John Petrucci: Solos or Riffs

[Outcrier]

Should be LEAD x RHYTHM.

I pick RHYTHM.

[AngelBack]

Talkbox.

[djbj]

The riffs. John Petrucci's guitar riffing is a major part of DT's appeal to me as a metal band. They has just the right amount of metal badassery while still complementing the overall melodic structure of the song. I find myself air-guitaring to the riffs a lot more than the solos. Many of his solos go so fast I find it hard to appreciate what he's doing musically, but with the riffs I can almost always appreciate the rhythm, groove and melodicism he plays them with.

Notes from a first time poster: All of those emoticons staring at me are kind of distracting when I'm trying to write this post.

[robwebster]

Both are brilliant, but I notice the riffs more. He can be soloing his little ursine heart out and I'm still focused on the riff, nine times out of ten. Couple of exceptions. The Root of All Evil, despite having one of the best riffs in DT's collected discography, also has a very killer and very catchy solo. From that little Middle-Eastern fleck right up 'til the next chorus is spellbinding, each time. As I Am has a similar bit, right when the solo kicks off - the one that goes, "Nyoww, nyoww, microwave oven and then namma naa naaaa, squiddlydiddlysquiddlydiddly" etc.

But someone invoked In the Name of God. There's this huge, huge, apocalyptic unison right in the middle of it, and all I can listen to is the bass! See here - and how much of this DVD have Atlantic Records put online, on that note?! It's great, a genuinely spectacular solo, but that bass is gorgeous. So I think it might just be that I prefer the riffy stuff in general. Might be my bias, rather than relative quality.

[gentaishinigami]

...soloing his little ursine heart out...

Hah, just woke up and reading that gave me a good laugh. 

[?]

"Nyoww, nyoww, microwave oven and then namma naa naaaa, squiddlydiddlysquiddlydiddly" etc.

That solo will never be the same to me again!

JP is a great guitarist in both areas, but I'd say soloing is the stronger one. Some riffs on the latter-day DT albums are kind of generic and unmemorable for my taste, but I can't remember any particularly weak solos, even in songs that I'm not crazy about overall.

[JiM-Xtreme]

Solos for me. UAGM, Biaxident, TMoLS and TBoT solos are support enough for that.

[Kotowboy]

Re: John Petrucci: Solos or Riffs ?

[ ] I like them both?
[ ] Solos Or Riffs?

[GasparXR]

Re: John Petrucci: Solos or Riffs ?

[ ] I like them both?
[ ] Solos Or Riffs?

I knew it would return one day. XD

It'd hard for me to pick which one, but I might lean SLIGHTLY towards riffs.

[Kotowboy]

I say solos becasue some of his riffs are too complicated to be memorable and you cant sing them -

- for example :

" Lost not forgotten - Reigning against the odds...
Dun dun de da da da de do do dun dun de da da do do DUn dahh !

Feared and respected living among the Gods !

Be da ba doo be Dun dun de da da da de do do dun dun de da da do do DUn dahh !  "

[Daso]

John is up there as one of my favorite guitar players ever, if not my favorite. I guess I'll go with the 60/40, giving the nod to solos, but JP's riffs are amazing. I guess a huge part of it comes from being involved with great rhythmic musicians along his whole career and composing with them so often, but even the riffs on his solo album are stunning. I mean... It's John Petrucci anyways 

[jammindude]

I love them both, but I may have to give a 51/49 to riffs.    It's weird how JP's riffs actually seem to be getting *more* complicated lately (see Kotowboy's example), but songs like The Mirror, The Glass Prison, UAGM, As I Am, and These Walls (and there are many others) prove that he can write riffs that absolutely get stuck in your head.

I suppose that's while I always had a special place in my heart for UAGM...it totally has the best of both in a single song.

[son_ov_hades]

Riffs for me. I'm always more interested in riffs than solos regardless of who's playing.

[erwinrafael]

I say solos becasue some of his riffs are too complicated to be memorable and you cant sing them -

- for example :

" Lost not forgotten - Reigning against the odds...
Dun dun de da da da de do do dun dun de da da do do DUn dahh !

