NPF: MELODIC WANKING

Posted on | by Ed

Despite being a huge and nearly exclusive fan of guitar-based music, I've always hated guitar solos.

They strike me as cliched theatricality at best and pointless filler at worst. There is nothing that interests me less than how many notes some Steve Vai worshiping d-bag can play in 30 seconds. A guitar solo is what you shoehorn into a song when you can't write a decent bridge.

When one of my friends challenged me recently to resist writing off all guitar soloing, I spent a long car ride with my mp3 player trying to find out if I like some without realizing it. Apparently I do. If a guitar part actually sounds like it's a part of the song rather than some noodling crap layered on top of it because the band couldn't think of anything else to do or because (as in a lot of kinds of metal) every goddamn song needs three solos in it just because, a guitar solo can be not-the-most irritating part of an otherwise good song. In no particular order (and obviously limited by my less than all-encompassing taste in music, tending toward the noisy and loud) here are four pretty excellent guitar performances.

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Feel free to add yours in the comments and let's just go ahead and not waste time trying to prove who has the better taste in music. OK? OK.

1. Bob Stinson, "Customer" (off The Replacements, Sorry Ma Forgot To Take Out the Trash). The magic happens from 0:45 to about 1:10. The liner notes say "Bob's lead is hotter than a urinary tract infection" and who are we to argue. He was the Drunken Master of the music world in the 80s. It's slop, but the best kind of slop.

Stinson drank himself to death, which is a pretty predictable ending when you get kicked out of The Replacements for drinking too much. Think about that for a second.

2. Tom Morello, "Know Your Enemy" (off RATM self-titled debut). Solo from 3:15 to about 3:45. This old RATM stuff sounds really dated and more than a little juvenile (although if teenagers are going to listen to juvenile music, they might as well get something other than right-wing talking points out of it). There are about 50 Tom Morello solos you could put in a pile and throw darts at.

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The guy just makes more sounds out of a guitar and cheap stompboxes than anyone, period.

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This was one of the first ones he got a lot of attention for, and it has all of the things we came to associate with his sound over the next 20 years.

3. Tim Sköld, "Putting Holes in Happiness" (off Marilyn Manson, Eat Me Drink Me). Solo from 2:30 to about 3:30. OK you're just going to have to trust me on this one. It's a really good solo. The off-key parts jump out of the speakers.

Not a great album, but I think a lot of "music people" would be shocked to give it a listen and hear how good of a guitarist Sköld is. I don't even play guitar and it was a real "Damn this guy can play" moment. Not a lot of people can be interesting soloing for a full minute in a musical environment as restrictive as this kind of sluggish blob of goth.

4. Kurt Cobain, "Sappy" (not "Verse Chorus Verse", which it's usually and inaccurately called – the "hidden track" on that 99 cent bin legend, the No Alternative compilation). Solo from 1:40 to 2:10. Here is a guy who had more technical skill than anyone gave him credit for, yet he rarely showed it off.

This is a perfect example of a solo that actually fits perfectly into the song. It makes the song better. Nobody cares that the average Guitar Center employee or bar band member could play this with ease.

Side note: it's funny how a throwaway Nirvana song sounds about a thousand times better than the best the bands on the radio today can pull off. Turns out that it's more interesting to listen to people playing instruments than sounds manipulated to death by a producer armed with every post-effect known to man.

65 thoughts on “NPF: MELODIC WANKING”

  • Xynzee says:

    Maybe I missed the part where you qualified your selections to a certain vintage, or I'm just old. David Gilmore, Mother – The Wall.

  • OldBean says:

    Zappa had some great solos back in the day (and, yes, about a million shitty ones). The one on Inca Roads from 1:55 – 4:40 always stands out to me.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg6X2hsl52E

    It think this song shows why it’s so easy to hate guitar solos (and solos in general really), because really good ones aren’t obviously distinct from the song itself. The more a solo calls attention to itself, the more likely it is to be shitty. Of course, there’s exceptions to every rule, as shown from 0:45 to 2:30 in the following:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gtK_4gyf0M

  • c u n d gulag says:

    "The Who's" Pete Townsend on "Quadrophenia."

    His solo's as the album proceeded served as harbinger's of what's to come, and reminders of the earlier songs and themes – to wrap-up the work, so to speak.

  • c u n d gulag says:

    Also, too – I mostly find drum solo's to be exactly to be what you described for guitar solo's.

