Otherwise cool songs ruined by crap instrumental solos

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You know the type - everything's splendid. You're tapping your toes/singing along/stroking your beard/moshing (delete as applicable), when some buffoon comes in with an instrumental break which blows the whole thing to pieces.

I'd nominate "Louise" by the Human League. Not great, admittedly, but quite touching in a 60s black and white movie kind of way. Until, that is, a synthisiser break which contains all of three notes, sounds like a demented wasp and goes on for about three days. The song then comes back, but things are never quite the same...

Want to relate your own ugly instrument atrocities?

― Paul Steeples, Wednesday, 7 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Every Bad Religion song with those terrible metal god guitar solos.

― Kathleen, Wednesday, 7 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Guerrilla Radio" by Rage Against the Machine, with a guitar solo that's not just typical bombastic Tom Morello wank, but is just silly. Not that "Guerrilla Radio" is really all that cool to begin with (the same goes for communist politics), but RATM is a band which has the ROCK, which is hard to find nowadays.

― Greg Ferguson, Wednesday, 7 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"We Are the Champions" by Queen gets my vote. Not an all together fantastic song but the guitar that comes screeching through after the "We will rock you" and before the "we are the champions" sections just makes me want to run screaming from my chair.

Sometimes there are places for that kind of solo. Most times not.

― Amber, Wednesday, 7 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

They don't ruin the songs for me but I am afraid I am in agreement with Kathleen. Bad Religion's guitar solos sound completely out of place - the idiom they're played in is completely different from the rest of their music.

― Josh, Wednesday, 7 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I wouldn't say it ruins the song, but the instrumental break in Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" keeps it from perfection. The song is so brilliant, but the bridge is very conventional disco. The only thing plus I draw is that when it returns to the verses after the instrumental bit I realize just how strong the song is.

― Mark Richardson, Wednesday, 7 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Slayer comes to mind. Of course they were always Masters of The Riff, but somehow when Hanneman or King begin to solo it sounds off, it breaks the flow, feels tagged on. Not that the solo's come even close to ruining songs like Angel of Death. And by the time of "Season in the Abyss" the solo's got better. Damn, that album is so tight it's almost techno.

― Omar, Thursday, 8 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What's the story with that solo in U2's 'Love in Blindness'? Is this Bono trying to play the guitar again?

― Michael, Thursday, 8 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

re Slayer:

Their solos sound like explosions from another planet...like all of a sudden someone is mixing a free jazz record at 78 rpm over their master tapes. I just think it adds to the whole Slayer mystique, myself.

― Kris P., Thursday, 8 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

gosh, what a lot of very metal related answers. How about instrumental breaks that ruin a whole career ie the new manics single with it's truly heartrendingly bad organ abortion in the middle of an otherwise just bad single.

otherwise isabel's off key whistling in the apocalypse tube version of lonliness of a middle distance runner

― carsmilesteve, Thursday, 8 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well Kris, if you put it like that :)

― Omar, Friday, 9 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

In-a-gadda-da-vida

What if... what if it were FOUR MINUTES instead of 15?? We'd have one of the greatest power-pop anthems ever instead of kitsch.

― JM, Friday, 9 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh, and any song with a drum solo.

― JM, Friday, 9 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"baba o'riley" by the who. that fucking fiddle solo at the end never fails to make me want to throw large bricks at my turntable, the whole while screaming at the top of my lungs "HAIL TO THEE OH GOD OF MINE STRIKE DOWN PETE FUCKING TOWNSHEND AND MAKE THEE SURE THAT THEE HITS THINE NOSE" (and halfway hoping that god gets really pissed off and strikes me down before the end of the aforementioned fiddle solo).

― mac., Saturday, 10 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the zombies "time of the season". How Odyssey and Oracle goes from Pet Sounds-like pop into a bongo jam on what is their best song.

another great example of this is Mansun (obviously) and their "Being a Girl". Who knew 4 minute prog excursions had so much to do with "Being a Girl?" Did any women ever like prog music? Did any prog bands ever have a female member? Just wondering.

― brent d., Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two weeks pass...

A slightly dodgy choice, but... the trumpet break in 'My Wandering Days Are Over'? It doesn't add much.

― the pinefox, Saturday, 3 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one month passes...

You stupid idiots don't realize that solos are how the artist expresses his/her creativity. They put one in because at a time during a song you get a feeling and that comes out as a solo. If you played guitar or any other instrument you may have known that. No solos are really horrible they all usually fit in because it's the feeling of the song.

― Someone that knows what he's talking about., Sunday, 15 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Noway@ironmaidenfan" does indeed know what s/he is talking about. "At a time during a song you get a feeling": and the feeling is as follows. "You know, the song I'm in the middle of is unbelievably dreadful. The band I'm in the middle of is unbelievably dreadful. The career I'm in the middle of is unbelievably dreadful. How can I express this sentiment — but deniably?" Cue solo.