Feared and respected living among the Gods !

Be da ba doo be Dun dun de da da da de do do dun dun de da da do do DUn dahh !  "

Well, that is more of an odd-time signature transition in between lines so it is not really designed to be a memorable riff. In the similar section in UAGM, it's also the same thing.

The riffs that are designed to be memorable in LNF is the Dye ne ne nen, Dye ne ne nen, Dyenenenen in the intro and the Dyen Dyen Dyen Dyedyen Dyen Du Dyenen Dyenen in the verse.

[Laughingplace56]

Riffs 100%. His solos are absolutely amazing and he's definitely my favorite guitarist, but I love heavy riffs. I love riffs with balls and ones that groove HARD. In the groove department, you've got Caught in a Web, Bridges in the Sky, The Enemy Inside, OtBoA outro, Lie, The Mirror, UAGM, etc. In the Heavy department, you've got the first riff in TGP, Enigma Machine, The Enemy Inside, Behind the Veil outro, In the Name of God, Honor Thy Father, etc.

Then there's The Glass Prison at 5:53. Without a doubt my favorite riff by anyone. So simplistic, but SO. FUCKING. HEAVY.

I think if I saw it live I would literally combust. MAN I wish they were playing it instead of TSF live 

[adastra]

I liked his riffing and soloing much more in the 90's   ..
novadays theres too much low-e string-palmmute stuff   less melodic and more power chords. 

Of course there are exceptions , but there's no debate that Petrucci's playing has become more straightforward.

But, If I'd have to choose,  I'd say solos

[jsem]

Hard to pick. It's pretty 50/50 for me. Let's just say that JP is a complete beast on both fronts. JP does have an edge in rhythm playing over many of his contemporaries though, because he is the sole guitarist in DT. He has to fill up so much space, just like Alex Lifeson has to do in Rush, and he does it excellently.

[Invisible]

I liked his riffing and soloing much more in the 90's   ..
novadays theres too much low-e string-palmmute stuff   less melodic and more power chords. 

Of course there are exceptions , but there's no debate that Petrucci's playing has become more straightforward.

But, If I'd have to choose,  I'd say solos

Actually if you said "less diverse" I would've agreed with you, but more straightforward? No. Some of his riffs and melodies on the last albums are anything but straightforward. I missed some of his old diversity, like Trial of Tears or Lifting Shadows or those tasty jazzy licks he used to do live, but other than there are still a lot of variations in his riffing.

And I agree with erwinrafael on that section of LNF, that's not a riff for me either. The riffs on that song are the others, and the reason it's called an UAGM rip off (along with the solo).

[Dream Team]

Solos easily. I don't feel he's ever been in the riff-writing league of Hetfield/Iommi/etc etc but he owns playing lead on electric guitar.

[Moonchild]

Solos easily. I don't feel he's ever been in the riff-writing league of Hetfield/Iommi/etc etc but he owns playing lead on electric guitar.

Agreed.

Petrucci strenghs in solos. For exemple, I believe BC&SL was saved from disgrace by awesome solos and keyboards, not the riffs.

[Cable]

Solos easily. I don't feel he's ever been in the riff-writing league of Hetfield/Iommi/etc etc but he owns playing lead on electric guitar.

Wow. He certainly is not Hetfield, nor as effortless as he is. And Iommi created metal IMO, and wrote the book on riffs. So I feel those comparisons are unfair almost. But he leads at least prog metal in my view, and is my favourite prog rock riff writer as well.

To each their own though!

[Dreamer]

John Petrucci is a superb musician and guitarist - we all know that and its a fact. I really prefer the solos, most of wish are just jaw dropping. What disappoints me about me his playing sometimes is how often he falls back on a chugging tuneless riff in between sections of a song. It's so repetitive and unimaginative, I get the feeling he uses them as a short 'breather' before going on to the next part of the song. Just my opinion, he's still brilliant!