Guitar solos that I HATE

Flanging_Fred

Another Iron Maiden fan here and again, I've never seen them do a solo slot like that one before. It wasn't great was it. Maybe Steve Harris had to go for a shit and Dave just filled in for a bit.

richardhomer

Luminous said:

Comfortably numb.....make it stop.

Flagged

jaytmon

In the same vain as the OP, I'm throwing this to the dogs:



One or two people there seemed to enjoy it(!)
I subjected myself to two minutes before stopping...at least he was engaging the audience. 

woody

The cranberries  zombie is awful. Dunno if it's a fill,riff,solo or what it is,but the guitarist must have been pretty miserable while Dolores played this claptrap with one finger.

vasselmeyer

The solo on "Something" by George Harrison always gets praised and I hate it. Clumsy  poor phrasing and a nasty tone.

Rocker

The wah wah solo on SCOM by Slash.  I always thought that wah wahs are best left in the van and this proves it.

fretmeister

jaytmon said:

In the same vain as the OP, I'm throwing this to the dogs:



One or two people there seemed to enjoy it(!)
I subjected myself to two minutes before stopping...at least he was engaging the audience. 

I was there.

It was fun on the night. But I skip that part of the DVD now.

zepp76

Carlos Santana's version of Black magic woman, what wank compared to the original.

impmann

I'm not a fan of solos that drone on for ever - especially ones that repeat the same phrases over and over again... Freebird is a great example of a solo that could be shortened by at least half and not lose any 'impact'.

Self-indulgence in music is something that is very unattractive. "Guitar gods" as mentioned above tend to fall into this category - for example Slash's twaddle with the later GnR stuff, however he more than makes up for it with Slither much later, showing that whilst the use of wah can be *bad*, in the context of that song it's perfect and a short, snappy solo can be a million times better than a dull November Rain. Plus that song has one of the greatest riffs ever.

I guess it's the old punk in me but gratuitous displays of how many clever notes you can cram into a solo leaves me cold - I appreciate the technique and skill but it rarely adds to the song.

There are exceptions - Van Halen solos. Eddie has always deliberately played Avant Guard solos - solos that come totally from out of left field, that take the song somewhere different and back again. Jump and Beat It are great examples. Apparently there's a version of Beat It out there with Steve Lukather playing a solo instead - it was 'conventional' and ultimately dull as a result (even Luke concedes that). And whilst it challenges the convention of the rest of the track, and in isolation is jarring, strange and not very tuneful I'd suggest it's perfect in context.

I don't "hate" any solos - but I'm really not keen on 'solo spots' where the band leave the stage for a particular musician to show off for a few minutes. That's incredibly naff and frankly Nigel Tufnell's solo sums up the pomposity of them perfectly. However, in my experience, it's a good point in the show to go and have a pee or replenish one's tasty beverage.

mike_l

Flanging_Fred said:

Another Iron Maiden fan here and again, I've never seen them do a solo slot like that one before. It wasn't great was it. Maybe Steve Harris had to go for a shit and Dave just filled in for a bit.

I think they did some on the Somewhere back in time tour, when the band got a bug, or food poisoning, and had to leave the stage regularly (for obvious reasons)

Sassafras

zepp76 said:

Carlos Santana's version of Black magic woman, what wank compared to the original.

I know it's heresy to say this but I found Peter Green's playing quite turgid and uninspired on the original. Santana pepped it up and turned it into something really memorable and I'm far from being a Santana fanboy. 

rico

richardhomer said:

Luminous said:

Comfortably numb.....make it stop.

Flagged

Well done that man

chrishill901

timmysoft said:

 A great pop song ruined by that shitty guitar solo.

Ironically one of the most competent guitarists I've seen live though. Just a brilliant live band all round. But agreed, very shitty solo that ruins an otherwise great song

zepp76

Sassafras said:

zepp76 said:

Carlos Santana's version of Black magic woman, what wank compared to the original.

I know it's heresy to say this but I found Peter Green's playing quite turgid and uninspired on the original. Santana pepped it up and turned it into something really memorable and I'm far from being a Santana fanboy. 

But don't you think it fits the song? It would be a bit odd if he broke out into a happy, lively little ditty! I'm just a bit biased though as I'm a big Peter Green fan, I also have a hatred of Santana's use of bongos and such like.

jaytmon

Voodoo Chile...  *runs and hides*



Mostly because I ended up playing bass in a trio many years ago and this was one of the guitarist's show pieces...there was only so much self-indulgence I could tolerate, whilst stuck on E before I wanted to kill someone (usually the guitarist). Can't listen to the song anymore.

EricTheWeary

chrishill901 said:

timmysoft said:

 A great pop song ruined by that shitty guitar solo.

Ironically one of the most competent guitarists I've seen live though. Just a brilliant live band all round. But agreed, very shitty solo that ruins an otherwise great song

I'm glad somebody else on the forum likes Magic  I've got the album that's off and plenty of good stuff on it. Whilst I wouldn't say I hate the Rude solo I'd agree it doesn't add much to the song. Still, international hit single with a guitar solo on it is fairly rare in recent years so they're forgiven.

midlifecrisis

Hi Ho silver lining, complete arsewipe solo in an arsewipe song

Sassafras

jaytmon said:

Voodoo Chile...  *runs and hides*



Mostly because I ended up playing bass in a trio many years ago and this was one of the guitarist's show pieces...there was only so much self-indulgence I could tolerate, whilst stuck on E before I wanted to kill someone (usually the guitarist). Can't listen to the song anymore.

E will do that. Sometimes it makes you love everyone, other times it makes you want to kill them all.

Sassafras

zepp76 said:

Sassafras said:

zepp76 said:

Carlos Santana's version of Black magic woman, what wank compared to the original.

I know it's heresy to say this but I found Peter Green's playing quite turgid and uninspired on the original. Santana pepped it up and turned it into something really memorable and I'm far from being a Santana fanboy. 

But don't you think it fits the song? It would be a bit odd if he broke out into a happy, lively little ditty! I'm just a bit biased though as I'm a big Peter Green fan, I also have a hatred of Santana's use of bongos and such like.

I have to admit, I quite like those sexy Latin rhythms with plenty of bongos, congas and maracas.

imalrightjack

dindude said:

Fight for your right - beastie boys, even if it's meant as ironic, it's unlistenable.

Whisky in a Jar, makes me cringe. 

Kerry King from Slayer, messing around, isn't it? But not good. His style works only in the context of Slayer. 

Disagree wholeheartedly on Whisky in the Jar. It's been one of my favourites since my teens. 

Whoever mentioned Nirvana, I was once baffled by Kurt's solos. Likewise Slayer's. Then something just clicked that it's about the energy in context.