The guitar solo that links The Doors, Kiss and Pearl Jam
Rock music isn’t black and white. It thrives on a range of different elements, and the experimental approaches taken by various bands keep the genre dynamic, exciting, and one of the most popular styles of music in the world. When looking at the many forms rock music can take, you might assume they are completely distinct from one another. However, that’s not always the case. Take The Doors, Kiss, and Pearl Jam, for example—three bands with seemingly different sounds. Yet, they share a surprising connection through a particular solo that ties them together musically.
Pearl Jam are one of the most exciting groups to emerge from the Seattle rock scene in the 1990s. They don’t follow one strict rule when making music and are always happy to explore different time signatures, playing methods, and song structures to create exciting and innovative music.
Their attitude towards music is clearly displayed on their 1991 album Ten, which features some of their most famous songs. One of the most exciting tracks on the record is ‘Alive’. The song came about as a tribute to Andrew Wood, who passed away from a heroin overdose. While the inspiration behind the track is moving, it remains a good rock song, with Mike McCready delivering an excellent guitar solo during it.
It sounds like a standard McCready solo, but it was actually taken from the Kiss song ‘She’. Ace Frehley plays the electric guitar on that track and delivers some of his iconic shredding. Kiss is often a band whose musical ability is overlooked because of its flamboyant nature, but Frehley is an exceptional guitarist, and that’s on display throughout the track.
“My first guitar hero,” said Tom Morello when he was inducting Kiss into the rock n roll hall of fame and discussing Frehley, “He designed the bands iconic logo and blazed unforgettable, timeless licks across their greatest records.”
However, this solo cannot even be attributed to Frehley, either. When you listen to The Doors’ 1968 track ‘Five to One’, it’s clear that the Kiss guitarist took the solo from Robby Krieger. Krieger was an outstanding guitarist who not only founded the band but was also responsible for some of their biggest hits.
Given how vital the guitarist is to the world of rock, it’s hardly a surprise that so many fans of the genre often use their time to talk about who they think the best is. Usually, these conversations are filled with names such as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Slash, but Robby Krieger doesn’t get a mention too often. This is a huge oversight, as he did a lot of great work for The Doors. His skill as a guitarist is clearly personified in the fact that his solo has gone on to influence other guitarists, so much so that he acts as the link to other amazing rock bands in the coming decades.
