Stumbled across this isolated EVH guitar track and i'm blown away. He's basically playing lead and rhythm at the same time!
Stumbled across this isolated EVH guitar track and i'm blown away. He's basically playing lead and rhythm at the same time!
EVH was an extremely innovative, influential, and talented guitar player, but I don't actually like his melodies all that much. It's probably heresy to say it, but I don't think his solos ever really fit the songs they're dropped into.
As far as lead-plus-rhythm-in-one-track playing goes, Chet Atkins and a whole bunch of jazz guitarists would like a word.
All that being said, that is some heroic guitar there.
Yes.
/thread
Eddie was pretty good and I listened to a lot of VanHalen throughout high school. I don't know that he's the best.
Roy Clark comes to mind. He was a wizard with any stringed instrument.
Ewan Dobson is also pretty good if a little strange.
There are countless other that are every bit as good if not as famous.
And if you want the best string pickers, well they don't play guitar.
EVH was a monster player who inspired countless others. Van Halen* as a band were pretty much the template for a rock band right up until grunge happened. I was/am a huge fan.
The best? No. Nobody is the best. There are a limited number of greats, but nobody can be the best. IMO, music shouldn't work that way.
* That similar band with Sammy Hagar on vocals was pretty good too, but they weren't Van Halen. (fire suit on)
Duke said:EVH was an extremely innovative, influential, and talented guitar player, but I don't actually like his melodies all that much. It's probably heresy to say it, but I don't ever think his solos actually fit the songs they're dropped into.
As far as lead-plus-rhythm-in-one-track playing goes, Chet Atkins and a whole bunch of jazz guitarists would like a word.
All that being said, that is some heroic guitar there.
I'm a big, long-time EVH fan.
BUT, I think you hit the nail on the head here:
"but I don't ever think his solos actually fit the songs they're dropped into."
I often thought that in too many songs, the song basically stopped for his solo to feature his talent, tricks and hand speed, and then restarted.
When I'd catch hell from my friends for saying so, I'd use David Gilmour's solos within Pink Floyd songs. They always seemed to fit and flow within the structure of the song.
I don't know if EVH wrote songs around a solo he came up with, but that's how some came across to me.
That sounds like I'm crapping on the guy but I'm not. He was an immensely talented guy and remains an influential icon. His early music makes me want to live a thousand miles per hour.
I was so sad when he died.
Find the isolated guitar version of "Unchained" on the tube of yall. Yeah he was pretty berkeleying good.
In reply to "Firesuitjunky" 
:
Sammy Hagar can actually sing and play guitar while he's doing it. Dave was the big show no doubt but he's a one trick pony. Sammy still has chops in his late 70's. That and he bought my son a beer in in Kid Rock's bar in Nashville when (my kid) was roadtripping down yonder to Texas A&M with a buddy. So yeah, team Sammy. 
(Fight me!)
I've only been incidentally exposed to Van Halen, and listened to that track, and that was some absolutely incredible guitar playing. It's easy to write off rock bands as vanity projects / idol worship, but good lord that is a serious show of musicianship there.
Plus his tone was just the chef’s kiss. Searing, alive, dancing, even.
11GTCS said:Find the isolated guitar version of "Unchained" on the tube of yall. Yeah he was pretty berkeleying good.
In reply to "Firesuitjunky"
Sammy Hagar can actually sing and play guitar while he's doing it. Dave was the big show no doubt but he's a one trick pony. Sammy still has chops in his late 70's. That and he bought my son a beer in in Kid Rock's bar in Nashville when (my kid) was roadtripping down yonder to Texas A&M with a buddy. So yeah, team Sammy.
Save folks some time here
How do we define "best"?
revolutionary?
influential?
Absolutley. I don't think anyone, not Hendrix, not page, not Clapton, has had such a widespread influence on the masses.
Music writing?
artistic?
soulful?
Not so much. As has been said, a virtuosic player, not composer.
For me, I have a list of players I LIKE more. But would I say any of them were "better"?
nah. Eddie was the best.
Defining best is tough, are you limiting that to rock music? There are jazz/country/bluegrass/classical/etc. guitarists who could be considered the best too, but crowning anyone as the best in any genre is going to be a subjective choice.
EVH was great, there's no doubt there but I agree on his solos being shoehorned into songs. Admittedly I'm not a fan of Van Halen and their 26 songs featuring love in the lyrics but Eruption is the only EVH solo that I seek out. It's great, pyrotechnic and exciting. And I listen to it about once a year.
