most ignorant thing to say though is that that fiddling that cobain does is soloing... please...

That's just the chorus (or verse thank you jimistone) that is being played on guitar ... notice the fact that noone backed you up? thats cuz you are wrong sir. Nirvana has like one REAL solo and it's the endless nameless thing .. i actually like that feedback solo a lot... and i know nirvana... i guess you call the come as you are riff a solo too right LMAO!! :D

come on dude i'm talking 'bout amazing ... shivers up your spine solo's do you remeber hotel california ?

Guhlenn
 
Scooter B said:

Personally I think one of the best most tastefull guitar peices I have heard in years has to be whoever played on "Carnival" by Natalie Merchant. It just sends chills up my spine everytime I hear it. The guitar plays EXACTLY enough fill on the verses to set the mood...it just evokes a response, grabs your attention but is soooo subdued to leave proper space for the vocal line. Then the guitar solo flows so smoothly as an extension of song and mood he or she is half way through it before you realize there was a transition.
Click to expand...

Jennifer Turner is her name... she kicks ass. Berkley grad or something like that. I love her tone, too. PRS baby!
 
if you can't remember what it was like in the 80s, try this link and look at the first video there:
http://www.metalmethod.com/media.htm

it's michael angelo... one of the most technical guitar players out there.
:)
i started practicing "reverse" sweeps today because of this LOL

(the second video there isn't steve vai btw).
 
TamirE said:
if you can't remember what it was like in the 80s, try this link and look at the first video there:
http://www.metalmethod.com/media.htm

it's michael angelo... one of the most technical guitar players out there.
:)
i started practicing "reverse" sweeps today because of this LOL

(the second video there isn't steve vai btw).
Click to expand...

holy shit.... that was technical, alright... I thought the Gold's Gym muscle shirt was a bit funny, though.... I think my arms are bigger than that guys and I'm a runt!
 
guhlenn said:


Good. It was my intention to do soo..

Moving on..

The most ignorant thing to say though is that that fiddling that cobain does is soloing... please...

That's just the chorus (or verse thank you jimistone) that is being played on guitar ... notice the fact that noone backed you up? thats cuz you are wrong sir. Nirvana has like one REAL solo and it's the endless nameless thing .. i actually like that feedback solo a lot... and i know nirvana... i guess you call the come as you are riff a solo too right LMAO!! :D

come on dude i'm talking 'bout amazing ... shivers up your spine solo's do you remeber hotel california ?

Guhlenn
Click to expand...

I believe this verse melody used as a guitar solo was only used in one song--the song that everybody knows so please stop acting like you know what you're talking about and let the nirvana fans prove you wrong. Most of the solos may not be that complicated, but nirvana's music didn't call for flashy EVH or whatever solos, but they are still solos.
 
guhlenn said:


Good. It was my intention to do soo..

Moving on..

The most ignorant thing to say though is that that fiddling that cobain does is soloing... please...

That's just the chorus (or verse thank you jimistone) that is being played on guitar ... notice the fact that noone backed you up? thats cuz you are wrong sir. Nirvana has like one REAL solo and it's the endless nameless thing .. i actually like that feedback solo a lot... and i know nirvana... i guess you call the come as you are riff a solo too right LMAO!! :D

come on dude i'm talking 'bout amazing ... shivers up your spine solo's do you remeber hotel california ?

Guhlenn
Click to expand...

I believe this verse melody used as a guitar solo was only used in one song--the song that everybody knows so please stop acting like you know what you're talking about and let the nirvana fans prove you wrong. Most of the solos may not be that complicated, but nirvana's music didn't call for flashy EVH or whatever solos, but they are still solos.

sure, we can argue what a solo is and isn't but nirvana did not put any end to soloing.
 
oooohh touchy!:rolleyes:

A REAL nirvana fan :rolleyes:

WEll, mister "i'm the biggest nirvana fan of them all"

I'm not a fan of nirvana... i like their music, that's it...

BUT

from the top of my head come as you are has that verse thingy... might be wrong... but anyway we were talking about the REAL soloing... and by all means, nirvana did not solo... oh my god what is next? The dude from blink 182 gettin his own signature guitar LMAO!!!

OH wait...

*sarcasm off*

I'm sorry but i do believe that nirvana wrote some great songs... but i don't think he was a great solo player, and you might substitute the great for mediocre for all i care

IMHO

Guhlenn

ps... if it makes you happy; nirvana didn't end the solo era... Nirvana was the last great guitarsolo band LOLOLOL LMFAO!!!
 
TamirE said:
if you can't remember what it was like in the 80s, try this link and look at the first video there:
http://www.metalmethod.com/media.htm

it's michael angelo... one of the most technical guitar players out there.
:)
i started practicing "reverse" sweeps today because of this LOL

(the second video there isn't steve vai btw).
Click to expand...

Wa-hoo! Michael Angelo epitomizes 80's over the top shred... and I love it!

Just saw him this past weekend with his band C4. Excellent stuff (although he was having some equipment probs). I'm glad he switched back to Marshall and Mesa from those crappy Rhino amps.

Despite always posing like a bad ass, Mike's a nice guy.
 
the only reason solo are not "COOL" anymore is because their were toooooooooooo many UN-emotional solos in the '80s. there were good and there were bad, but there were so many bad play as fast as you can that the NOTE ceased to be a musical note. they eliminated all technical aspects (except speed and precision). now people are afraid of it. Its is completely acceptable still. GNR did it AFTER Nirvana broke and 80's rock was dead.
 
some one did a solo AFTER Nirvana???

oh my god i was wrong... :rolleyes:

Guhlenn
 
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