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Eddie Van Halen Or Alex Van Halen, I Mean.....


RUSHHEAD666
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Which Guitar "Horse" Do You Think Is The Most Skilled?  

84 members have voted

  1. 1. Which Guitar "Horse" Do You Think Is The Most Skilled?

    • Alex Lifeson
      67
    • Eddie Van Halen
      17


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QUOTE (shail @ Jun 28 2011, 09:20 AM)
apples and oranges.

More like apples and bicycles and fishing nets and wooden fence posts...... ohmy.gif

 

"Who's The Better Guitarist?" debates are self-defeating, especially when you're discussing the upper-echelon players. Technical, schmectical.....you either like the way they play or you don't. Does the guitarist move you? That is the real question.... smile.gif

 

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All Eddie does is 'weedle-dee-doos' all the time. He's never written a song that I love. Alex writes the best music I've ever heard. There is simply no question on who I think the better guitarist is. Besides, I think Eddie is a straight-up jackass and has been most of his career. I was quite apalled to find out that he replaced Michael Anthony (one of the coolest bassists ever) with his fat, Roy Orbison look-alike son... until Chickenfoot happened. Now Mr. Anthony is DEFINITELY playing with a better guitarist than Eddie. Satriani is about 100x the guitar player/musician Eddie could ever be. Don't get me wrong, I like a few Van Halen tunes but they really just aren't my kind of music.

ALEX FTW

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My choice is......

 

 

drum solo......

 

 

 

 

 

still deciding......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't choose so I'm going with Steve Morse because he's better then both of them.

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QUOTE (hughes&kettner @ Jun 28 2011, 08:34 AM)
QUOTE (vital signz @ Jun 28 2011, 06:23 AM)
Eddie is more technically skilled, Alex is a better guitarist...

 

wtf.gif

Fail

No, he didn't fail there. He's saying that while Eddie has more technical skill, Alex is a better overall guitarist because of everything else he brings to the table. His post explains all that very clearly.

 

Maybe YOU failed for picking out that one sentence instead of reading his whole post. wink.gif

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QUOTE (Tigershark2112 @ Jun 28 2011, 11:07 AM)
All Eddie does is 'weedle-dee-doos' all the time. He's never written a song that I love.

That simply isn't true. Eddie didn't become the most influential rock guitarist of his generation by simply 'weedle-dee-doo"ing all the time.

 

QUOTE (Tigershark2112 @ Jun 28 2011, 11:07 AM)
Alex writes the best music I've ever heard. There is simply no question on who I think the better guitarist is. Besides, I think Eddie is a straight-up jackass and has been most of his career. I was quite apalled to find out that he replaced Michael Anthony (one of the coolest bassists ever) with his fat, Roy Orbison look-alike son... until Chickenfoot happened. Now Mr. Anthony is DEFINITELY playing with a better guitarist than Eddie. Satriani is about 100x the guitar player/musician Eddie could ever be. Don't get me wrong, I like a few Van Halen tunes but they really just aren't my kind of music.
ALEX FTW

Yikes.

 

I'll respond to that Satriani comment. That's another opinion that you have stated as fact, and it's incorrect. If you LIKE Satch better than Eddie, that's fine. But is Satch "about 100x the guitar player/musician" that Eddie is? Of course not.

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I think EVH is highly skilled with his speed and such, but Alex's solo's seem to have more emotion and a remembrance to them. EVH seems to repeat a lot in the solos that I can tell from ear. Note for note, it may be different, but I don't hear much of a difference. Alex on the other hand, when I hear La Villa's solo, and then say Freewill's solo, there is a huge difference. I think Limelight's solo is instantly recognizable over say Panama, or whatever. I'm probably biased in this, but I tried to have an open mind.

 

I gotta go with Alex. Sometimes flashy, speed solos isn't the best. Of course, all in my humble opinion.

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Alex is the better overall musician. The music of Rush is more challenging than V.H, and Eddie hasn't done anything original in 20 years. From 78 to about 86 he was inventive, but then the well ran dry and he starting repeating himself.

 

I think " musician " is the key here. Alex has more variety when it comes to songwriting.

