this track blows away all the excuses someone can make. There is no string noise, no mistakes, perfect timing even when switching between solos and rhythm. All of that in one fucking take. He plays the most impossible riff to immitate alongside 2 solos and an outro solo. It just blows my mind how good this is.
Plus, think about when this came out: It was the mid-70's. The world had never heard anything like this. There was no "shred" culture. EVH is the one that started that, although inadvertently. Now, you can go on the internet and see the results of what this album right here began.
@@clintbunas7415 Randy Rhoads was so much better in every single way possible. Playing better at a younger age than Eddie, much more method and much more logic behind Randy's playing where as Eddie was all show. I've learned most of Eddie's playing techniques within the span of a year. I struggle with randy Rhoads cos he's actually much better at playing under the term "playing" than Eddie was.
@@XTATICSBAND Both Eddie and Randy were elite guitarists, two totally different styles of playing. However, I'm the opposite, Eddie's playing has always given me the most trouble while I was able to play Randy's material better.
What most people don’t understand is that there was NO ONE that played like him in that era. And he thought all that shit up himself. Everyone nowadays can try and copy his stuff but not the original. Truly the one and only KING 👑
Absolutely mind blowing. Eddie is the God of guitar. He showed to the world what matters when it comes to guitar playing. It's not speed. Speed is a challenge for beginners. Speed is part of it when it's done correctly. There are countles extremely fast players nowadays who suck. Who cares about speed and notes per second when everything else is blurry and senseless. Beginners do.
@@ukwan nonsense. The guys in Yes were building songs out of taped together analog takes for years before this was recorded. Protools just took the process digital.
@@enterprisesoftwarearchitect Yes, I am not super impressed by Clapton as well, but. Believe it or not, Eddie mentioned Clapton as one of the players who influenced him the most. He said, even if Clapton sounds totally different he learned playing the guitar a lot by knowing and playing all of Claptons stuff.
I am sorry … I didn’t mean that Sunshine of Your Love and Tears in Heaven weren’t legendary… just that the speed precision ferocity and excitement of EVH was so unknown … Boston, Abba, all kinds of super-composers weren’t close to what he was doing … it took a 5 years for people to catch up.
I remember my jaw hitting the floor while listening to VH1 back in 1978. Sure his tone & leads melted your face, but his rhythm playing is also stellar. He changed rock guitar at 23 yrs old…the GOAT.
Totally agree but he wasn’t even 23 when he recorded this, just 22. I’m not being pedantic but I just am continually stunned when I think of the impact he made at such a young age. He had only been playing guitar for 10 years!
@@VanHalensGuitarPick he had a talent that can't be learned. Eddie was gifted by God and everyone who doubts Eddie's ingenious guitar playing proves himself a complete idiot when it comes to guitar playing. and everything about guitar playing. It couldnt be more obvious. Everyone who knows what he is talking about loves Eddie.
I stole a lot more of Ed’s rhythm-guitar approach than his solos, mostly because I’m a technically inept guitarist and realized pretty quickly there was no way I’d be able to imitate any of his speedy runs. So I focused on the stuff I had a realistic chance of imitating and working into my own guitar approach.
@@reprintranch which is the best thing to do anyway. But I think, even his rhythm guitar and his riffs are out of this world. There are masses of speedy solo players, even teens. But I never heard anyone playing Eddie's riffs with that asskicking power and swing (that term has become overused when it comes to Eddie, but it hits the nail perfectly ). I heard Gilbert playing Eddie's riffs which was not even close to Eddie's ingenious way of playing them. It was just bad, compared to Eddie. Very mediocre.
EVERY guitarist I've ever read commenting on this says it is damn near IMPOSSIBLE to get Ed's swing right on this riff. Just listen to this at 50% right off the top. Swiiiiiinnnnngin'
The stutter is tough to nail down easily and accurately. At one time I was able to play it in sync and with the correct meter. But it's one of those riffs that is a "use it or lose it" type of endeavors. It always takes me time to get back to the correct swagger
Always been my favorite rock song of all time. Dave's voice was awesome. Mike and Alex were so tight. But it blows my mind that Eddie didn't overdub his guitar. What a talent.
