RIP EVH

Saw VH in nineteen hundred and eighty two, they had phenomenal command of that big venue. Best arena show I’ve ever seen, including Queen in their prime, a very close second. Both EVH and Brian May’s early 80’s live sound was truly stunning. I feel sorry for rock fans today who will never know the immersive volume and bracing experience of that era.

Greatness often encourages comparison, and it’s hard not to notice how much EVH and Hendrix had in common. Both had an immense impact on the electric guitar and it’s role in multiple music genres. Like Hendrix, EVH channeled enormous talent through a kind of raw energy and enthusiasm that made him into a force of nature. EVH was also a great songwriter who extended the expressive capabilities of the guitar by leaps and bounds. He put those expressive innovations to work in solos that are so melodically rich, you barely notice the many layers of technique he employs. A technique that ranged from the subtlest possible articulations to the crudest, most aggressive effects. Like pushing his whammy bar down to zero tension and banging the strings against the pole pieces to achieve an unearthly howl that framed every note after in a warm glow.

EVH was somebody who truly lived to bring the power of music to bear, and graced us all in the process.
 
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EVH was the last greatest innovator of 6-string arena rock guitar playing imo.

It was a pleasure to be there when it was current.

RIP
 
As has been mentioned, always loved the smile he wore when playing, and always made it look soooo easy.....simply the best.
King Edward will be missed.
 
I have to say that his brother is a phenomenal drummer.
He reminds me of Buddy Montgomery, Wes’ brother who was uber talented yet not recognized enough.
 
Dave Merrill said:
So what are some great live Van Halen shows to stream? Just the top stuff that comes up in a search?
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For me that 78 Fresno restoration is the best. Really captures just how polished they were even at 22 opening for Sabbath. This is Franky pre Floyd.
I watch this thinking about the audience and how that must have been, having never seen anything like that before. Eddie is electric here and already has the show part down. Had to be like the first time people saw Hendrix.
 
IMO, he was one of the top three innovators on the electric guitar; the others being Hendrix and Holdsworth. I spent countless hours on Eruption alone. I learned so much from him. Rock guitar would not be the same without him.
 
Project Mayhem said:
For me that 78 Fresno restoration is the best. Really captures just how polished they were even at 22 opening for Sabbath. This is Franky pre Floyd.
I watch this thinking about the audience and how that must have been, having never seen anything like that before. Eddie is electric here and already has the show part down. Had to be like the first time people saw Hendrix.
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The one that's like 25 minutes? Thanks, will check it out. Looks like they have some longer ones, from 79 etc too.
 
So, being a self-admitted "classic Van Halen" fan, I stopped really listening to their new music after OU812... Roth-era is Van Halen to me.

I liked those first couple Hagar-era albums (I was already a Hagar fan), but it wasn't "my" idea of what VH should be. I did own For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance but I'm not sure I could name a tune from either album.

When Sammy was booted, I really was fed up with the VH brothers's behavior (much like what happened with my opinion of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from KISS). I'd had enough and stopped supporting them...

So I never heard a single track from Van Halen III until today. I listened to several... There wasn't anything "bad" about them IMO but still not the VH that I want to listen to.

I was also a fan of Gary Cherone being an early fan of Extreme (who I originally thought might be the second coming of VH).

Listening to VH III or struck me that Cherone has a lot in common with Hagar.

Anyway, quite a long windup to my point:

I think Eddie had some very different and cool tones going on this album! There's a certain "girth" to some of the chord work that I don't recall from other albums.

Back when it came out, I would probably have liked this music if I'd never have heard classic VH or if it was done under a different name...

Anyway, just some thoughts. I'm sure some will disagree :)
 
Thanks, I just checked Halfin’s web site....these can still be had.....Sooooooo many great rock pictures, check it out.
 
unix-guy said:
So, being a self-admitted "classic Van Halen" fan, I stopped really listening to their new music after OU812... Roth-era is Van Halen to me.

I liked those first couple Hagar-era albums (I was already a Hagar fan), but it wasn't "my" idea of what VH should be. I did own For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance but I'm not sure I could name a tune from either album.

When Sammy was booted, I really was fed up with the VH brothers's behavior (much like what happened with my opinion of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from KISS). I'd had enough and stopped supporting them...

So I never heard a single track from Van Halen III until today. I listened to several... There wasn't anything "bad" about them IMO but still not the VH that I want to listen to.

I was also a fan of Gary Cherone being an early fan of Extreme (who I originally thought might be the second coming of VH).

Listening to VH III or struck me that Cherone has a lot in common with Hagar.

Anyway, quite a long windup to my point:

I think Eddie had some very different and cool tones going on this album! There's a certain "girth" to some of the chord work that I don't recall from other albums.

Back when it came out, I would probably have liked this music if I'd never have heard classic VH or if it was done under a different name...

Anyway, just some thoughts. I'm sure some will disagree :)
Click to expand...

I think you're missing out. To me, the Hagar and Cherone records had the best of what Eddie's playing was to become. The instrumentals "Balutchetherium" from Balance, "Respect the Wind" from the Twister soundtrack, and "Catherine" from that porn flick was all of his soul and fire dumped into his fingers. I still love those tracks. I love all of Ed's instrumentals, primarily because they were unfettered by having to serve the lyric - intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, chorus x 2, outro. He was able to just unleash whatever was on his mind.

Dave held him back and getting back together was for you older-timey fans, the first-gen who's world was shaken to its very core by "Eruption", or so it would seem by what everyone else who was around at that time has always said. I really think Eddie was out of fight by about 2010 and just wanted to seal in the legacy before time ran out, which is why Dave was back in the band and ADKOT was made, along with recording at least one album with Wolf, which always to me appeared to be a primary underlying motivation.

5150 came out when I was in 6th grade and it roped me in, so I've been a Hagar-era kid. The earlier stuff from the first Dave years that I liked were the least popular, non-single VH songs, i.e. the one not traditionally in heavy rotation on classic rock radio stations, like "And the Cradle Will Rock..."and "Hot for Teacher". Gimme "Secrets", "Drop Dead Legs", and "Little Guitars". 1984 was 3rd/4th grade for me and I knew about VH from MTV and the "Jump" and "Panama" videos but the rest of the stuff wasn't really in the water yet, so to speak. What hit my ear holes was highly dependent on what mom wanted to listen to when she was keeping house, so it was a lot (and I mean a lot) of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac.

A Different Kind of Truth was, to me, a regression. It was also, in my opinion, boring to listen to. It came out eight years ago and I listened to it maybe twice in total. From a guitar standpoint the riffs were just kinda there, the solos were pedestrian and basically it was just a platform for Dave's endless bullshit. There, I said it. Instead of pushing forward, the whole album was a treadmill of throwaway stuff.

I'm just throwing thoughts over the fence, too. I don't live or die by them. I'm just writing for the sake of writing.
 
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