Yeah, comparing guys like Eddie and Jimi to virtuoso guitarists like Vai and Malmsteen isn’t fair. They were innovators, end of story. Personally I can only listen to a few Van Halen tracks, but I appreciate what Eddie accomplished. And even if he’s no Vai, he’s still got chops.
[quote]Mufasa wrote:
Agree with you, T…
There are Live tracks out there where Hendrixx re-enacts Vietnam battle scenes, interspersed with “The Star Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful”…ON THE GUITAR! He literally makes sounds of helicopters; bombs dropping; screams and cries…machine guns (as a matter of fact, if I’m not mistaken, the Live track is called “Machine Gun”; I’ll look it up in my archives).
NO ONE was doing this stuff.
Mufasa[/quote]
Machine Gun is on the “Band of Gypsies” album. Great fucking CD.
In some of that old Hendrix concert footage it’s a bit comical at times when they pan views of the crowd and while everybody today would be yelling and screaming approval, a lot of them were clearly SCARED!!! Especially at Monterey. They were entirely unprepared for all that auditory violence.
jimi’s greatness is untouchable. he’s the whole thing man and his jimi voodoo reached sooo far beyond just the guitar.
one guy that never seems to get his due in these conversations is steve morse. that guy can play anything:
Well, we can’t mention them all. =P I’ll give it a shot:
Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Steve Morse, Steve Howe, Jimmy Page, Al Di Meola, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Alex Lifeson, Dave Murray, Allan Holdsworth, Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa, Chuck Berry, BB King, Les Paul, Muddy Waters, Link Wray, Eric Clapton…
oh God, what have I gotten myself into! I give up. It’s too soon to put guys like Devin Townsend, Omar Rodriguez, John Frusciante, and Mike Einzinger on the list.
This guy does it on bass and better:
The man:
Back in the day:
More:
Those MAB clips make me want to cry.
[quote]PGA wrote:
…doing Eruption live.
Jesus Christ!
Pretty weak in my opinion. I knew a guy in college who could play Eruption with one hand while eating a sandwhich. No shit. I’m surprised Eddie hasn’t improved that solo by now. Was incredible back in the 70’s, but it’s pretty much standard fare for any high school guitarist.
Jimmie>SRV>Eddie…the Holy Trinity.
[quote]PGJ wrote:
PGA wrote:
…doing Eruption live.
Jesus Christ!
Pretty weak in my opinion. I knew a guy in college who could play Eruption with one hand while eating a sandwhich. No shit. I’m surprised Eddie hasn’t improved that solo by now. Was incredible back in the 70’s, but it’s pretty much standard fare for any high school guitarist.
Jimmie>SRV>Eddie…the Holy Trinity.[/quote]
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm thats like asking Kool and the Gang to change “Celebration” or SIster Sledge to change “We Are Family” because ya know, they’re old…
Why improve on a solo when…drum roll please…you can just make a new one.
Lets have Eddie change it because a bunch of people can copy him and its been done for 20+ years. BRILLIANT!
[quote]PGA wrote:
PGJ wrote:
PGA wrote:
…doing Eruption live.
Jesus Christ!
Pretty weak in my opinion. I knew a guy in college who could play Eruption with one hand while eating a sandwhich. No shit. I’m surprised Eddie hasn’t improved that solo by now. Was incredible back in the 70’s, but it’s pretty much standard fare for any high school guitarist.
Jimmie>SRV>Eddie…the Holy Trinity.
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm thats like asking Kool and the Gang to change “Celebration” or SIster Sledge to change “We Are Family” because ya know, they’re old…
Why improve on a solo when…drum roll please…you can just make a new one.
Lets have Eddie change it because a bunch of people can copy him and its been done for 20+ years. BRILLIANT![/quote]
What I’m saying is that if I paid to go see VH and the mandatory guitar solo was simply Eruption, I’d be disappointed. I’d expect him to add some stuff in there to make it fresh. Yes, play Eruption, but then do some new stuff. The thing about Eruption is that at the time it was recorded it was a technical masterpiece. There was stuff in there that had not been heard on a hard rock album (classical guitarist laughed at it though). It represented the pinnacle of rock guitar virtuosity. Now, it’s basic Guitar 101. Also, that was a very weak version of Eruption. You can walk into any high school and find a handfull of kids who could play that better. When you go see EVH play, you expect him to blow your ass out of your seat. That particular video was unimpressive. Kind of going through the motions, in my opinion. Compare him to JH or SRV, those guys practically made their guitars explode with passion every time they played.
[quote]wfifer wrote:
Yeah, comparing guys like Eddie and Jimi to virtuoso guitarists like Vai and Malmsteen isn’t fair. They were innovators, end of story. Personally I can only listen to a few Van Halen tracks, but I appreciate what Eddie accomplished. And even if he’s no Vai, he’s still got chops. [/quote]
I don’t know about Malmsteen being a “virtuoso”. He played everything fast, that’s all. Not very highly regarded in certain circles.
