Members evh1984 Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 I actually think the guy is a genius. To me he completely reinvented the instrument and didn't let anything get in his way. If he wanted a sound he figured out a way to get it, either by inventing techniques, modifying techiniques, inventing gear etc. I was just switching form acoustic guitar to electric guitar when my friend got VH1 and brought it over and said I had to hear something. When I heard Eruption we were just looking at each other like, "What the Hell could this guy possibly be doing to this instrument?" I love that! The only thing is, there is no way you can keep that up. You can't keep topping yourself forever especially when you ushered in a paradigm shift in the first place. Add to that that he had the look and the image and the moves etc. and the guy was an absolute definition of guitar hero, more so than really anyone else I can think of. And I think a lot of the criticism is unfair, you can't take someone like EVH who obviously thinks farther outside the box than most of us can dream of and make him a house guitarist in celebrity jams. John Petrucci would excel at that but that's exactly why John Petrucci will never be EVH. And also, everyone talks about the first four albums but even if he continued spinning that stuff out, then he would be getting the Yngwie treatment i.e. "Yeah its the same thing over and over.' To me, the Eddie I remember is the one in the poster I had in my room, red overalls with the red white and black Frankenstrat doing his little jump with a big smile on his face. All the photoshops in the world won't change that. This is the greatest damn thing I've ever read on this forum.Summed up my thinking exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 23miles Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 I never cared for him because by the time he arose on the scene, I was a mature married man. My musical tastes had developed to the point that I never got into the "cock-rock" thing of the '80s. I always thought of Van Halen as the being in that crowd. While I admired his technical ability, I never really cared enough about his music to listen to it. It does strike me as a bit pathetic that he appears to want to stay in that genus even now as he is 55. Don't hate him, don't love him, don't listen to him. EVH is "meh" to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members smorgdonkey Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 I think he has great, original chops as a lead and rhythm player, but i don't think he's as musically talented or as adventurous as Hendrix or Beck. Jeff Beck or just Beck?Jeff BeckBeckThe answer of course is 'both'.How about Steve Morse, or the many 'crutchless' players? Seriously...Eddie tapped or grabbed the trem whenever he ran out of ideas and people thought that he was flying by the seat of his pants. I suppose that he was and tapped and Floyded whenever he didn't know what to do. The thing is people thought that all of that playing was so 'off the cuff' but they had been playing all of those songs on their debut for years - they were honed and fine-tuned not 'off the cuff'.Anyway, criticism aside, I have played VHI probably 200+ times and same with most of the first 6 records. The guitar was an important aspect but the band as a unit was the entity with pull. Van Halen post 1984 was like a great band with a wet blanket over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fabstrat Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 he's actually a classically trained pianists, so musically he's probably MORE inclined than hendrix, beck, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fabstrat Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 most guitar players are "off-the-cuff" MAYBE 15-20% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bleak Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 He's a good guitar player, I'm just not a fan of his style. I think he's a little over rated, personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fabstrat Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 [YOUTUBE]9P9-XAnI59U[/YOUTUBE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bebenavole Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 He marked a certain period in time. That time has long passed. Nothing more nothing less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lefty's Ghost Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 For that particular style of playing, he's the man. Just a flat out talented musician that happens to stick with basically one style. Many do that, no big deal to me. He's incredible at what he does.On top of that, he writes catchy and incredibly popular songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BeanoBoy Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 Dave's had quite a few 80's posts lately. The regrettable Kiss post, Mick Mars Vs Slash, and now Ed. Hmmm.... Where's he going with this? Sure to be interesting. Right, back to Eddie. Eddie Van Halen gave Rock guitar a HUGE shot in the arm back in the late 70's. Right cat at the right time. Unfortunately, his popularity led to a deluge of imitators. I really dug the first two CDs. Ed and the band were hungry and were a breath of fresh air. After that, it all kind of started to sound the same, to me. I NEVER listen to Ed these days. I remember a quote Bill Connors (original Return to Forever guitarist) made, "Eddie Van Halen's vibrato reminds me of a rubber band.' To me, Bill meant it was exaggerated and not really soulful. Ed's supposed idol, Eric Clapton, wanted nothing to do with him. Truth is, Ed's style, for the most part, was a lot of tricks executed magnificently. A LOT of Ed's stuff has not stood the test of time. A LOT of repetition. That being said his solo on 'Ice Cream Man' was spectacular in it's reckless, on the edge- Holy Crap! How'd he do that (?) excess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Help!I'maRock! Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 A LOT of Ed's stuff has not stood the test of time. has time told if he's stood the test of time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BeanoBoy Posted October 7, 2009 Members Share Posted October 7, 2009 has time told if he's stood the test of time?Huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wimpy77 Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 Dave's had quite a few 80's posts lately. The regrettable Kiss post, Mick Mars Vs Slash, and now Ed. Hmmm.... Where's he going with this? Sure to be interesting. Right, back to Eddie. Eddie Van Halen gave Rock guitar a HUGE shot in the arm back in the late 70's. Right cat at the right time. Unfortunately, his popularity led to a deluge of imitators. I really dug the first two CDs. Ed and the band were hungry and were a breath of fresh air. After that, it all kind of started to sound the same, to me. I NEVER listen to Ed these days. I remember a quote Bill Connors (original Return to Forever guitarist) made, "Eddie Van Halen's vibrato reminds me of a rubber band.' To me, Bill meant it was exaggerated and not really soulful. Ed's supposed idol, Eric Clapton, wanted nothing to do with him. Truth is, Ed's style, for the most part, was a lot of tricks executed magnificently. A LOT of Ed's stuff has not stood the test of time. A LOT of repetition. That being said his solo on 'Ice Cream Man' was spectacular in it's reckless, on the edge- Holy Crap! How'd he do that (?) excess.your whole post is a sack of crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wimpy77 Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 He marked a certain period in time. That time has long passed. Nothing more nothing less.same thing can be said about clapton and page. both were good for their time periods just like ed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteinbergerHack Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 I've always likened some of his best solos to running as fast as you can, legs fumbling and almost falling down, but catching yourself and carrying it out. Does that make any sense? EXACTLY!!!!!!!Add to that the fact that he writes/plays some of the coolest rhythm guitar lines ever created for guitar and, well.......and he got Valerie Bertinelli. He screwed it up in the end, but he basically lived the fantasy life for all of us who were in junior high in the late 70s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoJo68 Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 your whole post is a sack of crap.Nah, he pretty much nailed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackhell Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 I have been a Van Halen nut since I was a wee little dude (about 4-5). At that age I just knew it was cool, because my dad cranked it. Then around the age of 12, I got VH1 off my Dad, and I put that thing in my CD player, and as soon as the intro riff to Runnin' With the Devil kicked in, it hit me like a {censored}ing brick wall. At that point, I was just getting into the guitar, and from that point all I wanted to play Van Halen stuff. So, Eddie was a huge influence on me since I was 4 or 5. What he does with that guitar is amazing. He can still out play any guitarist I have ever heard. You know right away when it's Eddie on the guitar. The tone. It's so signature. Nobody else does as good as Eddie. Eddie is the definition of a guitar hero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackhell Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fabstrat Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 brought guitar to the forefront, created a whole generational movement (like it or not) and made something unordinary ordinary. Go ahead and put together a list of people who have also done this.im not even a huge evh fan, but start making your list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nevermind Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 put a quarter in his palm and his teeth fold backplus his head is flat enough to sit a beer on top of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 your whole post is a sack of crap.pretty much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alecto Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 im not even a huge evh fan, but start making your list.Guitarists who made the unordinary ordinary? Not including EVH, it would have to include:- Django Reinhardt: Try playing his stuff. Pretty difficult, huh? Now try playing it with only two fingers!- Les Paul: Pioneered sound-on-sound recording and the solidbody guitar, for Cthulhu's sake!- Chuck Berry: The first guitar hero.- Jeff Beck: Insane. Absolutely insane.- Jimi Hendrix: Do I need to say why?- The Edge: A killer rhythm player, and a tonal sorcerer.- Tom Morello: A killer technician who doesn't let it get in his way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lukeswall Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 - Tom Morello: A killer technician who doesn't let it get in his way. how would you say his stuff became ordinary? not trying to pick up a fight, just want to know your opinion. I always think that he has a completely unique style, but no one actually copied it, unlike Jimi and EVH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundcreation Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 I don't know. A lot of the rock/rap bands seem to rip off rage quite a bit. I'd say Morello has had some impact. Personally I think morello's greatest strength is that of riff master. I'd put him right up there with pete townsend, angus young and jimmy page as one of the best writers of fist pumping riffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evh1984 Posted October 8, 2009 Members Share Posted October 8, 2009 has time told if he's stood the test of time?"Only time will tell if we stand the test of time; All I know, you've got to run to win and I'll be damned if I get hung up on the line" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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