By looking at the CD cover of Pat Benatar's new CD Go you wouldn't recognize that she's now in her fifties, the open, blood red lipstick mouth making up the angry "O" in the CD titled Go.
Benatar has been in music for four decades now along with husband and underrated guitarist Neil Giraldo with such hits as Hit Me With Your Best Shot, We Belong and many others. Her rock edge has become more melodic in the ensuing years, choosing more ballads than harder rock but the band still manages to pull out a few musical surprises on their new CD Go. Benatar fans invariably are going to compare any new CD she produces to her classic Crimes of Passion, which had no cracks, so how does Go compare?
The title track, "Go," has a strong drum track and proves that Pat still has that raspy, familiar edge to her voice but Giraldo's guitar, though competent here, doesn't really break out and impress and there's no solo. For a title track, nothing spectacular.
The second track, "Brave," which starts with Pat whispering: "Be brave, be brave" begins acoustically but besides the interesting layering of vocals in the chorus doesn't live up to Pat's promise; musically it's not all that brave. It's not a bad song, but it's not anything we haven't heard from Benatar before on the B side of albums in the eighties when she churned out a string of hits.
Giraldo's distorted guitar finally fully breaks through in the song "I Won't," and turns listeners on for about five seconds of soloing. Has the day of 80's rock guitar solos been shelved? Benatar's vocals are solid and she displays that she still has the skill to hit a variety of notes but it would be nice to hear a harder rock edge backing up her raw, sexy vocals like in the days of songs like "Heartbreaker," "You Better Run" and "Treat Me Right."
Track four, "Have it All," was recently played live on the Sharon Osbourne show and follows another mellow to rock to mellow format. And finally a guitar solo that lasts five seconds! A strong song and certainly one of the better ones on the CD. Perhaps this should have been the title track.
Other songs include: "Sorry" which is backed with a somewhat familiar acoustic strumming that has an almost Who-like "Pinball Wizard" opening influence and even a short acoustic solo. Then there's "Please Don't Leave Me" which is one of the more mellow offerings in the CD and ironically had me leaving with the next track button.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Tim Hall
Can anyone explain why the guitar solo has gone so completly out of fashion?
There's clearly something up when a band like Rush, of all people, release an album with no solos.
I blame it on Indie/Alternative music becoming what's effectively the mainstream. Personally I'm sick of bands where all the guitarist does is strum chords.
2 - Tom Johnson
I think it's probably because 99% of solos were meaningless and pointless, and just sounded like the guitarist showing off. I'd rather hear a great guitarist play something understated and subtle than some wanky solo, and that's exactly what Alex does on Rush's latest.
I grew up listening to heavily-soloed rock in the 80s, I loved it at the time, but I'm more than happy to see solos disappear. Few guitarists are skilled enough to play a solo that actually means more than that they can play scales fast. I'd rather hear emotion than exhibition.
3 - duane
Grunge had a lot to do with killing off most budding guitar heroes. Sure, one could still find the occasional superfluous solo, but the grungekins were revolting against the 80s hair bands, who did the usual verse/verse/chorus/guitar solo/verse/chorus thing. A lot of early grungesters adopted the slogan "No guitar solos allowed," as if solos were the most salient characteristic of the hair bands, as opposed to, say, the hairspray, or the latex, or the power ballad. But yes, it may well be that the guitar solo went the way of the hairbands. Those guys did not take the music seriously. They made a mockery of rock music. Now we are left with such mediocrities as rap, the milquetoast strummers (not a bad name for a band, eh?), such as Dave Mathews and John Mayer, sissily choreographed boy bands, the slutmongers, Christina and Britney, and rap/rock, such as Korn and Limp Bizkit.
Then you could also ask what role guitar solos have in a musical piece. A soloist better add something to the music besides another minute. Jeff Beck once said (and I'm paraphrasing), "I don't do solos unless I have something to say. If I do have something to say, you can bet that I'll ram it down your throat." In this spirit, the grungonauts should have adopted the slogan "No GRATUITOUS guitar solos allowed." Although the word "gratuitous" is not very grungy.
4 - Tim Hall
British guitar solos suffered the same fate as a result of punk, which had the same 'no solos allowed' ethos. You hear very few solos in any British music after about 1980 except for metal bands. Solos started to come back in the late 80s with bands like The Stone Roses, but they seem to have gone away again, leaving nothing but boring strummy stuff.
What has happened to the generation of guys that would have been today's talented guitarists if fashion hadn't turned against them? Have they abandoned rock in favour of jazz, which still respects musical ability? Have they taken up some instrument other than the guitar? Or have they given up and become accountants?
5 - TDavid
I respectfully disagree that 99% of solos are meaningless and pointless. That number is way too high. Ok, so maybe this is the case for some artists, yes, but for guitar-driven rock bands from the 80's these solos were an important part of the mood of the song.
