You will never be as good as Eddie Van Halen...

[vchizzle]

Truth.

 

[Bob Savage]

many imitators followed but none did it like ed

here's to another 100 for the dutch fretwizard

LOL!

 

[thiswaythatway]

Spend time learning his music and you quickly realize how much talent Eddie had. Call it what you want, they looked the way you looked in the 80's, if you lived through it, no big deal. If you missed it, you lose. There has not been a guitar player since VH and Randy R. that successfully brought cool guitar to the masses. Everyone under 50 knows Crazy Train and Running with the Devil, the magic it took to create that kind of music is long gone, it died by 1994. Sure lots of good stuff out there now but none of it has the crossover appeal that will keep it alive for 40 years.

Ever hear of a guy called Slash? Whether you admit it or not and regardless of how good he is, he's one of the few guitar hero's left. And Sweet Child is better than any Van Halen song. What is the best VH song anyway? Throw a bunch of names in a hat and pick one.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Eddies a hack... Seriously. This argument is like thongs vs. commando. Who cares? Besides this MOFO is 10 times more badass and gets no credibility in most circles because he is mad eccentric.

https://youtu.be/x_2tSGxGnJQ?t=3m27s (go to 3:29)

And this just because he makes it look easy.

https://youtu.be/905Um7hqBkQ?hd=1&t=2m9s (2:09)

Prince, ah fuck Prince. Vinnie Moore's version is better. And while Paul Gilbert is a technically superior player to Eddie, Gilbert was never the innovator that Eddie was. You could argue that anything Gilbert did was already done before he came along. Who sounded like Eddie before Eddie came around? Nobody

I'm not the biggest Van Halen fan at all. I listened to metal in the 80's and I thought Van Halen was gay pussy shit But IMHO Eddie has been the most copied guitar player in history and even though they wrote light hearted cheese party rock songs, you can't argue his place in history because he was a great innovator, just Like Hendrix.

Guys like Hendrix and Eddie who CREATED sounds never heard before will be remember far more than guys like Gilbert who are known for their technical prowess.

 

[thiswaythatway]

 

[DrugDM]

EVH is amazing and in the words of Vernon Reid " one of the top 3 players to pick up the instrument." Additionally, the fact that he is one the few guitar virtuosos to write hit songs that can be enjoyed by the masses....Now that alone makes him unique..

 

[RG955TT]

He had a way of everything sounding so "off the cuff" like he's just winging it, a looseness and swagger in his playing especially rythym side of things that no else really had going that I heard, not to mention that tone on the first 3 albums, re-defined the guitar for me at the time.

 

[megamike]

I always loved VH, but until I sat down and really tried to learn some of the songs,I realized what a fuckin genius EVH is.

 

[SomeGuyChi]

This whole thread reads like something off of The Gear Page. Bunch of nut-swingers around here who jump down the throat of anyone with a differing opinion.

 

[mojotone]

Even if you are not a Van Halen fan, the comments made in these videos by other well known guitarists drive the point home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwYtz_SBfJc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIx-3RaZDC4

 

[Anonymous]

Sah5150 it's OK fanboi I have seen your midriff. No need to get panties in a bunch like little school girls. Eddie is Eddie BFD. Played the same solo for the last 50 years and adds a volume swell here and there give me a break. I said I was kidding. As for Gilbert looked pretty effortless for a guy who didn't write it and probably never practices it off the cuff. Ever see Eddie play it like that? Doubt it and I saw him in 1980 and he didn't pull it off.

Did you hear Gilbert say he was "running out of juice" in the second video? That means it was not effortless, nor did it look effortless to me as he was playing it - his face was looking a bit contorted at some points, indicating it was tough for him to play. I've never seen Eddie play it like that, I've only heard him play it like that on the album because he never played it on a nylon string live.

