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POLL: Is Eddie Van Halen The Greatest Rock guitarist to ever live?


DaveAronow

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Shame? You pose a stupid question, you get a lot of nonsense back as a result. Welcome to the internet, new guy!

 

Lol, "new". No comment

 

and no one actually has to be "ashamed"... better is a relative term and everyone is entitled to their opinions, unless you're new.

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This forum really boggles my mind weekly! To answer the question is Vanhalen the greatest hard rock guitarist of all time the answer is no. I could never put a single player in that spot due to a ton of reasons. As someone who bridges the gap between Hendrix and Eddie I would say he is the second most innovative guitarist in rock history.All lead players were measured against Hendrix who everyone thought had taken the electric guitar as far as it was going to go. So I always tell it that Hendrix wrote the first Testament of hard rock. Then in 78 when VH-1 came out Eddie knocked the whole guitar community on its ass with a whole new bag of sonic bombast that sent a million guys heading for the woodshed, and Ed wrote the second Testament.

 

I see that there are a lot of players on this board that were born after Vanhalen came out, so they will never understand the whole jaw dropping what the {censored} is he doing or what is that moment. Neither Hendrix or Eddie even were the first to do any of the techniques that they are noted for, but it was everything they put together to make there style so unique which makes them legends. I don't want to even go into the whole tapping thing, as there were players who did it before him. But none of them even came close with the speed and fluency to make it sound like nothing ever heard before-not even close.

 

There is not a week that goes by here that some all time great player is not ripped to shreds, no matter who they are. Nice to see a lot of love for Page on this thread as it is usually how sloppy he was live lol. Well to be honest I think a lot of Pages problem with being sloppy live was because he wore his ax below his balls to the point he could not even bar an F chord and would have to use his thumb. There are just way to many great players to ever pinpoint one as the best. I doubt Danny Gatton could play like Yngwie and Yngwie like Gatton, or Eddie like Albert Lee and Lee like Eddie. So just like boxing style makes fights! The one thing that they all have in common is that they are in that 1% of un human talent. It is not so hard to copy some players styles as not every great player was amazingly fast including Hendrix. The whole thing is coming up with a style that is original and having a great sense of note selection. The one player that still blows my mind is Jeff Beck as the guy continues to grow as a player and is playing the best guitar of his life in his mid 60's.

 

I also am not one to knock other players and it is all about the music and song. But keeping it real Jack White does not belong in the same category as the players named in this thread. There is nothing Jack White has ever played that I could not pull off when I was 14. I don't mean to disrespect the guy as an artist, but guitar playing is a whole different ball game. It was like when that {censored} rag Rolling Stone did there first list of 100 greatest Rock Guitarist and Randy Rhoades was #85 and Vanhalen #70 while Jack White was #17 and Kurt Cobain #12. Glad I read that in the bathroom as I did not need toilet paper.

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Blue Crayons are the best ever. All the others suck...

 

I hate silly threads like this..

 

EVH is awesome. I'd never let him near my children, but the dude is an icon and gamechanger. Along with 1,000 other's before him and a 1,000 more after him. I like to focus on the 'enjoying what he shares with us' part. He owns a couple moments in my life as do other things. The first time I heard 'Ain't talkin bout love's opening riff is one of many.

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Pot, meet kettle.


That's called sarcasm.
;)

BTW, seriously, I'm seeing the write-in No votes out-polling the Yes votes.

 

and why would you expect one person vs the rest of the world to win in an opinion poll ?

 

played out thread is played out

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This forum really boggles my mind weekly! To answer the question is Vanhalen the greatest hard rock guitarist of all time the answer is no. I could never put a single player in that spot due to a ton of reasons. As someone who bridges the gap between Hendrix and Eddie I would say he is the second most innovative guitarist in rock history.All lead players were measured against Hendrix who everyone thought had taken the electric guitar as far as it was going to go. So I always tell it that Hendrix wrote the first Testament of hard rock. Then in 78 when VH-1 came out Eddie knocked the whole guitar community on its ass with a whole new bag of sonic bombast that sent a million guys heading for the woodshed, and Ed wrote the second Testament.