― mark s, Sunday, 15 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

brent. Curved air had sonia cristina singing, and the truly ouT THeRE henry cow had several excellent female instrumentalists. It was generally a bit ov a boy-thang tho. Except jethro tull, who for some reason I've never understood, were very much a "girl's band". Also I like all the weird prog bits on mansun's "six", and I wish they'd done more like that instead of thee pleasant, but somewhat mor- ish stuff that followed. Anyway, onto topic. The drum solo. ANY drum solo. BTW, I once worked in a 2nd hand record shop, where we had old jazz albums cosisting of ONLY drum solos! One even had a WHOLE SIDE dedicated to a HI-HAT SOLO! I can't remember who it was by, but I'd have to nominate that as well, even though it's not quite an answer to thee original question.

x0x0

― norman fay, Thursday, 19 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Did girls in the 70s fancy men who looked like village idiots?

― Robin Carmody, Saturday, 21 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't believe this problem began — or indeed ended — with the 70s.

― mark s, Saturday, 21 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Maybe not, but I was referring to the appearance of Ian Anderson in the light of Norman's comment that Jethro Tull were very much "a girl's band". I neither know nor care; it was just a light-hearted aside.

― Robin Carmody, Saturday, 21 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

FACT: A Tony Banks keyboard solo could ruin any song.

― Kim is Grim, Sunday, 22 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

hello robin. I wasn't, er, saying it made any sense! When I worked in a second-hand record shop, two of the top choices for female music fans were jethro tull and----wait for it--- whitesnake. Now personally speaking, I wouldn't "go gay" for ian anderson *or* david coverdale (peter hammill circa 1974 maybe) but there y'go.

x0x0

― norman fay, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Robin, I wasn't trying to say it was logical, or anything! When I used to work in a used record shop, I did notice though, that jethro tull seemed to be particularly popular with female music fans. I don't know if ian anderson was a factor in this, but I find it hard to comprehend if *this was* (ha!ha!) the case. FWIW, another band whose records sold very well to female listeners back then was whitesnake. Go figure.

― norman fay, Monday, 23 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

six months pass...

Hey, Bad Religions solos are bad ass. A few suck but other wise they're rad. If you wanna know crappy solos look to bands suck I mean such as blink 182, or sum 41. What solo? you say? Exactly. It's bad enought that they're such trendy bastards. But people think they're awesome at guitar. I think they suck.

― jesus christ, Friday, 2 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i've got an album by a philipino vocal duo (and backing band) "diana nasution and sister" it's got mind meltingly bad guitar breaks all the way through the album which is kinda a hotch potch of budget philipino abba-esque rockers, ballads & funky dance numbers.

― bob snoom, Saturday, 3 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The answer is:

Dennis DeYoung - he does a cover of 'Fire' (Hendrix) - absolutley hysterical. Worst hack guitar solo ever. Worst arrangement of a song ever. I highly recommend buying a $1 cutout of 'Desert Moon' so you can hear it. One of the best dollars I ever spent.

― Dave225, Monday, 5 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...

As an Avid listener to bands like Rush, DreamTheater, King Crimson, Queen, Tool, Ozzy Osbuurne, Led Zepplin, and others...I am a Fan of Technique and skill. I am also a guitarist in a prog rock band, and have been playing for 3 years. I can tellyou this, the modern mentality of people is that Solos suck and its all in the lyrics. Well, If people could actually fucking sing or I could understand that lyrics I'd care. ever since Shitvana Came around the scene, they made it uncool, and reached out to teenagers because they were pissed off. Whoopie-shit. Slowly but surely, skill is dripping back into mainstream music. Now, if we can just get rid of anti-technique bands like Linkin Park or Blink-182 or Pearl Jam, People who actually take pride in their insturments and singing, and know what their doing, will no longer be an oppressed minority. It should never have become practically a fucking sin to like to enjoy wailing on a guitar, bas

― Jesse Merkel, Saturday, 12 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The interminable keyboard stuff that Special Agent Dale Cooper insisted on putting into some Doors songs. I'm no fan of the Doors anyway, but that made them even worse.

Also, more, although perhaps not quite, in line with the original subject line: The end of Julian Cope's World Shut Your Mouth, where the weird pastoralism of "Lunatic and Fire-Pistol" is tailed by some unnecessary drums and stuff.

― OleM, Saturday, 12 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

the modern mentality of people is that Solos suck and its all in the lyrics

This is an absolutely *fascinating* universe you live in. What is the color of the sky there?

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 12 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Take a bow,Robert Fripp - his contributions to David Sylvian's Gone To Earth (the last track on the album and Camp Fire,Coyote Country in particular) = AAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!And that after some of my all- time favourite solos (St. Elmo's Fire).Might be a case of context.

― Damian, Saturday, 12 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Jesse's right. I hear people who know nothing whatever about music describe solos as 'self-indulgent'! Like the word has an actual meaning and anybody uses it except critics! But they know that it means 'bad'.

― dave q, Saturday, 12 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

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