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EVH overrated or top 10 like they say?
Posted on 3/31/25 at 11:16 am
Posted on 3/31/25 at 11:16 am
I've personally seen him 2x and thought his solos and playing were boring. Same stuff after 35 years..
I saw John Pettruci and was blown away. That guy is amazing with a guitar.
I saw John Pettruci and was blown away. That guy is amazing with a guitar.
12
Posted on 3/31/25 at 11:31 am to bleedsgarnet
There is no way to actually rank guitar players, despite everyone trying to do it. There are too many variables and personal tastes and preferences.
Are you ranking on technical ability?
Style? Tone? Songwriting? Cultural relevance? Awards? Record sales? Chart success?
I have personally never seen a list where Eddie Van Halen was not in the top 10, usually in the top 5 or even No. 1.
Are you ranking on technical ability?
Style? Tone? Songwriting? Cultural relevance? Awards? Record sales? Chart success?
I have personally never seen a list where Eddie Van Halen was not in the top 10, usually in the top 5 or even No. 1.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 11:47 am to bleedsgarnet
What I think you have to include is innovation. Very few have innovated like EVH.
Les Paul and Hendrix come to mind.
Nobody worked the trem bar like Ed. His use of Harmonics was a step above. And he was building his own guitars in his early 20s.
I mean, there are dozens of teens on YouTube playing Eruption or the opening of Mean Streets, but if Eddie didn’t do it first…45 years ago, would anyone be doing it?
Just food for thought.
We all have our favorite. Mine’s obviously Eddie, but that doesn’t mean the rest suck.
Les Paul and Hendrix come to mind.
Nobody worked the trem bar like Ed. His use of Harmonics was a step above. And he was building his own guitars in his early 20s.
I mean, there are dozens of teens on YouTube playing Eruption or the opening of Mean Streets, but if Eddie didn’t do it first…45 years ago, would anyone be doing it?
Just food for thought.
We all have our favorite. Mine’s obviously Eddie, but that doesn’t mean the rest suck.
This post was edited on 3/31/25 at 11:50 am
Posted on 3/31/25 at 11:54 am to bleedsgarnet
If you were to pick one guitarist as the best from the '80s the top two choices would be Eddie or Randy.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 11:55 am to LuckySo-n-So
People get too hung up on technical ability, when at that level there is little difference in the technical abilities of the guitarists.
It's not like Eddie would watch a John Petrucci video and go "damn I just can't play that" and likely vice versa.
As you say, you can find women and kids playing Van Halen songs, and Dream Theater songs.
I can also find a painter that can copy a Picasso so close that they would have to test the age of the paint to determine if it was a fake. Was that painter a better painter than Picasso?
At that point, it becomes about innovation, as you say, along with creativity and songwriting, and I think commercial success has to play some role. It can't just be about mechanical playing.
It's not like Eddie would watch a John Petrucci video and go "damn I just can't play that" and likely vice versa.
As you say, you can find women and kids playing Van Halen songs, and Dream Theater songs.
I can also find a painter that can copy a Picasso so close that they would have to test the age of the paint to determine if it was a fake. Was that painter a better painter than Picasso?
At that point, it becomes about innovation, as you say, along with creativity and songwriting, and I think commercial success has to play some role. It can't just be about mechanical playing.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 12:02 pm to LuckySo-n-So
Oh I get it. I just kinda thought Eddie got stale over time.
I totally understand he was a monster guitarist. I was in high school when Dave was still fronting vh.
Maybe the drugs effected his creativity over time..
I totally understand he was a monster guitarist. I was in high school when Dave was still fronting vh.
Maybe the drugs effected his creativity over time..
Posted on 3/31/25 at 12:07 pm to Bjorn Cyborg
quote:
At that point, it becomes about innovation, as you say, along with creativity and songwriting
It has to be both, but I do think innovation is the main factor. Jimmy Page is a brilliant innovator, but he's not the most technically superior. I think he's one of the greats, but someone like Van Halen is a better overall guitarist in that he's exceptional both in creativity and technique.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 12:13 pm to bleedsgarnet
I never comment on these GOAT list Qs but I must this time ...
I exhibited at the Amigo Nashville Guitar Show earlier this month, one of the biggest annual guitar events in America. Hundreds of booths, thousands of attendees. In the historic home of country music that nowadays doubles as the epicenter of ALL professional music. If you haven't been paying attention, Music City is one of the fasting growing metros in the country and LA and NYC's entertainment biz gradually relocating there is part of the reason.
And the most common guitar sounds coming from my booth and everyone else's consumer test-drive booths at Nashville's guitar show? EVH stuff - Eruption, Mean Street, Panama, et al. Stuff that's now no less than 40 years old now. And the kids in their teens and 20s were better at it than the old guys LOL.
If you put Ed in a top 5 list and poll the other four, who will they say should top the list? They will say Ed, unanimously.
And what I find ironic, as an experienced player ... Ed's real strength was fill-laced rhythm guitar and carrying songs as the sole guitar player in his band. You think two-handed tapping and dive bombing harmonics is tough, try to master the swing rhythm in "I'm The One" or "Hang 'Em High." Tapping is a BREEZE compared to holding those songs down.
Ed doesn't have to be my favorite ever to get my GOAT vote. Without question nor hesitation.