That’s what made those Van Halen albums so great is they were basically live albums recorded in a studio and the entire band playing at once. It creates an energy that is impossible to capture when each person is playing their individual parts. They didn’t fix any mistakes either. There wasn’t a ton obviously or they wouldn’t have put that take on the album. Very few bands had the type of confidence they had. First album was recorded in less than 2 weeks. Credit to producer Ted Templeman for understanding what he had with Van Halen and he just let them tear it up and recorded it. Speaking of Eruption wasn’t even supposed to be on the album. Templeman walked by and heard Eddie playing it and asked what that was. Eddie said its just something he does to warm up. Templeman immediately told the person in the studio to hit record and that person said he was already on it. The one on the album is the 2nd take. The actual studio recording is on TH-cam.
How do you know this is one take you could cut tape back then just as well as you can punch in these days when it was done correctly there’s no way to know if this is one take unless you were there it does sound like something happened there at the end, but you never know ..he still was one of the greatest
All of these comments are spot on. Eddie's guitar in isolation is truly incredible. He's indeed the greatest guitarist in history. The originality is epic.
@@markscountlessbarks Holdsworth was an influence for Van Halen. Eddie took some things from Holdsworth, but that was it. Eddie felt Holdsworth should have a record contract and his influence made that happen. But Holdsworth never made it very big. It was the innovation, originality and technique of EVH that made him a superstar.
It's no accident he had that incredible swing and groove. Those genes of his were being programmed from his dad n developed playing around n hearing his dad play when young.
I didn’t even know the guy but it’s weird to get teary eyed just from listening to this now that he’s no longer here anymore. The GOAT. Loss for words really.
Back when I was a teen VH and Eddie were my favorites! I had no real concept of how difficult and revolutionary his playing was, I just knew I loved it! Now I have a 17 year old who very happily tells people that his favorite band is Van Halen! I must have done something right!!
Eddie's playing is out of this world. especially back then, when this kind of playing has never been heard before. imagine the impact it had in 1978. I was a teen and in a band myself. It shocked everyone who was a musician himself. also Eddie's sound.
Tons of guitarists these days can play all those notes just as fast as EVH, but very, very few can accurately nail his swing and groove and for the few that can, unless they're playing with a drummer who can nail the same swing and groove as Alex, the song still won't sound right. Together they were a machine that's really tough to replicate. There are tons of shredders out there who can run circles around what EVH could do, but hardly any that have created such a unique sound and style that you could tell it was them playing after hearing only a few notes. He was a one of a kind and I'll be very surprised if there is ever anyone again who has such an impact rock music and rock guitarists.
"Tons of guitarists these days can play all those notes just as fast as EVH" But they never get it right. Like, I've seen plenty do the fast runs, because that's what they focus on, but the quintessential Eddie is in parts like 1:33, that phrasing, the use of the whammy with those perfect bends and wide, tasty vibrato (he had that vibrato at the top of a bend, too, which is something vanishingly few guitarists have). Like the solo in Mean Streets is just fucking alien, and it has nothing to do with speed.
@@ReductioAdAbsurdum You took a cherry-picked section out of what I said, then tried to make the case for how what I said has nothing to do with speed. That's called a straw man argument. You spent a lot of words to basically just say what I already said while pretending it was some kind of rebuttal to my comment. I said, "...but very, very few can accurately nail his swing and groove..." I was basically saying that playing the same notes still doesn't make a player sound like EVH. As a guitar player who's been playing since the mid 80's, I think that other than a few unicorns, a person needs to hold the pick the same way and use a nearly identical wrist technique as EVH to get close because it's a hugely contributing factor to his style, groove and phrasing. As I already said, a part of his 'groove' is the fact that him and Alex moved as one and their playing often had a swing to it that doesn't fall right on the grid perfectly like most modern rock and metal. Next time you quote someone, try a little harder to keep the quote in context and you won't look like someone arguing with himself.
