Lorraine Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 (edited) I love Alex on We Hold On, especially this part (listen through to 2:60): Edited July 21, 2020 by Lorraine 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 I love Alex on We Hold On, especially this part (listen through to 2:60): The song gets a lot of hate and I'm not sure why. It's a far cry from the worst track on S and A. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepphead Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 (edited) The best ones are the long solos!The worst ones are the short solos... However even the worst ones are pretty damned good!!! Generally I agree with this. The only "bad" solo from Lifeson is the one that isn't long enough (with the notable exception of Different Strings, which is awesome despite being way too short). However I do have favorites among his wealth of great material.I concur with the above sentiments .... I love the long solos, and yes, all the others are pretty damn good too lol! If i am pushed for a favourite, it would be the solos in La Villa Strangiato. :Alex: Edited July 21, 2020 by zepphead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepphead Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 (edited) To be honest, to rate Alex's solos doesn't really give him credit for his all round contributions.Conventional idea of a rock guitarist solo-ing is ... lots of good riffing during the vocal bits.... blistering solo ..... then back to riffing.As a three piece, particularlarly live, Alex is the musical 'glue' that holds everything together. To my ears, his overall contribution is quite phenomenal!! :Alex: Edited July 21, 2020 by zepphead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weatherman Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 To be honest, to rate Alex's solos doesn't really give him credit for his all round contributions.Conventional idea of a rock guitarist solo-ing is ... lots of good riffing during the vocal bits.... blistering solo ..... then back to riffing.As a three piece, particularlarly live, Alex is the musical 'glue' that holds everything together. To my ears, his overall contribution is quite phenomenal!! :Alex: Agreed, but it's a fun exercise.Eddie Van Halen has always maintained that his own rhythm work is better than his solos -- and he's right. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepphead Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 To be honest, to rate Alex's solos doesn't really give him credit for his all round contributions.Conventional idea of a rock guitarist solo-ing is ... lots of good riffing during the vocal bits.... blistering solo ..... then back to riffing.As a three piece, particularlarly live, Alex is the musical 'glue' that holds everything together. To my ears, his overall contribution is quite phenomenal!! :Alex: Agreed, but it's a fun exercise.Eddie Van Halen has always maintained that his own rhythm work is better than his solos -- and he's right.Yes, the soloing is the 'sexy' side .... showy and exciting ..... the rhythm work is the work-horse of the band. But it has generated a fun discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 To be honest, to rate Alex's solos doesn't really give him credit for his all round contributions.Conventional idea of a rock guitarist solo-ing is ... lots of good riffing during the vocal bits.... blistering solo ..... then back to riffing.As a three piece, particularlarly live, Alex is the musical 'glue' that holds everything together. To my ears, his overall contribution is quite phenomenal!! :Alex: Agreed, but it's a fun exercise.Eddie Van Halen has always maintained that his own rhythm work is better than his solos -- and he's right. I agree with that actually. A lot of EVH's solos sound really cool but it's a lot of whiz bang special effects and not a lot of melodic content. I mean they're still great solos, but not on the level of consistency that, say, David Gilmore is on. On the other hand, he very well may be the greatest rhythm guitarist of all time. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_hi_water._ Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 I love Alex on We Hold On, especially this part (listen through to 2:60): The song gets a lot of hate and I'm not sure why. It's a far cry from the worst track on S and A.Not one of my faves but it's definitely not one of the worst from S&A 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifeson90 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Too many great ones to choose from he the master of the genre but just given Turn The Page a blast and the solo in that one is the kind of abstract thing i like from Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weatherman Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 My faves are Limelight,Between the Wheels,La Villa.My favourite album for solos (which some people will disagree with)is GUP.Being a guitarist this album changed my outlook on solos.I have mentioned this before but a Guitar Player magazine at the time had features on Alex’s playing on GUP and EVH’s Diver Down.At that time I was an Eddie nut with all the speed and finger tapping nonsense.I remember Alex saying he was impressed with Eddie’s technique but ultimately it didn’t have longevity with him.Afterimage and Red Sector A like BTW are emotional solos and reflect the music and lyrics.But he still revved it up on Kid Gloves which I thought at the time was a dig at EVH with that wtf was that moment.Special mentions for Bravado,Avaidable Light and Red Barchetta.If there is any solos I don’t care for is the squally speed solos on Analog Kid and Spirit of Radio.Another special mention Shutting Up (?) off Victor.To be honest, to rate Alex's solos doesn't really give him credit for his all round contributions.Conventional idea of a rock guitarist solo-ing is ... lots of good riffing during the vocal bits.... blistering solo ..... then back to riffing.As a three piece, particularlarly live, Alex is the musical 'glue' that holds everything together. To my ears, his overall contribution is quite phenomenal!! :Alex: Agreed, but it's a fun exercise.Eddie Van Halen has always maintained that his own rhythm work is better than his solos -- and he's right. I agree with that actually. A lot of EVH's solos sound really cool but it's a lot of whiz bang special effects and not a lot of melodic content. I mean they're still great solos, but not on the level of consistency that, say, David Gilmore is on. On the other hand, he very well may be the greatest rhythm guitarist of all time. EVH's rhythm work was like a cartoon. I mean that in a good way - it POPS out of the speakers like a bouncing cartoon character. I've spent time learning a few of his parts, then finally gave up. Even if you get the notes right, you'll never get the feel. They're on another level, even more so than Lifeson's parts. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 2. The Camera Eye :haz: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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