I've always wondered if two of the best guitarists in popular music in the 80's and labelmates ever met. I've never heard of either of them speak of the other publicly. Maybe they have and I just never heard about it. It would be interesting to hear what they'd say about each other.

Best guitar Players? Van Halen??? come on if U would said
- Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn or BB King ok, but Van Halen no man i'm shocked. and on which label is Prince? I didn't know Van Halen is on NPG Records!

Stylecipation said:

Actually

sunlite said

.

joeycoco said:

And - Prince was not on NPG in the 80's either mate. Read the post before you try to be a smart ass, otherwise u end up just revealing your propensity to be the latter.
[This message was edited Mon Jul 15 1:54:02 PDT 2002 by vivid]

Eddie Van Halen - Overated

Prince - Underated

'Nuff Said

Eddie Van Halen - Tacky

Prince - Assless pants

Asked about his recording style in an interview around the time of "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge," Van Halen's interviewer questioned him if he would completely finish & mix a song all in one sitting, like Prince. Van Halen replied "Oh no, not to that extreme."

That's the only mention I can recall offhand.

dnaplaya said:

I think that Eddie has gone into a creative rut on the six-string fretboard. However, when he first came on the scene, he changed guitar playing to a degree with his hammering on hammering off technique(as heard on the amazing "Erutpion"from Van Halen's 1978 album VAN HALEN, which is why he is still listed in guitar magazines as one of the greats. His riff on "Runnin With The Devil" is one of the best guitar riffs in rock history, Eddie sounded larger than life on that piece). In my guitar lab classes in high school, every white dude wanted to play like him.

I like Eddie. I like his "look how great I am" aura on Van Halen's videos. I would love to see him go in a jazz direction. I think he could really do something interesting within that idiom. His improvisational sense is such that he could really stretch out and create.

Are u people high? Eddie Van Halen is a fucking genius!!!
Believe it or not there are other talented people other than
Prince! don't diss Ed he is a gutiar god!

Brother915 said:

Really? From the live stuff I've listened to by them I don't get that impression at all.

On an unrelated note; EVH now has that Keith Richards look. I get the feeling it's from his years battling the bottle mainly.

Like it or not, Eddie created THE rock guitar sound of the late 70's and earlt 80's. Obviously, it sounds much more tired now. I think Prince could handle Eddie's licks much easier than the other way around.

Brother915 said:

Eddie was Badd back in the day but I Can't remember who it was who said that Eddie was a Better Song-writer than Guitar Player but they were right IMHO for a few reasons:once the Band kicked into Gear they were always divided between Eddie the Player&David's Whole Routine. 2nd) Eddie got into Synths&things forever changed within the Band.David Lee Roth Hated Synths&said so.but the fact Eddie was playing Synths gave Van Halen another Voice.3rd) Sammy came in&again they went into a Formula of writing&Creating&they stuck with it.that "Right Now" Video shows how Formula Driven they had become&they never Recovered from that whole Clip IMHO.when you say Eddie's Name to some People you think of the "Beat It" Solo for MJ or you think of the Diamond Dave or Sammy Era,Solos or you think of the Really Big Songs.But His All-Around Playing is mainly stuck in a time Period IMHO.Eddie is a better Soloist than Prince to Me but truth Be told it's more or less about them as Song-Writers&there Musical Overall Impact than there Playing IMHO.it's about the Overall Musical Impact.Prince has had more of a Overall Impact than Eddie&Crew IMHO.but I like them Both for what they did in there Prime Peak Hey Day.Prince just kept on Going Van Halen stopped really pushing to Me around 91.they had a Chance to Blow up again in 96 but David&Eddie not seeing eye to eye blew that all back in there faces&it was pretty much there Last Hurah for a while until they make the Rock&Roll Hall Of Fame&even that won't fully acknowledge what they Might&could have truly been.

My guess is that they have met up. You have to remember that they were working on their albums at the same time at Sunset Sound and if you look at the credits on VH's first album, Peggy Mac (yes the Peggy Mac who engineered all of Prince's best albums (from Controversy to Parade and everything in between) was the engineer. There is another engineer listed who worked on some Prince stuff as well, but I can't remember who it was.

As to their meeting, not sure, but I can tell you that Jacko and Prince met at Sunset Sound and played pinball in the lobby (true story).

Someone should write a book about Prince's studio work (like the Beatles book on their studio work). If Hendrix, Clapton, and a bunch of others can do it, someone with connections should do the same... are you listening UPTOWN?

herbthe4 said:

When Van Halen appeared on the scene in the late 70s, rock music was knocked on its collective ass by Eddie's guitar playing technique. It was revolutionary for the time period and a lot of guitar players were inspired to learn Eddie's techique.

That's why what EVH does is not that unique anymore. He will always get props for the fire he lit under everybody's ass in the late 70s-80s, but other players have come along and copied him to the point where its not that special anymore.

It's almost the same type of thing with Larry Graham. Larry is a pioneer of his time, but other players have come along who copied and then took his technique to a higher level. Larry stopped evolving and stuck with what he knows, and that's the same thing that Eddie Van Halen did.

mistermaxxx said:

Too many HUGE egos in that band as to why they couldn't put together a full-scale reunion.