New topic
Printable| Author | Message |
What happened to the solo? These days, you rarely hear solos in music (I'm talking mostly mainstream, but I suppose the same could be said about music in general these days, to some extent at least).
There was a time most songs had solos. Piano solo, guitar solo, saxophone solo, synth solo....SOME sort of solo. It doesn't even have to be a long, climatic solo, but SOME sort of solo.  [Edited 7/26/09 10:36am] | |
- E-mail - orgNote -  Report post to moderator |
The closest you get is the opening riffs with no singing on top of the playing.
No solos, now in that portion of the song is a "breakdown". | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
ISF said: These days, you rarely hear solos in music (I'm talking mostly mainstream, but I suppose the same could be said about music in general these days, to some extent at least).
There was a time most songs had solos. Piano solo, guitar solo, saxophone solo, synth solo....SOME sort of solo. It doesn't even have to be a long, climatic solo, but SOME sort of solo.
[Edited 7/26/09 10:36am] Great topic, the SOLO isnt totally gone, but just about. U will still get the solos from bands that were around when solos were done, so U will hear plenty on the new Metallica and others, but the problem is that these bands arent getting play. What is getting played are bands, so called bands, that are based on nothing but riffs and beats, bands like Fall out Boy or Gym Class Hereos, there really is NO substance to their playing, its all riff induced, many times its not even them doing the playing, its all sampled based from a computer. As for the Piano Solo, play the song "Through My Veins" from the new Richard Marx song, this has to be first time in a REAL LONG time that i have heard two things from anyone, ONE being a straight up Piano Ballad (no beats no tempo) and a Piano Solo in the middle, havent heard one of those in ages. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Good question...in fact a few days ago I made this video wondering where the electric guitar solos went in today's popular music...specifically popular black music. In the 80's it was everywhere!
http://www.youtube.com/wa...NZ9C8Nvhxg [Edited 7/27/09 8:14am] | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
ISF said: These days, you rarely hear solos in music (I'm talking mostly mainstream, but I suppose the same could be said about music in general these days, to some extent at least).
There was a time most songs had solos. Piano solo, guitar solo, saxophone solo, synth solo....SOME sort of solo. It doesn't even have to be a long, climatic solo, but SOME sort of solo.
[Edited 7/26/09 10:36am] The short attention span of today's 3 minute, autotuned out, beat/melody driven audience doesn't leave much space 2 jam/rock for a couple minutes. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
If we are talking mainstream music, then the reason there are no instrumental solos these days are cos there are no damn instruments in the songs to start off with 
But hey, there are still plenty of great musicians out there for those of us that can be bothered to look - don't let's lose any sleep over mainstream garbage. This is not an exit | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
rocknrolldave said: If we are talking mainstream music, then the reason there are no instrumental solos these days are cos there are no damn instruments in the songs to start off with
But hey, there are still plenty of great musicians out there for those of us that can be bothered to look - don't let's lose any sleep over mainstream garbage. You got that right. We got Mint Condition, Rahpeal Saddiq, John Mayer Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Los Lonley Boys, The Roots, A Band Called Pain, Living Colour, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Victor Wooten, Dave Matthews Band,Fishbone..... [Edited 7/27/09 8:39am] [Edited 7/27/09 8:40am] | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
diamondpearl1 said: rocknrolldave said: If we are talking mainstream music, then the reason there are no instrumental solos these days are cos there are no damn instruments in the songs to start off with
But hey, there are still plenty of great musicians out there for those of us that can be bothered to look - don't let's lose any sleep over mainstream garbage. You got that right. We got Mint Condition, Rahpeal Saddiq, John Mayer Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Los Lonley Boys, The Roots, A Band Called Pain, Living Colour, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Victor Wooten, Dave Matthews Band,Fishbone..... I'm not really a fan of their style of music, but a friend took me to see The Roots a few years back and I was blown away by the musicianship - they played a medley at the end that had just the most random and knowledgeable musical references in it, and it was tight as I don't know what... Push It by Salt n Pepa was in there, Like I Love You by Justin Timberlake could have been in there too, I think, I Want You (She's So Heavy) by the Beatles and a whole heap of other stuff too. Pure quality. This is not an exit | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I think hair metal kinda killed the concept of a solo.
In 1989 it was absolutely MANDATORY that your stupid aqua net ballad have a 3 million note solo played on a Jackson guitar. Nirvana came along and that shit got DROPPED. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
It has nothing to do with what white people were doing in music. The metal bands only killed the concept of a solo in rock music. In the early 90s, everyone doing pop rock was too busy trying to be anti-talented Nirvana knock offs.
For R&B music, what killed the solo was the deliberate destruction of the band in black music. the "producer era" was in full effect and labels were only into paying one person - Teddy Riley, etc. - usually a keyboard player/sequencer to do tracks and they were saying themselves money. They paid him and he was in charge of paying whomever else. Since people are greedy in general, there was very little sharing of the wealth and more "I can do it all on the keyboard" and so ended most of the solos. Without real musicians playing the music, who's going to solo? Enter rap. Solo? The end.[/b] | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
abigail05 said: I think hair metal kinda killed the concept of a solo.
In 1989 it was absolutely MANDATORY that your stupid aqua net ballad have a 3 million note solo played on a Jackson guitar. Nirvana came along and that shit got DROPPED. I agree, Nirvana is the reason rock died. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
RodeoSchro said: abigail05 said: I think hair metal kinda killed the concept of a solo.
