Can this be right? (recent photo of famous guitarist)

  • Thread starter Thread starter amra
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seanr said:
I just mean that he's nowhere near the fastest or the most musical guitarist around so people shouldn't treat him as such.

That's why I respect Steve Vai so much.
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I don't think anyone here said Eddie was the fastest or most musical. All I'm saying is that Eddie (and band) found a way to appeal to an enormous audience, partly through music and then 'the show'. The Mighty Van Halen was a worldwide force.

I'm glad that you've found your guitar inspiration in Vai, really. He's a great one, but he doesn't move alot of people with his music, relatively speaking of course.
 
mshilarious said:
There are three most influential players: Jimi, who brought lead guitar to the forefront, Eddie, who took it to the stratosphere, and Kurt, who crashed it into the ground. Time will tell who will prevail, but for now, Kurt has had the longest reign (1966-1978; 1978-1991; 1991-2006, respectively, all years approximate)
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You're forgetting Chuck Berry, and SRV. but most importantly Chuck Berry, without him and you have no zz top, or rolling stones or a million others.
 
capnkid said:
You're forgetting Chuck Berry, and SRV. but most importantly Chuck Berry, without him and you have no zz top, or rolling stones or a million others.
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You're right about Chuck. I don't think SRV was particularly influential, especially since one of his best known tracks was a Jimi cover.
 
mshilarious said:
You're right about Chuck. I don't think SRV was particularly influential, especially since one of his best known tracks was a Jimi cover.
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SRV was at the time an alternative to all the shredding that was going on. I think he helped revive interest in blues. And his tone was unique at that time. He didn't invent that sound, but he sort of made it popular again. Sorry for getting off topic.
 
6gun said:
I don't think anyone here said Eddie was the fastest or most musical.
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I'll say it......Eddie was the most musical (of the tappers and shredders).

There.....I said it!

I watch that video and I get a sense of something that I dont get from watching any of the other dime-a-dozen shred vids.......Eddie is obviously tickled pink with what he plays! He loves it, thoroughly and completely! And to me that makes him far more musical than any of the other shred videos I've seen posted on all these forums. I watch Eddie and I can tell that his guitar playing is in his soul...... I cant say that about most of the others....

Oddly, one of the most "musical" tunes I think Eddie ever did was also one of his cleanest recordings......"Finish What You Started"....now THAT is "musical" Van Halen!


(PS: Accolades to the Capnkid above who remembered Chuck Berry! Thanks!)
 
soundchaser59 said:
I'll say it......Eddie was the most musical (of the tappers and shredders).

There.....I said it!
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Nah, I'd take Randy Rhoads :D
 
Check out "Push comes to Shove" , from Fair Warning! Fair Warning is my personal favorite Van Halen masterpiece. I think Eddie's creative vision was way tuned in on this record. He just STUNS you with every note, start to finish. He calls it their dark album. As for Steve Vai, Buckethead, Michael Angelo and the gang, they will all say they wouldn't exist if not for EVH. Eddie is the innovator. I thank Eddie, every day, for MY Floyd, Bridge humbucker, and AMP. Hey, what ever happened to Warren De Martini? That guy really smoked, back in the 80's!
 
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Gnash5150 said:
...Hey, what ever happened to Warren De Martini? That guy really smoked, back in the 80's!
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From Zappa's band, right? He was good, all right, but I haven't heard anything from him in a long time.
 
soundchaser59 said:
I'll say it......Eddie was the most musical (of the tappers and shredders).

There.....I said it!

I watch that video and I get a sense of something that I dont get from watching any of the other dime-a-dozen shred vids.......Eddie is obviously tickled pink with what he plays! He loves it, thoroughly and completely! And to me that makes him far more musical than any of the other shred videos I've seen posted on all these forums. I watch Eddie and I can tell that his guitar playing is in his soul...... I cant say that about most of the others....

Oddly, one of the most "musical" tunes I think Eddie ever did was also one of his cleanest recordings......"Finish What You Started"....now THAT is "musical" Van Halen!


(PS: Accolades to the Capnkid above who remembered Chuck Berry! Thanks!)
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hmmm....remember the Michael Jackson solo he worked up? What was that..."beat it"?
 
ggunn said:
From Zappa's band, right? He was good, all right, but I haven't heard anything from him in a long time.
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I thought Warren DiMartini was the guy from Ratt?
 
Yeah, Ratt. He had the coolest looking guitars. Blood and skulls and shit.
 
Ratt,Frank Zappa,it's almost impossible to distinguish between them! :D
 
mshilarious said:
There are three most influential players: Jimi, who brought lead guitar to the forefront, Eddie, who took it to the stratosphere, and Kurt, who crashed it into the ground. Time will tell who will prevail, but for now, Kurt has had the longest reign (1966-1978; 1978-1991; 1991-2006, respectively, all years approximate)
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Bullshit!I am the most influential guitarist ever!Past,present and future!
Ever!
 
When we were recording our latest album, I said something to the effect that I was generally unimpressed by EVH. The engineer took some offence to that and played me this incredible song by him. It was some unplugged thing where Eddie was doing tapping stuff on an acoustic guitar. On that occasion he really impressed me and it also sounded pretty good. Does anyone knows where I might find this on the internet or on an album?
 
That was "Spanish Fly", from Van Halen II. Check out Little Guitars (Intro) off of the Diver Down album. It's an acoustic piece too. Hell, check out all the Roth era albums. They all rule! :D
 
seanr said:
When we were recording our latest album, I said something to the effect that I was generally unimpressed by EVH. The engineer took some offence to that and played me this incredible song by him. It was some unplugged thing where Eddie was doing tapping stuff on an acoustic guitar. On that occasion he really impressed me and it also sounded pretty good. Does anyone knows where I might find this on the internet or on an album?
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man, if u never heard "spanish fly" before chances are u never gave EVH a chance. VH is the beatles of hard rock. in other words...there are so many great songs that were never really considered "hits."
 
He did change rock guitar and a whole slew of players owe a debt of gratitude to him. Guys like Vitto Bratta, Zakk Wylde & Nuno Bentencourt obviously studied that early Van Halen stuff. But they improved upon it and grew as players. Eddie peaked early and it seemed downhill ever since.

In his defene though, when Sammy joined, Eddie did claim that they were focused on songs and not solos. But his live solo ever since 5150 just seemed to miss the mark. It was like Eruption, Spanish Fly and a few others thrown together (yes, part of Spanish Fly is included in his live solo). And, as in that video clip, not played very well. Sorry, but that's just the way I saw it.

I also never thought of him as real technical. He's a vibe and pattern player. I don't think he's into scales that much. His fast runs almost always seem to follow a particular fingering pattern. He does have a real good sense of timing though. Obviously spent alot of time jamming with Alex.
 
If you listen closely at the beginning of the studio version of Spanish Fly (off of Van Halen 2), you can hear Eddie grunt right before he starts playing.
 
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