[quote]PGJ wrote:
I don’t know about Malmsteen being a “virtuoso”. He played everything fast, that’s all. Not very highly regarded in certain circles.
[/quote]
Do you play PGJ?
I’d have to disagree with you on the Yngwie issue - the man most certainly does a lot more than “play fast”.
In fact, that’s why I ask if you play. Reducing Malmsteen’s contributions to the genre as “playing fast” indicates some pretty significant ignorance on the subject of rock guitar.
Your comments about Van Halen are also way off the mark.
No offense, but I respectfully disagree with just about every word you’ve posted.
[quote]PGJ wrote:
wfifer wrote:
Yeah, comparing guys like Eddie and Jimi to virtuoso guitarists like Vai and Malmsteen isn’t fair. They were innovators, end of story. Personally I can only listen to a few Van Halen tracks, but I appreciate what Eddie accomplished. And even if he’s no Vai, he’s still got chops.
I don’t know about Malmsteen being a “virtuoso”. He played everything fast, that’s all. Not very highly regarded in certain circles.
[/quote]
i would call them all virtuoso’s. i would also say that malmsteen and vai are only able to reach a very small, small, audience with their music. van halen is so much bigger there is no comparison. jimi even more.
[quote]swivel wrote:
PGJ wrote:
wfifer wrote:
Yeah, comparing guys like Eddie and Jimi to virtuoso guitarists like Vai and Malmsteen isn’t fair. They were innovators, end of story. Personally I can only listen to a few Van Halen tracks, but I appreciate what Eddie accomplished. And even if he’s no Vai, he’s still got chops.
I don’t know about Malmsteen being a “virtuoso”. He played everything fast, that’s all. Not very highly regarded in certain circles.
i would call them all virtuoso’s. i would also say that malmsteen and vai are only able to reach a very small, small, audience with their music. van halen is so much bigger there is no comparison. jimi even more.[/quote]
I hear ya’, but Malmsteen was famous for what he did which was just play everything really fast. I grew up around guitars. My brother is a studio musician and music producer. He’s a graduate of the Guitar Institute of Technology and Berkley School of Music. He knows talent. Malmsteen was never really considered talented by those “in the know”. Vai…stud. Satriani…stud. Any studio musician…stud. Malmsteen…not a stud.
Here’s a bit of heracy. Probably the most under rated guitarist of all time is Prince. That guy could flat-out play (and in high-heels). Most rockers hate him, but he’s seriously talented. He plays all the instruments on his albums.
Before anyone starts ripping me for my Prince comments, check this (it’s the only one I could find, I can’t get youtube at work):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3292916357848513822&q=prince+guitar
[quote]PGJ wrote:
Here’s a bit of heracy. Probably the most under rated guitarist of all time is Prince. That guy could flat-out play (and in high-heels). Most rockers hate him, but he’s seriously talented. He plays all the instruments on his albums.
[/quote]
yeah prince can play.
[quote]PGJ wrote:
I hear ya’, but Malmsteen was famous for what he did which was just play everything really fast. I grew up around guitars. My brother is a studio musician and music producer. He’s a graduate of the Guitar Institute of Technology and Berkley School of Music. He knows talent. Malmsteen was never really considered talented by those “in the know”. Vai…stud. Satriani…stud. Any studio musician…stud. Malmsteen…not a stud.
[/quote]
Speaking of Studio Musicians you must be aware of Unknown Hinson then right? Now that is one underated musician.
I can’t speak from the standpoint of a guitarist, since I’m a piss poor player; I just dick around on an acoustic. But I am a musician–a classical pianist–so I know all the subtleties of being a virtuoso.
I am well aware that Yngwie is supposed to be a cocky son of a bitch, so I know he’s not popular in many circles. But I was not aware that his virtuosity was up for debate. You can’t question his ability to play the notes, so is there something the falls short in his phrasing or technique? What can’t he play?
[quote]SkyNett wrote:
PGJ wrote:
I don’t know about Malmsteen being a “virtuoso”. He played everything fast, that’s all. Not very highly regarded in certain circles.
Do you play PGJ?
I’d have to disagree with you on the Yngwie issue - the man most certainly does a lot more than “play fast”.
In fact, that’s why I ask if you play. Reducing Malmsteen’s contributions to the genre as “playing fast” indicates some pretty significant ignorance on the subject of rock guitar.
Your comments about Van Halen are also way off the mark.
No offense, but I respectfully disagree with just about every word you’ve posted. [/quote]
That’s fine. We are talking about art. Nobody’s opinion is right or wrong.