5. Pink Floyd - Time

This one could arguably be higher on the list because of the quality of the solo, yet it falls to number 5 due to being just partially underrated. Why is it underrated you ask? Because Time has, and will probably forever act as the little, shorter, less cool brother of what is acclaimed by most as the best guitar solo of all time, Comfortably Numb. Well, I’m throwing my hat in this discussion to make a rather bold statement: Time is every bit the guitar solo that Comfortably Numb is. While Comfortably Numb exposed the world to David Gilmour’s chops, Time represents the archetype of Gilmour’s composition abilities. In a solo that never speeds up, Gilmour begins the solo with a melody which distinctly clashes with the main melody. He then manages to develop two completely distinct sections, with absolutely distinct feelings. The first half of the solo provides the tension that is resolved in the second half, which ties back masterfully into the song’s verse. This solo gives us the feeling that the solo has a life of its own, and although Comfortably Numb is great in its own right, it never achieves what Time does.

4. Tenacious D - Dude, I Totally Miss You

Middle age, fat, bald dudes can’t wail. That’s what we used to think before Kyle Gass’ arrival to the music world. This ballad, part of the “Pick of Destiny” soundtrack, is once again a vehicle for Kyle to showcase his surprising guitar skills. An acoustic version is introduced early in the song, while a full on electric reprise finishes the song. It is not the difficulty of the solo which makes it great, but rather the ever present platonic love for, bandmate Jack Black, which oozes out of every note. Oozes. That’s right, I said it.

3. NOFX – Perfect Government

This is not only an underrated song, but also the representative of what is generally an underrated genre. Admit it: the first thought that comes to mind when thinking about punk rock is most certainly not “guitar prowess”. This little ditty by the now elder Bay Area punk outfit surprises us not only with a catchy blues-driven intro, but also with a masterfully written guitar-encore to end the song. Speed alone does not determine the quality of a solo, but El Jefe perfectly balances speed and melody to provide us with an instant punk classic.

2. Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun

Here’s why I can tell you this solo is underrated: I’m sure you have a hard time remembering exactly what the solo sounds like. This is not exactly the kind of guitar solo you can hum or whistle along to. So what makes it so special? This is one of those few musical pieces that make zero sense by themselves, yet work so well within the song that you cannot imagine another solo that would fit in that spot. Go and give it a listen. See if you can make sense of the chaos.

1. Pantera – 10s

This is a solo, and a song, that never gained enough attention for two different reasons: First of all Pantera as a band did not enjoy long term mainstream success, or at least not enough for some of their lesser known songs to gain some notoriety. Secondly, every guitar solo in Dimebag Darrel’s repertoire will forever live in the shadow of Floods, Cemetery Gates and Walk (which if you haven’t heard, you should…. now). Hidden in the middle of a rather minimalist metal song we find this golden guitar nugget. A perfect balance of metal speed and gorgeous melodies make this solo hard to resist. Regardless of how you may feel about Pantera, or metal even, I encourage you to at the very least fast forward to the 2:48 mark and enjoy one of the lesser known treasures in metal guitar playing.

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ATH: When and why did you decide to re-add a second guitar player in Ed Rodriguez?

Greg: We decided to ask him one day in January. Satomi(Matsuzaki) and I were over at John’s house and we were checking out each other’s song ideas for the record. John had “Family Of Others” and a little snippet of “Buck and Judy” figured out. And the acoustic guitar part for “Offend Maggie” on a really terrible cassette recording that was mostly hiss. None of the songs had names yet of course. Satomi I think said should we ask someone else to join and we all thought of Ed, so John called up Ed and later that night Ed was in the band. He’s not just a second guitar player, once he joined it felt like a totally new band. The way we worked was different, all our interpersonal relationships were different. He wrote some of the songs on Offend Maggie.

ATH: What do you think about critics and fans calling your new album “Offend Maggie” more accessible than previous efforts? Was it planned to make more traditional songs? What does that word even mean??

Greg: I actually don’t think anything of it because of just what you say, I don’t know what the word means, never did. Also the fact that every record we’ve ever put out in 14 years has been called “our most accessible”. We have nine “accessible” records and one “inaccessible” record but it’s still a shock to these writers when they can sing along with our songs. From my experience the fans, who are the greatest fans in the universe by the way, don’t call this one more accessible or less accessible because they like our records.

ATH: No one seems to be able to classify your band genre wise and you pull from all sorts of musical backgrounds. If you could create a genre specific to your band, what would it be?

Greg: I don’t know what I’d call what we do but I think what we’re trying to do is make “music”. And I’m not sure we succeed most of the time. To me music is a very special thing that happens when someone is listening to sound in a very particular way, when sound seems to become beautiful. It often happens with sounds that aren’t usually considered “music”, and just as often it fails to happen with what is usually called “music”.

ATH: Speaking of sound, how did you decide to sound the way you do? Or where does your sound come from?

Greg: It doesn’t come from deciding for the most part. I mean some parts involve deciding, like “what order should the songs be in” or something like that. Most of it comes from pretty much out of nowhere.

ATH: What is your approach to writing your very unique lyrics? And are they meant for any particular sort of interpretation?

Greg: Well Satomi wrote almost all of the lyrics on Offend Maggie. John wrote “Family of Others” and I wrote “Don’t Get Born” but the rest was Satomi. I don’t know how she does it. I don’t know if they are unique but I sure like them. Oftentimes she will write lyrics for a song where I wrote the music and the melody, and I get this amazing feeling that she understood exactly what the song was about, even though I couldn’t see it at all. When she puts the words to it, it’s like “Ah! Now I get it!”

ATH: You may have been one of the first bands to release sheet music for single “Fresh Born” and offer fans the chance to create their own version of the song. How did this idea come about and what crazy new promotional things can we expect in the future?

Greg: It wasn’t really intended to be crazy, just fun. I was worried no one would submit anything, but we had such incredible participation from people. That’s why I say we have the best fans, I would never covet any other band’s fans or trade ours in for any others. So creative.

ATH: The idea for pre-release sheet music was also recently used by UK giant Oasis. Can we expect a Deerhoof/Gallagher brother’s feud? Do you think they can even read sheet music?

Greg: I’ve never actually heard Oasis so I don’t really have an opinion. But I do think it’s a really fun idea, maybe better in our case because we had it up before our record came out so when people recorded their version, they weren’t influenced in any way by our version.

ATH: You guys seem to have more fun playing live than any band I can remember. What’s the best thing about playing live and what makes your shows different from the average band?

Greg: No such thing as an average band. It’s been fun on this tour. Ed Rodriguez has really changed the feeling on stage, I never know what’s going to happen and sometimes I feel like I’m going to crack up with some of the dance moves my bandmates are attempting. Usually we have fun, why shouldn’t it be fun, I mean we are so lucky to be able to play our music and have people listen to it. This tour has been really incredible too, all because of the people who come to the concert. They are so enthusiastic and I can feel when they are really listening, in other words when the “music” starts to happen.

ATH: Are there any artists on the Kill Rock Stars label that you fell particularly aligned with or are you an anomaly amidst your own label¹s roster?

Greg: Funny question. One thing about Kill Rock Stars, every band on that label is an anomaly. There’s never been any rhyme or reason to who they sign, not that I’ve been able to perceive. That’s why they are the best label, and it’s also why they survive through all the trends, because they never followed any trends. I just read they signed The Thermals, that’s cool, The Thermals are great!

Many thanks Greg for giving us the time to answer the tough questions.  We agree, The Thermals are great.

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