Guitar is dead - According to Matt Bellamy anyway

Teetonetal

Would agree. Whilst guitar is far from dead, right now it's you just don't hear many solos in mainstream chart music.

They are still there of course elsewhere but you have to look. 

tone1

Bugger......just as I was getting good.......Well he has got a new single to promote 

SunDevil

The current generation of Teens are getting their retro from the early 80s (..I think so anyway, I’m not exactly down with the kids at this point)

Early 80s, early electronica and moody New Romantic synths - not exactly a guitar heavy genre

Give it another 5 years and it’ll all be retro grunge and a 1993 Jaguar will be worth 2 grand.

In the plus side, you can still hear the Beatles and Motzart most days if you keep an ear out - good stuff never dies.

Clashman

Oil get me coyt

Lestratcaster

Can't hide from the fact there's less of it in the charts, as a guitar tutor I ask new students their favourite artists/songs and the recent younger learners give me pop acts with hardly any guitar in their music, more synths, keys and samples.

StuartMac290

It's hardly a revelation - ten years ago I was producing a record for a band and was told by the label and management to get rid of all guitar solos in pre-production because Radio 1 just wouldn't play tracks with guitar solos .

Ironically there was one track it simply couldn't be done for, and I fought the band's corner on that one. It became the first single on the album and got plenty of radio.

They're not keen on any drum fills either, or any deviation in tempo.

darthed1981

LuttiS said:

darthed1981 said:

TTony said:

SunDevil said:

Guitar is dead - According to Matt Bellamy

First thing that came to my mind was whether he'd checked the battery ...

Active pickups joke, I like it 

Ah, now I get it. Ha! 

See there aren't many places you get active pickups jokes, this is why you come here

I could have used a few more LOLs for my Katana Air gag though

57Deluxe

Fake Muse

thegummy

Lestratcaster said:

Can't hide from the fact there's less of it in the charts, as a guitar tutor I ask new students their favourite artists/songs and the recent younger learners give me pop acts with hardly any guitar in their music, more synths, keys and samples.

Hasn't it been that way for decades though?

 Apart from maybe a few in the Britpop phase but since the 90s it doesn't seem like there have been many guitar solo acts in the charts.

 So it's not even like Bellamy can even be meaning in the charts, it really just seems that he means in his own personal choice and thinks that has an impact on the zeitgeist

BigLicks67

I had this argument in the 1980's when I was told Fairlights were the end for guitars. At the end of the day people like playing musical instruments being creative and that won't change anytime soon.

However, this story seems a bit strange coming from a bloke who makes a good living from playing guitar.

Dopesick

He is dead on point - solos are yesterdays news. Guitars are still out there in abundance but with all the effects out there you'd have to listen very carefully for them.

Never really liked solos anyway so I don't care. Yay!

Nikc

Meh ;-)

Modulus_Amps

they have just released a new song, he probably wants to raise awareness of what they are doing.... how to capture the target audience???.... say something controversial  that will start a multi page thread on every guitar forum in the world... its the old JoBo trick

Teetonetal

Modulus_Amps said:

they have just released a new song, he probably wants to raise awareness of what they are doing.... how to capture the target audience???.... say something controversial  that will start a multi page thread on every guitar forum in the world... its the old JoBo trick

Though if people actually read the piece vs op headline they would see that what he said is not massively controversial and broadly true.

thegummy

Dopesick said:

He is dead on point - solos are yesterdays news. Guitars are still out there in abundance but with all the effects out there you'd have to listen very carefully for them.

Never really liked solos anyway so I don't care. Yay!

Unless you only listen to music in the charts you're both wrong.

Freebird

I'm not really a great fan of guitar solos, and never have been. Anything past Bernard Sumner/Mick Jones/Robert Smith/Joey Santiago level is wasted on me, although I do like Robert Fripp's solo work in Baby's On Fire.

thegummy

Are kids even into muse these days? I'd have thought they were old fashioned too. Maybe this is him trying to be down with the youth in his mid life crisis

Dopesick

thegummy said:

Dopesick said:

He is dead on point - solos are yesterdays news. Guitars are still out there in abundance but with all the effects out there you'd have to listen very carefully for them.

Never really liked solos anyway so I don't care. Yay!

Unless you only listen to music in the charts you're both wrong.

Care to name some examples of any new successful bands with prominent lead guitars?

Not being a dick or anything, I genuinely can't think of any at the moment.

jeztone2

StuartMac290 said:

It's hardly a revelation - ten years ago I was producing a record for a band and was told by the label and management to get rid of all guitar solos in pre-production because Radio 1 just wouldn't play tracks with guitar solos .

Ironically there was one track it simply couldn't be done for, and I fought the band's corner on that one. It became the first single on the album and got plenty of radio.

They're not keen on any drum fills either, or any deviation in tempo.

This.

Some journalists slated my old bands album for having guitar solo’s. We just didn’t care, but then we were a small act putting it out ourselves. Steve Lamaq played one of our tracks a couple of times though. The semi instrumental one. I don't like pointless widdle, but something melodic & lifting yes.

p90fool

I play approximately 30 seconds of guitar solos in our three hour set, and I find it incredibly liberating.

I was bored to tears in my last rock band, having to come up with a solo for every song and always holding something in reserve to make it jump out, often to the detriment of the song. 

Who needs 'em, quite frankly.