I remember the very first time listening to this album. It was one monster track after another, but this...this took the cake for me. Much more than Eruption. No one solos pretty much through a whole song so flawlessly. His tone was to die for. When it comes to rock band guitar, this is number one on my list. I wasn't impressed. I was in awe. A bolt out of the blue. This is EVH is his best right here.
Man im 53......this track continues, as it did in 81/2 , when i first heard to it, to smash all comers....... the King reigns Supreme in a by-gone era, never replicated by anyone.
Its one thing today for guitarists to learn his stuff...but its so amazing that he did this with no one to model after...he was an alien from another planet...King Edward you're so missed!!!❤
When I was a kid, I thought of I'm the One as a filler song. About 20 years ago, I got on a months long Van Halen kick and listened to each song closely. At certain points of most or their songs, it's kinda hard to hear exactly what Ed is doing. I started to hear stuff in I'm the One that I never heard before. Then came TH-cam with isolated guitar tracks. Ed's guitar, by itself, is the greatest guitar solo ever. I'm the One is a top 5 Van Halen song for me now.
Hearing this isolated guitar track also shines a light on Alex and Michael and how their playing lifted Eddie’s magic to the precipice, like it existed only to compliment and perfectly match Eddie’s energy and vibe, which was no easy task. Just a way of saying Van Halen was really special in those days.
He may be gone but his music will remain. Just like we listen to Mozart and Beethoven and Bach hundreds of years later, so too will people listen to Van Halen hundreds of years from now. Rejoice! For we lived in the time of Edward Van Halen. RIP to the King.
Astonishing! The groove, the swing. Accuracy, articulation, the feel. Brash and flash for sure, but at the same time, integral to the track. Switching between that swinging, driving rhythm and those insane lead breaks, while staying right in the pocket…..VH had this track down in ‘77 on the gene Simmons demo….this tone and playing in 70 fucking 7. The sound effects! Alien yet totally natural and organic….everything he did was new, groundbreaking; 100% original, No other player of ANY instrument in the (relatively short, admittedly) history of contemporary music can lay claim to have anything approaching the impact on every facet of an instrument as EVH had on the guitar. And that’s before we even think about his composition ability….. Alien Superstar GOAT
Actually in our area it was “Running with the devil “ that first got airplay on the radio,followed by the “Eruption/You really got me “ combo. Only after purchasing the album were we blown away by how many other great tunes were on this unbelievable debut album.
I was 15 when the first VH Album (yes I said Album) came out. Blew me away. I still got the Vinyl in my collection. It’s insane that my son, whose 24 and an accomplished musician was playing this song (pretty well, I may add) when he was 17…I miss Jamming with him.
We are blessed to have lived in the time and shadow of such an immense talent. I remember seeing them in 1984 and I'm grateful I got to witness the master live in person. I could listen to this just by itself! But it sounds even better with Alex,Michael, and Dave adding their touch to it!
Ed and Alex were locked in like a bass player and drummer which is usually the case. Ed and Alex knew how far to push the beat without rushing or dragging constantly on the edge of the cliff without jumping off. F*cking incredible!!!!
I have a hearing disability and your isolated guitar tracks of Eddie's removes the confusing (for me) vocal, drum etc tracks. Isolation is only way I can clearly hear his nuanced technique, and nice to finally hear what every else heard with Eddie. Thanks!
Fast ,technical, and precise from the get go ..Mark Kendall of Great White from personal experience seeing EVH in the early first days was completely blown AWAY!! all the time every time ,not jealousy but inspiration to be better as a player
Not just that blistering, fresh style of playing, but his sound. The sound many of us have chased for years. A late 60's Marshall JMP SL is the main ingredient. Why kids today don't use this amp setup is beyond me.
This man was on another level, much higher than all the guitarists I heard, I'm not a Rocker but I loved this guy since I heard him For the first time, and that's saying a lot, RIP the great Eddie Van Hallen, the man who with a smile destroyed the stereotypes of what a Rock guitarist is.