In 1989 it was absolutely MANDATORY that your stupid aqua net ballad have a 3 million note solo played on a Jackson guitar. Nirvana came along and that shit got DROPPED. I agree, Nirvana is the reason rock died. Nirvana didn't kill rock n roll they were a changing of the guard. For bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam,hair metal to them was what disco was to the punk rockers of the late 70's/early 80's. Every era's kids rebel against what came before it 'cause they feel like no one's listening/payin attention. Grunge/Punk Rock and Hip-Hop was the result of those kids that got ignored 'cause their parents didn't care so instead of guns and needles they picked up mics, turntables, drums and guitars. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
diamondpearl1 said: RodeoSchro said: I agree, Nirvana is the reason rock died. Nirvana didn't kill rock n roll they were a changing of the guard. For bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam,hair metal to them was what disco was to the punk rockers of the late 70's/early 80's. Every era's kids rebel against what came before it 'cause they feel like no one's listening/payin attention. Grunge/Punk Rock and Hip-Hop was the result of those kids that got ignored 'cause their parents didn't care so instead of guns and needles they picked up mics, turntables, drums and guitars. Before Nirvana - Rock was about having fun and getting chicks. Also, there were melodies and real musicians who didn't rely on drop-D tuning to mask their lack of ability. After Nirvana - Rock is about death and how much life sucks. Also, no one can play anything other than one-finger massively distorted chords. [Edited 7/27/09 13:32pm] | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
RodeoSchro said: diamondpearl1 said: Nirvana didn't kill rock n roll they were a changing of the guard. For bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam,hair metal to them was what disco was to the punk rockers of the late 70's/early 80's. Every era's kids rebel against what came before it 'cause they feel like no one's listening/payin attention. Grunge/Punk Rock and Hip-Hop was the result of those kids that got ignored 'cause their parents didn't care so instead of guns and needles they picked up mics, turntables, drums and guitars. Before Nirvana - Rock was about having fun and getting chicks. Also, there were melodies and real musicians who didn't rely on drop-D tuning to mask their lack of ability. After Nirvana - Rock is about death and how much life sucks. Also, no one can play anything other than one-finger massively distorted chords. [Edited 7/27/09 13:32pm] Weeeeell...yes and no. Nobody plays "grunge" anymore...yet Iron Maiden, with their three solo-ing guitarists, are bigger than ever before. Metal is back stronger than it was before Grunge, for better or for worse (that's a matter of taste, I guess). Not knocking Nirvana at all, or the way that wave swept away the awful poser "metal" (metal-lite, more like) such as Poison and Ratt and all that nonsense, but I think the effects of Grunge have been exaggerated in much the same way as when Punk supposedly killed off the "dinosaur" rock bands of the 70's - No-one thought to tell Pink Floyd, for example, who went on to be humungously massive in the late 70's and 80's. This is not an exit | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
rocknrolldave said: RodeoSchro said: Before Nirvana - Rock was about having fun and getting chicks. Also, there were melodies and real musicians who didn't rely on drop-D tuning to mask their lack of ability. After Nirvana - Rock is about death and how much life sucks. Also, no one can play anything other than one-finger massively distorted chords. [Edited 7/27/09 13:32pm] Weeeeell...yes and no. Nobody plays "grunge" anymore...yet Iron Maiden, with their three solo-ing guitarists, are bigger than ever before. Metal is back stronger than it was before Grunge, for better or for worse (that's a matter of taste, I guess). Not knocking Nirvana at all, or the way that wave swept away the awful poser "metal" (metal-lite, more like) such as Poison and Ratt and all that nonsense, but I think the effects of Grunge have been exaggerated in much the same way as when Punk supposedly killed off the "dinosaur" rock bands of the 70's - No-one thought to tell Pink Floyd, for example, who went on to be humungously massive in the late 70's and 80's. I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree with you Dave. Iron Maiden pretty much peaked in the mid 80s with the whole Powerslave thing. And metal's not really stronger now - people hate metal. I hate metal. It's fucking awful hate music these days. Metal got what it deserved in '91, but at least it was fun music then. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
"people hate metal"
LOL! That's a bit of a generalisation, no...? I would argue that the figures for metal shows and metal albums right now show that the genre is in good health, whatever we might think of the music from a personal taste point of view. Check out the figures for the number of people Iron Maiden played to on their last tour, and tell me that's a band that is down on its luck.....!  This is not an exit | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
rocknrolldave said: "people hate metal"
LOL! That's a bit of a generalisation, no...? I would argue that the figures for metal shows and metal albums right now show that the genre is in good health, whatever we might think of the music from a personal taste point of view. Check out the figures for the number of people Iron Maiden played to on their last tour, and tell me that's a band that is down on its luck.....! Fans of old school retro acts, absolutely. But current metal? It may be awfully loud but it's about as far from rock n' roll as you can get. Getting back on the topic of solos...and this is a wild shift...you know why that last INXS lineup/album didn't really go anywhere after so much hullabaloo? I mean, besides the absence of the incredible Michael Hutchence? No sax solos. Think about it. All the classic inxs songs from the 80s had a sax solo in there somewhere. It's a huge part of the sound. Bring back the sax solos! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
abigail05 said: Bring back the sax solos! AMEN!!!! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
lack of talent, lack of attention span, just throw in an extra chorus so the kids can remember it better. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I still hear plenty of solos on alternative rock radio: John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Counting Crows, Kings of Leon and Trey Anastasio's songs all feature guitar solos that I actually like... | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |