A Forest
The Cure, 1980, from Seventeen Seconds. Solo by Robert Smith.
Smith's echoing, repetitive leads create an atmosphere of dread that defined the band's early sound.
A Forest barely has a solo in the conventional sense; instead Robert Smith builds dread through repetition. His guitar lines are thin, cold and swathed in chorus and echo, circling the same minor-key figures again and again while the bass and drums drive relentlessly underneath. The effect is hypnotic, like being lost among trees that all look the same. This atmospheric, texture-first approach became a blueprint for gothic rock and much of the shoegaze and post-punk revival that followed. Listen for how small changes in the guitar figure, a new note here or a slight shift in rhythm there, feel enormous because everything else is so fixed, and how the long instrumental passages stretch tension rather than resolve it.
A Forest by The Cure is featured in our New Wave (#21) list. The solo is played by Robert Smith and the song was released in 1980.
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Who played the guitar solo on A Forest?
Robert Smith played the solo on The Cure's A Forest (1980).