STP helped killed the guitar solo ...

[MrKerosene]

yeah... who cares about metal solos? dean has some of the best solos i've ever heard.

[foou33]

i find shredding almost kills the solo sometimes. at a certain point it starts to be kinda funny, wow you can play really fast... so now what? although some shredders can figure out something melodic, but like 95% i hear a ego speed competition

[MrKerosene]

i find shredding almost kills the solo sometimes. at a certain point it starts to be kinda funny, wow you can play really fast... so now what? although some shredders can figure out something melodic, but like 95% i hear a ego speed competition

Agreed. There are plenty of metal bands that do it right, but to say that somehow a song is better than another based on technicality is somewhat of a misguided opinion. There's an art to subtlety, and I think it takes more to know how to practice that then to write a song centered around showing off technical skills.

As for Dean Deleo, he goes through painstaking lengths to make sure his guitar is just the right tone, and that every song and every album has a signature feel to it. Like I said before, too, Dean has some awesome solos.

[NoMemory_Sin]

WTF? Vasoline contains one of the best solos ever!

[bigemptycreep]

I think he kinda pulled those two names out of his ass. It's pretty ignorant.

bands in the 80s did coke, in the 90s they did heroin. look at those two drugs and tell me which one would make you want to do a shredder solo and which one would just make you drop d and sing a sad song

[JugeSTP]

when that guy said there's still hope because Disturbed is soloing, I almost spit my drink all over my keyboard. I actually couldn't tell if he was being serious or sarcastic. Have you guys ever heard Disturbed solo? And when they do, if they do, is it good? No and no. Hahaha. I mean, ugh I just get so fired up about his article. It's just so misinformed.

Sidenote, he of course never responded to my email. Coward.

[zackrandal]

wow, what a stupid article. has the author even heard stp? dean solos all the time and its always great. silvergun superman has my all-time favorite solo, and you cant even call it "watered down" or "unconventional"...it sounds like led zeppelin. its basically perfect.

i can see what theyre saying about nirvana but, seriously, nirvana wrote solos that fit with the song and enhanced it, not just for the sake of writing a solo so you can shred it as fast as you can. nirvana definitely wasnt as technically talented as stp but please, listen to the solo in "heart shaped box" or "floyd the barber" and tell me it isnt awesome anyway...

[zackrandal]

WTF? Vasoline contains one of the best solos ever!

yeah and i forgot all about vasoline, that solo is pretty fucking fantastic if you ask me

[Divider]

Dean's work on every STP album is amazing.. and he doesn't need to play solos to show how great he is..just have a listen to the chords and fills he plays in the studio and live.. amazing

[OnlyDying73]

this is BULLL

[tumbleintherough]

Dean is one of the best guitar players in the world and very underated i hate that shredding shit anyway its way to overated and metal is garbage now anyway it hasnt been good since the 80s or 70s whatever ive never heard any guitar player sound like dean i jam in many bands and i play bass and let me just say it like this i know guys that can play eddie van halen shit but cant even play vasolines solo or the chords to a lot of stp songs cause there so differnt so this is a joke

[randallanddarcy]

Guitar playing isn't really about 'shredding'. It's about playing with feel, and playing to the strength of the song. Having said that, every STP song has a guitar solo, even short ones, and they always fill the criteria above. His solos are very 'classic rock' sounding, which means they're timeless and not reliant on technology that may become dated.

All of this is a good thing.

[zackrandal]

Guitar playing isn't really about 'shredding'. It's about playing with feel, and playing to the strength of the song. Having said that, every STP song has a guitar solo, even short ones, and they always fill the criteria above. His solos are very 'classic rock' sounding, which means they're timeless and not reliant on technology that may become dated.

All of this is a good thing.

exactly. i love classic rock-style solos because they can show off talent, but theyre not just "shredding", and they usually fit the song very well. just listen to the "piece of pie" solo... its very good technically, but it also fits seamlessly with the song, and contributes to the overall atmosphere, etc. guitar solos should have just as much meaning as the lyrics, in my opinion.

[TLee05]

I think John Frusciante once said, "Music isn't the olympics."  And keep in mind, that guy can shred if he really felt like it.  Just do what the song calls for.

[Piece_of_Pie]

I think John Frusciante once said, "Music isn't the olympics."  And keep in mind, that guy can shred if he really felt like it.  Just do what the song calls for.

Agree 100%

I hate it when people try to argue that a certain musician or group is "better" than another because they have more technical skill.

In terms of guitar solos.... I'm all for crazy shredding every now and then. But it has its place. Sometimes less is more (artistically speaking).