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QUOTE (RUSHHEAD666 @ Jun 28 2011, 02:01 AM)
QUOTE (Analog_Bro @ Jun 27 2011, 11:51 PM)
Rush fans are truly a strange and awesome breed!  Most of the people I know either never heard of Rush or only know YYZ and Tom Sawyer (I'm only 17 so most of my peers are off listening to My Chemical Romance lol) so its really cool to get to talk to other people who know Rush inside and out smile.gif

Right on "Analog Kid!"

 

You are a breath of fresh air! I'm 43 and still addicted to Rush!

I try to get my daughters into this genre of music and there is no hope.

They have both seen Rush twice and they are done.

They want to see Katy Perry this November. Ugh.

 

I will probably have to give in and take them! Even my wife loves Katy Perry! I am doomed!

 

Keep the torch burning dude!! Rush Rules Forever!

 

trink39.gif

Katy Perry in Boston was an awesome show ph34r.gif

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I voted EVH based on technical skills.

I prefer Alex's other skills such as the ability to come up with interesting riffs and cool ways of taking something simple and building interesting things off of it such as Limelight (it's basically one riff played about 4 different ways) and Freewill (the riff single note riff played during the singing is played as chords in between verses but sounds so cool).

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I will vote for Alex based on his tremendous emotion. Also, as many have said, you have to look at the whole package and in that aspect, Alex is overall more valuable.

 

2.gif AlexFinal.gif

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I do think Eddy is a great player but he stopped growing a long time ago. Alex continues to play new/old content and still kicks ass doing it. Back in the 70's Alex was more showy about his licks as Eddy still is. Now he knows what he can do and do it well and he enjoys getting out there and playing to his heart's content. I'm not sure Eddy has been able to say that for a long time.

 

Alex wins my vote hands down!

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What I said was an opinion? Really? I just thought the radical statements made it clear I was already expressing my opinion. "100x the guitarist" is obviously a real statistic, not one I threw out there by opinion. It's already clear on this thread that it's all opinion-based anyway. If you wanna discuss something, how about discussing the actual matter rather than pointing out that I didn't clarify my ridiculous claims as opinion. It would make for much more interesting chat rather than me having to post this instead. I feel like the internet has been around long enough that I don't have to put "IMO" after every sentence... IMHO

 

ALEX > Eddie (yes, this is a freakin opinion, what right would I ever have to make the claim as fact? It's who is better in my mind.)

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QUOTE (RUSHHEAD666 @ Jun 28 2011, 02:01 AM)
QUOTE (Analog_Bro @ Jun 27 2011, 11:51 PM)
Rush fans are truly a strange and awesome breed!  Most of the people I know either never heard of Rush or only know YYZ and Tom Sawyer (I'm only 17 so most of my peers are off listening to My Chemical Romance lol) so its really cool to get to talk to other people who know Rush inside and out smile.gif

Right on "Analog Kid!"

 

You are a breath of fresh air! I'm 43 and still addicted to Rush!

I try to get my daughters into this genre of music and there is no hope.

They have both seen Rush twice and they are done.

They want to see Katy Perry this November. Ugh.

 

I will probably have to give in and take them! Even my wife loves Katy Perry! I am doomed!

 

Keep the torch burning dude!! Rush Rules Forever!

 

trink39.gif

At least she's hot...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

laugh.gif

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QUOTE (ioc @ Jun 28 2011, 09:32 AM)
QUOTE (MMCXII @ Jun 28 2011, 06:59 AM)
QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Jun 28 2011, 01:20 AM)
There is water at the bottom of the ocean.

Hmmm That's deep...

user posted image

Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

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If we're just talking technical ability, easily Eddie. He plays some really difficult shit, but not much of what Alex has done is very difficult for an experienced guitarist, and many experienced guitarists still cant pull off some of what Eddie did as good as he did it.

 

He has some really awkward finger runs. Very creative player. Alex is much more of a straight forward guitarist, does whats best for the song, does standard issue scales a lot, nothing really overly difficult or original. He's just a very solid guitarist, but doesnt do anything noones ever heard before. Eddie on the otherhand is a pioneer in some ways and far more influential than Alex, so just as a guitarist I definitely think Eddie's better.

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QUOTE (trenken @ Jun 28 2011, 06:44 PM)
If we're just talking technical ability, easily Eddie. He plays some really difficult shit, but not much of what Alex has done is very difficult for an experienced guitarist, and many experienced guitarists still cant pull off some of what Eddie did as good as he did it.

