Over Rated Guitar Solos

[Stadler]

To be honest, I'm trying to put my finger on bands from the grunge era that have continued on. 

Well the bands from that time (not necessarily grunge) like Jane's Addiction (Eric Avery is no Geddy Lee, but Dave Navarro is a player), RHCP (Keidis BLOWS, but Chad and Flea are monsters), Soundgarden (Cornell and Cameron are truly gifted), Pearl Jam (McCready is the real deal, as is Gossard).  But you're right; there are a WHOLE lot of insurance salesman and Burger King managers that came out of the grunge movement. 

[King Postwhore]

Pearl Jam, who solo.

Soundgarden, who solo.

Alice In Chains who solo.

Smashing Pumpkins who solo.

Candlebox who solo.

Foo Fighters who recently added soloing.

[Stadler]

Pearl Jam, who solo.

Soundgarden, who solo.

Alice In Chains who solo.

Smashing Pumpkins who solo.

Candlebox who solo.

Foo Fighters who recently added soloing.

I forgot Smashing Pumpkins.   I bought "Mellon Collie..." for $2.00 at a pawn shop not long ago, and was blown away at how good that was, from a player perspective.  I can and do have enough of his voice at times, but that mofo can play guitar. 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I guess I never actually lumped RHCP in with 90's bands, because they'd been around a lot longer.  I purposely try to compartmentalize the fact that Dave Grohl ever had anything to do with Nirvana, so I tend to forget that FF got their start in the mid 90's.  Soundgarden I have always liked, if for no other reason than because Chris Cornell has one of the most badass voices ever.  And at least those bands had an idea of how to solo like they meant it, though I can't speak for Smashing Pumpkins - not out of contempt, but out of unfamiliarity.

[PowerSlave]

The "not playing solos" movement wasn't only in grunge, though. Fates Warning greatly minimized lead playing for a few albums during that era, and I can't really remember much lead playing during that era in metal bands outside of Bruce Dickinson's solo albums. I'm sure that there are examples to contradict this, but it definitely felt like that aspect of guitar playing was put on the back burner for a decade, or so.

[Art]

Kim Thayil played solos on most songs, and some great ones. Jerry Cantrell is no virtuoso, but has the ability to play solos that are just PERFECT for the song (Them Bones). The Conner brother who played guitar on Screaming Trees did some very cool lead work, especially on their last two albuns. Nothing flashy, but very complimentary to the song. McCready (especially) and Gossard also played a lot of solos.

And PowerSlave, i can add Dimebag Darrell and Zakk Wylde who kept the soloing alive in metal/hard rock in the late 90's. I love James Murphy's work in Testament, too.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I didn't mean to insinuate that there were no solos in the 90's or that the ones that existed were bad.  I fully recognize the likes of all the above mentioned artists, I was just saying that the "It's cool to suck at playing your guitar" ethos was fairly prevalent at the time.  Maybe I just heard about it more because I'm a guitar player and was buying up every guitar mag I could get my hands on.

[Art]

You are right, there was this feeling. I think a good part comes from Nirvana, tbh.

[Kotowboy]

Dimebag did good solos but man his tone was fucking atrocious.

[PowerSlave]

And PowerSlave, i can add Dimebag Darrell and Zakk Wylde who kept the soloing alive in metal/hard rock in the late 90's. I love James Murphy's work in Testament, too.

Agreed that there are definitely exceptions to my view. No argument there. However, after the 80's (my most formative years as a music listener/fan), the landscape of the rock genre' in general took on a whole new look right around '92. Much of this is attributed to Nirvana, and while I'm not a fan of them at all, I do appreciate that they ushered in a time where the song took precedence over excess. Rock/Metal almost became a parody of itself in the late 80's. The genre' in general needed a swift kick in the pants.

It's interesting to note that we got Nirvana, and a big minimalist movement around the same time that Dream Theater hit big on the scene. You couldn't ask for two bands to be completely different from each other, but in my opinion, both bands contributed to a huge shift in the aspect of songwriting.

[Kwyjibo]

As much as I love Soundgarden the solos are mostly of the "wah-fiddly-something" variety that really did nothing for me.

Jerry Cantrell on the other hand is a tremendous guitar player and had some really great and unusual solos.

[PowerSlave]

Jerry Cantrell on the other hand is a tremendous guitar player and had some really great and unusual solos.

My favorite AIC song is Rotten Apple. His playing on that song is very fitting.

[Prog Snob]

To be honest, I'm trying to put my finger on bands from the grunge era that have continued on. 

The best of them...Alice in Chains. Though it's just not the same with out Layne and Jerry's vocal harmonies.

[pogoowner]

Jerry Cantrell on the other hand is a tremendous guitar player and had some really great and unusual solos.

Jerry writes some of the best solos of anybody out there. Which is funny because he considers himself a a rhythm player who never worked enough on technique to be a good lead player.

[erwinrafael]

As much as I love Soundgarden the solos are mostly of the "wah-fiddly-something" variety that really did nothing for me.

I think the solos fit the songs. I can't imagine a melodic solo fitting songs like The Day I Tried to Live or Fell on Black Days. The rhythm guitar work is the key to these songs.

It's the same way how the noisy guitars fit RATM's music.

[Kwyjibo]

Yes, I don't mind the solos in Soundgarden, they fit. But I would never call them great.