I exhibited at the Amigo Nashville Guitar Show earlier this month, one of the biggest annual guitar events in America. Hundreds of booths, thousands of attendees. In the historic home of country music that nowadays doubles as the epicenter of ALL professional music. If you haven't been paying attention, Music City is one of the fasting growing metros in the country and LA and NYC's entertainment biz gradually relocating there is part of the reason.
And the most common guitar sounds coming from my booth and everyone else's consumer test-drive booths at Nashville's guitar show? EVH stuff - Eruption, Mean Street, Panama, et al. Stuff that's now no less than 40 years old now. And the kids in their teens and 20s were better at it than the old guys LOL.
If you put Ed in a top 5 list and poll the other four, who will they say should top the list? They will say Ed, unanimously.
And what I find ironic, as an experienced player ... Ed's real strength was fill-laced rhythm guitar and carrying songs as the sole guitar player in his band. You think two-handed tapping and dive bombing harmonics is tough, try to master the swing rhythm in "I'm The One" or "Hang 'Em High." Tapping is a BREEZE compared to holding those songs down.
Ed doesn't have to be my favorite ever to get my GOAT vote. Without question nor hesitation.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 2:00 pm to bleedsgarnet
While he's not my #1 favorite, he is unquestionably the greatest and most influential player ever.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 2:03 pm to bleedsgarnet
He was great and pretty innovative.
But whenever I see a top 20 guitarist listing and Prince is on it, I stop reading.
But whenever I see a top 20 guitarist listing and Prince is on it, I stop reading.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 2:12 pm to TheFretShack
quote:
Ed's real strength was fill-laced rhythm guitar
Yep, to the uninformed he is just a great lead player. To the informed, he is maybe the greatest rhythm guitar player ever as well as lead.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 2:15 pm to hogcard1964
quote:
But whenever I see a top 20 guitarist listing and Prince is on it, I stop reading.
Agreed. Prince was obviously a very good player. Even great. But he did not have guitar driven music and he was not innovative.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 2:43 pm to Midget Death Squad
quote:
It has to be both, but I do think innovation is the main factor. Jimmy Page is a brilliant innovator, but he's not the most technically superior. I think he's one of the greats, but someone like Van Halen is a better overall guitarist in that he's exceptional both in creativity and technique.
Agree 100 percent.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 3:25 pm to bleedsgarnet
quote:
EVH overrated or top 10 like they say?
quote:
playing were boring. Same stuff after 35 years..
wellll.....are you ranking him based on his ability to create new music in 2025? Or his ability to shred on a guitar?
The fact that he's playing the same stuff now is entirely irrelevant to where he would rank as a guitarist. Not to mention, the stuff he was playing 35 years ago was so different and unique that it's allowed him to still play the same ol' thing 35 years later and still sell tickets.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 3:26 pm to Bjorn Cyborg
quote:
There is no way to actually rank guitar players, despite everyone trying to do it. There are too many variables and personal tastes and preferences.
Are you ranking on technical ability?
Style? Tone? Songwriting? Cultural relevance? Awards? Record sales? Chart success?
Posted on 3/31/25 at 3:36 pm to WG_Dawg
quote:
The fact that he's playing the same stuff now is entirely irrelevant to where he would rank as a guitarist. Not to mention, the stuff he was playing 35 years ago was so different and unique that it's allowed him to still play the same ol' thing 35 years later and still sell tickets.
Well, he's dead.
But that brings up another point, is that people like Jimi Hendrix and Randy Rhoads, who died in their prime, don't get judged negatively like people who were still playing in their 60s (EVH) or even 80s like Eric Clapton.
Had Eddie died after 1984 was released, I doubt we would be having this conversation.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 3:42 pm to Bjorn Cyborg
quote:
Well, he's dead.
yeah I overlooked that pesky fact lol. Other points remain though
quote:
people like Jimi Hendrix and Randy Rhoads, who died in their prime, don't get judged negatively like people who were still playing in their 60s (EVH) or even 80s like Eric Clapton.
another good point
Posted on 3/31/25 at 6:23 pm to WG_Dawg
To the teenage crowd that was just getting into music in the early years of their adolescence in the '70s (and maybe didn't have the access to music that others had), that first album by VH was monumental, literally. It jumped off the record player into our brains. Heavy but with melody and flair. And as others said, their subsequent success wasn't just his leads - their/his rhythm play was outstanding, in addition to the backing vocals. They/he were something from another world until 1984, but even on that one, there's quite a bit of old style VH.
Posted on 3/31/25 at 8:26 pm to bleedsgarnet
So much of it is personal preference. I believe EVH was a good guitarist, but also just made a lot of noise that always sounded the same. Guitarists like dickie betts, toy Caldwell,SRV, and some others could tell a story with there playing because the could get everything out of every note they played
Posted on 3/31/25 at 9:06 pm to Bowstring1
quote:
So much of it is personal preference. I believe EVH was a good guitarist, but also just made a lot of noise that always sounded the same. Guitarists like dickie betts, toy Caldwell,SRV, and some others could tell a story with there playing because the could get everything out of every note they played
quote:
According to the Grateful Dead guitarist, Van Halen’s music wasn’t “played with enough deliberateness” because it lacked “a certain rhythmic elegance that I like music to have”. Although some of it is the “kind of music which I understand on one level,” its evident lack of syncopation “isn’t attractive to me” because “the notes aren’t saying much. They’re like little clusters”.
- Jerry Garcia
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