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worst guitar solos


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Guitar World did an article on the 100 worst guitar solos.

Are there any others that you would add or any on the list that you disagree with?

Click here to read what they had to say for each song

1. Poison - Guitar Solo

2. Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues

3. Carlos Santana - The Game of Love

4. Cream - Falstaff Beer 1967 Radio Spot

5. The Beatles - All You Need Is Love

6. Black Flag - Thirsty and Miserable

7. Ted Nugent - Wango Tango

8. Rolling Stones - Ain't Too Proud to Beg

9. Manowar - Sting of the Bumblebee

10. Lenny Kravitz - American Woman

11. Megadeth - Crush 'Em

12. Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It

13. Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone

14. Peter Frampton - Do You Feel Like We Do

15. Korn - Y'all Want A Single

16. David Bowie - Hang Onto Yourself

17. Def Leppard - Rocket

18. Britny Fox - Save The Weak

19. Roy Buchanan - Sneaking Godzilla Through the Alley

20. Metallica - 2x4

21. Buzzcocks - Noise Annoys

22. Blind Melon - No Rain

23. Smashing Pumpkins - Zero

24. Vinnie Vincent Invasion - Boyz Are Gonna Rock

25. Warrant - Cherry Pie

26. Faith No More - Epic

27. Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn

28. Green Day - Brain Stew

29. Iron Maiden - Fear Is The Key

30. B.B. King - Into the Night

31. Grateful Dead - Shakedown Street

32. Thin Lizzy - The Rocker

33. Kiss - Love Gun

34. David Lee Roth - Rankee Rose

35. Rage Against the Machine - Know Your Enemy

36. Molly Hatchet - Gator Country

37. AC/DC - Dirty Deed Done Dirt Cheap

38. Jackyl - She Loves My Cock

39. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Stir It Up

40. Limp Bizkit - Faith

41. Motley Crue - Looks That Kill

42. The Who - Eminence Front

43. Venom - At War with Satan

44. Offspring - Lightning Rod

45. Jimi Hendrix - Foxey Lady

46. Candlebox- Far Behind

47. Marilyn Manson - Cyclops

48. POD - Eternal

49. Godsmack - Moon Baby

50. Albert King - Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight

51. Nitro - Freight Train

52. Jefferson Starship - By My Lady

53. Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music [entire double album]

54. Bruce Springsteen - Bad Lands

55. Triumph - Lay It on the Line

56. Aerosmith - Walk This Way (live off of some bootleg)

57. The Cramps - Garbage Man

58. Journey - Faithfully

59. The Cult - Born to be Wild

60. Slipknot - Spit It Out

61. Living Colour - Cult of Personality

62. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Say What! (Live Alive)

63. Loverboy - Working for the Weekend

64. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rapid Transit

65. Slayer - Exile

66. Billy Joel - It's Still Rock & Roll To Me

67. The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil (live Four Flicks)

68. Tyrannosaurus Rex - Element Child

69. Ramones - This Ain't Havana

70. The Kinks - Welcome to Sleazytown

71. Sammy Hagar - Three Lock Box

72. Bob Dylan - Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)

73. Dinosaur Jr. - Show Me The Way

74. Grateful Dead - Not Fade Away

75. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Love Rock N' Roll

76. Kiss - Firehouse

77. The Firm - Radioactive

78. The Strokes - Last Nite

79. Whitesnake - Spit It Out

80. The Cure - Pictures of You

81. Nazareth - Hair of the Dog

82. The Replacements - Black Diamond

83. Joe Satriani - Cryin'

84. Pantera - Ride my Rocket

85. Blues Traveler - Closing Down the Park

86. The Beatles - If You've Got Troubles

87. Autograph - Turn Up The Radio

88. Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer

89. White Stripes - Offend In Every Way

90. Styx - Mr. Roboto

91. INXS - Need You Tonight

92. Ministry - Filthy Pig

93. Allman Brothers Band - High Falls

94. Eric Claptop - I've Got A Rock N' Roll Heart

95. Spin Doctors - Two Princes

96. Rosie & The Originals - Give Me Love

97. Disturbed - Down with the Sickness

98. Godsmack - Running Blind

99. The Replacements - Hootenanny

100. Michael Jackson - Black or White

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I see a lot of hair metal on that list. That said, I don't know what really constitutes a "bad" guitar solo. Too repetitive? Too short? Too long? I know what makes a good guitar solo IMO, but I've never thought about what makes one bad.

