I'm sure the video isn't posted on Youtube anymore but Prince has a killer solo for the song Guitar that was played off air on Leno. I have it on dvd and let me tell you, you would be pleased at the work P puts in on that one!

thebanishedone said:

ashynevermind said:

Those aren't really complicated at all. Good for a pop artist, but really? Those are child's play but are good within the context of Prince's world. I once heard Bon Jovi play "Purple Rain" at a sound check and Richie Sambora ripped the shit out of the solo and expounded on it without losing the feel. My point is that his stuff is pretty basic for the majority of guitarists.

Im a guitar player also.so let me tell you,everybody can play million notes but only rare guitar players can construct a beautiful melodic solo.

Yes those examples are not showcasing virtuoso playing ,these are examples of great guitar solos.

Solo is just a flavour.it should always work in the context of the music noth otherwise.

His studio solos work very well in the context of the songs and that is the only thing that matters.

Eddie Van Halen is a legend,guitar innovator .but nowdays or more than a decade he sucks on guitar.look at this

https://www.youtube.com/w...jx_GjyXCs4

or this

https://www.youtube.com/w...kX35O7H3Jc

this kind of thing can never ever happen to Prince .

Nowdays Prince is a much better guitar player than Eddie .

Eddie lost it long time ago and yes Prince could play Hot For Teacher rhythm guitar,you forgot that Prince is one of the best rhythm guitar player in the world.

Wow! That was awful. That's what I had mentioned early about EVH and what he did to himself to make his skills deminish over the years. He should have killed his tech on the spot if it was his guitar being out of tune, but DAMN!

joyinrepetition said:

thebanishedone said:

Im a guitar player also.so let me tell you,everybody can play million notes but only rare guitar players can construct a beautiful melodic solo.

Yes those examples are not showcasing virtuoso playing ,these are examples of great guitar solos.

Solo is just a flavour.it should always work in the context of the music noth otherwise.

His studio solos work very well in the context of the songs and that is the only thing that matters.

Eddie Van Halen is a legend,guitar innovator .but nowdays or more than a decade he sucks on guitar.look at this

https://www.youtube.com/w...jx_GjyXCs4

or this

https://www.youtube.com/w...kX35O7H3Jc

this kind of thing can never ever happen to Prince .

Nowdays Prince is a much better guitar player than Eddie .

Eddie lost it long time ago and yes Prince could play Hot For Teacher rhythm guitar,you forgot that Prince is one of the best rhythm guitar player in the world.

Wow! That was awful. That's what I had mentioned early about EVH and what he did to himself to make his skills deminish over the years. He should have killed his tech on the spot if it was his guitar being out of tune, but DAMN!

That's youe eample? There'ssomethong wrong with guitar there, they had a few problems with sound on that tour, a la the Live Experience, I'm sorry, can't believe you think a guy never even mentioned in the highest caliber of gitarissts in any publlication is bettr than EVH. That's why these Prince threads are crazy, they're to the point of blind obsession. Context of songs don't make you a great guitarist there has to be something you can do no one else can do. There's nothing Prince can do that no other guitarist cannot, end of story...

can't hear this anymore...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_lwocmL9dQ

thebanishedone said:

ashynevermind said:

Those aren't really complicated at all. Good for a pop artist, but really? Those are child's play but are good within the context of Prince's world. I once heard Bon Jovi play "Purple Rain" at a sound check and Richie Sambora ripped the shit out of the solo and expounded on it without losing the feel. My point is that his stuff is pretty basic for the majority of guitarists.

Im a guitar player also.so let me tell you,everybody can play million notes but only rare guitar players can construct a beautiful melodic solo.

Yes those examples are not showcasing virtuoso playing ,these are examples of great guitar solos.

Solo is just a flavour.it should always work in the context of the music not otherwise.

His studio solos work very well in the context of the songs and that is the only thing that matters.

