Guitar Solos

Guitar Solos of the 1980's

If you were metal heads like we were in the 80's, then you became very familiar with the guitar solo.  In a nutshell, at some point during the middle of the song (or rarely at the beginning), there would be a guitar solo.  Lead guitar players, sporting guitar brands like Kramer, Charvel, Ibanez, Gibson, Jackson and BC Rich, strutted their stuff to demonstrate their skills on the fret board.  There were those soloists who had amazing talent, like like Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Chris Impelletteri, and then those that were not as talented, but were in solid bands, like C.C. Deville (Poison), Mick Mars (Motley Crue), and Slash (Guns N Roses).  No offense to C.C., Mick, or Slash.  They would probably agree with us here.

But then came grunge in the early 1990's.  Grunge music was less about the guitar and more about the message, and as the years went by, the guitar solo went bye-bye.  There are some newer bands out there that continue the guitar solo tradition, but it is now the exception and not the rule.  Thankfully you can still get your fix of the heavy metal guitar solo on Sirius/XM radio.