In Benatar's hit days, Neil Giraldi played more solos and had more edge to his guitar parts in the songs. Instead, the passage of time has made his guitars more subdued (and acoustic). Loverboy's newest studio album (which was a commercial failure a couple years back) did the same thing, over time retreating from the original more raw, distorted guitar sound that was part of some great riffs.
In the era of adding additional content for folks to purchase CDs I'd say that it's more important than ever to give bonus content (which means possibly extended or raw versions of songs complete with solos).
I'm with you Tim, and while writing this review I listened to a good raw guitar version of the song Brave from Go (and also a great version of the older hit song Invincible) on Rockline and are available via Real here
It's almost like these bands feel the need to stay in the studio and edit out the raw guitar tracks and remove or dumb down the solos (for some optimal song length or what?) because solos aren't cool any more.
The grunge tie-in is something because bands like Nirvana didn't do much soloing. Smells like Teen Spirit comes immediately to mind as a predictable and very easy to play solo.
Or worse, they are layering in a bunch of garbage to commercialize the sound. I'd rather listen to a good solo outro like the end of You Can't Kill Rock and Roll by Ozzy than some singer moaning with digitized phony keyboard sounds. In fact, I'd rather buy the raw tracks before all the crossphasing and other studio tricks are done, and maybe someday fans we'll get this. Sort of like how Metallica released the DVD with all their songs along with the CD.
When I think of Rush I think of solos like the one in Limelight on Moving Pictures. That is an incredible solo and without it, I think the song would be missing a lot of mood the song projects (also a guitarist in the Limelight with a solo makes sense)
6 - Sean Hackbarth
Despite the lack of any solos, Rush's Vapor Trails is a great album. What I can't understand is the lack of a solo on Metallica's St. Anger. One of the reasons I'm a fan is Kurt's guitar playing. When Jimmy Eat World has better guitar solos than Metallica, you know something's strange.
7 - Eric Olsen
solos typically are there to explicate and explore the melody, to change the tone of the song, to act as a bridge between sections, to show off. If it's the latter, it better be damn good.
8 - TDavid
Here are some songs that wouldn't be the same without the guitar solos:
Blackfoot - Highway Song
Eagles - Hotel California
Molly Hatchett - Fall of the Peacemakers
Lynyrd Skynrd - Freebird
Metallica - Fade To Black (and also the song: One)
Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven (also note the live version from The Song Remains The Same which is a couple minutes longer)
The solos in the above songs (and others) weren't just gratuitous filler parts, they made up a significant portion of the songs.
9 - duane
That's right TDavid. Some solos are there as integral parts of the song. Certain Gilmour solos are perfect for explicating (this Olson guy has some vocabulary, don't he?) Pink Floyd songs -- very tasty. And most any solo in a Steely Dan song belongs there. My intense dislike of Lynyrd Skynyrd prevents me from commenting objectively on the Free Bird solo. And what would "Do You Feel Like We Do?" be without Frampton's talkbox solo and subsequent masterful exploration, exploitation, and explication of the Dorian mode? Alex Lifeson's solo on Between the Wheels (Grace Under Pressure) is a beauty, his finest, if you ask me. It belongs there.
10 - duane
Sorry, Eric. That's Olsen -- with an "e."
11 - Mark Saleski
the lack of guitar solos is one of the main reasons i can't really get into a lot of modern rock (or nu-metal)....aside from the solo playing off of or expanding on the melody, it also can also serve to break the song up into sections...lots of modern rock i've heard ends up sounding like one long chorus.
12 - Tom Johnson
Let me re-state my position: I'm not a anti-solo snob. In fact, I love them in the right place. But the bands of the 80s overused them and they were put into effect by guitarist whose main skill was speed and not feeling. I'm lumping - sorry - I know there are very intelligent, thoughtful, expressive solos in many songs, but the majority of songs from that era are not gifted with such a thing. I wnat to hear a solo when it can advance the song, when it ties up a melodic loose end, when it can make a statement. I don't care if it shows off the skills or not - skill to me is knowing what to play, where. Being a jazz fan, I'm well aware of the importance of the solo. But the solo became the MO of a whole lot of metal in the late 80s, and the song suffered because it was just a vehicle to transport the listener to the solo. I'll never be sad to see that kind of thing disappear. But hey, I still love Joe Satriani - I follow his every release because the man makes his guitar truly sing. When I want to hear soloing, that's what I want to hear.
13 - TDavid
I'm curious, Tom, if you could name some songs with solos -- specific examples -- that you felt were unnecessary from 80's bands. I think some of the hair bands altogether were unnecessary, not just the solos from their respective guitarists. But I am curious if you can cite some examples of specific tracks that come to your mind as being excessive.
