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The perfect guitar solo.


fasteddie

Question

Is there such a thing? What is it? A solo that takes a mundane song and elevates it. A guitarist that you thought didn't have it in them, comes out with a blinder. A solo, perhaps, with many guitaring techniques showing off the capabilities of the player, but still able to be melodic and tuneful. Marillion's Jigsaw and Gary Moore's Rock n Roll are crackers for me, Tornado of Souls by Megadeth also is a great "building up" solo. Que dire vous?

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On 6/13/2019 at 1:15 PM, JohnnyB said:

I like Eddie Van Halen on Michael Jackson's "Beat It."

It's got blinding speed and tapping, pinch harmonics, tone that howls like an air raid siren, and resolves quickly and hands the song back to the writer/artist.

And he rearranged the song to fit the solo he conceived and did it all at no charge and without credit. Back story here.

Seems crazy to me to work with MJ for no money or credit. Silly Eddie. Same guy who blames putting a metal pick in his mouth for mouth cancer, over the constant cigarette smoke inhaled...

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3 hours ago, Sugartune said:

Seems crazy to me to work with MJ for no money or credit. Silly Eddie. Same guy who blames putting a metal pick in his mouth for mouth cancer, over the constant cigarette smoke inhaled...

He had his reasons. From a story about it:

Quote

Eddie was initially reluctant to do the solo work on the track because he had a deal with his bandmates that they would never do any side gigs or solo projects. In the end, the lure of one of music’s most prolific producers proved too big to resist. Because his bandmates were out of town, Eddie made the decision to go ahead and do it on the down-low. He told Quincy he would agree to do the solo on three conditions: 1) he would never be credited for the work because he didn’t want other members of Van Halen to find out about it, 2) he didn’t need to be paid because it was just a favor so all he wanted was a case of beer in return, 3) Eddie also asked for Michael to “teach him how to dance someday.”

 

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On 6/20/2019 at 3:49 PM, JohnnyB said:

1) he would never be credited for the work because he didn’t want other members of Van

That’s utterly ridiculous! No one then (or now) sounded like him. The moment first heard, everyone would know (and did know) it was him.

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6 hours ago, gtrdaddy said:

That’s utterly ridiculous! No one then (or now) sounded like him. The moment first heard, everyone would know (and did know) it was him.

It's not like Eddie's famous for thoroughly thinking things through. I suspect he was satisfied that he stayed true to the band's agreement.

And it looks like he was attracted by the opportunity to work with Quincy Jones, which would have been very enlightening.

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On 5/4/2019 at 10:07 AM, cmatthes said:

Gorch - there are SO MANY Brian May solos that are flat out perfect.  Technically flawless, musically brilliant, and highly emotive.  His playing is the guitar version of Freddie’s voice.

Perfect, granular point. This is the argument I laid to any drummer, bassist, vocalist and child of mine.

Elliot Easton comes dang close to creating perfect sentences and punctuation, plus he did it with banal lyrics. Also, Richard Lloyd and Richard Thompson solos are amazing.

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6 minutes ago, Rockola said:

Perfect, granular point. This is the argument I laid to any drummer, bassist, vocalist and child of mine.

Elliot Easton comes dang close to creating perfect sentences and punctuation, plus he did it with banal lyrics. Also, Richard Lloyd and Richard Thompson solos are amazing.

And that applies to MS as another artist that I slave through the lyrics, keys, etc.,waiting for THE solo. That dude is fantastic but I have the patience to wait. , 

Not Elliot but dang close is the growl in Something to Grab For. I don't know who did that solo and, here we are, someone hits one out of the park while I sit here with coffee and a laptop. 

We're talking Pop, right? Not jazz ?

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On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 10:06 AM, LordsoftheJungle said:

Pat Travers' "I'd Rather See You Dead" is a favorite, very  toneful and complimentary throughout the song and a sweet lead at 2:20

 

 

Yeah, I love that song.

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5 hours ago, Bennyboy-UK said:

Well, how about this... - I relistened to the lead break about 10 times in the car today.

2:18 - and was played by Neil Giraldo - who is pretty amazing.

 

 

Fucking Spyder Geraldo is such a badass. KILLER solos on several RS songs.

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On 7/4/2019 at 4:31 PM, Bennyboy-UK said:

I just checked this wasn't already on as a contender - I cant think of anything that would make this any better...

3:10

 

 

How about the outro solo at 4:48? Absolutely oozing with badass. 

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I’ll give you two that will ALWAYS be my top two: Glen Tipton’s “Beyond the Realms of Death” and “All Guns Blazing.” Two completely different, yet perfect and nearly impossible to play. I will go to my grave angry most of the world will never recognize just how much of a guitar god he was. 

 

For an instrumental song (and, yes, I know it’s a cover, but his version is infinitely better): Gary Moore’s performance of The Messiah Will Come Again from the Montreux Jazz Festival:

 

 

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On 6/22/2019 at 7:53 AM, gtrdaddy said:

That’s utterly ridiculous! No one then (or now) sounded like him. The moment first heard, everyone would know (and did know) it was him.

 The flawed logic was evident to me from the get-go, but it's a matter of record that those were his conditions. it's not like he's famous as a master of deduction.

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17 hours ago, JohnnyB said:

 The flawed logic was evident to me from the get-go, but it's a matter of record that those were his conditions. it's not like he's famous as a master of deduction.

It’s really true. I can remember where I was when I heard that solo the first time and I immediately thought “that’s Eddie Van Halen”.

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