What happended to the shredding guitar solo?

[Kinetic]

You'd be hard pressed to see any real good guitar solo in rock these days from popular music channels. Now thats not to say it does not exist still in rock and metal bands that are undergroud perhaps, but does the masses really care about great rock solos or shreds (aka 80's solos) anymore?? I know I do.
In the blues realm, it still has life, but in modern metal and rock, is minimal...??

 

[Ride on a Pony]

"does the masses really care about great rock solos or shreds?"

No, of course they don't. Most guitarists don't even care about that shite, let alone the general public.

 

[logen99999]

here's a cool solo from a current band i like

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjEAhnVrxUA[/ame]

(warning extremely awesome tone)

 

[chequepoint]

You'd be hard pressed to see any real good guitar solo in rock these days from popular music channels. Now thats not to say it does not exist still in rock and metal bands that are undergroud perhaps, but does the masses really care about great rock solos or shreds (aka 80's solos) anymore?? I know I do.
In the blues realm, it still has life, but in modern metal and rock, is minimal...??

You'll find the best rock guitar solos on the radio these days in country music.

 

[logen99999]

i'd love for the classic angus young style solos to come back. if you think about it angus' solo's were amazing. short, sweet, and they had a way of building up and really complimenting the riff they were played to. like the solo from you shook me all night long. that solo is perfect in every single way. wish we heard more of that today.

 

[lovnik]

You'll find the best rock guitar solos on the radio these days in country music.

You make a good point.

 

[Xavier_32]

Grunge killed the guitar solo, remember? Besides, pop rules the airwaves now. It's all about looking trendy and singing angsty lyrics in popular 'rock' music today. Who gives a shit about guitar solos?

 

[dazzypig]

They'll come back.

Fact of the matter is, most guitarists don't have the taste to listen to many of the bands who made them back in the day to gain the right ear and inspiration.

The bigger point though is that most kids starting the instrument simply can't be arsed to put in the the time woodshedding to be technically and musically able to either conceive or play great solos any more.

Most (but not all) popular guitarists now'a'days suck... IMHO

 

[SoloDallas]

i'd love for the classic angus young style solos to come back. if you think about it angus' solo's were amazing. short, sweet, and they had a way of building up and really complimenting the riff they were played to. like the solo from you shook me all night long. that solo is perfect in every single way. wish we heard more of that today.

This is it. This is it for me. Very well expressed.

 

[Asterix]

They'll come back.

Fact of the matter is, most guitarists don't have the taste to listen to many of the bands who made them back in the day to gain the right ear and inspiration.

The bigger point though is that most kids starting the instrument simply can't be arsed to put in the the time woodshedding to be technically and musically able to either conceive or play great solos any more.

Most (but not all) popular guitarists now'a'days suck... IMHO

This - well said mate.

The way I look at it is that to play even a simple original solo well, you need to understand your craft. Most of the solos that grab us and smack us round the face are not often the most technical or fast (Angus Young as mentioned is a great example) and most people have no love for a 5,000 note per second shredmeister (myself included) but you need to know your craft - that takes time. Neil Young would have been out of a job in the 60's if that had been the case.

Less is very often more BUT you need to know that.

Led Zep as an example - twin guitar tones in Ramble On, after 2nd verse I think. Awesomeness distilled, so simple. Drum fill close to the end of Stairway, single hit on each tom, just perfect.

Nearly every musician I know that consistently overplays, hasn't learnt that simple lesson.

 

[RobP]

+1 Couldn't agree more!!!

 

[twangydave]

We have Nickelback - everthing is going to be ok.

 

[PINKBITS]

This is it. This is it for me. Very well expressed.

And I too

Perfectly put and couldn't agree more.

 

[chequepoint]

They'll come back.

Fact of the matter is, most guitarists don't have the taste to listen to many of the bands who made them back in the day to gain the right ear and inspiration.

The bigger point though is that most kids starting the instrument simply can't be arsed to put in the the time woodshedding to be technically and musically able to either conceive or play great solos any more.