Another thing - I'm a fan of EVH's early playing in VH clearly, however, I've been as critical of EVH over the years as anyone. I've posted many times on here that I'd never give him another penny because of the drunken embarrassment I had to sit through at Staples in '04. I also agree he's been playing the same solo for a long time and hasn't innovated in forever as a guitarist. None of that makes me any less of a fan of what he did early in his career that had such a huge effect on a generation of guitar players and continues to influence many young players today. I wouldn't say I'm a blind fan or "fanboi" as you put it, because I see the good and bad in EVH's career. I certainly wasn't one of the guys chanting "EDDIE!!! EDDIE!!! EDDIE!!!" at the top of their lungs while EVH drunkenly rolled around on the floor making this horrendously hideous noise with feedback and his sustainer at the '04 show I mentioned (this was the "highlight" of his "solo" that night, BTW - I could have played a better EVH-style solo that night than he did, which is pretty sad).

Also - I'll never understand why some people feel the need to resort to confrontational and meaningless drivel about "fanbois" and "panties in a bunch" when they don't agree with something someone else is saying in a discussion. It adds nothing to the conversation and some people take offense.

Finally - I don't see what my tanned, rock hard, six-pack abs have to do with any of this. I guess haters gonna hate.

Steve

Not for nothing, but Gilbert is completely self deprecating and humble. You can pretty much name a tune and he either knows it or will figure it out on the fly by ear. He does it at his clinics and it will either be spot on or super close. He is a master musician and super technical. EVH can do EVH. I love him and grew up on him and worshiped him, but he is limited in that regard. To think Gilbert couldn't play Spanish Fly perfectly if he wanted to with practice is seriously delusional. It is a great piece, but not even close to the technical stuff he plays to perfection on a daily basis. If you can't see that, then you really need to take off you red, white, and black striped glasses and take a better look.

So... I never said that Gilbert wouldn't be able to play it if he practiced it. Clearly he could, all I said was that it wasn't effortless when he did it off the cuff. I was giving Ed a bit of credit for having technical playing ability, which he does and some people looking back in hindsite want to say he doesn't. Gilbert grew up on Van Halen, so he can play all of it and he certainly can play things that Eddie can't play right now as he took alternate picking and many other things much further. I am a huge Gilbert fan as I am one of Ed's early playing.

Great... so now that that is out of the way, I'd like to point out that I never said Gilbert couldn't play Spanish Fly perfectly if he practiced it, so I guess that would make me non-delusional. Can Ed perfectly alternate pick at ridiculous speed like Gilbert if you just handed him a guitar right now and said do it? No. Can Gilbert play the Spanish Fly tapping section without running out of juice? Barely. Could Ed play some crazy Gilbert alternate picking piece if he wanted to practice it? I guess if he practiced long enough, sure, why not? Crap, I've seen an 11 year old kid on YouTube play Scarified pretty much perfectly... it is just a matter of putting in the time if that is your goal...

Now where did I put those damn red, white and black sunglasses... had 'em a minute ago...

Steve

 

[SomeGuyChi]

^ Case in point.

 

[Anonymous]

^ Case in point.

You're an idiot.

Steve

 

[SomeGuyChi]

^ Case in point.

You're an idiot.

Steve

 

[Stramm8]

Spend time learning his music and you quickly realize how much talent Eddie had. Call it what you want, they looked the way you looked in the 80's, if you lived through it, no big deal. If you missed it, you lose. There has not been a guitar player since VH and Randy R. that successfully brought cool guitar to the masses. Everyone under 50 knows Crazy Train and Running with the Devil, the magic it took to create that kind of music is long gone, it died by 1994. Sure lots of good stuff out there now but none of it has the crossover appeal that will keep it alive for 40 years.

Sweet Child is better than any Van Halen song.

Seriously? Maybe in terms of record sales and popularity but "better"? That's like saying the Mona Lisa is "better" than the painting of the Last Supper. Completely subjective.