I am a little disheartened to see Springsteen and the Beatles on that list, but hey.....everyone has an opinion.

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I think it's strange that "Cult of Personality" is on there. I think that guitar solo is quite good.

I think the question is what does constitute a good solo? I mean, is it a solo that requires a great amount of talent to play? One that musically is very good? I don't know. I think it varies. I mean, "Cult of Personality" isn't very musical of a guitar solo but it's not meant to be. It's just straight shredding.

And "Do You Feel Like We Do" is 13 minutes long. It's pretty much all guitar solo. And it's not about the solo, it's about the talkbox. That was only the second time a talkbox had been used in popular music. It was invented for Joe Walsh for "Rocky Mountain Way" and was given to Frampton.

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I think its more or less a joke unless that mag has really changed over the years. Although its been years when I quit collecting Guitar World and Guitar for the Practicing Musician mags, it was rare if at all that they did articles on negative guitar playing. If this is quite real, then I'll have to say the respect is gone. For example:

53. Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music [entire double album] - why on earth was that even mentioned? Does anyone know about this album? Take my advice - DO NOT PURCHASE NOR LISTEN! I don't see the reasoning why it was included. The people who do know this album would understand.

1. Poison - Guitar Solo - why pick on a live recorded guitar solo?

5. The Beatles - All You Need Is Love - the explanation that most are satisfied with is that George's guitar somehow was disconnected part way through the track. Or, the amp gave out. Or was it the guitar cord? lol, but it was a technical issue and NOT George's playing.

34. David Lee Roth - Yankee Rose - I'm not finding fault with this one but Steve Vai's playing was so influenced by Frank Zappa that of course that style and such just didn't sound right to DLR's tunes. Steve is a great player and I happen to really like this solo. I don't understand why they chose this one.

36. Molly Hatchet - Gator Country - this one was confusing. Just like the Allman Brothers, MH's guitarists tended to play similar solos in every other track. But why this one? This is one of MH's better tracks. I think these dudes are just naming prominent guitar bands and pulling tracks out of a hat.

61. Living Colour - Cult of Personality - as another poster already commented and I'd like to add, this track is ferocious. Yes, Vernon does a lot of hits and misses in those fast hammer-ons/pull-off runs but I'm pretty sure that that was the intention.

81. Nazareth - Hair of the Dog - Another 'talk box' solo. I think the dudes here just don't like that effect.

83. Joe Satriani - Cryin' - this one pretty well sums it up that if these dudes are serious, then they don't know a freakin' thing about emotional guitar playing. Man does Joe make his guitar 'cry' near the end. The song is called Cryin' dudes!

86. The Beatles - If You've Got Troubles - this is just a joke. It was never officially released until the Anthology but still, why would this even be included since the Beatles themselves felt it wasn't worthy for release? Those editors have no idea. Again, it could be all a list in jest.

97. Disturbed - Down with the Sickness - I don't even think there is a guitar solo.

Well, that's enough. :D

Edited by Guest
A cuss word snuck in under the radar. Sorry.
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Excellent input guys

45. Jimi Hendrix - Foxey Lady - This isn't his worst solo, nor should any of his work be that high on this list.

62. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Say What! (Live Alive)

- this track is too high on the list, given the amount of lacking effort that placed lower on this particular list. It was mostly experimental and nothing to be taken seriously where quality studio recording and production are concerned.

I may get flamed for this, but Heartbreaker by Led Zeppelin should probably have been mentioned. I don't know if it's Top 100 worst, but there is a string of clear mistakes on Page's part around 3 minutes into the song.

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I may get flamed for this, but Heartbreaker by Led Zeppelin should probably have been mentioned. I don't know if it's Top 100 worst, but there is a string of clear mistakes on Page's part around 3 minutes into the song.

