Worst guitar solos in popular songs

[Stratohacker]

I know this is all subjective, with that said my least favorite solo in a popular song is probably the solo in Steve Miller's "Abracadabra."

 

[Hodgo88]

"I played fast to sound frantic, not frilly" - The best reason I didn't go with any Slayer songs. I seriously doubt that either King or Hanneman know how to solo in any given key or scale, but what they do is absolutely perfect for the music they make.

Okay, but can we really even call this a solo? This is just scratchy muting and a wah for gods sake:

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

The solo in skynyrd's "free bird." Five seconds of that is too much. Just as bad or worse than Young's "Cinnamon Girl."

The first part of Freebird is a decent song. The last 35 minutes of it are terrible.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Perhaps, but Vernon Reid's a great player regardless, even if his style isn't exactly my cuppa joe. But credit where credit's due!

I was in a band that covered Cult of Personality and for the solo I just put my left hand in the #1 blues box position for that pentatonic scale, and picked as fast as I could with my right hand while randomly moving my left fingers around in that scale. People said I played it just like him.

 

[Novak]

The solos on Foreigner’s Hot Blooded are kinda suspect.
Of course, the F-boys ain’t noted for taste.

Ted Nugent and I disagree. That wild solo has a lot of character and rocks like Gibraltar.

 

[brookdalebill]

Ted Nugent and I disagree. That wild solo has a lot of character and rocks like Gibralter.

That somehow makes perfect sense.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Ted Nugent and I disagree. That wild solo has a lot of character and rocks like Gibralter.

I always thought that Foreigner solo was bada**. Total reckless aggression. Basically everything rock and roll is supposed to be. If Ted says it rocks, it most definitely rocks.

 

[brookdalebill]

I’m no Journey fan, BUT ……
This is Neil’s finest hour, or 30-ish seconds.
It always reminded me a little of one Brian May’s solos.
Great song, great arrangement, great solo!

I remembered which Queen/Brian May solo!
Somebody To Love.
The opening notes are similar.
Both great solos!

 

[staxman]

I wholeheartedly agree with the consensus. Quincy Jones is alive. As a former wanna be hippie dude, I’ll go against the prevailing winds and say I think the Big Brother & the Holding Company guitar solos are so bad that they are actually good.

 

[staxman]

I know this is all subjective, with that said my least favorite solo in a popular song is probably the solo in Steve Miller's "Abracadabra."

Hearing that song on the radio back in the day, I never made it to the solo before switching stations.

 

[JP22]

The “solo” on Should I Stay Or Should I Go by the Clash.

Is it deliberately supposed to sound crap though is the question?

 

[telemnemonics]

No, everybody knows it would have been a huge success, with or without Eddie’s 20-second contribution.

Well, everybody except for you.

Hell I would also argue that MJ was more important not only than Eddie but also more important than Quincy in the success of that and many of his albums.

 

[lupowitz]

Driven to Tears by The Police. Not only is the lead bad, it doesn't even remotely fit in with the song.

Well, I'm on the other side.
I was 13 when Zenyatta came out, and that solo convinced me, that the only reasonable thing to fill out my spare time with, is playing guitar solos. Am 55 now and stil going strong. Not only that, but I retired early to make my whole day spare time. That's the effect of that solo on me.

 

[brookdalebill]

I’m no Journey fan, BUT ……
This is Neil’s finest hour, or 30-ish seconds.
It always reminded me a little of one Brian May’s solos.
Great song, great arrangement, great solo!

I remembered which Queen/Brian May solo!
Somebody To Love.
The opening notes are similar.
Both great solos!

The plot (ever so slightly) thickens.
Both albums had the same producer, Roy Thomas Baker.

 

[telemnemonics]

How about when Gwar did a series of pop rock covers?
Some of the solos on Styx tunes were pretty horrific, IIRC.

I mean think about, Gwar doing Styx covers?
How can that NOT be horrific?

 

[telemnemonics]

The first part of Freebird is a decent song. The last 35 minutes of it are terrible.

You know one way that helps to judge pop rock when we who judge are mostly a buncha guitar player dudes who are past our prime, is when the music we judge as not great enough was big, was the audience a 50/50 mix of men and women all equally excited about the music?
Girls loved it and guys loved it so it seems they made pretty good choices in how they worked the room or the arena!
I suppose one could conclude that women at least appeared to enjoy the excessive guitar wankery for reasons other than musical, but I am just observing the gradual shift in improved guitar wankery technique that alienated audience members who were not specifically guitar wanker fan dudes.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

You know one way that helps to judge pop rock when we who judge are mostly a buncha guitar player dudes who are past our prime, is when the music we judge as not great enough was big, was the audience a 50/50 mix of men and women all equally excited about the music?
Girls loved it and guys loved it so it seems they made pretty good choices in how they worked the room or the arena!
I suppose one could conclude that women at least appeared to enjoy the excessive guitar wankery for reasons other than musical, but I am just observing the gradual shift in improved guitar wankery technique that alienated audience members who were not specifically guitar wanker fan dudes.

They should have hired studio session players to play the last 2 hours of that song. That would have been awesome!

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

The “solo” on Should I Stay Or Should I Go by the Clash.

Is it deliberately supposed to sound crap though is the question?

That might be an entirely different category. There are indeed some solos that were meant to sound like crap. Some are mentioned in this thread ("Abracadabra", for one). In my opinion, there should be an "intentionally crappy guitar solo" category. Because that's an art form.