And Jimmy...

And Eric and Carlos....

[Edited on 4/10/2020 by blackey]

And Jimi....

[Edited on 4/10/2020 by blackey]

And VH.

And Steve V.

I'm glad Derek and Warren don't play like this. Technically they would have greatly advanced.....but after 3 or 4 songs I would be burned out on it.

And VH.....A more mature, different EVH....Watch the entire clip and hear and see the soulful, rhythmic, and yes brilliant soloist EVH:

That was a hole lot of tricky, fast and powerful licks from Eddie Van Halen Chain! But is Eddie better than Steve Vai? Or the late Gary Moore? Is it too close to call?

Didn't you watch the Jimi Hendrix clip? Not exactly as technically advanced as Eddie, Steve Vai and Gary Moore but still hot and powerful. And Eddie and Steve didn't run the back of their arm up and down the fret board or rake the fret board back and forth across the metal microphone stand and Hendrix did!

Actually the old jazz players, and not only guitar but wind instrument players such as Benny Goodman and Harry James would question whether what Van Halen etc do is really playing an electric guitar or is it just tricks, gymnastics and noise?

I enjoy those wild solos myself. But for long stretches of listening Duane, Dickey, Warren, Derek, Clapton and the Kings and many more are my bag.

He is so good, truly has his own style and you know it's him instantly. Maybe him and Waters can realize how short life is and play on stage once agin.

He is so good, truly has his own style and you know it's him instantly. Maybe him and Waters can realize how short life is and play on stage once agin.

Did you ever hear the solo EVH contributed to the Roger Waters tune in the movie, I think "Lost Boys Calling" or some such title. Very cool as it was a very laid, slow, and a bit haunting....As is the entire song. It's at the end of the movie as the credits roll....

That was a hole lot of tricky, fast and powerful licks from Eddie Van Halen Chain! But is Eddie better than Steve Vai? Or the late Gary Moore? Is it too close to call?

Didn't you watch the Jimi Hendrix clip? Not exactly as technically advanced as Eddie, Steve Vai and Gary Moore but still hot and powerful. And Eddie and Steve didn't run the back of their arm up and down the fret board or rake the fret board back and forth across the metal microphone stand and Hendrix did!

Actually the old jazz players, and not only guitar but wind instrument players such as Benny Goodman and Harry James would question whether what Van Halen etc do is really playing an electric guitar or is it just tricks, gymnastics and noise?

I enjoy those wild solos myself. But for long stretches of listening Duane, Dickey, Warren, Derek, Clapton and the Kings and many more are my bag.

I don't consider EVH better per say than any of the musicians you listed.....He's just another of the greats with his own style and unique sound. To me, he has the ability to write good songs which separates him from many of the shredders out there who are far more advanced technically but can't write consistently good songs.

I like to listen to Vai occasionally but can only do so for so long as it gets old quick. Primarily because the songs aren't there and they don't grab me. But that's just me...

Producer Ted Templeton, in his recent book, considers EVH similar to Charlie Parker in that EVH's a unique once in a generation guitarist with a musical language all his own. No one sounds like him and you know it's him from the first note to the last.

Another example of this can be heard here. From "Live Without a Net" In particular the extended solo....Uniquely Eddie in my opinion...

[Edited on 4/11/2020 by Chain]

Yes that is Eddie at his best. It was Eddie they wanted for the wild solo on Beat It on Michael Jackson's Thriller, the BEST selling album of any before or since at 66 million copies!!!

I saw Van Halen several times in the early years and thought technically no one could match him, including Hendrix. Then when Roth left and put his band together I saw Steve Vai and there was another monster shredder. In 1984 saw Gary Moore was now I've seen three that can go all over the guitar with speed, wild licks and whammy bar gone wild. Moore later shifted to the blues and often then used a Les Paul with no whammy bar. Never saw Randy Rhoads live but I'm told he was another. Brad Gillis of Nightranger is another. Gregg Allman was ask to sing on his solo album back about 1993 and Gregg did it.

Yes that is Eddie at his best. It was Eddie they wanted for the wild solo on Beat It on Michael Jackson's Thriller, the BEST selling album of any before or since at 66 million copies!!!

I saw Van Halen several times in the early years and thought technically no one could match him, including Hendrix. Then when Roth left and put his band together I saw Steve Vai and there was another monster shredder. In 1984 saw Gary Moore was now I've seen three that can go all over the guitar with speed, wild licks and whammy bar gone wild. Moore later shifted to the blues and often then used a Les Paul with no whammy bar. Never saw Randy Rhoads live but I'm told he was another. Brad Gillis of Nightranger is another. Gregg Allman was ask to sing on his solo album back about 1993 and Gregg did it.

And Eddie did that solo for free....Like most musicians do I suppose. What kind of coin could that have made him I wonder?

As you probably know, Steve Lukather (another brilliant guitarist) did most of the guitar work on the Thriller album and he's the one that hooked Quincy Jones up with EVH as Steve and EVH go way back....There's a cool youtube of Steve Lukather sharing this story. Check it out:

Yes the Toto guitarist is all over Thriller. Paul McCartney sings on a track and the great actor Vincent Price dose the rap on the title track.

If Eddie got just 1 dollar for each album sold that would be 66 million dollars.

One of the most famous guitar solos of the 1950's is on Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock. I'll have to look it up later but I have read the guitarists got 25 dollars for his work on the track and the single sold over a million copies.

I saw Toto in 1979 and they had all real strong players and supposedly all of them where first call studio musicians in LA. Especially the drummer who was on hundreds of tracks but died of cocaine overdose at an early age. Steve Percaro or was it Jeff? I'm on my cell waiting in a food line trying to stay 6 to 10 feet away and there is a pretty girl. Its hard!! Taking about keeping my distance:)

I saw Toto in 1979 and they had all real strong players and supposedly all of them where first call studio musicians in LA. Especially the drummer who was on hundreds of tracks but died of cocaine overdose at an early age. Steve Percaro or was it Jeff? I'm on my cell waiting in a food line trying to stay 6 to 10 feet away and there is a pretty girl. Its hard!! Taking about keeping my distance:)

Speaking of Toto, there's a great film of I believe their 40th anniversary tour that I caught on the AXS channel a few years ago. It's from a show in Europe I believe and wow, are they a great band! Look for it on youtube and i'm sure there's snippets of the film somewhere on that site.

One of my older brothers was a huge Toto fan and so I heard their albums growing up as a young kid. Plus they were all over MTV in the early years of Music Television.

Let's not forget how good Toto was in 1980.

Agreed, ABB fill in guitarist (1993) David Grissom is great:

Best Keytar Solo! Little Wing on Ax Synth

Eddie Van Halen needs one. No worry about breaking a string or going out of tune from pushing to hard on the whammy bar.

If they could put a slide pot up on the left, Derek Trucks could switch over to one and ditch those SGs.

I'm 73. Guess this is what us old guys have to look forward to. Well it's still some kind of live music and as you can see, you can dance to it.

[Edited on 4/13/2020 by blackey]