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Back in high school being huge fans we went to see Black Sabbath at Madison Square Garden (8/27/78). The openers were the new kids on the block Van Halen and they ripped the roof off the place. RIP EVH
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10-07-2020 01:21 PM
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Originally Posted by AndyV
There were Hendrix, Page, Beck, Alvin Lee, Ritchie Blackmore, John McLaughlin, Al Dimeola and a number of others who could shred a guitar or distort the sound dramatically.
There were tinkerers like Les Paul and even Frank Zappa.
There were guitar showboats like T Bone Walker and Jimi.
Admittedly, to do all these in the context of a best-selling pop (not prog or metal) band was unusual. I think the humor and rock and roll attitude of the band made them stand out among the dregs of disco and the emergence of the minimalist punk/new wave sound.
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Van Halen grew up in my neck of the woods. I was about 3 years younger... the band played at my high school in November of 1975. During my high school years they played at highschool parties in the town I grew up in.
One thing they had that is similar to the jazz culture, they played all the time and everywhere they could. I don't remember any band playing as often as they did during my high school days. They built a following before they released their first album.
And even back then Eddie already had that Eddie style/identity as a guitar player (and that certainly was before any Holdsworth influence). Legato... yeah I suppose, bit he picked an awful lot of his stuff and we were pretty much amazed by his technique including his picking.
Not great recording quality, it was a high school in the 70s...
Last edited by fep; 10-07-2020 at 05:36 PM.
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in the history of rock guitar, there is such a thing as 'pre-Van Halen' and 'post-Van Halen." He was that influential. Even though I mostly listen to jazz and classical nowadays, whenever I hear early VH, it gets me riled up! I wanna throw up the horns and play air guitar
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No-one like Eddie? Sure... Again it's hard for me to quite understand how pivotal he is as someone who came a bit later.
By that time those loud '80s superstrats were on special offer. Nuno was the last of that breed (perhaps the last shredding popstar guitar player? Playing with Rihanna these days of course)
But I watch stuff like the Old Grey Whistle test, and it's clear right away what a long shadow Clapton cast. Most players sound like copies of him TBH.
Every so often you hear a Fripp, a Holdsworth, a Gary Moore (tearing it up in the 70s), Steve Hackett (the tapping pioneer before Eddie) or a Blackmore and so on, but most of the lesser known players are so standard in their approach, and you can't say they are bad players, far from it... just very much of the mould.
So yeah, I can appreciate it. It's not like the prog virtuosos were putting out tight pop rock singles like Van Halen were...
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Originally Posted by fep
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I saw Steve Hackett last year and he is still evolving as a player, building on his foundations, really great tone. That old gold top Les Paul has that real PAF magic. A very entertaining evening.
Eddie was great, a player who found his own voice and always expressed it. Just what jazz should be. Criticizing him seems as silly as asking Van Gogh to paint like Rembrandt. Use of the sonic canvas should be a personal thing, Eddie's joy in music connected to all who came see him and his personal expression had a wide appeal because of it. Everybody needs to rock sometimes....
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Will never forget the first time I put Van Halen I on the turntable. It was like the whole hifi system was going to explode. The sounds were like they were from out of space. Where did that come from! Good time exciting fun music from start to finish.
They were going to come to Australia so many times, even just a few years ago, alas it never happened (or not that I am aware of). They even asked an Australian, Jimmy Barnes to replace Diamond Dave and Eddie once referenced Australia's Ian Moss as one of his favourites.
Hope there are lots of M+M's (and the right colour) for you Ed where ever you are.
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Originally Posted by Cavalier
Les Paul with a Floyd Rose....
Here Hackett pays tribute to EVH
Eddie Van Halen took the guitar to a whole new level, says Genesis guitarist - Evening Express
the article (not Steve) seems to suggest that Eddie said he was influenced by Hackett in the tapping thing? I always thought that he came up with it independently, perhaps others will know more.
It’s interesting to compare the way they used it though. EVH is obviously right in your face with it, using as a real flashy solo technique, while Steve used it almost as a textural thing, blending or dialoguing with the keyboard (is Tony Banks not Mr Arpeggio?) So probably a lot of people didn’t even realise that was guitar playing lol.