I've always maintained that "I'm The One" is Eddie's most difficult riff to master. His right wrist had a swing to that I've never heard another guitar player duplicate. I can't even get my brain to think like that.
this track blows away all the excuses someone can make. There is no string noise, no mistakes, perfect timing even when switching between solos and rhythm. All of that in one fucking take. He plays the most impossible riff to immitate alongside 2 solos and an outro solo. It just blows my mind how good this is.
Totally agree 100%!
A men!!!😊
And no overdubbing
Plus, think about when this came out: It was the mid-70's. The world had never heard anything like this. There was no "shred" culture. EVH is the one that started that, although inadvertently. Now, you can go on the internet and see the results of what this album right here began.
Don't be sad Eddie is gone. Smile that he existed at all.
Word! ❤
And that we all got to see him LIVE many times, witnessing greatness.
Amen to that.
..and that we were here to see the whole process!
Don't forget this is a 22-23 year old making these sounds! The greatest to ever do it period!
Oh, randy rhoads had him beat.
@@XTATICSBAND oh, get outta here.
@@XTATICSBANDyou’re out of your element. You’re like a child who wonder in the middle of a movie asking whats going on. Out of your element bud.
@@clintbunas7415 Randy Rhoads was so much better in every single way possible. Playing better at a younger age than Eddie, much more method and much more logic behind Randy's playing where as Eddie was all show. I've learned most of Eddie's playing techniques within the span of a year. I struggle with randy Rhoads cos he's actually much better at playing under the term "playing" than Eddie was.
@@XTATICSBAND Both Eddie and Randy were elite guitarists, two totally different styles of playing. However, I'm the opposite, Eddie's playing has always given me the most trouble while I was able to play Randy's material better.
“No one can play lead and rhythm at the same time.” Eddie: “Hold my beer.”
Lol... Right... I'm Hearin Ya 🤣🤣😎👊💯
Nuno: "hold my beer 2"
Eddie would have done it whilst holding a beer
@@RayzaEFC Lol 🤣🤣👊💯
I literally laughed reading this. Brilliant
This is the Gold standard for rock guitar imho, still sounds incredible in 2023, touch, tone, energy, feel, power, originality.. Unmatched
You beat me to it...the gold standard.
What most people don’t understand is that there was NO ONE that played like him in that era. And he thought all that shit up himself. Everyone nowadays can try and copy his stuff but not the original. Truly the one and only KING 👑
HES A LEGEND IN YOUR MIND!
No one swings like the king!
@@BlackCatBonz HES NOT THE KING!
@@erickaufmann4839WHO IS then....in your opinion ???
@@miqallen6393 ANYONE BUT E. VAN HALEN!!
Let's not forget this was done in one take. Fkn mind blowing! Eddie the GOAT
Absolutely mind blowing. Eddie is the God of guitar. He showed to the world what matters when it comes to guitar playing. It's not speed. Speed is a challenge for beginners. Speed is part of it when it's done correctly. There are countles extremely fast players nowadays who suck. Who cares about speed and notes per second when everything else is blurry and senseless. Beginners do.
Back then musicians had to learn to play full songs not stitch stuff together in pro tools.
@@ukwan nonsense. The guys in Yes were building songs out of taped together analog takes for years before this was recorded. Protools just took the process digital.
Actually there’s a punch in at the end
Just... astonishing. There will never be another like him. Ever.
You got that right! EVH forever!💜🎸💜
We can only hope that there will be! How did he develop THAT in 1976!?!? Poor Eric Clapton is no better than me when compared to this!
@@enterprisesoftwarearchitect Yes, I am not super impressed by Clapton as well, but. Believe it or not, Eddie mentioned Clapton as one of the players who influenced him the most. He said, even if Clapton sounds totally different he learned playing the guitar a lot by knowing and playing all of Claptons stuff.
I am sorry … I didn’t mean that Sunshine of Your Love and Tears in Heaven weren’t legendary… just that the speed precision ferocity and excitement of EVH was so unknown … Boston, Abba, all kinds of super-composers weren’t close to what he was doing … it took a 5 years for people to catch up.
