Musical Moments 1: Rock Guitar Anthems
Feb 23 '04 (Updated Mar 16 '04)
The Bottom Line You might come up with better examples than those I've listed, but I think these guys get overlooked
Introduction
As an avid music fan, and as a proponent of highly skilled musicianship over pre-fabricated musical pablum, I listen to all music with a highly critical ear - I look for details in the music that show me the artist really knows something about the craft. Little things stand out for me - a critical horn hit at just the right moment, an unusual arpeggio supporting the melody, an inflection in the vocalist's tone that brings out the emotion of the lyric - I look for the little things that add to making a performance that much better. Also, there are standards in music that differentiate musicians by their skills - the instrumental solo, vocal range and ability, songwriting (melody and lyric), ensemble work - there are many categories that could be defined here. Musical Moments is intended to be an ongoing series where I'll discuss my favorite details throughout a broad range of musical topics. At this point, I have no idea how regular a series this will be, but it's my hope to get these out about once a week. My aim is to inspire discussion among the epinions music reviewers regarding the chosen topic - I'd like to hear what you think of my choices, and what you might choose instead over the examples I've presented.
Guitar solos are one of the enduring staples of popular music, and will continue to be as long as bands are based primarily around the guitar. My favorite guitar solos are the slow, majestic anthems that make up the bridge or swoop in at the end to provide incredible inventions on the melody of the song. The following artists have created what I consider to be among the best examples of the rock guitar anthem:
David Gilmour, Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd - The Wall
...the child has grown, the dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb...
Let me just state this as simply as possible - Comfortably Numb contains two guitar solos, and for me, they are both prototypes of the rock anthem guitar solo. The first solo serves to move the song between verses and is more functional than decorative - the second solo is menacing, dark and disturbing, descriptive of the hell the main character is just beginning to enter in the story of The Wall. In both solos, you can feel the music crouching just out of site, and then hear the result as Gilmour unleashes them. Gilmour rushes nothing, letting each note play out as it requires, adding just the right growling tone in the voice of the instrument. The second solo never fails to amaze me - if I could play guitar, I would want to be able to rip out a sound just like this. Anyone have any more superlatives for sale? I can't find anything appropriate to further describe the solos in this song...
Prince, Purple Rain Prince - Purple Rain
Prince is rarely recognized for his skills with the guitar - his flamboyant, over the top persona and his penchant for creating music that oozes sexuality, tend to overshadow the fact that he is a terrific guitarist. In the movie Purple Rain, we get to see Prince perform two of the most amazing guitar solos ever conceived - the first at the end of Let's Go Crazy (I'll discuss that one next time), and the second to conclude the title track. Prince opens the track with a simple guitar riff that is memorable on it's own, then drops it down until after the second verse, where he starts to slowly crank up the heat with his voice and an ever more insistent guitar. At 3:47 (of an 8:42 long track), the guitar takes over for the next three minutes - it's a long slow burn of a solo that trails away from his incredibly passionate vocals. What sets this solo apart from others that may seem more complex is that it is the absolutely perfect extension of the song - with Purple Rain, Prince creates a storm of emotion in which the guitar is the eye at the center.
(Extra Credit - see if you can find these alternate versions of Purple Rain: The Okra All-Stars go country on Prince, and Dream Theater w/John Petrucci do a very fine tribute version with their nine minute rock guitar instrumental.)
Neil Schon, Still They Ride Journey - Escape
Journey? C'mon Andrew, you must be joking...
Actually, I'm very serious. Let's ignore Steve Perry for a few moments, and consider this - Neil Schon was a teenaged prodigy who had the great fortune to be part of Santana in the early seventies, and as such, learned his craft from Carlos Santana - that's a nice name to have on one's resume. Schon joined Journey after leaving Santana, and the band's most popular release, Escape contains a high ratio of really good Journey songs. Probably one of their more overlooked tunes, Still They Ride is a rock ballad describing "Jesse"s slow ride down Main Street late at night, reminiscing about old times and how the city has changed. Schon's guitar is the instrumental focus of the song, as he provides support throughout, but when the song reaches the bridge, Neil launches into one of the most incredible short guitar solos ever devised. A lot of pop-rock songs in the seventies and eighties featured a short guitar solo in the middle eight or as the bridge, but this one is the pinnacle of the genre. At the 2:25 mark, Neil begins with a simple yet majestic walk down the scale, then at 2:47, he kicks it into overdrive with some very fancy fingerwork up and down the frets without losing sight of the melodic theme. It's all a wonderfully fluid inflection, the perfect bending of each note into the next; Neil's instinct is correct with every single note. There are other Journey songs with longer and, sometimes, more complicated guitar solos, but this one is the standout of the entire Journey catalog - this is the one that gets it just right.
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OK, there you have it - three of my favorite rock guitar anthems. Sure, I could have listed a LOT more, but that's your job... let me know what you think of these choices, and add a few more of your own to the mix.
The Musical Moments Series:
Musical Moments 1: Rock Guitar Anthems
Musical Moments 2: Fiery Guitar Solos
Musical Moments 3: Blues Guitar Greats
Musical Moments 4: Ladies and Gentlemen: The Beatles!
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