More often than not, a sick guitar solo makes a classic rock song even better. But on rarer occasions, guitar solos don’t really add anything to already good classic rock songs. Sometimes, those showy solos make the song worse. The following three tunes, in my opinion, are examples of that.
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Please keep in mind that this list of classic rock guitar solos that I personally think were unnecessary is entirely a matter of opinion. I can definitely see why people like these solos and songs!
“Driven To Tears” by The Police
Listen, I’m a diehard Stewart Copeland fan. So, by association, I’m a fan of The Police. However, I just do not love the guitar solo on “Driven To Tears”. It’s a fine jazzy tune, but Andy Summers went way too hard on that solo. The tone is off, and I could tell that they were trying to go in a more abstract direction. However, his solo just clashes with the rest of the song. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.
“Champagne Supernova” by Oasis
Oasis fans don’t mess around, so I might get some hate for this. But hear me out! “Champagne Supernova” is an amazing song, no way around it. But they really missed the mark on this song.
The band got the incredibly talented guitarist Paul Weller for “Champagne Supernova”. At one point, Noel Gallagher takes on the bridge solo with Weller alongside him. If the song had been mixed better, this could have been amazing. However, you can barely even hear Weller at all. The guitarist even brought up his frustration with the mix in the past. Why bring on a guitar virtuoso only to bury him in the mix? I don’t get it!
“Honey Don’t” by The Beatles
The Beatles didn’t often put lackluster classic rock guitar solos in their songs. It happened on occasion, obviously, but the band usually opted for cleaner, intense solos in much of their music. “Honey Don’t” is an exception. George Harrison was an amazing guitarist, but this particular solo is just not it. It almost sounds like Harrison is bored, or, more likely, doesn’t have much confidence in the solo he wrote. Considering when this song came out, the band was probably just burned out by the exhaustive whirlwind of Beatlemania.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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