Eddie Van Halen is a legend,guitar innovator .but nowdays or more than a decade he sucks on guitar.look at this

https://www.youtube.com/w...jx_GjyXCs4

this kind of thing can never ever happen to Prince .

Nowdays Prince is a much better guitar player than Eddie .

Eddie lost it long time ago and yes Prince could play Hot For Teacher rhythm guitar,you forgot that Prince is one of the best rhythm guitar player in the world.

[Edited 1/24/15 20:35pm]

I disagree. You're obsessed if you truly think this way there'sno changing your mind, that's hy this site is so disturbing, people here thinkPrince is the greatesr eevrything that ever lived, it's sad and pathetic, he's a decent multi-instrumentalist, nothing more. If he were better he'd play live with the rock gods but he never has and never will, while hispsycho fans sitback and say but if hedid he'd hold his own, LOL

I recommend you go to a guitarist forum and see what others who are betterthan you on guitar would have to say about your opinion.

http://youtu.be/c2WHk4C9OTg

If this 8th Grader can do this, I'm sure Prince can.

Steve Vai would DESTROY Edward in speed and he can play the blues as well as Funk like Prince which I know for a fact EVH can't do and not because it bores him.

ashynevermind said:

I recommend you go to a guitarist forum and see what others who are betterthan you on guitar would have to say about your opinion.

Now that you mention it.... once those youtube videos came to light with Eddie's guitar tracks isolated, it became pretty much irrefutable that his playing was largely emotion and vibe, and that his technical prowess had been overrated this whole time. The guitar nerds had it wrong this whole time.

He's also more blues than metal. His tracks are like listening to a drunk Keith Rirchards knock off playing with his sustain.

Here's the keys and guitar singled out. You can tell they were listening to a lot of Prince.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSJncdFXzPk

What's in there that Prince can't do? He's done some tapping if I recall, he just doesn't go back around.

A great deal of guitarist on guitars101.com love Prince epecially after they saw Fury on SNL a few years back and at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction. Your argument falls flat.

ashynevermind said:

You wanna hear heaven? Go on YouTube and find EVH's isolated guitar tracks, effing unreal, especially "Hot For Teacher", all in one take! This is why thosefirst 6 albums are legendary.

You just sent me for a good old fashioned WOW!!

I had not idea these isolated tracks were out there, I listened to a couple on youtube and then a couple by Randy Rhoads... I'm loving this!

I would LOVE to find some isolated Prince tracks. Bootleggers, get on this!

Of course Eddie is a better guitarist than Prince.

But that's the beauty of Prince. He's not the greatest, raw guitarist, nor the most beautiful-voiced singer, the above-all in drums, etc... but he's one of few who can do it ALL with above-average results.

djThunderfunk said:

You just sent me for a good old fashioned WOW!!

100% ....but part of the wow for me, and I think a lot of us, is that it's imperfect.

sorry but vai is a borefest of technical masturbation .. hendrix slays all above mentioned .. van halen shits better solos in his sleep than prince will ever think up with a thousand dez splices .. david lee roth is THE MAN .. and prince could not handle and EVH solo .. prince does have his moments but has a long way to go to really be respected as a guitarist by anyone who listens to other guitar music

CharismaDove said:

Of course Eddie is a better guitarist than Prince.

But that's the beauty of Prince. He's not the greatest, raw guitarist, nor the most beautiful-voiced singer, the above-all in drums, etc... but he's one of few who can do it ALL with above-average results.

Thank you, that was my point all along, he's not great but he's good, and if you notice people judge his playing from the contet of him being a pop star as opposed to a dedicated artist truly trying innovative things on the axe. It's a bit like the John Mayert hing, I can't stand him because of his celebrity status BS, but I have to admit he can play the guitar well...

