Going Solo (Pride After The Fall)

Artistic differences. Clashing egos. Creative integrity.
Some Asian flooze turned our rhythm guitar player into an insufferable hippie and attention whore.
Our lead singer blew his brains out with a shotgun.

Everyone who's split from a band and moved on to greener (or grayer) pastures has some flimsy excuse for doing so. The act of going solo is an undeniable part of rock lore, unfailingly bringing out perceptions of interpersonal conflict, deception, and/or some other delicious drama revolving around a limelight-starved songwriter. Of course this isn't always the case.. still, there's just something about this grand gesture of going solo that has made for some really interesting music. Sometimes it can show how lucky the band was to have the songwriter, and sometimes it can show how lucky the songwriter was to have the band. It's a real test of a songwriter's mettle, and it's something that I think offers an even deeper look into the musician's mind, heart, soul, and creative process.

I've chosen some of my favorite musicians who have left a band and carried on as solo acts, for better or worse. This mix is split into the before and the after.

1. Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer

9. Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al

Possibly THE split-up of all split-ups. They even made an episode of Hey Arnold about it. God, both of these songs are good.

  2. Talking Heads - Pulled Up
10. David Byrne - Glass, Concrete & Stone

David Byrne won't ever top the peak of success that was the mid-80s Talking Heads, but, then again, that's really kind of the point. This song exemplifies the incredible uniqueness of all that Byrne puts into his music. Would still be pretty damn cool to see a Talking Heads reuinion, though...come on, everyone else is doing it.

3. The Velvet Underground - 

I Can't Stand It

11. Lou Reed - Satellite of Love

It could be argued that Lou Reed's solo debut Transformer changed popular music in the 70s just as much as The Velvet Underground changed underground rock 'n roll in the 60s. Good things happen when you're not afraid to channel your inner Bowie. 

      

4. The Clash - Train In Vain
12. Joe Strummer - Johnny Appleseed

Another guy who left the height of fame to make the music HE wanted to make. Strummer is so instantly recognizable and so charismatic that he could have released an album of a-capella children's music and I'd still probably listen to it religiously.

  5. Pixies - Mr. Grieves
13. Frank Black & The Catholics - Velvety

The Pixies are one of those bands where the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. And this is saying something when you look at how great each of those parts really is. Frank Black's solo stuff goes in so many different directions that it somehow even makes the Pixies albums seem to be border-lining on formulaic. He never quite re-creates the magic of that Pixies sound, but Frank Black's quirkiness and personality is very hard to miss.

  6. Pedro the Lion - Magazine
14. David Bazan - Fewer Broken Pieces
15. TW Walsh - Old Fashioned Way of Speaking

One of the best things about being a David Bazan fan is seeing how crazy so many other David Bazan fans are. It's just about impossible to feel lukewarm about Pedro the Lion once you've really given the music a chance. Bazan is one of my favorite people to commiserate with because, no matter what, I know that the characters in those songs are going through way heavier shit than I am. Hearing that Pedro the Lion had broken up was, in many ways for me, like hearing that the Beatles had broken up. It was like saying goodbye to a very dear friend who I had shared some really tough times with. Luckily, David Bazan is still a songwriting and touring machine, steadily putting out brilliant and interesting music.

This solo Bazan song is largely in reference to the Pedro the Lion breakup and what the scenery looks like from the viewpoint of the guy just embarking on his solo career. The best and most cutting sarcasm always involves a fragment of truth, which is what makes this song so great. "I still run the show, and don't you forget it. So I had to let some go, don't think I don't regret it. Because I do and I don't think I'm better off alone."

TW Walsh also put out some really cool solo stuff in 2001 during a sabbatical from Pedro the Lion. I love how, even without Bazan's distinct voice in the mix, the sound is still a very familiar shadow of something you'd hear by Pedro the Lion.

  7. Sunny Day Real Estate - Every Shining Time You Arrive
16. Jeremy Enigk - Chewing Gum

Jeremy Enigk has one of those voices that is just about impossible to imitate. All of his music has that over-the-top-English-major-poetry vibe about it, kind of like if you took all of the really angry songs off of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and were just left with Billy Corgan's bittersweet musings on love and life and loneliness.

Sunny Day Real Estate broke up during the recording of the follow-up to the band's most successful album, Diary. Half of the band left to join the Foo Fighters and Enigk kept on keepin' on under his own name on his own label. His music often flies well under the radar but some of it can really be worth the trouble of digging up. "Chewing Gum" is one of those songs. Also, if you ever get the chance to see this man perform live, do yourself a favor and go. Unbelievable seeing that voice come out of a real-life person.


    8. The Replacements - Unsatisfied

                                               17. Paul Westerberg - As Far As I Know

           The joyful bedlam that was The Replacements sort of drops out when you get into Paul Westerberg's solo stuff. What remains isn't better or worse - just different. His sly and clever lyricism is still at the forefront ("I'm in love with someone that doesn't exist, keep lookin' for her everywhere I go...") and he still offers some unbelievably catchy hooks and guitar riffs that make up for some unforgettable pop jams.