    "We don't have anything, no bridge, and we need a break, so let's let _____________________ bang on his drums until we catch our breathe, and figure out what we want to do. When he get's tired, we'll pick the song back up where he started."

  • mew says:

    J Mascis? Prince? Much like Bob Stinson, they're both very expressive soloists, and they both know how to harness that wreckless feeling.

  • Emerson Dameron says:

    Don't feel too bad for liking Rage in the early '90s. "Rap-metal" was not yet the aural dysentery that it later became, and it's hard to remember how weird, challenging, and all-over-the-place Morello's work on that album sounded at the time.

    Bob *was* the Replacements as they originally existed. There are dozens of Bob moments that would qualify for this list. After he was 86ed, we got the Paul Westerberg Experience.

    I think Albini said, "I used to love those guys. Now I hate that guy."

    Westerberg became the classic caricature of a bitter, newly mediocre "dry drunk." There's a story about Bob's funeral, where someone broke out "Fuck School" and a bunch of the old stuff, and Paul *hated* it. That sounds like a tacky ceremony, sure, but Westerberg was equally tacky for publicly bitching about his old friend's funeral because he had come to hate that part of his life so much.

    My decision to quit drinking was complicated by my residual Replacements fandom.

  • Avi Hartman says:

    I have to qualify my comment by saying that I really like guitar solos. Some of my favorite songs ("Ram it Down" by Judas Priest, "Cowboy Song" by Thin Lizzy) I love simply because the solos are unhinged. Digging a little deeper, I'd say that the best solos are not just an integral part of the song, but discrete pieces in themselves. They have a beginning, middle, and end. Mike Campbell's solo in "Good to be King" has two distinct movements, from echoing the vocal melody to a sweet little taste of shredding. It's short and perfect. Jimi's "Watchtower" solo also has several movements. It's probably the best of all time. It's mournful and musical. I should note that his solo from "Castles Made of Sand" was recorded backwards to give it its eerie sound, and that's a credit to his vision. You're right, there are thousands more unnecessary and showy solos than good ones, but a good guitar solo is just SO. GOOD.

  • RP says:

    Every time I see the anti-guitar solo topic brought up it's accompanied by a reference to Steve Vai or that other noodling chach, Malmsteem. The problem with their music, however, isn't the guitar solos. The problem is that it's boring, lousy music from the get go. Even without guitar solos it would suck because there's nothing particularly compelling or interesting about it once you get past the technique.

    There's an entire genre of music – jazz – that focuses heavily on the improvisation and soloing skills of one or more performers in a band. In this context the work of the individual player is extremely important to influencing the way the music presents itself. The same song played by a different musician can come across completely differently. Try thinking of soloing in this context, and then ask yourself if the solos in the music you're listening to are contributing to the music in a similar way. Chances are if the solos suck, it's because they're lousy solos that aren't doing much other than taking up space in lousy songs.

  • Well mostly says:

    Richard Thompson You're so hard. Bruce Cockburn Down the Delta. Cats can play. And since they carry most of the songs throughout, their solos don't seem dropped in by some push-button producer. Live versions on YT are favorites. These would never work for air guitar competitions.
    Agree with Burple: MK can soar like few others. Fingers, no pick. Makes the song, not crammed in.

  • Burt Osborne says:

    SeaTea, I agree 100%! I think Elliot Easton's solos are overlooked because they feel like part of the song and not some deviation. For those not enlightened to Easton's solos I suggest you focus on the solo next time a Cars' song is on. His stuff is truly amazing.

  • wnsrfr says:

    Sorry, but Ginger Baker's song Toad, found on Fresh Cream then live on Wheels of Fire is a masterpiece, even if it has a really long drum solo in the middle…

  • John Danley says:

    David Gilmour never overplayed and was always complimentary when considering the structural ambience of each tune (a rarity in the rock guitar genre). Otherwise, stick with Chet Atkins.

  • c u n d gulag says:

    sluggo,
    Yeah, imo, Keith was the greatest rock drummer of all time.

    And Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich in big band/jazz.

  • BensBias says:

    I second what @OldBean said, while Zappa has some terrible songs and solos, the ones that hit are some of my favorites:

    Inca Roads
    It Just Might Be a One Shot Deal
    Watermelon in Easter Hay

    I'm also partial to some OK Computer/Jonny Greenwood

  • fernando_g says:

    I'm also a David Gilmour fan. It is very difficult to choose his "best" performance, and it all boils down to personal preference.

    Thus explained, for me his best work is in "comfortably numb".

