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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Number four

My top 25 hard rock/metal guitarist countdown is down to number four. It is...

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Eddie Van Halen

Van Halen the band revived rock music and Eddie Van Halen was a huge part of that. People were in awe of that debut and I think most of that feeling stayed through to 1984. Okay, he hasn't done a lot since, but he did far more in those six albums than most players do in a whole career. Those albums still hold up well. He could play cool rhythms, stunning solos and make it look fun.

***I'll have the final three out next week.
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6 comments:

  1. bob_vinyl10:10 AM

    I think his work on the first album changed rock guitar so much that he'd rank high even if he didn't do another thing. He wasn't just a shredder either. EVH was very creative and played with style whether he was soloing or playing rhythms. On a HR/HM list, I'm kinda surprised that he's not #2.

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  2. Anonymous5:46 PM

    influential no doubt but i'm not much of a fan of his playing for his band. ever listen to early zz top? you'll hear where eddie got a lot of his licks.

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  3. bob_vinyl6:17 PM

    Nothing comes out of thin air, so he had his influences to be sure, but Billy Gibbons? I don't hear that at all.

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  4. Woody6:10 AM

    A friend of mine has a recording of Van Halen playing a party when they were still a cover band. They do a bunch of ZZ Top songs and Eddie plays the solos note for note. Same with The James Gang, Deep Purple, Montrose, etc.

    Billy Gibbons and Frank Zappa both did hammer-ons on the neck of the guitar long before EVH. They used guitar picks on the neck rather than the right hand. Check out Zappa's solo on "Inca Roads" for an example. Billy Sheehan also credits Billy Gibbons for inspiring him to do tapping on the bass.

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  5. bob_vinyl7:12 AM

    So EVH can play all of that stuff and his technique didn't come out of thin air. I just don't hear Billy Gibbons' tone or boogie in VH. Maybe I need to go back and listen side by side though. I mean, if Woody says it (and it doesn't involve Angus Young), I have to believe I'm missing something!

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  6. Woody1:11 PM

    Angus actually does some fancy left handed hammer ons in the solo of Dirty Deeds. EVH has often said that Bon Scott is his favorite singer.

    Check out this video of Billy Sheehan talking about Billy Gibbons and 2 handed tapping -
    http://www.dimarzio.com/magazine/#/features/billy_sheehan/

    I agree with you, I don't hear much of Billy's tone or style in EVH.

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