Okay - there was Chuck Berry and Jimi and Jimmie
Still listening in 2024! And missing you Eddie!❤🎸❤🕯🥀
I remember my jaw hitting the floor while listening to VH1 back in 1978. Sure his tone & leads melted your face, but his rhythm playing is also stellar. He changed rock guitar at 23 yrs old…the GOAT.
Totally agree but he wasn’t even 23 when he recorded this, just 22. I’m not being pedantic but I just am continually stunned when I think of the impact he made at such a young age. He had only been playing guitar for 10 years!
@@VanHalensGuitarPick he had a talent that can't be learned. Eddie was gifted by God and everyone who doubts Eddie's ingenious guitar playing proves himself a complete idiot when it comes to guitar playing. and everything about guitar playing. It couldnt be more obvious. Everyone who knows what he is talking about loves Eddie.
I stole a lot more of Ed’s rhythm-guitar approach than his solos, mostly because I’m a technically inept guitarist and realized pretty quickly there was no way I’d be able to imitate any of his speedy runs.
So I focused on the stuff I had a realistic chance of imitating and working into my own guitar approach.
@@reprintranch which is the best thing to do anyway. But I think, even his rhythm guitar and his riffs are out of this world. There are masses of speedy solo players, even teens. But I never heard anyone playing Eddie's riffs with that asskicking power and swing (that term has become overused when it comes to Eddie, but it hits the nail perfectly ). I heard Gilbert playing Eddie's riffs which was not even close to Eddie's ingenious way of playing them. It was just bad, compared to Eddie. Very mediocre.
EVERY guitarist I've ever read commenting on this says it is damn near IMPOSSIBLE to get Ed's swing right on this riff. Just listen to this at 50% right off the top. Swiiiiiinnnnngin'
Damn straight! He’s Superman and a creative genius it seems.
I can do it perfectly
The stutter is tough to nail down easily and accurately. At one time I was able to play it in sync and with the correct meter. But it's one of those riffs that is a "use it or lose it" type of endeavors. It always takes me time to get back to the correct swagger
Always been my favorite rock song of all time. Dave's voice was awesome. Mike and Alex were so tight. But it blows my mind that Eddie didn't overdub his guitar. What a talent.
One take. No overdubs. The dude was an alien. He wrote/played this in 1978. 45 years ago.
That’s what made those Van Halen albums so great is they were basically live albums recorded in a studio and the entire band playing at once. It creates an energy that is impossible to capture when each person is playing their individual parts. They didn’t fix any mistakes either. There wasn’t a ton obviously or they wouldn’t have put that take on the album. Very few bands had the type of confidence they had. First album was recorded in less than 2 weeks.
Credit to producer Ted Templeman for understanding what he had with Van Halen and he just let them tear it up and recorded it. Speaking of Eruption wasn’t even supposed to be on the album. Templeman walked by and heard Eddie playing it and asked what that was. Eddie said its just something he does to warm up. Templeman immediately told the person in the studio to hit record and that person said he was already on it. The one on the album is the 2nd take.
The actual studio recording is on TH-cam.
There's a punch-in at the very end. There had to be one at least 😆
bullshit.. there has to be like 150 cuts in this track..
How do you know this is one take you could cut tape back then just as well as you can punch in these days when it was done correctly there’s no way to know if this is one take unless you were there it does sound like something happened there at the end, but you never know ..he still was one of the greatest
@@Mikau-gb8uo😂😂😂 I hear ya....it SHOULD BE impossible...but here is Eddie doing his thing. 🤘
bro is this the best guitar song of all time? like this comment if u agree
The bomb!!!!!
The lack of distortion is mindblowing!!
My personal favorite still trying to master the solos
IN YOUR MIND IT IS!
I might sub Mean Street or Unchained in...but not to argue. This track is unbelievable and cut all in one pass.
All of these comments are spot on. Eddie's guitar in isolation is truly incredible. He's indeed the greatest guitarist in history. The originality is epic.
Set the playback speed to 0.5x and listen to how hard Ed swings the main riff. Sick.