  • nate says:

    @Ed– amen on Nirvana. I had a friend in college who was a pretty good guitar player who always mocked Nirvana. "A middle school kid could write these songs," he'd sneer.

    I don't know why he didn't to it, too, in that case. There's millions of dollars out there waiting to be picked up if you can write catchy pop songs that perfectly express the zeitgeist!

    For me, I think Bob Mould writes some of the best guitar heavy pop songs out there. Maybe that's why his solos seem to blend so smoothly into the music.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Lo91Z0h3QChanges

    solo 1:30-2:05

    Other than that, I think future generations will look back and say, "Why did they let the planet burn, but more importantly, how is it that Built to Spill wasn't considered the best rock band of all time?"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWwakjp0P-E

    solo 2:00- to the end of the song.

  • sluggo says:

    Three piece bands (drums, guitar and bass) seem to generate the best Rock sound to my ear. Everyone from Buddy Holly, The Who, The Clash thru Nirvana and Green Day have that common ingredient.

    I live in a college town, I don't think college kids listen to anything new, everything seems to be 'classic rock'.

  • Ken says:

    Butterfield Blues Band
    East West
    Mary mary, Working Song and just about any of the other cuts.
    seminal album
    Great Guitar solos

  • Eau says:

    Portishead, Glory Box.

    If you're going to tell Beth Gibbins to shut up for a half a verse, you'd better be bringing something good. Happily, he is.

  • Scott Peterson says:

    "This is a perfect example of a solo that actually fits perfectly into the song. It makes the song better. Nobody cares that the average Guitar Center employee or bar band member could play this with ease."

    I remember reading once something like "there were dozens of trumpet players who could have played Miles Davis's solos on Kind of Blue, but not one that could have written them." Word.

  • Geoff Skinner says:

    I absolutely agree that most guitar solos are in songs simply because they "need" to be (especially in 80s/90s rock), but I also think that some of the bands that rose to the top did so in part because they made their guitar pars an integral part of a cohesive whole. I think Slash could make his guitar sing in such a way that it felt like GnR had two singers. Jimmy Page could do it, too. (they being examples pulled from a very small group). For me it was always bands like Van Halen where the guitar was the star, or Def Leppard, which seemed to be a bunch of parts instead of parts of a whole, where the guitars always sounded disjointed and distracting from the songs.

  • dimmsdale says:

    2 offerings: 1) Amos Garrett's guitar work on Maria Muldaur's semi-novelty tune "Midnight at the Oasis"—between his comping and that lyrical solo, he's made an otherwise forgettable tune stick with me all these years
    (link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlrKETxwRvM

    and 2) frickin Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on Steely Dan's "My Old School"—full of chops and wit and panache, and you're sort of going, well, sh*t, the guy can play ANYTHING.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbTXK7G9L7w

  • Fred says:

    Just had to throw in: As a general rule, the more notes a guitar solo has the more it is just crap. As a general rule. The spaces between notes are music too.

  • beejeez says:

    If it's brief, even the most uninspired guitar solo doesn't hurt a tune that's good to start with. Hold it to one chorus, stay in tune, and you're good to go. You might be encountering arrangers who don't know when to splice the tape, G&T. But I think it's more likely you're encountering bad songs.

  • don says:

    Just idly curious; are all the commenters to this post weighing in on awesomest guitar solos men? I don't think I've ever heard a group of women debate the merits of this or that guitar solo. Maybe I'm not paying attention.

    Fred is right: the more notes, the worse the solo. I tried to find a "guitar solo" I liked; the closest I could get was some PJ Harvey and it was pretty much 2 notes really loud, over and over. Perhaps guitar solos should be like orgasms: explosive, mindless, never overthought.

  • bb in GA says:

    Let me put in a word for the late Danny Gatton. (RIP 04 October 1994) Almost every guitar solo I have ever heard from him sounded like a perfect fit.

    He was indeed, the Master of the Telecaster who could play almost any style at any time and better than most anybody. Steve Vai said that IHO Danny was closer than anyone else to being the best guitar player walking the planet.

    Go to Youtube and enjoy you some DG.

    //bb

  • catbirdman says:

    I'm in the group favoring slower solos w/fewer notes. I also think that a zillion crappy solos doesn't mean there must be a shortage of awesome ones. Neil Young had a plethora, from the two in Powderfinger to the jam fest that is Cortez the Killer. A nice one that maybe not everyone's heard is Johnny Hickman on Keronsene Hat, from about 2:00 to 2:45.

