Banned In DC
Bad Brains, 1982. Solo by Dr. Know.
Dr. Know's lead on Banned in DC arrives like a flare in the middle of a hardcore sprint, short, frantic and gone before you've fully caught it. What sets it apart from most punk guitar of the era is the vocabulary: there are real blues and hard-rock licks in there, played at a tempo that should make them impossible. Bad Brains came up as jazz-fusion players before turning to punk, and you can hear that training in how cleanly he navigates the speed. The Les Paul tone is thick but not muddy, cutting through a wall of drums and bass. The solo helped prove that hardcore could hold real musicianship. Listen for how precisely he lands back on the riff when the solo ends.
Banned In DC by Bad Brains is ranked #209 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Dr. Know and the song was released in 1982. It appears on 2 lists, placing as high as #39 (NME).
In our lists
- One and Only — #34
- The 25 Greatest Punk Guitar Solos — #13
- Short & Perfect — #25
Sources
- NME: 50 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time — #39
- Guitar Tricks: 200 Best Guitar Solos of All Time — #198
Who played the guitar solo on Banned In DC?
Dr. Know played the solo on Bad Brains's Banned In DC (1982).
What guitar was used on the Banned In DC solo?
A gibson les paul, according to widely reported accounts.
Where does Banned In DC rank among the greatest guitar solos?
#209 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 2 of them.