Shot by Both Sides
Magazine, 1978. Solo by John McGeoch.
McGeoch's angular, cutting lead showed how post-punk guitar could be inventive without being flashy.
Magazine's debut single runs on a driving, descending riff, and John McGeoch treats his lead break as a chance to cut across it rather than decorate it. His lines are angular and clipped, full of awkward intervals and bright, trebly stabs that feel closer to a shout than a song. He avoids the blues boxes most rock players reached for in 1978, which is exactly why the part still sounds fresh. McGeoch went on to shape Siouxsie and the Banshees' sound, and you can hear the start of that restless, textural approach here. Listen for how he keeps the phrases short and tense, never resolving quite where your ear expects, so the solo pushes the song forward instead of pausing it.
Shot by Both Sides by Magazine is featured in our New Wave (#15) list. The solo is played by John McGeoch and the song was released in 1978.
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Who played the guitar solo on Shot by Both Sides?
John McGeoch played the solo on Magazine's Shot by Both Sides (1978).