The five most irritating guitar solos in classic rock
Self-indulgent or inspiring to the masses? I’ll let you decide your own stance on the infamous guitar solo. Whether you like them or not, they are major players in the world of classic rock. When the second chorus winds down to a close, and fans desperately gasp for an extra breath to sing another line, it’s a moment when eyes widen for a hidden door of sonic chaos is about to reveal itself. Done well by the likes of Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Slash, it’s a moment when the transcendental nature of live music can feel as palpable as ever.
With the above in mind, if the solo is done poorly, the foot-stomping turns to toe-curling. Like a bride slipping down the aisle, you genuinely get no entertainment or satisfaction from it; you simply want it to end and be wiped from your memory. At least in the safe haven of the recording studio, those sonic hiccups can be consigned to the bins of history and remembered as what-if moments by those unlucky enough to be in the room during the recording.
But somehow, even the immortal greats manage to misjudge their own brilliance. High on their own supply, they’ve had moments where they’ve lost touch with the realms of reality and confused incoherent nonsense with boundary-pushing sonic innovation. In fact, if you’re a burgeoning bedroom musician scraping together songs and hastily writing scrappy solos, let this list remind you that you’re not as far from your heroes as you might think.
We at Far Out have put together our list of five of the most irritating guitar solos of all time. If you’re a budding guitarist, listen back to what you’ve recorded. If it sounds anything like these, it could be time for a do-over. The most irritating solos in classic rock
The five most annoying solos in classic rock:
Derek and the Dominos – ‘Layla’
A song’s riff and a solo are like two siblings. More often than not, the solo is always the older, stronger and more successful. It swoops in at the end of the night to charm crowds, while the younger sibling had spent much of the night laying the small-talk groundwork and fetching everybody a cold drink. In ‘Layla’, it’s quite the opposite.
The riff kicks down the door from the outset and hypnotises listeners. With its repeated hammer-ons and pull-offs, it hinges on so many of the technical elements we hold dear in guitar playing, moving up and down like an enthralling rollercoaster. By the time the solo arrives, it feels somewhat like an ill-timed punchline, desperately trying to wrestle back a palpable atmosphere that once was. It tries too hard to push around corners and melt faces, becoming a never-ending and high-pitched mess that doesn’t really end up anywhere. For all of Eric Clapton’s brilliance, it seems he ignored the number one rule at school: keep it simple, stupid.
Oasis – ‘Lyla’
If we are going to talk about siblings, then we may as well include the younger sister of ‘Layla’. Just as lazy as removing a letter from the name, is the solo Noel Gallagher rips into at the end of the chorus. Oasis are arguably the greatest Ronseal band of all time. Let’s not waste time with genre bending and studio innovation, just lay down four open chords and let Liam belt out hymns for the urban times.
Noel’s instincts to remain safely on the pentatonic scale were well informed when it came to solo writing, for it only added to the simple but ever-so-rousing emotion within their discography. I guess somewhere within the coke-addled studio sessions, the memo got lost, and Noel thought he could descend into some Slash-esque ripper and turn the two-fingered raising mods into devil horn-thrusting rockers. The chorus and chords are plenty big enough Noel.
Ramones – ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’
Less is more, or so the saying goes. A lot of the time, this adage is a pretty reliable one to keep close to your heart. Far too often, we hear music that has great potential but is ruined by one too many ideas as people add effects that make a song impossible. However, in the case of The Ramones, specifically the track ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’, less is most certainly less.
There is no escaping the band’s influence or the fact that they were lightyears ahead of their time, and this is perfectly personified by none other than this song. The punk elements, as well as the upbeat and gritty nature, truly set the stage for the punk movement that would follow some years later. However, the guitar solo fails to reflect this innovation or excitement. The repetitive nature of it, as no more than one note is strummed throughout, goes to show that while discretion is advised, sometimes, more is more.
Jack White – ‘Love Is Blindness’
The guitar playing of Jack White really is something to get lost in. He has never been shy about pushing the boundaries of creativity with every single one of his musical endeavours, which has led to him exploring a number of different styles and sounds up and down the fretboard. Most of the time, this is a triumph. Who could ever tire of the finger work on classics such as ‘Seven Nation Army’, ‘Black Bat Licorice’ and ‘I Feel Love’; however, he misses the mark slightly on the song ‘Love Is Blindness’.
This is one of those instances where White’s affinity for experimental playing and different sound effects comes back to bite him. He goes way too far up the fret, and the noise that results is incredibly poor. It’s a good job the solo is only short, as if people were exposed to those screeching sounds for any longer, they would no doubt skip to the next track.
Neil Young – ‘Southern Man’
This track brought with it a fair bit of regret for Neil Young, who used the “southern man” as a metaphor for something internalised but ended up upsetting a number of listeners in the process. While he has confirmed that the track wasn’t supposed to be a jab at people in the South, there is still debate surrounding the song and Young’s intention.
At least one thing everyone can agree on is how rubbish Neil Young’s guitar solo is. We have to give credit where it’s due, Young certainly tried with this song, but the repetitive nature of the solo combined with the out-of-tune couplets towards the end, simply put, was horrible.
