Over Rated Guitar Solos

[Prog Snob]

Anything by the likes of Angus Young, Slash or Kirk fits here.

Yes

As far as overrated, alot of Zepplin solos fall into that category. 

Yes - he's exceedingly overrated

Octavarium, the outro solo.

I get why people like it, and it sounds like I'd love it, on paper. But I just find it mind-numbingly Boeing whenever I listen to it.

Nah, the Hollow Years solo from Budokan is far more overrated. 

No

[Fritzinger]

You guys are crazy, the outro solo is excellent. In fact, the fact that JP restrains himself for the whole time totally works in its favor.

I was just poking fun at 'Boeing;' I think the solo is pretty good. I do think the end of Intervals would have been a better climax for the song, though.

For me, this finale and it's structure is a Supper's Ready reference. Think about it, a faster, darker part (Apocalypse/Intervals) is followed by the salvation, the resurrection, the big reprise of the main theme and an epic finale  (As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs/Razor's Edge).

BTW I think the 8vm solo is one of John's best and that climax always makes me piss myself.

[wolfking]

Yes, Page belongs in here too.  Ordinary guitarist at best.

[Elite]

I thought I'd get way more shit for mentioned Zeppelin's Heartbreaker, but apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that. However, I do not believe that you can simply lump all of his solos together and call the whole lot 'overrated'. For instance, the Stairway to Heaven gets mentioned very often in best-solos-ever lists, but it is[/] a fantastic solo, sl does that make it overrated?

[King Postwhore]

99% of C.C. Deville.

I only like the solo for Something to Believe In.

[Kwyjibo]

On a technical level Page is nothing outstanding, and when he plays sloppy (as he often did) he's sometimes close to unbearable. But then he has influenced millions of aspiring guitar players and helped shape (among others) rock what it is today. So I'm not sure about the overrated part.

[Prog Snob]

99% of C.C. Deville.

I only like the solo for Something to Believe In.

Oh, he's not even a real guitar player. He's a fraggle with a musical instrument.

[Kwyjibo]

For a solo to be over-rated, doesn't it have to be rated at first?

Most of the aforementioned solos were never in a top 100 (or whatever) guitar solo list. It's more about personal preference. What some don't like or don't understand they call overrated.

[Podaar]

For a solo to be over-rated, doesn't it have to be rated at first?

Most of the aforementioned solos were never in a top 100 (or whatever) guitar solo list. It's more about personal preference. What some don't like or don't understand they call overrated.

They'll ignore you and keep rolling right along. DTF, what can you do?

[Kwyjibo]

Sure enough and that's fair because I've ignored similar comments by other users. 

[Prog Snob]

For a solo to be over-rated, doesn't it have to be rated at first?

Most of the aforementioned solos were never in a top 100 (or whatever) guitar solo list. It's more about personal preference. What some don't like or don't understand they call overrated.

You're taking the term overrated too literally. Basically anything that has been praised or considered a pinnacle of guitar solos is up for attack. 

[Elite]

For a solo to be over-rated, doesn't it have to be rated at first?

Most of the aforementioned solos were never in a top 100 (or whatever) guitar solo list. It's more about personal preference. What some don't like or don't understand they call overrated.

I believe the 4 solos I mentioned in my initial post in this thread are usually highly rated (maybe with the exception of the DT example), but nobody bothered to actually reply. I agree with you that some stuff in here can barely be considered highly rated (the Slayer stuff for example, which I also commented on).

[Logain Ablar]

99% of C.C. Deville.

I only like the solo for Something to Believe In.

Oh, he's not even a real guitar player. He's a fraggle with a musical instrument.

 

I don't rate his abilities much, but for him, that solo's one of his best. I quite like the one in Ride the Wind too, with the harmony guitars.

[Kwyjibo]

I believe the 4 solos I mentioned in my initial post in this thread are usually highly rated (maybe with the exception of the DT example), but nobody bothered to actually reply. I agree with you that some stuff in here can barely be considered highly rated (the Slayer stuff for example, which I also commented on).

I'm kinda with you on Heartbreaker, I like it but it's not the be all end all solo that it is sometimes referred to.

The Nirvana solo isn't special but it fits the song, and I don't think it ever registered as a highly rated solo. And Weird Al Yankovic's solo is much better. 

That Metallica thing is okay but I'm not one to rate any of Kirk's solo highly, even back then I didn't really like his playing, so I'm heavily biased. I would say almost all of his solos are overrated, but in truth it would be more like I don't like almost all of his solos, so I fall in the same trap that I've critised earlier.

[AngelBack]

I'm a HUGE Rush fan, so don't take this the wrong way, but I think Alex's solos are the weakest part of his portfolio of skills.

[romdrums]

I'm a HUGE Rush fan, so don't take this the wrong way, but I think Alex's solos are the weakest part of his portfolio of skills.

Interesting, because I think he's kind of underrated as a soloist outside of La Villa Strangiato.

[AngelBack]

I'm a HUGE Rush fan, so don't take this the wrong way, but I think Alex's solos are the weakest part of his portfolio of skills.