And it got poo-poo’d by Anton but the Debussy influence; Eddie loved Debussy. You can hear some of that swirl in the synth breakdown of Jump for instance. Tapping allows you to put that texture on guitar.
I think a few players aside from Steve like Zappa and Adrian Belew were doing it too, before they heard EVH, but obviously the technique will be forever associated with Eddie and he took it much further.
By the way here is Eruption on piano
Anyway sorry don’t mean to derail....Last edited by christianm77; 10-08-2020 at 05:04 AM.
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Another thing that doesn’t get talked about too much is Eddies sonic awareness.
one of the things that makes Eruption so interesting to listen to is the way he uses effects to make the guitar sound more unearthly.
The Brown Sound is famous, but I’m particularly taken with the way the Phase 90 slowly sweeps across the fast arpeggio section which creates more definition and musical interest.
So if you forgive the digression, this reminds me of the way EDM producers would use a slow filter sweep on arpeggiated chords in 90’s electronic dance music. Especially Goa Trance and similar things that I spent my uni years getting mashed to.
Anyway, if you want to look to Eddie’s direct influence on EDM we must of course talk about Daft Punk.
To this day I don’t know if this is an actual guitar part at around 1:00. It is a challenging stretchy tapping lick; also it is relatively slow which makes it harder still. The solo on Digital Love is sort of bionic Eddie. It seems to be half real guitar with tapping licks and half synth stuff that is really very difficult to play on a real guitar. But that hasn’t stopped the kids from nailing it on YouTube lol.
So yeah, it shows how Eddie’s influence is all over... not just where you would expect it.Last edited by christianm77; 10-08-2020 at 05:04 AM.
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I wish docbop still posted here. He did a longish piece once on the equipment Eddie used early on---the amps, the wiring, the experimentation that went into it. It was interesting.
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This interview has Eddie talking about his early experiments with amps (mostly).
Eddie Van Halen: Early Guitar Gear, Tone, EVH and more - The Hub
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As the OP I'll just say what every one here has said. Eddie was a brilliant guitar player. I won't compare him favorably over Hendrix or anyone. It's a different thing. I've seen both live and I'll take Hendrix any day. But it's one person's opinion. Many are great there is no "the greatest" ( Except for Jimi...just joking)
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Originally Posted by christianm77
Re' the article above I am surprised but heartened by the fact that Valerie Bertinelli was with him when he passed, along with Eddie's current wife. That's not something you hear about often.
I also agree with the classical influences. I hear a lot of counterpoint in Eddie's playing, such as eruption. I know he started on piano, though I have read that he couldn't read music. Hard to believe that, if he really got far into piano, but he claims he had a good ear and watched his instructors fingers.
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Originally Posted by jaco
But OTOH, if you value improvisation and spontaneity above all, Jimi is your man of course. Nobody could jam like him in rock history.
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This is a tight, catchy song. Eddie's rhythm is so tight and fitting. He doesn't overplay. And that sound is killer.
The drums and bass are good too. It's a very full sound for so few parts.
I'm with Hep---this was a good band.
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I think EVH always had a knack for crispiness with his rhythm playing. I would say that is one of his signature moves along with the tapping, harmonics, etc. It was really effective IMHO for making the guitar a central piece in his songs.
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Originally Posted by lammie200
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Oh yeah those rhythm parts just pop.
He did so you should only work on lead once you'd mastered rhythm... but didn't he play a little drums? Everything helps...
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Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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I haven't listened to whole VH albums in years ,here's one tune I totally forgot about:
VH did some fusion!
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Goes a bit outside at 2:35
Tapped harmonics are very cool.
This is super prog haha
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Shaun Baxter's interview with EVH that I referenced elsewhere can be found here
Shaun Baxter | Facebook
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Originally Posted by christianm77
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Cool tribute from Vai:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m..._u0aRkuvkQ0He8
RIP Nick Gravenites
Today, 05:48 PM in The Players