Over on the Spike web site, someone has written an article on The Top 7 Worst Guitar Solos of All Time.
Oh, where to begin?
First of all, 7? Huh? Seems to me like a list of 10, only the writer got too lazy to come up with three more.
Secondly, I don't think it's legal to use "top" and "worst" as modifiers for the same thing. "Top 7 Worst?" What does that even mean?
Thirdly, there's one of Shocho's peeves at play here, the use of "of All Time" to make a list sound more important. Yes, that's "peeves," not "pet peeves." You can read more on both issues here.
I'm a big fan of true "top" lists of some number of "best" things. I'm not sure what good a worst list does anybody, though. Sure, you're advising someone to avoid something, but do you really have to codify that into a list of some kind? Isn't it just looking for an excuse to be snarky? Just be snarky; don't use an excuse.
For all these reasons, I hesitated to mention this list at all. But I had to give the writer props for pointing out how overrated a musician Kurt Cobain was.
Thems fightin' words? Why, who do you not like?
2 comments:
Kurt had a certain primitive guitar style... well, that sucked. Okay, agreed.
I hate the numerology of numbers that end in zero, but why couldn't this guy find 3 more? After all, he had ALL TIME to choose from, which includes all of the future.
I also do not like things that are labeled incorrectly. little boy in his garage playing his guitar surely has to be much worse than anything on this list.
"of all time" always makes my eyes roll, too. actually most top lists for any pop culture thing is not going to be labeled correctly. every time I see a show that says "top 100" um... let's see... "hot celebrities" or "funniest moments" never includes some kind of time-stamp in the title.
maybe that writer was trying to include himself in "the top 9 list of worst articles that have ever, or will ever be written?"
and about the guitar solo, I never really payed much attention to them pre-Guitar Hero. but now after having played that game, I have a much deeper appreciation for a quality awesome solo.
the mole
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