  • GP says:

    From the song that brought the lyrics

    "n I said ahdon no wwawwaaawai was the boxer or the bag".

    Mike McCready makes playing the guitar sound easy in Yellow Ledbetter. Like, removing anything from the solo would make it sound less perfect.

    Unfortunately in concert the song tends to sound like the typical monotonous bebop-like solo-wankery you are talking about.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhJ65v_C-eI

  • Comradde PhysioProffe says:

    The guitar solos in Bad Company's "Shooting Star" are pretty damn cool. I like that they have a double-meaning: not only are they guitar solos per se, but they also represents Johnny, the rock-and-roll star the song is about. The first one is at about 2:40. And then the second one at about 4:30 that takes the song to the end, after Johnny has died, it's like his ghost is playing it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kEDa6bXnA8

  • justme says:

    @ don

    I'm sure plenty of women have a thing or two to say about guitar and/or drum solos. But since this particular one is Canadian, she has only one thing to say….Rush!

  • bb in GA says:

    As a multi decade bass player…

    "Why are these drummer jokes so simple?

    So bass players will understand them!"

    //bb

  • Death Panel Truck says:

    @BensBias: Zappa doesn't solo on "It Just Might Be A One-Shot Deal." Sneaky Pete Kleinow solos on pedal steel.

  • KSE says:

    Totally agreed, solos are nearly always distracting, pointless, momentum-killing, and shit. As far as exceptions go, I'd nominate Gang of Four's "Anthrax", if you can call what they're doing a solo – a tidal wave of jagged, stabbing feedback (if waves can be jagged and stabby) opens the song, a solid minute of pulsating electronic convulsion. Here and there a recognizable note begins to crack through the chaos, until the opening six chords of the song finally break through, clarion clear, and the drummer and bassist begin the relentless marching cadence that makes up most of the rest of the song (Mission of Burma's entire musical output might as well have been based on this one song). Every time I hear it is almost as good as the first time.

    Last time I saw Go4 live, the performance of this particular bit included dropping the guitar face-first on the stage floor and playing a spirited game of soccer (well, football where they're from) with it. Now that, as they say, is entertainment!

  • What The Karp says:

    the chemistry between the guitar players for The Black Dahlia
    Murder on their Nocturnal album was always something that blew my mind. The playing is great, but I always felt like "solo" was a full band accord, where the rhythm guitar is equally important. Most of the songs deal with insanity and catastrophy, and the music during the solos really adds to the atmosphere.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdtQUog1Xvc

  • Fiddlin Bill says:

    While almost this whole comment thread misses Ed's point (by swirling off into the deep past), since Sultans of Swing came up–that break, as well as the intro–absolutely made Knofler's fortune. There is no better example of that phenomenon–a few seconds of really nice guitar playing and how it turns into an intellectual property worth millions, and lasts a lifetime and beyond. Now–re Django–surely you're joking. What Django did, with the collaboration of Grappelli's brilliance, is really in another league altogether. If you start with the Hot Club, you might say that Knofler is a kind of bridge to now. That's about it.

  • Adam says:

    This whole argument relates to totally subjective ideas about music, ergo there is no correct view. It also takes me back to my days in art school where the false dichotomy between ART and illustration was bandied about as a fun but ultimately pointless exercise. My own $.02? Art is art. Not liking it doesn't mean it has no value. Art as a whole is better for not being uniform.

  • john fremont says:

    Since Steely Dan got mentioned I would also mention Reeling in the Years as a masterpiece guitar solo. A session player, Elliot Randall, did it in two takes. It sounds as if he brushed the dirt off and found the guitar solo like it was etched in stone.

    Eddie Van Halen's solos struck me as all interchangeable. I always found him to be much underrated as a rhythm guitarist.

    Another session guitar player who crafted some master guitar solos.
    Overplayed as it is,Jimmy Page on Stairway to Heaven

  • beejeez says:

    Well, since this has turned out to be a favorites list rundown, 10 rock-era song solos that nobody else mentioned and which are kind of essential to the songs' identities …

    JP&&G — "The End"
    Hendrix — "Johnny B. Goode"
    Martin Barre w Jethro Tull — "Aqualung"
    Dean Parks w Steely Dan — "Haitian Divorce"
    Chuck Berry — "Maybelline"
    Randy Bachman w BTO- "Blue Collar"
    Neil Young — "Hurricane"
    Robert Fripp — "Starless"
    Tony Peluso w The Carpenters — "Goodbye To Love"
    Justin Hayward w The Moody Blues" — "Story in Your Eyes"

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