Which rock guitarists had as much as Eddie Van Halen after the VH explosion?

[Matt White]

Stevie Ray Vaughan single handedly brought the blues back from the brink. The guy is a GIANT of guitar.

[houseofpain]

Not that I don't like tuning down low and using one finger...you just gotta do some stuff with the other three...I believe we call those fills.

[dave_is_vh]

Perhaps you have never traveled outside the US. Yngwie is a God in places like Japan and Brazil. And most of these fans are non-guitarists.

George Lynch is far from being a EVH clone. In fact many people consider him to be superior to Van Halen. Lynch is far more soulful than EVH and plays with much more emotion.

Originally posted by Terry
Only guitarists I can think of pretty much appeal to musicians only.

Malmsteen, Satriani and Vai have little to no appeal to anyone who doesn't play guitar. Randy too, to some extent.

Hetfield, Stevie Ray and Slash are the three that spring to mind in terms of turning on non-players; they had charisma that went beyond technique, just like Eddie V, and were able to get people who didn't play into what they were doing. Cobain, too. None of them might have had the ability that EVH did, but they had an impact that extended beyond readers of Guitar World.

Campbell was shit-hot when he was with DIO, agreed. One of the few, like Randy, who came out in the 1980s and was more than a Van Halen clone.

DeMartini, Lynch and Bratta were too EVH-derivative. Sambora, DeVille and Mars...well, their strength lay in the bands they were in, Sambora probably being the most technically accomplished out of the three.

Probably Malmsteen, Stevie Ray, Slash, Cobain and Hetfield are the ones that spring immediately to mind that came out after EVH and had the most recognizable styles all their own...no Van Halenizms permeating their playing. Randy was a great player, but EVH had an influence on him, an Kirk Hammett...well, just don't like him. Never did.

[Soul Reaper]

Originally posted by dave_is_vh
George Lynch is far from being a EVH clone. In fact many people consider him to be superior to Van Halen. Lynch is far more soulful than EVH and plays with much more emotion.

I totallly agree. I never thought Lynch was anything like EVH at all. Lynch was a unique player.

[Terry]

Even George Lynch himself as recently as a year ago said that what he was doing in the 1980s boiled down to ripping off EVH-licks. Between that and what I heard with my own ears at the time, I'll stand by my statement.

Far as Yngwie, "huge in Japan" is really a euphemism for "not squat in thr USA" (hee hee). Have spent considerable time outside the US, though not in Japan or Brazil. Definitely tend to look at things from a North American point of view. Noticed in rock circles in Europe in the 1980s that guitarists had a different approach to playing. EVH was appreciated, but not as widely imitated as opposed to here.

Lynch is a talented player, but when I listen to his 1980s stuff, I definitely hear a discernable. more frequent than in passing EVH influence. Yngwie was one of the few that came out in the 1980s where I wasn't hearing shades of EVH in every other song. Same with Slash or Stevie Ray. 'Course, Yngwie also ripped off Blackmore to no end, but that's another story...

[degüello]

Originally posted by Wayne L.
Which rock guitarists had as much as Eddie Van Halen after the VH explosion?

No one.

[TOM_5150]

Lots of guitarists cop Ed's licks, but they can't touch his unique sound, riffs, and song writing ability. Those three qualities = innovation. Eddie Van Halen, #1-BAR NONE!!