Top 10 Worst Guitar Solos Ever Played

Deep Blue Something


Second time was the charm for Texas alt-rock band Deep Blue Something when it came to this recording of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” The group re-recorded it for their second album, which wound up achieving gold status in the United States. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” possesses all the hallmarks of an inoffensively catchy one-hit wonder from the decade, although the guitar solo never really catches up to the heights of that earworm chorus. The melody jangles around well-enough, we suppose, but there’s not really enough “oomph,” to kick the solo out of first gear. This lead guitar break isn’t offensively bad (hence its lower position) but yeah, Deep Blue Something probably could’ve done better.

The Police


The combustible and often confrontational nature of The Police’s iconic lineup of Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers rises to the forefront on “Mother.” Summers actually does lead vocals on this song, an experimental piece that speaks to The Police’s progressive and middle-finger punk roots. That said, it’s not easy to listen to Summer’s unhinged vocals and angular, dissonant playing. The lead guitar here is abrasive, but intentionally so, thus it achieves what it sets out to do. That said, “Mother” is a subjectively “out there” track on a record that was, otherwise, one of The Police’s most commercially successful efforts.

The Misfits

We get it: the glass house of punk rock musicianship probably isn’t the best place for our stones. After all, the overarching point of the genre effectively eschews musical flash and tradition in favor of raw feeling and aggro. That said, the solo in “We Are 138” by The Misfits probably could’ve been skipped altogether in the studio. The song honestly rocks hard enough on its own riff-merit, leaving the lead break rather extraneous and poorly executed. The awkward noodling is so brief that it barely registers, and doesn’t really add anything to the tune other than “What was that?” and “Why did that happen?”

Grand Belial’s Key

The technical ability that occasionally defined death metal in the 1990s was tempered somewhat by the black metal movement, which tended to focus more upon atmosphere. Still, some very important guitar solos could be found during that genre’s early days, such as Euronymous’ solo in Mayhem’s “The Freezing Moon.” Grand Belial’s Key controversial reputation within black metal was compounded by the long-winded solo featured within “Sleeping Princess of the Arges.” It starts out decently enough, echoing the song’s slow, moody section with a surprising amount of bluesy feeling. The lack of ideas soon becomes apparent, however, since the solo loses focused and is even flubbed near the end. This provides a listening experience that’s both fascinating and cringeworthy in equal measure.

Poison

The bloom and the thorn were both off the rose for Poison back in the early nineties, thanks to tensions within their lineup. Evidence of this hostility has been saved for posterity during the group’s live performances from this era. Poison’s appearance at the 1991 VMA’s was iconically bad, as was this gig from that year’s American Music Awards. C.C. DeVille’s solo during “Unskinny Bop” essentially goes off the rails and into business for itself, as DeVille scorches the earth. The lead playing is flashy, sure, but it’s also ridiculously sloppy, selfish and indicative of why DeVille was soon to exit the band’s ranks.

Beastie Boys

The origins of the Beastie Boys actually lie within underground hardcore punk, so it doesn’t come as any real surprise that they employed then-labelmate Kerry King of Slayer for guest appearances on a couple of tracks. “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” and “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” were huge hits from the Beastie’s early days, rock/rap crossover smashes that featured King on lead guitar. King’s solo style was anything but melodic, focusing instead on discordant noise and whammy-bar dives. That “love it or hate it” approach was set on full display here, and while Slayer fans may be used to it, the early days of hip-hop did NOT tend to feature these kinds of strangled guitar solos.

Metallica


It seems incredible that a band like Metallica could even appear on a list such as this one, since these heavy metal legends have become basically synonymous with the genre. Then again, nu-metal was in full swing back when “Some Kind of Monster” was released in 2003, and Metallica decided to follow trends instead of setting them in motion. The album “St. Anger” was the result, a trainwreck that still sold well even if many found it wanting. “St. Anger” basically (and famously) omits lead guitar altogether, with Kirk Hammett’s sputtering solo break at the end serving only to mercifully bring us to the end of this song’s torture.

Alice in Chains

This hidden song from Alice in Chains’ “Sap” EP was an interesting musical experiment that the band never recorded again, and probably with good reason. The entire group switched instruments for “Love Song,” with bassist Mike Starr winding up on lead guitar. The end results are basically as bad as one might imagine, given Starr’s limited experience with the instrument. “Love Song’s” guitar solo sounds like it belongs in an entirely different genre, ripping and tearing the tune to pieces. The members of Alice in Chains at least sound like they’re having a good time bashing out this bizarre and combustible tune, with frontman Layne Stayley blast-beating the drums like they owe him money.

Twisted Sister

This glam metal group struck the big time back in the 1980s with a number of successful singles. “We’re Not Gonna Take It” is, without a doubt, an anthem for the era, but the guitar solo for the song is…shall we say “less than inspired.” It simply adapts Dee Snider’s vocal melody line for his solo, adding little to nothing to make “We’re Not Gonna Take It” a better song. We’ll grant that it IS a great melody, but the solo could’ve perhaps worked around it in a way that could’ve serviced the composition, rather than taking the easy way out. Funnily enough, Kurt Cobain would make a similar decision years later with Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Limp Bizkit

Who knows why performances of certain songs go viral? “Nevermind” seems to have been some sort of demo or workshop by Limp Bizkit, composed during their nu-metal heyday. Then, some live footage surfaced of frontman Fred Durst performing a guitar solo for “Nevermind,” and the internet lost its collective mind. We’ll allow that Durst is a (subjectively poor) rapper and singer, and guitar playing isn’t really his job in Limp Bizkit. Yet, here we are with a guitar solo that’s bogged down in the delusions of someone that seems very pleased and self-satisfied. The end results speak for themselves, really, an embarrassing exercise that nevertheless achieved minor cyberspace infamy.



We can’t play guitar any better than these folks, so what do we know?! Sound off with your least favorite solos in the comments, though, or justify these entries with some faint praise!