The Death of the Guitar Solo

Written by Noah Lefevre and Mathew Brule
Imagery from Getty

[MichaelDooleyProject]

The guitar solo is alive and well and lives in my basement. 🤘🏽

[Tensei]

I think bands like Queens of the Stone Age (Kyuss), Muse, and Porcupine Tree also kept great guitar work driven music alive in the 2000s, if in a slightly more niche space than before.

Thank you for a great series. Looking forward to you highlighting more of what’s brewing now.

[cantcontrol]

The solos on Weezer's 'Say it ain't so' is what got me into music. Solos are a true art form that's lost its way in mainstream music

[griffinmaxwell]

That performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is my favorite live musical performance ever. Petty and Lynne are amazing, but then Prince just emerges from the darkness and melts everyone's faces.

[--thatbih]

4:12 Just a correction: The song is not Serve The Servants, it's Scentless Apprentice

[jonashrabcik]

It would be so amazing to have a final instalment of the series about guitar players today and how they are currently breaking new ground. I'd love to know about them

[becomingamirror]

A little surprised not to see Incubus's Michael Einziger not get a mention here. He has been very innovative from the late 90s through 00s, and many Incubus records include some creative guitar solos.

[augustosolari]

I just want to point out that if you look at the end of Prince performance of the solo, you will notice that he throws his guitar up to the sky AND IT NEVER COMES DOWN. Simply Magic!

[FuzzRatOD]

Small correction; Gilmour's solo on 1994 Pink Floyd's High Hopes, is not a (slide) guitar solo, but a lap steel solo. And yes it makes a difference.

[rEdf]

In 1977, at age 13 I remember hearing The Ramones debut album. I was stunned to notice there were no guitar solos at all, something I thought was crazy at the time.

[PhantomStrange]

I didn’t read the other comments, but Beastie Boys had long left Rick Rubin by the time Sabotage came out. Rubin was only involved with Licensed to Ill. Mario Caldato Jr produced Sabotage

[ileutur]

As someone who still listens to a ton of mainstream and underground guitar based music, I really don't notice when a song doesn't have a solo. I prefer creative lead lines instead, often found in instrumental genres like post rock and prog.

[milosnikolic]

Matt Bellamy of Muse has amazing solos and riffs from late 90s, "Plug in Baby" for example

[jibrilbaldhead]

A note of correction: Rick Rubin and the Beastie Boys parted ways several years before Sabotage. Mario Caldato Jr was their producer for that one.

[InfectiousGroovePodcast]

The guitar solo, just like every genre of music is most certainly not dead. People like to proclaim the death of things once they just have to do a little work for themselves to find it.

[DblakeDeathMetal]

Solos are a highlight to me in classic rock & metal music. And I noticed how I mainly pay attention to the actual music more so than what they’re saying. Because my mom is the complete opposite she knows songs from the words and when I try to describe a song to her by sounding out the music she usually can’t figure out what song I’m humming.

[grahamk]

I watch Prince's solo from "My guitar Gently weeps" about twice a year and its still just as magical.

[danieldelahunty]

Hi Polyphonic. The Nirvana song you have playing in the video is not from Serve the Servants. It’s from Scentless Apprentice.

[CarLos-isbz]

The Strokes have so many badass guitar solos
so does Mac Demarco
they been carrying rock and roll for the last 10 years

Stu and Joey from King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

in 2008 we got Psychosocial by Slipknot

Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend

[dylafterdark]

i’m glad modern guitar music is getting its own episode and i’m even more glad you’re talking about mdou moctar. truly a visionary on the guitar and not nearly talked about enough