Guitar solos - Senjutsu

I think there's some nods to Thin Lizzy in the solos on Death of the Celts, there is definitely very Brian Robertson like phrases at the start of Adrian's solo, and he is the biggest Lizzy fan in the band, so I definitely feel that's on purpose. I think there is some in Janick's solo too but that might be my imagination. I also think Dave is invoking his Clansman chorus fill in his solo too on purpose.

I wholeheartedly agree on the Brian Robertson influenced bit!
 
A guitar player from a tribute band (Ed Hunters) posted the following at the official fan club forum regarding the solos on The Thin Line Between Love And Hate:



I had assumed all solos were Davey's, but I am happy to admit I was wrong.
Only the last one is Jan's. All other four is Dave's.

I've been reviewing the solos and the last one seems a bit like Davey 'cos Jan holds some notes, but, the vibrato is what gives it away. On the other hand, the one before, also, has the ending vibrato wild, but, has that countour, a smoothness that only Dave does.
 
Last edited:
Senjutsu is the reunion album with the most solos! (1 solo more than TBOS album)... adding a 6th solo in ''The Parchment'' was the deciding factor.
 
6. "The Time Machine" Gers / Harris 7:09
A
D
J
''The Time Machine'' (along with ''Shadows Of The Valley'' and ''The Mercenary'') are the only songs written by Janick (since the reunion) that are not title tracks and contain more than 1 solo... in BNW song's case, Janick is even without a solo!
 
''The Time Machine'' (along with ''Shadows Of The Valley'' and ''The Mercenary'') are the only songs written by Janick (since the reunion) that are not title tracks and contain more than 1 solo... in BNW song's case, Janick is even without a solo!
At first I thought you said Janick doesn't have a solo on Brave New World. I had to read it three times before I understood what you meant :rolleyes:
 
Anyone know which guitarists are panned to which speaker for each of the songs? Rhythm too. I love trying to pick out those crunchy Adrian riffs.
 
9. "The Parchment" Harris 12:39
J
D
J
A
J
A
Curious fact: ''The Parchment'' (along with ''For The Greater Good Of God'') are the only epics since the reunion (with more than one solo) in which the first solo is played by Janick.
 
Last edited:
For the Greater Good of God?

[9:06]

01. 5:48- Janick Gers
02. 6:16- Adrian Smith
03. 6:29- Dave Murray
 
Last edited:
So the solo structure in Death of the Celts has always been a little odd to me (still great!), and I think I may have uncovered something interesting. Here are the approximate times of each solo:
  • Adrian First: 4:18 - 4:44 = 26 seconds.
  • Janick: 6:55 - 7:22 = 28 seconds.
  • Dave: 7:23 - 7:36 =13 seconds.
  • Adrian Second: 7:37 - 7:50 =13 seconds.
Adrian and Janick get nice lengthy solos, but Dave's is cut short by a second, shorter one from Adrian, though the total length of that particular section is roughly 26 seconds, roundabouts the same length as H's first and Janick's. So, could it be that Dave was meant to take a longer solo here? Were they all supposed to take short solos, but decided they needed another one to bridge the two halves of the song together? Did Janick write a longer solo (it certainly sounds more thought out than is usual for Jan) that Steve liked enough to let him keep it intact?
 
Adrian and Janick get nice lengthy solos, but Dave's is cut short by a second, shorter one from Adrian, though the total length of that particular section is roughly 26 seconds, roundabouts the same length as H's first and Janick's.
I really don't get what the above has to do with the below:

So, could it be that Dave was meant to take a longer solo here? Were they all supposed to take short solos, but decided they needed another one to bridge the two halves of the song together? Did Janick write a longer solo (it certainly sounds more thought out than is usual for Jan) that Steve liked enough to let him keep it intact?
Why were they all supposed to take short solos? What does it have to do with needing another one? Another what one? And why? And what has this to with bridging two halves of the song?

You could as well have said that apples were present, but did they need carrots to overcome the pears?

I'm not making fun of your post Edington, I just don't get your connections.
 
I'm not making fun of your post Edington, I just don't get your connections.

No problem, I didn't see it that way. I was just spitballing and speculating here and that doesn't always translate well to text. Perhaps the rant thread next time.

Let me try and explain it a little better. I was curious as to why Dave gets less time to solo on this song than Adrian and Janick, so I wondered if originally the song was written with the three guitarists taking a shorter solo each, beginning with Janick, and no other solos. Then it was decided during recording that another solo was needed to connect the two halves of the song together, so Adrian took that. Then, maybe Janick had composed a longer solo which Steve liked and decided to keep, resulting in Janick and Adrian getting more solo time overall.

The timing thing is probably simply a coincidence, but I did find it mildly interesting, and that's what started all these conspiracy theories in the first place.
 
Thanks for elaborating a bit more, Edington. I think that the solo sequences could differ in time because they are played over different progressions, having different length.

Look at The Writing in the Wall. Adrian is soloing much longer, because that piece is much longer (apparently it was thought that the length was fine). Making the Dave piece longer because he needs more solo time is not a purpose on itself. The purpose is having a good song in which the pieces should have a good balance, in length. The solos are secondary. Two solos of such length would feel over the top. Not important: Dave's solo is done over less variation of music than Adrian's which features more chords in the progression. Solo it would feel very weird (and monotone) to have Dave's piece that long.

Interesting to note that there are two song halves in Death of the Celtes and that a solo connects these. So, does Adrian start his last solo when the second half of the song starts? I never heard it this way, or thought like this, so I'd like to check it out. In fact it has been a very long time since I played the album. :ahhh:(just taking a long break for some reason; it's not that I don't like it)
 
The timing thing is probably simply a coincidence, but I did find it mildly interesting, and that's what started all these conspiracy theories in the first place.
The timing is not a coincidence as in the first solo the tempo is half the tempo in the other three.

For the rest, check this video:


Janick's solo and the two subsequent solos have different rhythm guitar parts.
 
Last edited:
Dave's solo of The Parchment, the best solo of the album in my opinion. More than 40" long which if memory serves, is the typical length of both solos of a pre BNW song.

 
Back
Top