He was playing so many notes so fast. The fact that he has the ability to play like he did on that solo I find incredible in and of itself.

I think that guitar solo is one of the greatest. I mean, it really was one of the first times that someone played THAT fast. I mean, it had been done before but, especially live, that solo is incredible. And, it inspired Eddie Van Halen to use finger tapping and we all know where that got him and the finger tapping technique.

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Perhaps it would have been better to provide a little more criteria as to what a bad solo is exactly. Besides obviously bad playing it seems to be about as subjective as most other aspects of music varying with one's taste. You could argue many throwaway/filler/novelty songs from most guitar bands have sub-par solos though I'm not sure exactly how you would rank them. Live takes probably shouldn't count and as for the technical mistakes only obvious to a few, a solo is what it is, it can still sound alright despite these errors.

I'm not the biggest fan of guitar solos in the first place especially not long or overwrought ones (though there are exceptions). There are a quite few I really like but I can take or leave most of them.

5. "All You Need Is Love" – The Beatles: I don’t know about the technical problems but I kind of like the way the guitar fades into the orchestration, the parts of which (horns, strings etc.) are much bigger components of the song than the guitar anyway.

21. "Noise Annoys" – Buzzcocks: I will argue this song was meant as sort of a joke. And although it may be one of their lesser songs, I don't find anything wrong with it or the solo; it is what I would expect in a song from a genre that tends toward a more raw, forceful , irreverent (and sometimes more dissonant) sound.

22. "No Rain" – Blind Melon: Dry and insufferable, really? I think it’s a nice little solo for a nice little song.

23. "Zero" – The Smashing Pumpkins: Not exactly a favourite of mine but are these writers not familiar with context? Were they expecting an uplifting, melodic, straightforward solo in a somewhat grating, vicious song about feeling like your nothing?

28. "Brain Stew" – Green Day: Actually one of the few Green Day songs I like. I guess the "solo" they’re referring to is the fade out? Their main objection seems to be that they borrowed the riff from Chicago and maybe they have a point since NO other band has EVER made use of a piece of another band’s song and clearly Armstrong is to blame for this whole sampling debacle that has produced nothing of value /sarcasm. In my opinion they make better use of it anyway so who cares?

35. "Know Your Enemy" – Rage Against the Machine: Okay they’re admitting it’s a great solo so logically they decide to put it pretty high on a worst solo list. They try to explain away the incongruity by saying it has nothing to do with what's going on in the song. What kind of solo would have to do with what's going on? Heaven forbid Morello should try something a little different in the solo. (He is one of the few guitarists whose work and style I actually find interesting just on its own.)

80. "Pictures of You" – The Cure: This is one of the best, most definitive Cure songs, so obviously these people simply don’t like the Cure and their particular sound. Still, it shouldn't be on this list.

On the other hand, I’m pleasantly surprised Oasis didn’t make the list considering how much people especially *cough* professionals like to disparage them, particularly Noel as a guitarist (most of the time probably with good cause but y'know we all have our favourites despite sound criticism :D ).

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35. "Know Your Enemy" – Rage Against the Machine: Okay they’re admitting it’s a great solo so logically they decide to put it pretty high on a worst solo list. They try to explain away the incongruity by saying it has nothing to do with what's going on in the song. What kind of solo would have to do with what's going on? Heaven forbid Morello should try something a little different in the solo. (He is one of the few guitarists whose work and style I actually find interesting just on its own.)

I agree, that's about what I was thinking when I read what they had to say.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm actually disappointed they didn't include Wind Up by Jethro Tull on the list. The boring and pretty odd sounding solo is clearly the worst part of an otherwise brilliant song.

I should point out that it is actually the "100 Worst Riffs, Licks & Solos Of All Time", which explains why they included some songs that don't actually have solos.

Edited by Guest
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  • 3 weeks later...

Supprized they didnt mention "You really Got me", the Kinks. It sounds terrible, but that was by design. Ray Davies got Jimmy Page to play the solo since Jimmy was talented enough to make it sound rough and out of control on purpose. I think it was genius. But the rocket scientists from that rag didnt notice this one.

Jim

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