He has some really awkward finger runs. Very creative player. Alex is much more of a straight forward guitarist, does whats best for the song, does standard issue scales a lot, nothing really overly difficult or original. He's just a very solid guitarist, but doesnt do anything noones ever heard before. Eddie on the otherhand is a pioneer in some ways and far more influential than Alex, so just as a guitarist I definitely think Eddie's better.

pretty much sums up my opinion....

 

as far as technical ability, this isn't even close......Eddie is one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Alex just isn't in that league.

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I found a website that goes into detail about each guitarist's strengths, weaknesses and style. It's a bit dated (probably written around the Counterparts era). You guitarists out there will be able to tell if the information is accurate or not, but whoever wrote them seems pretty knowledgeable to me.

 

Here's the verdict on Eddie:

 

http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/65

 

 

And Alex:

 

http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/32

 

 

I found it to be an interesting read.

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QUOTE (RUSHHEAD666 @ Jun 28 2011, 02:01 AM)
Right on "Analog Kid!"

You are a breath of fresh air! I'm 43 and still addicted to Rush!
I try to get my daughters into this genre of music and there is no hope.
They have both seen Rush twice and they are done.
They want to see Katy Perry this November. Ugh.

I will probably have to give in and take them! Even my wife loves Katy Perry! I am doomed!

Keep the torch burning dude!! Rush Rules Forever!

trink39.gif

Praying for you dude. Hang in there.

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QUOTE (Captain Avatar @ Jun 28 2011, 08:46 PM)
I found a website that goes into detail about each guitarist's strengths, weaknesses and style.  It's a bit dated (probably written around the Counterparts era).  You guitarists out there will be able to tell if the information is accurate or not, but whoever wrote them seems pretty knowledgeable to me. 

Here's the verdict on Eddie:

http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/65


And Alex:

http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/32


I found it to be an interesting read.

Funny and informative especially if you follow the "Alex Lifeson Disease" link. I think these two articles prove my point that EVH is a showoff and a narcissist and Alex is a musician and innovator. It's why I say that EVH is very very good, but I'm not that interested anymore. Alex, on the other hand, I have been following for over 30 years.

Edited by drbirdsong
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QUOTE (ReRushed @ Jun 28 2011, 06:20 PM)
QUOTE (ioc @ Jun 28 2011, 09:32 AM)
QUOTE (MMCXII @ Jun 28 2011, 06:59 AM)
QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Jun 28 2011, 01:20 AM)
There is water at the bottom of the ocean.

Hmmm That's deep...

user posted image

Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

Same as it ever was.

 

I really do not think that EVH was that much of an innovator. He just re-popularized some styles that had been around for decades. He was at the right place at the right time. Rock had moved away from the electric guitar as the main sound at that time, there was a much greater influence of rhythms. Technology for big guitar sound in large places came along at just the right time for him. The 80s was the first decade of being able to produce about any sound you wanted in high fidelity in that kind of space.

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QUOTE (burgeranacoke @ Jun 28 2011, 11:22 PM)
QUOTE (ReRushed @ Jun 28 2011, 06:20 PM)
QUOTE (ioc @ Jun 28 2011, 09:32 AM)
QUOTE (MMCXII @ Jun 28 2011, 06:59 AM)
QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Jun 28 2011, 01:20 AM)
There is water at the bottom of the ocean.

Hmmm That's deep...

user posted image

Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

Same as it ever was.

 

I really do not think that EVH was that much of an innovator. He just re-popularized some styles that had been around for decades. He was at the right place at the right time. Rock had moved away from the electric guitar as the main sound at that time, there was a much greater influence of rhythms. Technology for big guitar sound in large places came along at just the right time for him. The 80s was the first decade of being able to produce about any sound you wanted in high fidelity in that kind of space.

What? Their first album was recorded in 1978 not the eighties and his style was obviously developed before that. You are aware that there were thousands of guitarists influenced by him after that debut album was released, right? In fact the EVH copycats became a huge cliche and if you couldn;t play eruption you were not considered a good guitar player.

 

I don't think anyone on the thread has said they like EVH better than Alex but the original question has to do with skill which, for me, is technique. Alex's strengths aren;t skills per se, they are better described as innate talent. Everyone can tap but can everyone duplicate Alex's style in an original format? No.

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