Impressive how they snuck that metal guitar snippet into such an R&B song!
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Yeah it was a big hit back then. I remember my gf liked it and then I did too.
Another one by Saga - On the loose - sounds a little scalely
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Kerry King being Kerry King on No Sleep 'til Brooklyn.
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Not shred exactly, but it always got my attention in the context of the song.
Guitar solo was played by Andy Taylor from Duran Duran.
It sounds like we are being a loose on the definition.
Michael Jackson Black or White.
Almost every Van Halen song.
Tons of 80’s era Journey songs.
Quite a few Phil Collen Def Leppard songs (photograph, let’s get rocked, rock rock etc.)
Any winger song that made it to radio
Some Sykes and vai era White snake songs that made it to radio.
Vivian Campbell era Dio (some did chart on rock charts)
I’m sure I could think of a lot more. All lot was played on the radio back in the day.
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Great mentions in there. Definitely stuff like Rainbow in the Dark and good call on MJs Black or White. That pentatonic lick from hell in the middle is no joke.
Just thought of a sort of trolling submission.
Soundgarden, Black Hole Sun. Semi shred level speed. Accuracy? Meh…moral of the story may be when in doubt, step on the wah pedal. As goofy as that solo was it did fit the song, somehow.
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The bolded part leaves a lot of room for discretion I think.
IIRC Kim Thayil played the solo in the same alternate tuning as the rest of the song, which maybe accounts for both observations.
i like the second solo here:
A staple of classic rock radio. Top 10 hit.
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That leave almost too much!
A lot of these charting songs slip in a short but solid metal guitar solo into an otherwise mainstream pop song. That’s impressive. The best example for me is likely Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, that solo was appropriate and tasteful but clearly pushing the limit for an R&B smash hit!
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Reminds me of a couple rap songs with surprising solos. Since rap has basically been the defacto format of pop music since the late 90s is this thread is more about pop music with solos shred or otherswise here’s some. Rap isn’t really a “here’s an instrumental solo” since it’s more about lyrics (well at least the good stuff is). I can think of a couple with great guitar hooks but mostly it’s all synths, keys, drums, and bass.
Good hooks here all samples but still great in their musical contexts.
Solos
Yeah fire away on me for this one, hahahaha
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MF DOOM forever.
(characters characters characters)
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Dokken - Into the Fire
- Peaked at #21 on Rock chart.
- Featured in the movie Nightmare on Elm Street 3 Dream Warriors.
Started at solo - nice screaming bends.
In the Rap genre, I don’t think there is a solo here but I put it anyway:
Raise Hell - Mash Out Posse
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59 on the Hot 100, White Lion’s Radar Love.
I really enjoyed that, they picked a great sample, too!
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Omg how could I forget them. One of my favorite solos in all rock (radio or niche) is White Lion’s “Wait”. It was a radio hit. Every single note in that solo is just perfect.
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It’s such a shame Vito Bratta just disappeared. Same with Chris DeGarmo from Queensryche just quit music after grunge happened.
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I’m not sure that’s all it was with either of them.
I remember Eddie Trunk I think talking about Vito suffering from some kind of strain injury that made playing difficult. Chris just seems to have weighed his style of music being past its time in the spotlight vs spending time with his family.
He played on a song with his daughter a couple years back.
And Alice In Chains got him to play on one of their newer tracks.
It must have been rough being the style band Queensryche is and being from Seattle in the mid 90s. But that run from the EP through Promised Land is one of the best catalogs of any metal band ever. Similar kinda thing that killed also from Seattle band Sanctuary when their label wanted them to go grunge after Into the Mirror Black.
I understand that guitar sales surge during the grunge era because everybody realized that it was much easier to play than hair metal.
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Also not unrelated to the 1990s booming economy. Guitar music was king, grunge/alt rock, the 90s country boom.