I have never dated any heterosexual dude who doesn’t start arguing with me when I say I dislike solos, particularly rock guitar solos.
Here’s why I don’t like them: First off, most guitar solos from the late 60’s to today (though OBVIOUSLY there are exceptions) are masturbatory functions that serve no one save for the guitarist himself. They are not enjoyable to listen to and they serve nothing in terms of the overall message of a song, musically or lyrically. Even more bothersome is how they act as an extension of that western masculine ideal that you have to assert yourself, overpower the listener, to the extent that they are no longer part of the experience. We submit to the guitarist. Not to get all fem-freud, but when I see a guy soloing on guitar it’s obvious it’s some sort of pseudo cock-preening. It’s not appealing to me. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl, but I don’t think that’s true because I know lots of (unfortunate) women who love led Zeppelin and other uber-masculine, watered down blues-rock, please kill me now, dinosaurs. It’s probably because I grew up listening to my parents music which is either rock and roll, mostly before 1969 and punk rock. two genres that are more devoted to inventiveness, brevity and music that takes the piss out of everyone. I’m sorry, you can enjoy Led Zeppelin and the ilk, but you cannot ignore the constant “cock in face” style of masculinity they’re selling. And when young boys/men listen to that, that’s what they learn about being a man.It teaches them assert one’s masculinity and expect submission.
Gonna go listen to some Cream BYE GUYS.
