What happened to guitar solos?

[Foxhound]

Solos and jams tend to give certain band members breaks so they can play more time and hence more songs. This is usually true of the singer who gets a break during the solo.

Okay. Good point.

so you would prefer a band to play a 30 minute set then maybe a 60 minute set with jams and solos?

I expect a ninety minute set from headliners. I also expect a band to sample their catalogue extensively. Four or five tracks won't do at all.

A sorry case in point is Buddy Guy whose recorded work I've always enjoyed. I've seen him live twice in recent years and I left feeling cheated because he played a ninety minute set that consisted of only four or five different numbers out of his catalogue of hundreds of tracks. I'll not attend another Buddy Guy concert.

What makes you think a band is going to play more songs if they don't jam/solo maybe they just play a shorter set?

They better not. See my previous answer.

 

[Aktivator]

I expect a ninety minute set from headliners. I also expect a band to sample their catalogue extensively. Four or five tracks won't do at all.

A sorry case in point is Buddy Guy whose recorded work I've always enjoyed. I've seen him live twice in recent years and I left feeling cheated because he played a ninety minute set that consisted of only four or five different numbers out of his catalogue of hundreds of tracks. I'll not attend another Buddy Guy concert.

I agree at least 1 1/2 from headliners and yeah prefer a good sample from the bands material although I do get some bands not covering old material. King Crimson comes to mind, Fripp doesn't do any of the 60's and 70's stuff that has singing since he doesn't have them as singers anymore.

Yeah Eddie Jobson show the other night was very few songs as they spent too much time introducing the band with each member doing a solo and then a 20 minute drum solo. I would have preferred more songs esp. a Roxy Music or Zappa song. Although it was nice to see a top notch drum solo don't see them much these days so I enjoy them more.

 

[Groovy Man]

I love guitar solos...

I'm not sure what happened to guitar solos, nowadays?

Most ANYONE can do one...

But you gotta play ''tasty'' solos, like Clapton, David Gilmour, Robbie Krieger, George Harrison, Dickey Betts, Peter Green, Ace Frehley, Ted Nugent, Carlos Santana, Mike Campbell of the Hearbreakers and many many others have done over the years, or still doing today...

Nowadays, and in the last 10-20 years, most of modern rock guitarists are bland or not too original.

Most jam bands today are boring....

but not all....just talking in general.

There are still great soloists out there...

but, it seems like the days of the guitar hero are over with - along with the great guitar solos - long or short ones.

All in my opinion, of course.

 

[AboutAGirl]

There should never be a rulebook for what bands are suppossed to do at a live gig. What a band does at their show is an expression of their unique style, not a greatest hits disc or a sampler set. Drifferent sets for different bands. If you go to see Crazy Horse, BB King or Ten Years After you're going to see lots of solos. If you go to see CSN, Journey or Dr. Dre you'll see shorter songs and a much more encompassing set.

Finding out what kind of show a band does today is as easy as typing their name into Google. There's no longer any excuse for being dissapointed at what a band plays at a show once you've already decided you want to go to the gig. I mean, I might be dissapointed with what they choose to do with their set, but if whether I want to see a particular band is based on what kind of setlist they play, it just takes a second to find out if they're playing what I want to hear. IMHO once you buy the ticket, that means you either know what you're likely to get or you don't care what the setlist might be.

Coming up with a good setlist isn't easy for anybody... It's not just an issue of whether they want to play the hits or whether they want to be jerks. Especially with these bands who have been around for 40 years, there's so much to consider. I mean, if I went to a Neil Young & Crazy Horse show and they played 22 four minute songs, all the hits with unique solos but all the same length and flow as the studio versions, I'd be absolutely livid.

As far as new music and guitar solos... I wouldn't know. Don't really listen to 00s music. Guitars definetly aren't as popular in some crowds as they used to be. The big thing right now is electronica.

 

[Tattoo'd Lady]

i don't know what happened to them exactly but i can definitely live without them. guitar solos have been played out and im glad to see bands going in new directions with music that aren't so guitar oriented

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Jam bands get boring as hell after a while.

Guitarists are far from not being skilled now. They are just as skilled if not even more so than the bands of the 60's, 70's, and 80's.

Originality is in the eyes of the beholder and most of the people talking about bland guitar solos and lack of originality are also the same I see that bash the hell out of music past their era of listening.

Every single metal band today solos and some of which are by far more technical then anything someone in the 60's and 70's could have dreamed of doing.

Mastodon is one band that comes to mind. Brent Hinds is one of the best guitarists around and their band puts solos in certain songs that it will sound actually fit.

 

[Fisha]

RIP guitar solos, may you never rise again

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Every single metal band today solos and some of which are by far more technical then anything someone in the 60's and 70's could have dreamed of doing.

I won't argue that metal bands today have more technical ability but a-LOT of them sound exactly the same. Just ultra fast sweeps and alternative picking layered over top of muddy double stops on drop tuned 6th and 7th strings.

Now that's not to say that I don't like the best metal guitarists and I in no way would prefer to listen to the Allman Brothers or the Grateful Dead drag a song on for 20 minutes longer than they need to but there's a point with metal guitarists today where you go "Ok, we get it. You can play fast. Now how about you do something else for once."

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

I won't argue that metal bands today have more technical ability but a-LOT of them sound exactly the same. Just ultra fast sweeps and alternative picking layered over top of muddy double stops on drop tuned 6th and 7th strings.

Now that's not to say that I don't like the best metal guitarists and I in no way would prefer to listen to the Allman Brothers or the Grateful Dead drag a song on for 20 minutes longer than they need to but there's a point with metal guitarists today where you go "Ok, we get it. You can play fast. Now how about you do something else for once."

Yea there are some that are just about speed, but there are guitarist that have both speed and feel. Buckethead for example. One of the fastest guitarists to ever play and has amazing feel in his playing.

The problem I have with this whole guitar solo discussion and music today is not as good is that people don't realize that their is shit music in every genre and ear and shit guitar players in every era.

EVH is a one trick poney yet is considered great why? Just because he helped revolutionize guitar playing? yes great but there are millions like him now even kids are better then him.

That is why IMO ranking musicians and bands means nothing since there are too many factors in what makes them great.

I think solos today are there but people just have a hard time finding them.

Dinosaur Jr (I know you do not like them) is one band that has had solos in their songs since they started, if they fit of course, and he is never looked at as a great guitarist when he IMO is one of the best all times since he can shred and also put amazing feel into his solos.

there are solos people just have to look.

 

[Harkat]

I realize the guitar is a staple of rock n' roll, but what about the long, hair raising solos? When did they become popular? and what genre uses them the most?

I would say you would find them more in the prog rock/metal and power metal area but thats really a smart guess.
DragonForce is pretty much known for its insanely long guitar solo's/duo's