was it thin lizzy?
November 6, 2005 11:50 AM   Subscribe

What was the first band to employ dual-guitar harmonized "solos"? What are some good bands who have employed it?
posted by kenko to Society & Culture (39 answers total)
 
The Eagles did a lot of it - Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh, iirc.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:09 PM on November 6, 2005


Hmm, and the early Allman Brothers. I should probably stop to think before posting any more.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:10 PM on November 6, 2005


Obligatory Iron Maiden mention.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 12:13 PM on November 6, 2005


Scorpions.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:15 PM on November 6, 2005


Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys were doing it in the 1940's. An obvious example is their "Twin Guitar Boogie." That was a long time ago, but I'd be hesitant to say for sure that the Playboys were the first.
posted by mds35 at 12:16 PM on November 6, 2005


Hotel Califonia by the Eagles is certainly a very notable song using that technique. Other than that, I can't think of any early bands doing it. I bet if you dig a little, Hendrix might have done it, or something very similar - he liked that kind of studio trickery.
posted by ashbury at 12:16 PM on November 6, 2005


Older Thrice albums use that technique a lot, but you may or may not be into the whole "screamo-punk" genre that they're lumped into. I've grown to love them. They're one of my top 5 favorite bands now.

In Flames, a swedish "melodic death metal" band, also employs this sort of thing, and it sounds absolutely incredible. They're one of my favorite bands. The screaming turned me off of them at first, but my friend recommended having the lyrics up on a webpage while I listened, and it made a world of difference. Now I wish I could growl/scream right along with 'em as I listen (but it would hurt my throat too much - how do they DO that?!).

Other melodic rock/hard rock wankery: Soilwork (another swedish metal band), Dream Theater (pretty much the kings of excess wankery, but I enjoy them anyway)...
posted by twiggy at 12:16 PM on November 6, 2005


Thin Lizzy did a lot to make it popular.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:17 PM on November 6, 2005


What Wolfdog said. I've seen Thin Lizzy credited with being the quintessential harmonized-guitar-solo band in some guitar magazine (Guitar World?). The obvious example would be "The Boys Are Back in Town."
posted by Jaltcoh at 12:21 PM on November 6, 2005


Response by poster: Man, I have got to get me some Bob Wills.
posted by kenko at 12:22 PM on November 6, 2005


Speaking of the Scorpions, there is a stunning example in the middle of the song In Trance, which came out around the time Thin Lizzy was breaking through, both of them predating Iron Maiden (and the general glut of NWOBHM bands using twin leads) handily. The harmonized section of Exciter (Judas Priest, 1978) was undoubtedly hugely influential, too.

Of course, the idea of doubling your melody in thirds or sixths is about as old as song itself, so I've no doubt you can find examples all the way back through the origins of rock.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:31 PM on November 6, 2005


Jason Becker and Marty Friedman's "Cacophony" did this faster than anyone else ever has - I'll lay money on that. Some of the stuff is actually listenable, too. If you can listen to 80's speed metal.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:34 PM on November 6, 2005


Of course, the idea of doubling your melody in thirds or sixths is about as old as song itself, so I've no doubt you can find examples all the way back through the origins of rock.

That's a good point. Listen to Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat," for instance. I was just assuming that kenko meant hard rock bands.
posted by Jaltcoh at 12:38 PM on November 6, 2005


Response by poster: Jaltcoh is right that that's what I was thinking of, but don't let that stop you from suggesting prominent non-metal instances.
posted by kenko at 12:48 PM on November 6, 2005


If you want some more iconic examples, here are a few:

Carcass, Heartwork. This was a huge breakthrough in making that sound acceptable for "death metal" and paving the way for the Gothenberg scene.

In Flames, Only for the Weak, Embody the Invisible. As mentioned, these guys have made it a hallmark like almost no-one since Iron Maiden. (Except they recently seem to have gotten tired of it).

Helloween, I Want Out. Anthem that absolutely depends on the harmonized sound to establish its hook. Try playing the parts individually. Of course, a huge slew of bands descended from Helloween pretty much devote their careers to trying to duplicate this.

Metallica, Master of Puppets. When they were interested in that sort of thing, they were among the more ingenious in orchestrating and layering multiple guitar tracks.

Queensryche, Eyes of a Stranger. Eh, just a great melody made better by the harmony.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:53 PM on November 6, 2005


Whiskey in the Jar by Thin Lizzy is a major example. The main riff and the solo are harmonised. Bands like The Shadows probably used lengthy harmonised guitar lines in the 50's but I don't know any examples.
posted by fire&wings at 12:57 PM on November 6, 2005


This was a 'What are some good bands that have employed it' post.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:08 PM on November 6, 2005


How about The Beatles "And Your Bird Can Sing".
posted by gfrobe at 1:44 PM on November 6, 2005


Was never a fan, so I couldn't name any songs, but I heard plenty of twin-tracked leads from Wishbone Ash in the early seventies.
posted by nikzhowz at 1:46 PM on November 6, 2005


Kiss aren't pioneers, but you definitely want to include their Love Gun stuff in this category.
posted by johngoren at 1:59 PM on November 6, 2005


...good bands who have employed it?