Most (but not all) popular guitarists now'a'days suck... IMHO

Calling bullshit on this. The lack of solos is a MUSICAL decision. I'd say 95% of the guitar players you hear on the radio are both technically and musically proficient. They are well versed in multiple styles and at least in this town, they have to be able to read a chart. They're all capable of throwing down if the producer asked for it. The same goes for most of the guys in backing bands these days.

The real fact of the matter is that radio programmers place a high dollar figure on every second of airtime, so much as to speed most pop records up at least a half step because it "sounds more exciting" and lets them squeeze in an extra couple of commercials a day. Radio, A&R, and Producers don't want to waste any airtime on guitar solos when they could be emphasizing the real "stars", the singers. The guitar player on the record isn't going to be the guy on the road this year, and that guy probably won't have the same gig next year, so why devote time to the solo?

 

[kmrumedy]

The new Ozzy seems to be doing really well.

 

[Asterix]

Calling bullshit on this. The lack of solos is a MUSICAL decision. I'd say 95% of the guitar players you hear on the radio are both technically and musically proficient. They are well versed in multiple styles and at least in this town, they have to be able to read a chart. They're all capable of throwing down if the producer asked for it. The same goes for most of the guys in backing bands these days.

The real fact of the matter is that radio programmers place a high dollar figure on every second of airtime, so much as to speed most pop records up at least a half step because it "sounds more exciting" and lets them squeeze in an extra couple of commercials a day. Radio, A&R, and Producers don't want to waste any airtime on guitar solos when they could be emphasizing the real "stars", the singers. The guitar player on the record isn't going to be the guy on the road this year, and that guy probably won't have the same gig next year, so why devote time to the solo?

You've spoken about session players by the sounds of things - of course these guys are technically great, they have to be, but they don't write or make decisions of how the song will be arranged. I'm also going to throw it out there that yourself, being from Nashville, is likely to be surrounded by a slightly different breed than most other places in the world.

It doesn't sound like you've really spoken about a long term band type thing.

Why haven't solos been written into the latest chart music? Because it was probably written by Paula Abdul. On this point I fully agree with you.

 

[planks]

Not minimal at all. It's all over the place. Might not be on "popular music channels", i wouldn't know, 'cause i almost never watch those. Millions of people care deeply for it (the solo).

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEtyaC6ltQg&feature=related]YouTube - Jorn - Song For Ronnie James (Official video)[/ame]

 

[planks]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coBzy-tPdws"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coBzy-tPdws[/ame]

 

[Thanos]

"does the masses really care about great rock solos or shreds?"

No, of course they don't. Most guitarists don't even care about that shite, let alone the general public.

I care very much, and am trying to make the transition from bassist to lead guitarist.

Then again, I don't listen to popular music.

 

[chequepoint]

You've spoken about session players by the sounds of things - of course these guys are technically great, they have to be, but they don't write or make decisions of how the song will be arranged. I'm also going to throw it out there that yourself, being from Nashville, is likely to be surrounded by a slightly different breed than most other places in the world.

It doesn't sound like you've really spoken about a long term band type thing.

Why haven't solos been written into the latest chart music? Because it was probably written by Paula Abdul. On this point I fully agree with you.

What record doesn't have session players on it? The concept of a band is pretty foreign these days, even if there is one on the album cover, even if the producer let them track for a day or two, in Nashville, NY, and LA, the real guys get called in to play in the end.

When a "Band" gets signed, the label signs the singer, and possibly the guitar player if he's considered a key guy.. the rest of the band is put on salary and cut out of the business. I'm in Nashville this week, LA next week, it's the same either place. If the producer wanted a ripping guitar solo, all he'd have to do is say "go".

There was a session I was on last year with a pretty big name "ripping" guy on the leads, and he let him off the leash in the studio, then buried the leads under a pile of ad lib vocals and the outro choruses.. That's how it goes.

Hell, Todd Youth played more guitar on the last cheap trick record than Rick Nielsen.