TrevorAyer said:

sorry but vai is a borefest of technical masturbation .. hendrix slays all above mentioned .. van halen shits better solos in his sleep than prince will ever think up with a thousand dez splices .. david lee roth is THE MAN .. and prince could not handle and EVH solo .. prince does have his moments but has a long way to go to really be respected as a guitarist by anyone who listens to other guitar music

Right! Thanks for the back-up, do you see how obsessed Prince fans are? The guys trying to argue Prince could play Van Halen was an epic fail, EVH drunk and drugged out is still better, people just hate facts but what I don't understand why they want Prince to be better than him, he's a multi-instrumentalist who has no mastery but IS a great composer. Prince is smart in that he cops numerous styles of music and the general public, as well as those sycophant disciples who think he shits gold, fall all over the floor and think he's a Blues master because he plays the absolutely generic "The Ride". He dabbles in Jazz and they think he's a mster of that style, it's hilarious. Hell, Prince knows he's no Bluesman, that's why he sticks to what he knows best, Funk, which is endessly boring and the reason he's in his currrent rut cos he won't truly study any other musical forms.

jaawwnn said:

The only thing I've learnt from this thread is that ashynevermind really wishes this was vanhalen.org

Haha, was just trying to mingle the two and get a good musical discussion going on...

joyinrepetition said:

http://youtu.be/c2WHk4C9OTg

If this 8th Grader can do this, I'm sure Prince can.

Steve Vai would DESTROY Edward in speed and he can play the blues as well as Funk like Prince which I know for a fact EVH can't do and not because it bores him.

I know that video well, amazing, and what it means is that 8th grader would destroy Prince, but again we agree on Vai.

djThunderfunk said:

ashynevermind said:

You wanna hear heaven? Go on YouTube and find EVH's isolated guitar tracks, effing unreal, especially "Hot For Teacher", all in one take! This is why thosefirst 6 albums are legendary.

You just sent me for a good old fashioned WOW!!

I had not idea these isolated tracks were out there, I listened to a couple on youtube and then a couple by Randy Rhoads... I'm loving this!

I would LOVE to find some isolated Prince tracks. Bootleggers, get on this!

Aren't those the greatest? It's insane how few overdubs he used. And if you found isolated Prince tracks ther'd be punch-ins everywhere, seems I recall Susan Rogers say so much of his stuff are two three takes mixed together, even Dez's LRC solo is a combo of two takes. Those Van Halen ones you can listen to without the band and vocals and still enjoy the songs, Prince has few songs where the guitar carries the entire track, it's just bits and bobs, try playing some of his tuff on piano, you have to basically combine parts because there's no true melody or chord structure, just 7 or 8 tracks of synth lines, there's a reason when he does thosepiano breakdowns live that the songs he choose are always the same. But this isn't really criticism,it's thetruth of how he composes, it's an amalgam of several seperate synth lines and a guitar track here and there, can you imagine trying to play "Positivity" on the piano? It just won't sound right, but I bet I could do it...

PS, listen to the ones for "I'm The One" and "Hang 'Em High" = blistering...

Yeah ashynevermind..I've heard too that Clapton doesn't like EVH. Sometime in the 80's Eddie approached him (high or very drunk) and it left a bad impression on Eric..I think he was clean and sober for a few years before meeting Eddie.

I've heard EVH play the "Crossroads" solo note for note. Pretty damn good. And I can hear the Clapton influence on solos like "When It's Love", "I'll Wait" and some of those high bends on "Little Dreamer". He also took a LOT from Jimi even though he won't admit it.

ashynevermind said:

Right! Thanks for the back-up, do you see how obsessed Prince fans are? The guys trying to argue Prince could play Van Halen was an epic fail, EVH drunk and drugged out is still better.

people just hate facts but what I don't understand why they want Prince to be better than him, he's a multi-instrumentalist who has no mastery but IS a great composer. Prince is smart in that he cops numerous styles of music

Yeh, I'd question that. Twenty years ago Prince was jumping backwards off a piano landing in the splits and not missing a note. He's only got better since.
Has Prince had the same influence as EVH as a guitarist? no. EVH - Legend. Faster player than Prince, absolutely. Definitely sloppy live when compared to Prince however if we're looking at them in 2015

How on earth you reach the conclusion that Prince never mastered the guitar I have no idea? You only have to watch him live once to see the confidence he exudes on the instrument. There are rehersals where he's playing testing his band...

and the general public, as well as those sycophant disciples who think he shits gold, fall all over the floor and think he's a Blues master because he plays the absolutely generic "The Ride".