It seems to be kind of a thing to downplay Hendrix recently for whatever reason but it's hard to fathom that everything we heard of Hendrix was recorded within a 5 year period and like 3 albums .Nothing he did sounded like anything that has been done before. Decades later you still have tribute albums, tours with musicians playing his songs etc. I don't think EVH has anywhere near the same.
Another guitarists that is hugely underrated is Iommi. Literally started heavy metal and doesn't even have full fingers on his fretting hand . Literally created an entire genre with melted down soap bottles instead of fingers playing his guitar. He's so good at it that people aren't really astonished by that fact.
11GTCS said:Find the isolated guitar version of "Unchained" on the tube of yall. Yeah he was pretty berkeleying good.
In reply to "Firesuitjunky"
Sammy Hagar can actually sing and play guitar while he's doing it. Dave was the big show no doubt but he's a one trick pony. Sammy still has chops in his late 70's. That and he bought my son a beer in in Kid Rock's bar in Nashville when (my kid) was roadtripping down yonder to Texas A&M with a buddy. So yeah, team Sammy.
I figured this was coming. :) Sammy is a more skilled musician than DLR. He's a better singer than DLR. I have a lot of respect for Sammy as a musician. The Sammy stuff is good but it's not Van Halen. Same with the Gary Cherone stuff that we're all trying to forget about. It isn't DLR's talent that made VH great. It was his over the top personality, his vocal style/sound, his musical tastes, his interactions with the band, etc. I hate to use a cliché word like "chemistry," but the chemistry of the original four members just made it all work.
For fun, put on some headphones and listen to the debut Van Halen album as if you were a kid hearing it for the first time. Then do the same with 5150. To my ear, there's just no comparison. One influenced a decade or more of rock music. The other... didn't.
A topic for another thread, but the mention of Gary Cherone brings up Nuno Bettencourt. He was one of a handful of greats that got lost in a sea of hair metal.
For the record, i also agree that picking one person as the "best" is impossible. I was just hoping to stir up some discussion by using that as my title
EVH holds a dear place in my heart, because they were my first entry into a new genre of music other than the country and bluegrass that I listened to with my dad growing up. I still think the outro of Drop Dead Legs is one of the best jams of any kind I've ever heard, it gives me the goosebumps when I hear it.
And of course, Van Halen isn't really Van Halen without DLR. Mediocre at singing, mediocre at songwriting (arguable), but an incredible showman and frontman for a rock band. I like Van Hagar, but I love Van Halen.
Duke said:As far as lead-plus-rhythm-in-one-track playing goes, Chet Atkins and a whole bunch of jazz guitarists would like a word.
Andres Segovia has entered the ring...
Eh its a hard call. I would rather listen to other guys play like SRV or Jimi. Can't deny he's up near the top though.
Here is the isolated track of Mark Knopfler playing "Sultans of Swing". He's not even doing a showy solo.
I've always like VH, but the band and player were never a huge influence. Amusingly, being of the MTV generation, my first exposure to EVH the player was the video for Jump. I didn't really understand why everyone was talking about him until I heard other songs some time later. He wasn't the first to do the tapping thing, but he definitely brought the technique to the mainstream.
As far as influence... well... every popular player has an impact on the players who learned after them. For many of us, EVH is an icon because we were around during his rise. Today, he is just one of many and I don't think he holds any special place above other influential players.
I would argue the solo for Hot For Teacher absolutely fits the song.
And for a crazy wild card in the debate around playing Rhythm and Lead....
It gets extra crazy at around the 3:50 mark...
I don't even know what is happening at 4:50...
When will we start taking about the electric guitar's cousin and get to Cliff Burton? I'm all ears for that one
P3PPY said:When will we start taking about the electric guitar's cousin and get to Cliff Burton? I'm all ears for that one
Literally the post right above you. Except that I skipped him to arguably the greatest living player.
Aside from all the fast stuff, the tapping, the solos, and everything else, one of the things I really appreciate about him is the memorable riffs. Unchained, Panama, Mean Streets, Best of Both Worlds, and Summer Nights all have riffs that make you want to run through a brick wall.
P3PPY said:When will we start taking about the electric guitar's cousin and get to Cliff Burton? I'm all ears for that one
Anesthesia is fantastic, and probably one of the few bass solos that gets significant radio play even.
I'm a huge fan of Jack Bruce, he's got some sneakily awesome bass lines to go with the standard ones people recognize. A lot of times he's playing a bass solo, played off a guitar solo, locked into the drummer, often while singing. The solo section of White Room is a good example there.
Entwisle is another great even though I'm not a Who fan. I'll find an isolated bass line on YouTube and post it. He's not playing a bass line to the music, he's playing 95 percent of the melody and the others are chipping in.
You'll need to log in to post.