I'm not trying to rattle ya on this or anything, but I am intrigued by your perspective. Thanks for the feedback :)
14 - TDavid
BTW, in Benatar's Crimes of Passion (referenced in the post) these are the times of the guitar solos for each track:
Treat Me Right (:20)
You Better Run (:33)
Hit Me With Your Best Shot (:30)
Hell is For Children (:45)
Little Paradise (:40)
I'm Gonna Follow You (:40)
Wuthering Heights (:44)
Prisoner of Love (:24)
Out-A-Touch (:12)
- Nearly 5 minutes worth of guitar soloing and 9 out of 10 songs contained a guitar solo
- The only song without a guitar solo was Never Wanna Leave You
Compare this to Go which contains nary more than 45 seconds of guitar soloing on the whole CD.
Others in this thread have mentioned Rush and Metallica both releasing CDs with no solos on them and the comparisons to albums released in the 80's for both these bands would turn up even more glaring holes for soloing.
One would think that Benatar would have stayed true to their successful formula from Crimes of Passion, but in today's largely sololess music scene, they cut out the solos and cram an extra song or two onto the disc, thinking (?) that this is something that more appeals to today's music audience.
It's not just the solos, but I think the solos were part of a larger formula that worked for 80's bands and some of them have left the formula for whatever timely reason.
The converse of this is that Iron Maiden's newest CD has soloing in it and I don't think it was all that fantastic either.
15 - Sean Hackbarth
Where would rock music even be without guitar solo innovator Chuck Berry?
16 - Tom Johnson
I wish I could provide some examples, TDavid, but it appears my brain has been washed clean of them. :-) I'm not like most listeners today - I don't want to eschew them entirely. What I want is for guitarists to take the responsibility to make their solo mean something to the song. It's very often the emotional apex of a song, and, to me, having a wanky display of scales ruins what should be THE moment of the song. Style over substance. Unfortunately, most listeners today tend to be like my coworker, who immediately decides the moment he hears a guitar break free from the main melody of the song that it's just a cheesy show-off moment. The irony I see is that he appreciates DJ solos, which, to me, are exactly the same thing as a guitar solo just on a different instrument. I don't care for those either.
Let me just state for the record that I am a huge Rush fan and I think Alex Lifeson is one of the most underrated guitarists in rock. His solos are always tasteful and intelligent. There are some songs, like "Bravado," where his live solo is what carries the song from being simply good to being transcendent. It's not showy, it's just emotional. That, my friends, is what a good solo should be about.
17 - Mark Saleski
c'mon...WASP's Blackie Lawless was a fricken' artiste! look beyond the flaming codpiece and he was Jimi-freakin' Hendrix.
ok, maybe not.
18 - TDavid
Didn't Blacklie mostly play bass guitar, Mark? I realize in later albums he played guitar, but the earlier (and good) material he was just the bassist twirling around that fake long black hair with the skunk white stripe in it.
19 - TDavid
Blacklie = Blackie, doh!
20 - Mark Saleski
dang, i think you're right.
that's what i get for dissing hair metal!
21 - Eric Olsen
Back to grunge and guitar solos, #3 - Duane's statement, though imbued with some truth, is something of a canard since two of the demigods of grunge, Jay Mascis and Neil Young (while in grunge mode, of course, and this goes all the way back to "Down By the River"), solo their asses off. Lot's of soloing in post-grunge Built to Spill as well.
22 - duane
Yes, but Eric, an exception constitutes a mere peu de chose. Allusions to Neil Young could appear to be a facile stab at elusion. My hypothesis is virtually --- virtually, I say --- incontestible.
23 - Tom Johnson
Built To Spill - nice one, Eric. Very cool band. And effective soloing, too.
24 - duane
Here's an excerpt from an article about Dan Donegan, the guitarist for Disturbed. I think this is fairly representative of the mindset of the successors to the heyday of guitar-hero bands.
This is from Guitar World, November 2002.
Donegan cut his teeth on a steady diet of classic and contemporary metal, from Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin to Tool and Korn. In particular, the grunge bands of the early Nineties -- namely Soundgarden and Alice in Chains -- had a major impact on him. "Grunge appealed to me because it was very riff oriented. It wasn’t music that required these virtuoso guitar players," he says. "I liked the fact that a riff could carry the song, instead of merely killing time until the big guitar solo."
Interestingly, the first incarnation of Disturbed was actually heavy on guitar solos. That all changed when Dave Draiman, who had just left a band he describes as an "acid-funk project," signed on as the band's new singer. Says Donegan, "Seeing how syncopated and melodic a vocalist Dave could be, I wanted to take the music in a more riff-oriented direction -- that Soundgarden type of thing where the riffs take you on a bit of a journey. As a band, we felt like there was so much more that we could do."
Ain't it a shame?
25 - Tim Hall
It wasn’t music that required these virtuoso guitar players," he says.
And there's the culprit, laziness. To be able to play great guitar solos means long hours of practice, something today's instant gratification generation isn't interested in doing.