Are you serious? You think he's played guitar for 40 years and can't play the blues? I get that you're way more into EVH but you're making crazy statements there mate. Check out the Cannal+ outtake videos where he does a few takes of "Endorphinmachine" and "Glam Slam Boogie". IIRC there's also a bit where he's just showing off to Mayte. Prince can't play the blues haha I'll have whatever you're drinking.

He dabbles in Jazz and they think he's a mster of that style, it's hilarious. Hell, Prince knows he's no Bluesman, that's why he sticks to what he knows best, Funk, which is endessly boring and the reason he's in his currrent rut cos he won't truly study any other musical forms.

By dabbled in Jazz do you mean the Madhouse stuff with Eric and Atlanta? Or the 5 year Jazz saga from the 00's? If it was 1 album you could say he dabbled. His Dad was in a Jazz treo so it's likely what he was introduced to first. There are repeated instances of him jumping in with Jazz bands. He obviously picked up a lot from Renato around the 00's. He's never "stuck" to any one genre. He's embraced every musical style even when fans ripped him for doing so. Be it 90's house, hiphop, and more recently edm.

If you're putting EVH and Prince back to back as guitarists EVH wins. You can't ignore his legacy.

If it's overall as a musician - That's Prince. Ultimately a good musician makes good songs. On the guitar Prince may not be as fast but he comes up with riffs and noodles that are songs unto themselves. He's certainly underrated in general as a guitarist and without doubt he surpassed Hendrix years ago.

[Edited 1/25/15 16:25pm]

ashynevermind said:

And if you found isolated Prince tracks ther'd be punch-ins everywhere, seems I recall Susan Rogers say so much of his stuff are two three takes mixed together, even Dez's LRC solo is a combo of two takes.

Huh? Eddie fully admits Jump is the greatest solo he never wrote...it's two or three edited takes. Those isolated tracks aren't always one takes.

This whole thread is a fucking joke. Eddie's good on guitar. Prince is good on guitar. I listen to both of them.

"Prince surpasses Hendrix"? That's a fucking joke. Hendrix set the standard for modern rock and roll moreso than any other guitarist; he's a legend. That can never be taken from him.

Hot for Teacher has good solos in it. Can Prince do Van Halen solos? Yep. Would they sound as good as Eddie's? Who knows? We've never heard Prince do them. So...so what!

I will say this, though. I ain't never heard Van Halen do a solo like the heavy metal solo in Batdance or play guitar like "I Could Never Take the Place...". So there.

treehouse said:

djThunderfunk said:

You just sent me for a good old fashioned WOW!!

100% ....but part of the wow for me, and I think a lot of us, is that it's imperfect.

Meh, never been a fan of "perfect" anyway... everything's flawed and that's ok.

I just dig hearing the part isolated like that. Rare treat!!

djThunderfunk said:

treehouse said:

100% ....but part of the wow for me, and I think a lot of us, is that it's imperfect.

Meh, never been a fan of "perfect" anyway... everything's flawed and that's ok.

I just dig hearing the part isolated like that. Rare treat!!

Exactly. Turns out the underrated part of his (and probably most guitarists) abilities that make him real special are his charisma, rhythm, timing, and structure...things that also helped make Prince...and things that make these debates about skillset kinda pointless.

williamb610 said:

This whole thread is a fucking joke. Eddie's good on guitar. Prince is good on guitar. I listen to both of them.

"Prince surpasses Hendrix"? That's a fucking joke. Hendrix set the standard for modern rock and roll moreso than any other guitarist; he's a legend. That can never be taken from him.

Hot for Teacher has good solos in it. Can Prince do Van Halen solos? Yep. Would they sound as good as Eddie's? Who knows? We've never heard Prince do them. So...so what!