I see that there are a lot of players on this board that were born after Vanhalen came out, so they will never understand the whole jaw dropping what the {censored} is he doing or what is that moment. Neither Hendrix or Eddie even were the first to do any of the techniques that they are noted for, but it was everything they put together to make there style so unique which makes them legends. I don't want to even go into the whole tapping thing, as there were players who did it before him. But none of them even came close with the speed and fluency to make it sound like nothing ever heard before-not even close.


There is not a week that goes by here that some all time great player is not ripped to shreds, no matter who they are. Nice to see a lot of love for Page on this thread as it is usually how sloppy he was live lol. Well to be honest I think a lot of Pages problem with being sloppy live was because he wore his ax below his balls to the point he could not even bar an F chord and would have to use his thumb. There are just way to many great players to ever pinpoint one as the best. I doubt Danny Gatton could play like Yngwie and Yngwie like Gatton, or Eddie like Albert Lee and Lee like Eddie. So just like boxing style makes fights! The one thing that they all have in common is that they are in that 1% of un human talent. It is not so hard to copy some players styles as not every great player was amazingly fast including Hendrix. The whole thing is coming up with a style that is original and having a great sense of note selection. The one player that still blows my mind is Jeff Beck as the guy continues to grow as a player and is playing the best guitar of his life in his mid 60's.


I also am not one to knock other players and it is all about the music and song. But keeping it real Jack White does not belong in the same category as the players named in this thread. There is nothing Jack White has ever played that I could not pull off when I was 14. I don't mean to disrespect the guy as an artist, but guitar playing is a whole different ball game. It was like when that {censored} rag Rolling Stone did there first list of 100 greatest Rock Guitarist and Randy Rhoades was #85 and Vanhalen #70 while Jack White was #17 and Kurt Cobain #12. Glad I read that in the bathroom as I did not need toilet paper.

 

good post :)

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This forum really boggles my mind weekly! To answer the question is Vanhalen the greatest hard rock guitarist of all time the answer is no. I could never put a single player in that spot due to a ton of reasons. As someone who bridges the gap between Hendrix and Eddie I would say he is the second most innovative guitarist in rock history.All lead players were measured against Hendrix who everyone thought had taken the electric guitar as far as it was going to go. So I always tell it that Hendrix wrote the first Testament of hard rock. Then in 78 when VH-1 came out Eddie knocked the whole guitar community on its ass with a whole new bag of sonic bombast that sent a million guys heading for the woodshed, and Ed wrote the second Testament.


I see that there are a lot of players on this board that were born after Vanhalen came out, so they will never understand the whole jaw dropping what the {censored} is he doing or what is that moment. Neither Hendrix or Eddie even were the first to do any of the techniques that they are noted for, but it was everything they put together to make there style so unique which makes them legends. I don't want to even go into the whole tapping thing, as there were players who did it before him. But none of them even came close with the speed and fluency to make it sound like nothing ever heard before-not even close.


There is not a week that goes by here that some all time great player is not ripped to shreds, no matter who they are. Nice to see a lot of love for Page on this thread as it is usually how sloppy he was live lol. Well to be honest I think a lot of Pages problem with being sloppy live was because he wore his ax below his balls to the point he could not even bar an F chord and would have to use his thumb. There are just way to many great players to ever pinpoint one as the best. I doubt Danny Gatton could play like Yngwie and Yngwie like Gatton, or Eddie like Albert Lee and Lee like Eddie. So just like boxing style makes fights! The one thing that they all have in common is that they are in that 1% of un human talent. It is not so hard to copy some players styles as not every great player was amazingly fast including Hendrix. The whole thing is coming up with a style that is original and having a great sense of note selection. The one player that still blows my mind is Jeff Beck as the guy continues to grow as a player and is playing the best guitar of his life in his mid 60's.


I also am not one to knock other players and it is all about the music and song. But keeping it real Jack White does not belong in the same category as the players named in this thread. There is nothing Jack White has ever played that I could not pull off when I was 14. I don't mean to disrespect the guy as an artist, but guitar playing is a whole different ball game. It was like when that {censored} rag Rolling Stone did there first list of 100 greatest Rock Guitarist and Randy Rhoades was #85 and Vanhalen #70 while Jack White was #17 and Kurt Cobain #12. Glad I read that in the bathroom as I did not need toilet paper.