Interesting, because I think he's kind of underrated as a soloist outside of La Villa Strangiato.

I'm not saying he's bad, just that his solos are over-rated in comparison to the rhythm and atmosphere and accents he paints with.  That part of his craft is probably under rated.

[KevShmev]

I'm a HUGE Rush fan, so don't take this the wrong way, but I think Alex's solos are the weakest part of his portfolio of skills.

I cannot disagree more.  Yeah, certain aspects of his playing are very underrated, but he has way too many incredible solos for me to call him overrated as a soloist.

Octavarium, the outro solo.

I get why people like it, and it sounds like I'd love it, on paper. But I just find it mind-numbingly Boeing whenever I listen to it.

Nah, the Hollow Years solo from Budokan is far more overrated.

For me, the most overrated Dream Theater solo is the extended instrumental section of Beyond this Life from Budokan.

Eh, I don't think any of the individual solos from that extended section are usually highlighted, so much as that section as a whole gets praised. 

I thought I'd get way more shit for mentioned Zeppelin's Heartbreaker, but apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that.

The Heartbreaker solo is a sloppy mess...and it's awesome.  That solo played perfectly wouldn't have been as great, quite honestly. Solos like that gave LZ that "we are this close to teetering over the edge" feel, and then the solo ends, that riff comes back in, and we're back.  Highly effective and pretty awesome, really.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

There is a tapping section in Joe Satriani's "Always With Me, Always With You" that people always seem to cheer for when he plays it. Never got it, it's really simple and rather pedestrian IMO.

It's a surprisingly easy section, for being in a Satriani song, but your average person probably doesn't realize that.  They see two-handed tapping and it looks involved to your average non-guitar player.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Also, for additional fun, peruse the Guitar World article, "The 100 Worst Riffs, Licks, and Solos", a purely joke article from December '04.  Great stuff here:

https://www.guitarworld.com/100-worst-guitar-solos

I remember a month or two after this article came out, they got TONS of mail from people who were PISSED at this list and they had to keep saying "IT WAS A JOKE!!!"

[bl5150]

There is a tapping section in Joe Satriani's "Always With Me, Always With You" that people always seem to cheer for when he plays it. Never got it, it's really simple and rather pedestrian IMO.

It's a surprisingly easy section, for being in a Satriani song, but your average person probably doesn't realize that.  They see two-handed tapping and it looks involved to your average non-guitar player.

So many people play it wrong and think they have it right though.   The rhythmic accents are not where most "tappers" find it natural and I consciously had to slow myself down a bit to get it spot on. 

[Kwyjibo]

There is a tapping section in Joe Satriani's "Always With Me, Always With You" that people always seem to cheer for when he plays it. Never got it, it's really simple and rather pedestrian IMO.

It's a surprisingly easy section, for being in a Satriani song, but your average person probably doesn't realize that.  They see two-handed tapping and it looks involved to your average non-guitar player.

Does it have to be super hard to play to be a good solo? I actually quite like that section and the part that comes after is even better.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

No, I wasn't suggesting that it had to be, I meant that for Satriani in general, your average guitar player thinks "eh, probably gonna be difficult to play".  This particular section, fortunately isn't difficult.  But to your average non-guitarist, I suspect that it looks difficult because it involves THT, hence the audience reaction.

[Elite]

Also, for additional fun, peruse the Guitar World article, "The 100 Worst Riffs, Licks, and Solos", a purely joke article from December '04.  Great stuff here:

https://www.guitarworld.com/100-worst-guitar-solos

That's hilarious! Thanks for sharing

[Kwyjibo]

Also, for additional fun, peruse the Guitar World article, "The 100 Worst Riffs, Licks, and Solos", a purely joke article from December '04.  Great stuff here:

https://www.guitarworld.com/100-worst-guitar-solos

I remember a month or two after this article came out, they got TONS of mail from people who were PISSED at this list and they had to keep saying "IT WAS A JOKE!!!"

Some funny things there  But it misses some whahibrido pickingant.

[Stadler]

I'm a HUGE Rush fan, so don't take this the wrong way, but I think Alex's solos are the weakest part of his portfolio of skills.

Actually, I'm with you.  I continually am amazed at just how good a guitar player he is (watch the documentary from the deluxe "Snakes and Arrows" and he plays some stuff in the "down time" that is A-MAZING), and I find some of his stuff to be exceedingly hard to play, but generally, his solos do little for me.  Contrast that with Blackmore, who I can listen to entire albums just to hear each of the guitar solos.   

As for Page, I think critiquing him for his "sloppiness" misses the entire point of Led Zeppelin.  I'm not saying the mistakes themselves are on purpose, but the ethos is absolutely on purpose.   The music of Zeppelin is supposed to breath, and sort of ebb and flow.  The best moments are those where you see the cliff coming and miraculously one of them (usually Bonham) pulls them right back in tight as a drum... and they did this night after night after night on tour.   Listen to "How The West Was Won"; there are about ten moments just like that (actually, almost the entire "SInce I've Been Loving You" is like that).  It's also why, for as "shitty" as Page is supposed to be, and as ramshackle as Zeppelin is supposed to me, so few people can actually get it right when they cover them. 

