RIP Eddie Van Halen

[Muddy-T]

Originally Posted by albee1952

They say the star that burns the brightest, will burn out the soonest. He certainly burned brighter than most!

Well said Dave.

I was fortunate enough to see VH at Pinkpop 1980. I must confess, I didn't really appreciate their particularly boisterous, over the top style at the time. Obviously, in hind sight, it was Rock & Roll at its -contemporary- best. But heck, I was into Prog and New Wave Folk at the time, I really didn't know sheet!

All I remember was Dave with that 4qing band aid on his nose, doing his jumps and splits. I remember the pyrotechnics. I remember I was really impressed with Alex's drumming and his sound.

Even though I had been playing for a couple of years by that time I can't for the life of me remember noticing Eddie in particular. Except for the tapping of course. But me and my most discerning friends all agreed that was just a gimmick, a show piece. Theatrical antics.

It took another half a decade, around the time Vai and Satch broke and became my heroes, before I started to realize how Eddie's innovations had influenced their style of guitar playing. And more importantly, their sound. That super high gain powerchord thing, the phaser, the chorusing. The raw power. That sound. Eddie's sound.

A sound that will be dearly missed.

T