Every week, we let down our guard, crawl out of our indie rock bunker, and embrace our guilty pleasures. And man, do we have a lot of ‘em. Will you join us in defending the indefensible?
Unnecessary solos: Five reasons to leave no riff behind:
1. Duran Duran – ?Rio?
Nothing says “Suck it, Spandeau Ballet” like a nasty sax meltdown. Forty-two seconds of bliss, starting at the 3:02 mark. It was only 1982, but as far as we we’re concerned the decade ended the second the last notes fell on this masterpiece. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore.
2. Every single Blues Traveler song
The problem with letting a guy with a harmonica into the band is that you have to let him jam out on the harmonica from time to time. Or, in this case, every single time.
3. The The – “Uncertain Smile”
Anybody who tried to listen to the single version of this song after hearing the album cut was invariably disappointed by the missing piano freakout. Three whole minutes they cut! Was it fantastic? Yes. Was it necessary? Not entirely. But we couldn’t mope properly without it.
4. Guns N’ Roses – ?November Rain?
Without Slash’s yeoman axe-work (and Axl’s bloated ego) this brilliant opus never could have approached the nine-minute mark ?- and what fun would that have been? Slash actually rips off three monster solos in the last five minutes (3:58-4:46, 5:07-5:37, and 7:10-8:53 if you’re scoring at home), although Axl poops all over the last one.
5. Ron Burgundy plays the “yazz flute”
Hey, Aqualung!
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Come on – The Darkness’ “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” has roughly fourteen solos, all of them frivolous and awesome. Should be #1 here.
Nice call on the Darkness. You have to love a band whose very existence is predicated on the idea that unnecessary solos are the only necessary part of a song. Tenacious D works that same corner of the schoolyard, to equally awesome effect.
Also, I love Ron Burgundy.
“Hear that? That’s baby-making music right there.”
Since when was it ever NOT okay to like unnecessary solos? Unnecessary solos are so damn necessary.
yessir
Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong, and again I say, wrong.
i love this column!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, “Rio”‘s sax solo was something to behold. It kills any attempt at kareoke though – 42 seconds of standing there, looking like an idiot (unless you want to “air sax” it up). Perhaps the sax solo is making a comeback – Cut Copy’s new single “Hearts on Fire” has a nice sax breakdown.
I hate this column
The call & response sax solo on Hall & Oates’ “Maneater,” while not nearly as tasty as the reed-burning masterpiece on “Rio,” is completely unnecessary and completely awesome as well.
somewhere along the line somebody said that the guitar solo was a bad thing, and even knowing how to play was considered geeky, and any solo with more than 2 notes was wanky.
I think it’s funny that people would have a problem with anything that evokes masturbation in this day and age. Jam on.