Wow! That’s even more impressive at half speed
Unbelievable and so smooth. He always gave credit to God and that his ability just flowed through him.
Thanks for suggestion. Even at half speed there's times he plays fairly fast. Hard to understand the awesome skill at full speed.
Dude. Thank you. Wow.
Incredible..the groove is the way
Just remember he was doing this almost 50 years ago.
NO ONE was doing anything even close to this.
It is astonishing.
Allan Holdsworth chief.
@@markscountlessbarks Holdsworth was an influence for Van Halen. Eddie took some things from Holdsworth, but that was it. Eddie felt Holdsworth should have a record contract and his influence made that happen. But Holdsworth never made it very big. It was the innovation, originality and technique of EVH that made him a superstar.
It's no accident he had that incredible swing and groove. Those genes of his were being programmed from his dad n developed playing around n hearing his dad play when young.
King Edward Van Halen. The greatest guitarist to ever pick up the instrument. All the proof you'll ever need is right here in one song.
Eddie could have done a tour with just his guitar and zero background instruments, nobody else on stage, and would have sold out every show.
I didn’t even know the guy but it’s weird to get teary eyed just from listening to this now that he’s no longer here anymore. The GOAT. Loss for words really.
We hear you!
Back when I was a teen VH and Eddie were my favorites! I had no real concept of how difficult and revolutionary his playing was, I just knew I loved it! Now I have a 17 year old who very happily tells people that his favorite band is Van Halen! I must have done something right!!
Raw Power … frighteningly awesome!
His phrasing and passion were from another planet
This is incomprehensible.
Eddie's playing is out of this world. especially back then, when this kind of playing has never been heard before. imagine the impact it had in 1978. I was a teen and in a band myself. It shocked everyone who was a musician himself. also Eddie's sound.
It you hear his demos, he’d already written the first 5 albums of guitar parts by 78!
@@enterprisesoftwarearchitect yes I heard some of these, somebody gets me a doctor e. g. even mean street was an old riff of young Eddie. I Know.
22 years old. Sick.
This is a great example why he's the undisputed KING of guitar .
but he's not.
Tons of guitarists these days can play all those notes just as fast as EVH, but very, very few can accurately nail his swing and groove and for the few that can, unless they're playing with a drummer who can nail the same swing and groove as Alex, the song still won't sound right. Together they were a machine that's really tough to replicate. There are tons of shredders out there who can run circles around what EVH could do, but hardly any that have created such a unique sound and style that you could tell it was them playing after hearing only a few notes. He was a one of a kind and I'll be very surprised if there is ever anyone again who has such an impact rock music and rock guitarists.
Many can play all the things Eddie did, but not only did Eddie did it first, but he did it the best.
Jacob Deraps comes as close as anyone IMO....
th-cam.com/video/pA4ko8Qf0-s/w-d-xo.html
"Tons of guitarists these days can play all those notes just as fast as EVH"
But they never get it right. Like, I've seen plenty do the fast runs, because that's what they focus on, but the quintessential Eddie is in parts like 1:33, that phrasing, the use of the whammy with those perfect bends and wide, tasty vibrato (he had that vibrato at the top of a bend, too, which is something vanishingly few guitarists have). Like the solo in Mean Streets is just fucking alien, and it has nothing to do with speed.
@@ReductioAdAbsurdum You took a cherry-picked section out of what I said, then tried to make the case for how what I said has nothing to do with speed.
That's called a straw man argument. You spent a lot of words to basically just say what I already said while pretending it was some kind of rebuttal to my comment.
I said, "...but very, very few can accurately nail his swing and groove..." I was basically saying that playing the same notes still doesn't make a player sound like EVH.
As a guitar player who's been playing since the mid 80's, I think that other than a few unicorns, a person needs to hold the pick the same way and use a nearly identical wrist technique as EVH to get close because it's a hugely contributing factor to his style, groove and phrasing. As I already said, a part of his 'groove' is the fact that him and Alex moved as one and their playing often had a swing to it that doesn't fall right on the grid perfectly like most modern rock and metal.
