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Was lead guitarists/guitar solos better in the 70s or the 80s?


fraroc
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I would say they were definitely better in the 80s. In the 80s, you had players like EVH, Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Vito Bratta etc. that all had a very unique sound and approach to the guitar.

 

I'm sorry, but in the 70s, a lot of lead guitar sounded very pedestrian and similar to one another. It wasn't until EVH and then Randy Rhoads busted on the scene that guitar players got a boot up the ass that they needed.

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um....70's.........Brian May, David Gilmour, Steve Hakett, Zappa, Lifeson, Howe, Tommy Shaw, Blackmore, Page, Iommi, Knopfler, Buckingham.

 

I just woke up so i can't think, lol

 

but 80's wert great too.

 

Mick

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70s

 

Uli John Roth

 

Eddie Van Halen (VH1 released 1978)

 

Steve Howe

 

Jeff Beck

 

John Mclaughlin

 

Frank Zappa

 

Glenn Tipton

 

Eric Johnson

 

 

 

Gary Moore

 

Alan Holdsworth

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Technique reared its ugly head and killed all the soul.

 

70s: I'm in pain, I'm angry, I'm lost

 

80s: look what I can do!

Edited by toymaker
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Too many 80s solos sound the same. Doesn't matter if they're flashy or technically skilled, a guitarist needs to be connecting with the audience on an emotional level, especially during a solo. I don't think much that was ever played in the 80s reached the heights of the Bohemian Rhapsody solo, the Stairway To Heaven solo, The Hotel California solo, the Free Bird Solo...

 

There's a reason those are so renowned and cliched. Also Erruption was in the 70s, so there's some EVH awesomeness too.

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Too many 80s solos sound the same. Doesn't matter if they're flashy or technically skilled, a guitarist needs to be connecting with the audience on an emotional level, especially during a solo. I don't think much that was ever played in the 80s reached the heights of the Bohemian Rhapsody solo, the Stairway To Heaven solo, The Hotel California solo, the Free Bird Solo...

 

There's a reason those are so renowned and cliched. Also Erruption was in the 70s, so there's some EVH awesomeness too.

 

i was thinking uh........EVH WAS in the 70's Fraroc, lol.

 

i didn't like the way he undersold the 70's to be honest.

 

Mick

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Lifeson's 70s tone was fantastic - all the way from the debut to Permanent Waves.

 

Tbf, MP also has some of his best work, but yeah that 70s run from the debut to PeW is enviable.

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90s

 

:LOL:

 

Of course, there is a lot more soul in Cobain's "solo" in Smell's Like Teen Spirit than in most hair metal bands' whole careers.

 

I'm still not a Cobain guy though.

Edited by Entre_Perpetuo
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Jimmy Page 60s/70s (more 70s)

Stevie Ray Vaughan 80s

Ritchie Blackmore 70s

Steve Howe 70s

Jimi Hendrix 60s

Alex Lifeson 70s/80s (more 70s)

Edward Van Halen 70s/80s (more 80s)

Tony Iommi 70s/80s (more 70s)

Brian May 70s/80s (more 70s)

David Gilmour 60s/70s/80s (more 70s)

 

 

That's the list of finalists in that mega guitarist poll we had a few months back. I parsed out what each guitarist's most famous decades were from off the top of my head so you can't deny the 70s appear to have held the most awesome stuff from the majority of these guys. Also VH1 is my fav VH album.

Edited by Entre_Perpetuo
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I think even as far as the rock genre goes, the tone of the guitar tended to be superior in the 70s - warmer, thicker, more human. Guys like EJ and SRV sure dug out some great tone, though.

 

Along with Lifeson's tone in the 70s, I really love the sound of the guitar in things like Magic Man and other stuff by Heart, Barre's stuff on the Tull albums, the Boston sound (before it became digitized and miniaturized), the Styx sound, Billy Gibbons's sound . . . so many, really. I'm with EP re: the sameness of the 80s sound - much more acidic, compressed, squealy, frenetic and diddly - it had its own toolbox of cliched noises. If a 70s player used a pinch harmonic (or whatever it's called), it seemed spontaneous; when an 80s player does it, it seems like intentional and practiced wankery. In my opinion.

 

Interesting that fraroc began by claiming that 70s guitarists all sound the same. Maybe they tended to be more blues scale oriented, and less prone to all the other scales, the myxolidians or whatever, and maybe the emotions they were evoking were more recognizable . . . but I would say a lot of them really had their own mojo and style.

Edited by toymaker
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I think even as far as the rock genre goes, the tone of the guitar tended to be superior in the 70s - warmer, thicker, more human. Guys like EJ and SRV sure dug out some great tone, though.

 

Along with Lifeson's tone in the 70s, I really love the sound of the guitar in things like Magic Man and other stuff by Heart, Barre's stuff on the Tull albums, the Boston sound (before it became digitized and miniaturized), the Styx sound, Billy Gibbons's sound . . . so many, really. I'm with EP re: the sameness of the 80s sound - much more acidic, compressed, squealy, frenetic and diddly - it had its own toolbox of cliched noises. If a 70s player used a pinch harmonic (or whatever it's called), it seemed spontaneous; when an 80s player does it, it seems like intentional and practiced wankery. In my opinion.

 

Interesting that fraroc began by claiming that 70s guitarists all sound the same. Maybe they tended to be more blues scale oriented, and less prone to all the other scales, the myxolidians or whatever, and maybe the emotions they were evoking were more recognizable . . . but I would say a lot of them really had their own mojo and style.

80's

 

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I guess I just don't like 70s guitar solos that much because I'm not a fan of blues. Blues in the 70s to me, was extremely cookie cutter and repetitive. So many songs sounded exactly the same melody-wise and might only have a few differences in lyrics.

 

Of course there are going to be several outliers, like Alex Lifeson, Richie Blackmore, Jimmy Page etc....But for me, it wasn't until EVH came along that guitar solos got revolutionized. He's the one that paved the way and made 80s lead guitar what it was.

Edited by fraroc
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I would say the 70s have more breadth of styles. Iommi isn't like Page. Page isn't like Blackmore. Blackmore isn't like Lifeson. Lifeson isn't like Michael Schenker. And on and on.

 

The 80s are pretty much Van Halen and his imitators with the exception of Vaughn. Even Rhodes, who I love, was very similar to Van Halen stylistically (IMO). But Van Halen remains my favorite guitarist of all time so . . .

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I would say the 70s have more breadth of styles. Iommi isn't like Page. Page isn't like Blackmore. Blackmore isn't like Lifeson. Lifeson isn't like Michael Schenker. And on and on.

 

The 80s are pretty much Van Halen and his imitators with the exception of Vaughn. Even Rhodes, who I love, was very similar to Van Halen stylistically (IMO). But Van Halen remains my favorite guitarist of all time so . . .

 

Yep.

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