[erwinrafael]

I am a big Steve Vai fan and he is #2 in my favorite musicians list that I did in this forum a month ago. But I would go out on a limb and say that For The Love of God is overrated. Not because it's bad. It's actually an excellent piece. However, when lists of Steve Vai's top songs crop up, For The Love of God almost always comes out on top. Don't these people listen to the rest of Vai's catalogue? Better than Fire Garden Suite? Better than Frank? Or Velorum? Even among the seventh songs, it's not even the best (I much prefer Whispering A Prayer, Touching Tongues, and sometimes Windows to the Soul). Even in the Passion and Warfare album, I don't consider it the best (that would be Answers). So For The Love God, for me, is an excellent song but it is far from being Vai's best. It is overrated.

[Podaar]

As for Page, I think critiquing him for his "sloppiness" misses the entire point of Led Zeppelin.  I'm not saying the mistakes themselves are on purpose, but the ethos is absolutely on purpose.   The music of Zeppelin is supposed to breath, and sort of ebb and flow.  The best moments are those where you see the cliff coming and miraculously one of them (usually Bonham) pulls them right back in tight as a drum... and they did this night after night after night on tour.   Listen to "How The West Was Won"; there are about ten moments just like that (actually, almost the entire "SInce I've Been Loving You" is like that).  It's also why, for as "shitty" as Page is supposed to be, and as ramshackle as Zeppelin is supposed to me, so few people can actually get it right when they cover them.

I think this is a great post. Zeppelin definitely played on the drug addled edge to see if something magical would come out of it. The songs were frameworks to improvise in, not to nail as close to the studio as possible. Yes, there are times when it's off, chaotic even, but as Stadler points out, Bonham and Jones would reel Jimmy back in. I get why people don't like it, but it was their way.

Zappa was much the same way, but I think he had a better idea of what he wanted to experiment with during his solos on any given night. Plus he was stone cold sober, which probably helped a ton.

Personally, I like guitarists who go with inspiration in the live setting. You're going to get quite a bit of coal but once in awhile you get a real diamond.

[wolfking]

Also, for additional fun, peruse the Guitar World article, "The 100 Worst Riffs, Licks, and Solos", a purely joke article from December '04.  Great stuff here:

https://www.guitarworld.com/100-worst-guitar-solos

I remember a month or two after this article came out, they got TONS of mail from people who were PISSED at this list and they had to keep saying "IT WAS A JOKE!!!"

There's a few of these songs though that don't even have solos?!

29 IRON MAIDEN
“Fear Is the Key”
Fear of the Dark (1992)
GUITARIST: Janick Gers

Apparently, this song got its title from the instructions the band gave Janick Gers when he asked what key the tune is in. Not only does this track feature one of the most lightweight, wimpy riffs ever recorded by a metal band but the solo sounds like Gers was afraid of the strings. The only thing to fear about this song is the possibility that it may bore you to death.

Er....they obviously didn't listen to the whole song.

[Adami]

Any VH solo besides Eruption. Dude has his moments, but I really can't stand a large amount of his solos.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

There's a few of these songs though that don't even have solos?!

Riffs, Licks, and Solos

[Prog Snob]

99% of C.C. Deville.

I only like the solo for Something to Believe In.

Oh, he's not even a real guitar player. He's a fraggle with a musical instrument.

 

I don't rate his abilities much, but for him, that solo's one of his best. I quite like the one in Ride the Wind too, with the harmony guitars.

STBI is a decent solo, yes. You're right though, he's not out there trying to write memorable solos. It's just not his thing. He's an entertainer first.

[wolfking]

There's a few of these songs though that don't even have solos?!

Riffs, Licks, and Solos

Missed that, I should have read more closely.

[rumborak]

I am a big Steve Vai fan and he is #2 in my favorite musicians list that I did in this forum a month ago. But I would go out on a limb and say that For The Love of God is overrated. Not because it's bad. It's actually an excellent piece. However, when lists of Steve Vai's top songs crop up, For The Love of God almost always comes out on top. Don't these people listen to the rest of Vai's catalogue? Better than Fire Garden Suite? Better than Frank? Or Velorum? Even among the seventh songs, it's not even the best (I much prefer Whispering A Prayer, Touching Tongues, and sometimes Windows to the Soul). Even in the Passion and Warfare album, I don't consider it the best (that would be Answers). So For The Love God, for me, is an excellent song but it is far from being Vai's best. It is overrated.

You have to take into account when FTLOG came out. At the time, it was *the* hardest and most complex solo ever played essentially. And yes, in many ways it is a tour de force of difficulty, sometimes at the expense of the tune actually. But at that moment in time, playing "for the song" would not have had the same impact.

[bl5150]

I disagree with everyone on FTLOG        I rate it right up there with anything Vai has done , I don't think it's anywhere near the most complex solo ever played and I don't hear much that doesn't serve the song.