Next time you quote someone, try a little harder to keep the quote in context and you won't look like someone arguing with himself.
I remember the very first time listening to this album. It was one monster track after another, but this...this took the cake for me. Much more than Eruption. No one solos pretty much through a whole song so flawlessly. His tone was to die for. When it comes to rock band guitar, this is number one on my list. I wasn't impressed. I was in awe. A bolt out of the blue. This is EVH is his best right here.
Seen Van Halen 4 times, twice with Dave,twice with Sammy...I have lived.
Sammy 3 times, forgot Vince Neil backing them up.
Lucky you....I only saw them once with Dave.
Played at half speed the track is arguably even better because you can pick up every nuance! Sheer genius!
Man im 53......this track continues, as it did in 81/2 , when i first heard to it, to smash all comers....... the King reigns Supreme in a by-gone era, never replicated by anyone.
Well that’s two October 6 in a row that I cried like a little bitch. RIP King Edward 🎶🤘
Its one thing today for guitarists to learn his stuff...but its so amazing that he did this with no one to model after...he was an alien from another planet...King Edward you're so missed!!!❤
When I was a kid, I thought of I'm the One as a filler song. About 20 years ago, I got on a months long Van Halen kick and listened to each song closely. At certain points of most or their songs, it's kinda hard to hear exactly what Ed is doing. I started to hear stuff in I'm the One that I never heard before. Then came TH-cam with isolated guitar tracks. Ed's guitar, by itself, is the greatest guitar solo ever. I'm the One is a top 5 Van Halen song for me now.
I could listen to this all day. THE KING INDEED👑
I never heard a guitar dominate a song like that - at the same time, the members of that band are maybe the best band of all time
Hearing this isolated guitar track also shines a light on Alex and Michael and how their playing lifted Eddie’s magic to the precipice, like it existed only to compliment and perfectly match Eddie’s energy and vibe, which was no easy task. Just a way of saying Van Halen was really special in those days.
He may be gone but his music will remain. Just like we listen to Mozart and Beethoven and Bach hundreds of years later, so too will people listen to Van Halen hundreds of years from now. Rejoice! For we lived in the time of Edward Van Halen. RIP to the King.
Obviously insane chops but his supernatural groove, timing and feel is what blows me away now and what puts him at the top.
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen - a gift from God.
As many guitar players that play Eds music, I have yet to hear 1 of them, sound as great as Ed. Some are close, but yet so far away.
Astonishing! The groove, the swing. Accuracy, articulation, the feel. Brash and flash for sure, but at the same time, integral to the track. Switching between that swinging, driving rhythm and those insane lead breaks, while staying right in the pocket…..VH had this track down in ‘77 on the gene Simmons demo….this tone and playing in 70 fucking 7. The sound effects! Alien yet totally natural and organic….everything he did was new, groundbreaking; 100% original, No other player of ANY instrument in the (relatively short, admittedly) history of contemporary music can lay claim to have anything approaching the impact on every facet of an instrument as EVH had on the guitar. And that’s before we even think about his composition ability…..
Alien
Superstar
GOAT
Eddie was a genius, everything sounds perfect in that song.
Amazing. That swing. That sound. Awesome 👏 Never be another. RIP Ed.
This was the first rock album I bought as a kid i was blown away I miss you Eddie
If Eruption weren’t on this album-this one song would have changed guitar history forever!
Truth.
Actually in our area it was “Running with the devil “ that first got airplay on the radio,followed by the “Eruption/You really got me “ combo. Only after purchasing the album were we blown away by how many other great tunes were on this unbelievable debut album.
The great Edward Van Halen! Enough said.
I was 15 when the first VH Album (yes I said Album) came out. Blew me away. I still got the Vinyl in my collection. It’s insane that my son, whose 24 and an accomplished musician was playing this song (pretty well, I may add) when he was 17…I miss Jamming with him.
Why don't yall jam anymore??
We are blessed to have lived in the time and shadow of such an immense talent. I remember seeing them in 1984 and I'm grateful I got to witness the master live in person. I could listen to this just by itself! But it sounds even better with Alex,Michael, and Dave adding their touch to it!
