What is your favorite part of a classic rock song? Is it the choruses that you can scream along to, or is it the swelling crescendos of your favorite singers? Whatever it might be, we can all likely agree that one of the most mutually loved aspects of classic rock songs are the guitar solos. However, what if a song doesn’t have a guitar solo? Does that make it worse? Not at all, because these six classic rock bangers don’t have one, and we all still love them.
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“Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin‘s 1975 track “Kashmir” has a lot of musical elements, but a guitar solo isn’t one of them. In their catalog, this track might just be one of their most ambitious. That being so, it is fairly unsurprising that they didn’t feature a solo, because they wanted to do something different. Well, they did, and they benefited immensely from it, as the masses are still jamming along to this song.
“Rock And Roll All Nite” by Kiss
Kiss‘ 1975 single “Rock And Roll All Nite” is like a boulder falling down a mountain: it goes and goes until it reaches the bottom. Frankly, that is the main beauty of this song, the momentum it carries from second one, all the way to the end. We could be wrong, but we believe that they decided to forgo a guitar solo for that very reason; they wanted to preserve and build the momentum.
“Surrender” by Cheap Trick
In 1970s classic rock history, the melody of “Surrender” by Cheap Trick is without a doubt one of the most memorable. Why do you think that is? Well, to us, it is because they decide to focus solely on it as well as the rhythm. In this track, no superfluous elements are distracting you from the main show: the melody. Unlike a lot of bands from the decade, the omission of a guitar solo turned this song into a legacy shaper.
“Wait Until Tomorrow” by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix is often considered to be the greatest guitarist of all time, and he’s received that unofficial title for many reasons, but predominantly one: his guitar solos. However, on this 1967 single, Hendrix decided to put his greatest weapon back in the armory. Given that this song is a Jimi Hendrix song, there is a part of you that will likely be waiting for that mid-song solo break, but guess what, it never comes.
“Lithium” by Nirvana
Nirvana‘s claim to fame certainly does not rely on their songs with exceptional guitar parts. That was never their bag, and that is not why the masses still remember them to this day. Released in 1991, “Lithium” does not fool around. Rather, it sees the light at the end of the tunnel and heads straight for it; hence, they seemingly felt no need to add a guitar solo.
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones
What makes a Rolling Stones song so good? Really, what is it, because while they do have a distinct and consistent style, they change it up within those stylistic parameters quite often. One time in which they did so was on “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, as Keith Richards never busted out into a solo. Instead, he just played the same riff throughout the entire song, and to us, it’s great, but maybe a bit boring for him.
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