Television!
posted by climalene at 2:53 PM on November 6, 2005


Kiss aren't pioneers, but you definitely want to include their Love Gun stuff in this category.

Detroit Rock City! Yee-haw!
posted by popechunk at 3:05 PM on November 6, 2005


Check out Judas Priest, Unleashed in the East. That blew me away when I heard it way back then.
posted by snsranch at 4:36 PM on November 6, 2005


Iron Maiden has in my experience been the classic example of this technique in a hard rock context, but I don't think you'll really be able to pin down a "first" artist to do this. People have been writing stuff like that since the Baroque era.
posted by ludwig_van at 6:38 PM on November 6, 2005


You'll definitely want to check out the first five seconds of Cave-In's "Until Your Heart Stops". The rest of the album contains some great two guitar metal harmony action, but the opening measure of the first song is thrilling.
posted by saladin at 7:25 PM on November 6, 2005


I feel like Brian May (Queen) must have done this more than once. I can't back that up right now, though.
posted by poweredbybeard at 8:30 PM on November 6, 2005


Iron Maiden has in my experience been the classic example of this technique in a hard rock context

Actually, I may have meant to say Judas Priest. Both of them did it, anyway. And yeah, Brian May definitely did it, too, although in his case he was overdubbing himself, as opposed to having two guitarists each playing a solo.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:54 PM on November 6, 2005


Check out The Fucking Champs - they do it proper!

and extra bonus points for allowing me to answer an askmefi question with "The Fucking Champs". Seriously.
posted by sluggo at 8:59 PM on November 6, 2005


That's a good point. Listen to Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat," for instance. I was just assuming that kenko meant hard rock bands.

"I didn't know you knew about multitracking, Buddy. Where's you learn that?"

"Les Paul, same place as you."

Or something like that. Been awhile since I've seen the movie :)
posted by First Post at 8:59 PM on November 6, 2005


Response by poster: The best part of The Fucking Champs is the track titles.
posted by kenko at 9:09 PM on November 6, 2005


Wolfdog: I would have sent you an e-mail directly, but didn't see one on your profile page. In any case, it occurred to me that your music tastes almost exactly mimic mine :). What that said, I always struggle to find new melodic death metal bands (which is to say, bands that have the Gothenberg Sound) and I welcome any suggestions you may have.
posted by Handcoding at 9:18 PM on November 6, 2005


Les Paul had the first multi-track recording studio in the world back in the late 40s. He pioneered overdubbing. His classic recordings with Mary Ford are symphonies of stacked guitars, many of which were recorded at different speeds to achieve certain effects and sounds.

Les' studio was located in the garage of his house. He had soundproofed all the walls and doors and the only way into the studio was through a side window. Because his studio was so advanced (one-of-a-kind, actually) and word had spread, he had the best musicians in Los Angeles (and therefore the world) climbing through a window to record in his studio. Download How High the Moon or Hold That Tiger for prime examples of his ground-breaking work.

The first musician to use multitracking was guitarist Les Paul. In 1947, Capitol Records released a record featuring Paul playing eight different parts on electric guitar. These recordings were made with wax disks; Paul would record a track onto a disk, then record himself playing another part with the first.

Paul commissioned Ampex, an American audio company, to build the first eight track tape recorder, at his expense. His idea was for a recording head which could simultaneously record a new track and play back previously recorded ones. Ampex released commercial multi-track recorders in 1955, naming the process "Sel-Sync" (Selective Synchronous Recording). The earliest multitrack recorders were analog magnetic tape recorders with 2 or 3 tracks.


A million bands have done it. But, that's not the question; The question was "who did it first?"
posted by wsg at 9:26 PM on November 6, 2005


Thin Lizzy was strongly influenced by largely forgotten Eire rockers Horslips. Idle perusing of their site strongly implies that they employed dual electric-guitar and electric manolin lead lines prior to the Lizzy's breakout.

I hear tell that the Decembrists have been known to inflict the Horslips' epic "the Tain" upon audiences within this very twelvemonth.
posted by mwhybark at 10:07 PM on November 6, 2005


Response by poster: Wait wait wait. The Decemberists ep "The Tain" is actually a cover? Or are you having us on?
posted by kenko at 11:55 PM on November 6, 2005


What? No mention of Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic Freebird dual guitar solo? Heathens!
posted by pmbuko at 11:58 PM on November 6, 2005


More recent, but Night Ranger's older stuff was rife with twin harmonized guitar solos as well as call and return. Eddie's Coming Out Tonight is pretty dang tight.
posted by plinth at 4:41 PM on November 7, 2005


Had to put in a late vote for Link Wray -- his "Batman Theme" just came up on my Winamp playlist, and there are definitely two guitars going at in for most of the song (also notable are the spoken/screeched "biff! bam! pow!s" at the end).
posted by electric_counterpoint at 8:05 PM on November 7, 2005


Recently "The Darkness" have employed this style of fret wankery.
posted by gergtreble at 8:12 PM on November 7, 2005


The Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Easily" on their Californication album uses this effect seamlessly. It almost doesn't sound like two seperate guitars anymore.
posted by jitterbug perfume at 3:25 AM on November 9, 2005


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