Angus Young above Eddie, give me a break. AC/DC has been using the same three chords for the last 20 years.
Huck: You are right, its is a matter of taste, you love what you first cut your teeth on. If you were a beginning rock guitar player in the late 70’s and 80’s, Eddie was the man. But you still gotta give it up for the old guys.
Ko, you have to read my post above and take it in context. I have acknowleged Eddie’s talent for speed and different techniques but I am saying guys before him, with him, and after him have had much more appealing styles and have written truly classic songs. Eddie is probably better technically than Angus and several other guitarists from the late 70’s and 80’s, but my point is that there are several guys JUST from that era that had way better songs, Angus, tesla, g’n’r, ted nugent, srv. Those are the guys I compare with Eddie with, along with 100 other mediocre bands of the 80’s. He is not in the league of the master’s, at least for song writing ability. I respect your opinion though. To bad there are few true guitarists nowdays. Keep rockin’!!! Oh the best guy that has not been mentioned on here yet is Robin Trower, truley amazing!!! check him out on the bridge of sighs album. #3-4 on my list.
EVH’s best guitar work is on a side project that he did with Brian May (Queen). They did three or four songs; the absolute best was a 13 minute jam called Bluesbreaker where EVH really lets it loose. It was unbelievable how he fit into that jamming bluesy style so easily.
You could debate if EVH was the best, but you cannot deny that EVH was THE GUITARIST who made two hands on the fretboard sounds so damn cool.
To this day, Eruption still stops me in my tracks.
As far as the best, I see that other guitarists are receiving some votes, but I think that Randy Rhoads would have been the best if he had the chance.
wheezer:
Where can you get that session with Brian May? (If at all?)
By the way…I don’t agree with trying to compare Hendrix, Paige and Edward. I think that they would all three go down as something like “The Greatest Influences on Rock Guitar” (or something like that), and to compare the three is probably a futile exercise.
I have to agree with those that say you REALLY would have to see (or have seen) Angus and Edward live to get the “full effect”. Awesome!
Oh, my god! Thanks, for mentioning Brian May! Here we have another truly underappreciated guitarist. Did you folks know that he built that guitar of his from “something over here” and “a little over there” so that he could get the “right sound”? Amazing. Man oh man, how I LOVE Queen. And I’m sure Demo Dick shares my opinion 
Regardless of what anyone says Eddie Van Halen will go down as the best because he is the one guitar player who combined great song writing with amazing technical ability. His ability to put the most perfect little guitar solos in his songs is what always made him stand out. He NEVER over did it. While alot of the players mentioned on this board are great for any number of reasons Eddie will go down as the best all around player until some amazing young guitarist gets signed. The only guy I have seen out there is a band I have seen in the northeast a few times called Guitbox. There guitar player is a guy named Adam Kerr. They open for alot of bands when they swing through this area and both Adam and his band Guitbox tear the roof off the place and get a standing ovation. I think the website for them is guitbox.com but I am not sure.
To all those who LOVE Eddie, do you know who inspired him to play the way he plays? The answer, Jimmy Page. In an interview after the first VH album Eddie said he saw Zeppelin in '71 and during Page’s solo in Heartbreaker, Eddie saw Page do things no other guitarist had ever done before. Seeing this prompted Eddie to play the guitar and develope the style he plays. So in escence Eddie saw what Page did and did it himself. When I find out where I saw this I will post it. I believe Rhandy Rhoads was a much better guitarist the Eddie, too bad RR died so young, now there was a GREAT guitarist!
Just a memory of an old VH concert:
VH was playing, right in the middle of a song, DLR was moving across the stage when, right in the middle of the song he looks back over his shoulder and yells “Whoa! No! Stop. STOP!”
The band ground to a halt in a very rag-tag fashion. (Although I guess it might have been, the moment didn’t look rehearsed at all.) DLR backs up, points down to a spot on the stage and says, “Somebody just spat his nasty-ass chewing tobacco up here!”
There is a disbelieving roar from the crowd. Then DLR says, “…But that’s okay.” Another roar. “You know why? Because [pointing down at someone in the crowd] I saw who did it. And after the concert [now facing the guy], I’m gonna fuck your woman!”
The crowd roared yet again, and the band resumed and finished the concert. Don’t know if DLR made good on his threat or not, but it was a T-moment if I ever saw one.
Cocky bastard? You bet.
Patricia, regarding Brian May, absolutely. But you know as well as I do that it is quite pointless to argue about art (despite some people’s insistence). You either like it or you don’t. End of story.
This may sound goofy as all hell to some, but really there is no qualitative difference between Michelangelo's David and the clay penis that I made in Junior High art class. Well, actually, I can think of ONE qualitative difference (Michelangelo's model must have been a little chilly :)), but since art is purely subjective, it doesn't matter anyway.
Here is the information that I was able to find:
Star Fleet Project Brian May & Friends (Capitol, MLP 15014)
Three track mini album, single and video
Tracks: Star Fleet, Let Me Out, Blues Breaker
YOU were there?! Wow! You lucky bastard! Yeah, DLR was/is certainly bombastic and OWNED that rock-n-roller cocky swagger - on AND off the stage. But he had reason. His voice could scream out them rockin’ lyrics, but there was a strong melodious tone to them, too. Just a fantastic voice AND presence. I was never a “rock groupie” - but man, I loved VH before Sammy. EVERY rock group in the 80’s were modeled after VH. I guess you could say that VH were my “second” fave, after Queen (of course).
Hey, has anyone ever watched that VH1 Top Hair Bands countdown? Just love watching that. It's hosted by Dee Snyder.