[Spank-A-Thon]

I love rock and metal, I've been listening for over 15 years and love stuff from 70's rock, to 80's hair metal and thrash to newer 'nu-metal'. But there's one thing that really separates the rock/metal of the last couple of years from the earlier stuff...

Guitar solos...

And by that, I mean good guitar solo's. In the late 70's you had Jimmy Page, Hendrix, Clapton. In the 80's you had Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Randy Rhodes. In the early 90's you had Kirk Hammet, Kerry King and Steve Vai.

Who do we have in the late 90's/early 00's? No one - there are no more guitar heroes. Most (although not all) newer rock and metal don't even have a guitar solo!

As well as being something for a guitarist to show off his skills, a lot of solos were beautifully crafted and added emotion to a song. Others were nothing more than, excuse my french, a fret wank... But still, the guitar solo was a crucial part of any rock/metal song.

I miss guitar solos. I miss seeing interviews with guitar gods in magazines. I miss the exuberance and decadence these solos would sometimes exemplify.

I blame Kurt Cobain for this. There is no doubt in my mind that he popularised a simpler form of guitar playing. Ever since Nevermind had the success it did, the majority of rock/nu-metal tracks have displayed a simpler form of guitar playing. Kurt Cobain made it okay to simply sweep through chord sequences, rather than playing a riff.

I really miss the Guitar Heroes. Does anyone else feel the same? Perhaps some of you see guitar solos as nothing more than a relic of the past. Anyways, I'd love to hear your thoughts whether you agree or not.

In the meantime, I'm gonna go and listen to some 80's metal... My Air Guitar is primed and ready to rock!

- S