What is the best VH song anyway? Throw a bunch of names in a hat and pick one.[/quote]

That's 'cause they're all equally badass (the first 5 records anyway). Can't say the same for GnR. Wasn't Guns and Roses just updating the sleazy, Sunset Strip vibe that VH put on the map? Derivative drivel...

 

[thiswaythatway]

Spend time learning his music and you quickly realize how much talent Eddie had. Call it what you want, they looked the way you looked in the 80's, if you lived through it, no big deal. If you missed it, you lose. There has not been a guitar player since VH and Randy R. that successfully brought cool guitar to the masses. Everyone under 50 knows Crazy Train and Running with the Devil, the magic it took to create that kind of music is long gone, it died by 1994. Sure lots of good stuff out there now but none of it has the crossover appeal that will keep it alive for 40 years.

Sweet Child is better than any Van Halen song.

Seriously? Maybe in terms of record sales and popularity but "better"? That's like saying the Mona Lisa is "better" than the painting of the Last Supper. Completely subjective.

What is the best VH song anyway? Throw a bunch of names in a hat and pick one.

That's 'cause they're all equally badass (the first 5 records anyway). Can't say the same for GnR. Wasn't Guns and Roses just updating the sleazy, Sunset Strip vibe that VH put on the map? Derivative drivel... [/quote]


Yes seriously, Appettite is also a better album than anything VH has put out. Yes, it was one album and they fizzled but they put out a good one. Appettite is right there with Back In Black as one of the best hard rock albums ever. Pure guitar playing sure, VH albums are better. I'm also no GnR fanboy but that album has stood the test of time unlike all the other LA sleaze and you still hear young kids trying to play the Sweet Child riff in pretty much any music store where the majority of people playing VH riffs are old dudes.

Let's rate songs like women. Sweet Child to me is a 10. Van Halen IMHO doesn't have any 10's, they do have a shitload of 6 and 7's though so they do have a strong body of work, unlike GnR.

 

[311boogieman]

The most amazing thing about EVH, his ability to play rhythm, riffs, and solos at the same time.

and smoke a Marlboro off the headstock

By himself he does what most bands would need 2-3 guitar players to play.

Think about what you are hearing from just 1 guitar, bass and drums.

I forgot how great he was until I watched this vid.

Thanks

Not sure if serious

That monkey is laying down for a reason. He can't walk.


Which is somewhat coincidental given the fact that Eddie's balls and ego got so big back in the 80's and 90's that it became debilitating for him. Well that and ton of alcohol and who know's what. He's a changed man now though as far as I can tell. Long live Eddie.

 

[robertkoa]

I mean, yeah, the guy is legend but thankfully not everyone is trying to be the next EVH. There are plenty of guys that have surpassed what he has done on a technical level. You should have said "you will never be as good as EVH if you're trying to emulate him".

Same goes for anyone else, good or not. You can't play exactly like someone because you're not them. There will never be another Gilmour, Page, etc...

I

That' not what I was saying at all. You obvioly missed the point that everyone else got. Sure there are faster, more technically proficient players out there but they probably can't smoke a cigarette off their headstock at same time. That was the most impressive part to me

Yeah -years ago when I first saw him play on TV or wherever I was kind of shocked at how easy

it was for him, walking around, jumping grinning, he didn't even have to concentrate at ALL.( WTF?)

So we've had 20 + years to catch up or surpass in some ways....but the real thing is to innovate-that

is the real challenge and it's really a big one.....the creativity to create something new.

 

[eljodon]

I've been trying to copy him for 30 years and always fail. People talk about other guitar players being better technically than Eddie, but they miss the point of what it takes to be a good guitar player.Eddie's vibrato is the best part of his playing in my humble opinion. It sounds natural and not forced

 

[IntenseJim]

Listening to VH every so often while I work.
Truly a gifted man with prodigious talents and drive.
It's as if his brain, fingers, and guitar were synaptically connected.
Every time I hear him I still can't believe how incredible the playing, craftsmanship of his chords, and tones and how timeless they have become. They still send chills down my spine.