 

Well thank God you've come along to straighten us all out. :) Aside from the first and second testement crap, this is a pretty good post though.

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That is by far the most coherent interview I have seen with the guy in years...maybe decades....maybe he CAN turn it around. He is certainly a trend setter, certinaly al all time great lister. For me, I don't think he is top 50 even, but he sounds better tuning that I do playing, so WTF do I know.

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...I don't think he is top 50 even...

 

Oh come on! Be honest, he's not in the top 50 rock guitarists of all time?!?! Edward Van Halen?? Seriously?? I mean really and truly his worst enemy would put him in the top 5 without hesitation. So would your mom, ask her. (I'm not saying this as a joke, I would like you to please ask your mother if Eddie Van Halen would be in her personal list of the top 50 rock guitarists of all time)

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If your yardstick is notes/second or some other specific technical measure, then you'd likely say "no". But I guess I romanticize what it means to be a rock star. that means that your notariety isn't limited to musicians. If you look at fame as a factor, there is no one as famous that is that good. There is also no one that good who is that famous. Eddie reached far more people than other guys who might be technically faster or who play more complicated music. But he built songs that got him out there and everyone knows who he is. Yngwie is a helluva player, and he is quite a character. But he is obscure. There are plenty of guys: via satch etc who are really good, but no one but musicians know who they are. No one but musicians were reached by their music. If you rock in your basement, you are not the greatest hard rock guitarist. Eddie stood on top of the world and tore that {censored} up and made a name for himself. that makes him tops in my book.

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^ +1, excellent post.

 

Do i think EVH is the greatest player of all time? No. I do think he's a killer player, though, and he's really, really difficult to mimic (arguably more difficult that some of the "better" players, who maybe have faster or more complex technique, but who don't have as idiosyncratic a style... and fwiw, I also think "feel" is also an indicator of a good player, just as much as technical prowess). But he's certainly the one who raised the bar after hendrix in rock guitar, and most of the guys we talk about as "better" than evh (in the rock/metal world, anyway) only exist because EVH came first.

 

Oh
come on
! Be honest, he's not in the
top 50 rock guitarists of all time?!?!
Edward Van Halen
?? Seriously?? I mean really and truly his worst enemy would put him in the top 5 without hesitation. So would your mom, ask her. (I'm not saying this as a joke, I would like you to please ask your mother if Eddie Van Halen would be in her personal list of the top 50 rock guitarists of all time)

 

+1

 

I mean it's the same with guys like hendrix or even page or clapton. you've gotta have a darn good reason not to put them in there. and if you do, the onus is on you to provide some proof/good reasons.

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I miss those primo years of Eddie. So I funnelled that "emo" into a piece "the Requiem Mass in D minor" based on the Eruption solo. I recorded this live on a Sony cam, using a Korg Triton Extreme, PK5 bass pedals and my Larrivee Rs4. Playing all the instruments at once hellish concentration required - so there are some mistakes but pulled it off nonetheless. There are a lot of great great guitar players. Having said that I think what Eddie had was ton of personality, style and taste. And in the latter years he may have destroyed himself somewhat trying to be better that what everybody thought he was. I think if he recognized that his creative, taste and style, just the way or how he played guitar not necessarily what he played the latter part of his career may have been fortuitous & happier. those on VH forums hold out hope for new material...and isn't that cool - new album is in fact coming in 2 weeks.

 

 

 

[video=youtube;L0kcWjhyluk]

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If your yardstick is notes/second or some other specific technical measure, then you'd likely say "no". But I guess I romanticize what it means to be a rock star. that means that your notariety isn't limited to musicians. If you look at fame as a factor, there is no one as famous that is that good. There is also no one that good who is that famous. Eddie reached far more people than other guys who might be technically faster or who play more complicated music. But he built songs that got him out there and everyone knows who he is. Yngwie is a helluva player, and he is quite a character. But he is obscure. There are plenty of guys: via satch etc who are really good, but no one but musicians know who they are. No one but musicians were reached by their music. If you rock in your basement, you are not the greatest hard rock guitarist. Eddie stood on top of the world and tore that {censored} up and made a name for himself. that makes him tops in my book.

 

+1 great post. By that measure and without taking too much time to think about it, the only person since Eddie to approach this magnitude is Slash. And he approaches it; he does not reach it.

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