Just be thankful we had this man
Total fire in his hands!
RIP EVH the GOAT.
EVH will always be a legend!
Ed and Alex were locked in like a bass player and drummer which is usually the case. Ed and Alex knew how far to push the beat without rushing or dragging constantly on the edge of the cliff without jumping off. F*cking incredible!!!!
This is LEGENDARY. Demonstrates Edward Van Halen's incredible virtuosity & gift for rhythm & phrasing!!! What a pleasure " )
The best ever!!!
And he played it with a big smile... I miss you Eddie ❤🤘
Eddie changed everything.
Favorite Van Halen song
Eddie never took a song off!
Slow it down to 50%... he swings every note. That was a kid that started listening to Jazz in the womb.
Only Eddie could make a delicious song that doubles as a guitar clinic. \m/
The genius of this (then) very young man! May you rest in peace Eddie and have that brown sound at your fingertips for eternity.
Every time i go to a concert I’m thinking i sure do miss this guy!
Ed was a genius. ive heard this song a million times, but that axe is so badass. nice!
Wow. Yes first hearing vh 1 was beyond our comprehension of guitar playing. His mind and fingers matched each other
Today is the 46th Anniversary of this masterpiece being unleashed !
OMG. What did I just hear? Was that even real? Totally amazing!
Single tracked guitar pretty much changing the game for all guitarists everywhere.
I have a hearing disability and your isolated guitar tracks of Eddie's removes the confusing (for me) vocal, drum etc tracks. Isolation is only way I can clearly hear his nuanced technique, and nice to finally hear what every else heard with Eddie. Thanks!
Fast ,technical, and precise from the get go ..Mark Kendall of Great White from personal experience seeing EVH in the early first days was completely blown AWAY!! all the time every time ,not jealousy but inspiration to be better as a player
The Master
This song is unbelievable! Guitar work is not of this earth!
Just no words, man. Absolutely Apex mastery.
Not just that blistering, fresh style of playing, but his sound. The sound many of us have chased for years. A late 60's Marshall JMP SL is the main ingredient.
Why kids today don't use this amp setup is beyond me.
Utterly outstanding!!! 40 years ago any day soon since I saw them live in Stockholm, Sweden: 25 Aug 1984 🙂
Brilliant and timeless!
Quel son! C'est de la pure énergie, ça sonne comme un moteur de formule 1
RIP KING
Play at 0.5x speed… Jesus.
Never. Goat 4 all eternity
No other music I have ever listened to puts me in a great mood like Van Halen. Zero, none…
Try it you’ll see😊
This man was on another level, much higher than all the guitarists I heard, I'm not a Rocker but I loved this guy since I heard him For the first time, and that's saying a lot, RIP the great Eddie Van Hallen, the man who with a smile destroyed the stereotypes of what a Rock guitarist is.
Genius with a capital G.
Oh, that juicy tone! Goat 🐐 of all goats
Gave me chills up my spine
Didn’t know I could get chills in my soul
So much swagger. Good lord
Superb. My favorite VH song
Sublime,è sempre una grande emozione sentire la tua chitarra
The greatest to ever do it.
I've always maintained that "I'm The One" is Eddie's most difficult riff to master. His right wrist had a swing to that I've never heard another guitar player duplicate. I can't even get my brain to think like that.
Just a great artist
Dude….people forget about the “swing” he had when he played…..dude was ALL feel.
There never was, and never will be, anyone like Eddie Van Halen. He is the best
Eddie was Just Absolutely Mind Blowing... Guess We'd Better Thank Creation for The Brainstorm of Him and Alex Switching Instruments 😀😀😎👊💯
His sound really evolved. This sounds so different than Fair Warning and after.
amazing...one of a kind
when Ed came to me and asked for some guitar tips for this track, I said, "It sounds fine the way it is. Don't change a thing!"
wow still sounds good as a solo guitar. 🤠
no gaps, nothing is lacking, Ed sure filled the space. no need for a second guitar. 😊