I will say this, though. I ain't never heard Van Halen do a solo like the heavy metal solo in Batdance or play guitar like "I Could Never Take the Place...". So there.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ashynevermind said:

williamb610 said:

This whole thread is a fucking joke. Eddie's good on guitar. Prince is good on guitar. I listen to both of them.

"Prince surpasses Hendrix"? That's a fucking joke. Hendrix set the standard for modern rock and roll moreso than any other guitarist; he's a legend. That can never be taken from him.

Hot for Teacher has good solos in it. Can Prince do Van Halen solos? Yep. Would they sound as good as Eddie's? Who knows? We've never heard Prince do them. So...so what!

I will say this, though. I ain't never heard Van Halen do a solo like the heavy metal solo in Batdance or play guitar like "I Could Never Take the Place...". So there.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, and everybody wants to know what drugs you're on and where they can get them...

joyinrepetition said:

I, like you, am a huge Van Halen fan. I have all their albums up to when DLR departed and I haven't gave the group a serious listen since then. I tried with Hagar, but he just didn't do it for me. I just don't think you're giving Prince enough credit. Believe me I know Eddie is a monster on the ax but I think that Prince could play some of what Eddie does as Prince is a well versed musician. I don't think it would take long for Prince to figure out chord progressions and changes at all. This is what he and Eddie do. Could it be that Prince plays more R&B and Funk, you never really saw him actually get loose and rip shit up? I'd like to hear EVH play some Funk. It might tell a different story.

....

The band claim that songs like "So This is Love" and "Push Comes to Shove" from "Fair Warning" were excursions into funk, but that ain't really funk to my ears....I don't hear any chicken scratch guitars or James Brown funky drummer beats. The Fair Warning tunes still sound too white.

....

However, I read in an interview with Eddie where he was talking about how, in the club days, the band would play covers of "Kool and the Gang" and "KC and the Sunshine Band" because they had to play them to get the gigs. Eddie said he played the chicken scratch guitar on those songs (I think he referred to it as the "chinka chinka" guitar parts) so there may be some bootlegs out there of that stuff. I'd love to hear that if it exists, but I have my doubts that Ed could pull it off with the authenticity that Prince does....as much as I love his playing and what he's done for guitar, he still kind of plays like a white boy. I got a feeling that Eddie would end up sounding more like Jimmy Page on "The Crunge" from "Houses of the Holy."

.....

...

The band lied about Eddie Van Halen's age back then, so at the time of their first albums in 1978 both Prince and Eddie were 21 years old. They clarified later that Eddie was actually two years older, but at the time of the first album he was known as the 21 year old guitar genius.

...

Well I have to say that I began playing guitar because of how much I liked Prince. I have to say I picked up Prince's music and was able to play it pretty easily right off the bat and really thought I was doing something. I moved on to David Lee Roth solo with Steve Vai and Van Halen DLR era as I am also a Roth fan. I have to admit, I can't play play that shit well at all!! BOTH Van Halen and DLR's solo stuff is much more advanced than Prince's. I really didn't have any trouble at all with Prince's music and thats when I learned exactly how simple Prince's guitar playing really is. He makes it sound good but he really is not in the same league as Eddie, Vai and definately not Hendrix. The other thing is that anyone can learn and play someone elses music but to actually create it is a different story. Prince can not consistently make guitar music like Hendrix, Vai or Eddie has. Even Prince's Undertaker album is very boring and repetitive throughout and that is supposed to be his big moment as a guitarist. Its good but its not anything mindblowing. Prince is still one of my favorites but as a guitar fan once I started playing I really learned alot about how good I thought Prince was. He really sticks to the same strengths of his and doesn't really venture out too far. Buddy Guy at 78 years old even runs circle around Prince. Its one thing to like his sound better than someone else's and that fine. Everyone likes different sounds and types of music but that doesn't make him better. He just is better at playing the style of music that you like thats all.