Vai kicks Ed's Ass

[DR CHIP]

4eva, your just wrong...Ed WAS great at one time...he is such a has been now...

Seriously dude, the new stuff is SO bush league compared to what it used to be...sorry

[Roth kills Sam]

We can't even argue Ed vs Vai. It is so far from that. We can't even argue Ed now vs Ed then, since Ed's playing is so far from where it was. At this point, Ed is not better than many guys in local bands.

We can spend time detailing the minutia of Ed's playing now and find glimpses of the past genius. We can find a lot of common ground as to why Ed can still play well, but Ed the head cutter of the past? Never. Ed would get his ass kicked even by the annual Guitar Center contest runner-ups. What's he going to do? Numb you to death with his horsie sound for 10 minutes?

It kills me to rip Ed, because his days with Roth mean so much to me. I won't let my admiration for his past cloud the obvious truth about his playing and his poor, poor attitude.

I am sure a good percentage of the dudes on this site alone can hang with Ed 2004 on the guitar.

[DR CHIP]

Horsie sound...dude THAT was funny

[Roth kills Sam]

Well, he could throw in the elephant for a few minutes just to throw you off before going back to the horsie sound again... you know the horsie sound, right? The same sound he makes in every solo? Oh wait. I don't have the time to detail the same 4 licks he does in every solo now...

[street_lethal]

This thread is still going?

Every guitarist repeats licks after years of playing. Vai has several that he beats into the ground. The thing with Vai that turned me off is I got tired of hearing taps through a fucking Eventide harmonizer then into a open harmonic that he pulled up with the bar. I think Vai's best playing is behind him too, I wasn't at all impressed with his G3 2003 performance. Hell.... new Vai couldn't even hang with old Vai in my opinion. Best thing he ever did technically was Eugene's trick bag from the Crossroads flick, which he never plays live. He sucked in Whitesnake. They fucked up dumping John Sykes, they soon tanked.

I haven't listened to Passion And Warfare in ten years and don't have the urge to either.


Technically like I said Vai is better than Eddie VH. Yeah he would rip Eddie a new ass on stage right now.

50 years down the road from now when we look back at guitar history, the two 800 poung gorillas for this period of guitar are going to be Hendrix and Eddie VH.

You ask a non musician who Steve Vai is and they're like...who?
You ask almost anybody who Eddie VH is and they know him and at least a few of his tunes. Songwriting is #1 and always will be and is figured into what makes a player great, along with innovation and creativity.

[DR CHIP]

Songwriting being number one is like saying knowing the scouting report is number 1 for a pitcher in baseball...

What matters is getting it done...Ed SIMPLY does not anymore...period...

Vai still kicks ass along with many others...sorry

[street_lethal]

That's an analogy?

lol.

Vai doesn't play the way he used to either...period.

The guy couldn't even pick a full sixteenth note line cleanly when he played with Yngwie on the same stage.

There's alot of other players that get it done better than Vai in other people's opinion.

The majority of people outside of musicians don't give a flying fuck about Vai or who he is.

If you think songwriting, creativity, and being innovative doesn't account for anything and only speed is a deciding factor there's no use going on from here.

We all know Eddie doesn't rip or write like he used to.

You're comparing two different styles of guitar playing and writing.

Vai is faster than Eddie, who cares.

[DR CHIP]

Dude seriously get your head out of your ass...

I have the G3 show from Denver...Vai is INCREDIBLE...he plays better today than he used to...check out the live at Astoria video...awesome as well...both he and Billy play with the raw abandon they did with Dave...

Speed is only a part of playing...just like song writing...what matters is gettting it done and Steve does year end and year out...

No serious guitar player would say Staeve can't play like he used to...he rips...he is a shredder...to this day...

No one likes to hear Ed is done...BUT HE IS...

All I said in this thread is that if Steve and Ed got up today on stage...Steve would rip his ass apart...that is true...period...

Never said Ed wasn't a good song writer...but not today...he sucks....

Never said Ed couldn't rip....but not today....

Ed is dead....Dave isn't!!!!!

[EddieFan4Eva]

Originally posted by DR CHIP
4eva, your just wrong...Ed WAS great at one time...he is such a has been now...

Seriously dude, the new stuff is SO bush league compared to what it used to be...sorry

Well, no offense...but Ed is still great. The guy has always had "it"...maybe he's a bit more reserved in his playing....but the ability is still there. This is a silly thread anyway......Vai is a decent player who writes weird stuff...but he's in no way in Ed's league as a musician/writer/innovator.....he's someone who stole alot of tricks from Ed, and borrowed very heavily from Zappa's school of writing.

[DR CHIP]

No offense taken and none given...healthy debate never hurt anyone....

I personally think Ed is not even a 1/4 of what he used to be...I play guitar and think I have an idea, but hey I COULD BE WRONG....

These are my honest thoughts and I will stick with them....

[EddieFan4Eva]

Another thing...i'm a guitarist, too.....34, been playing since i was 5.....and i can tell ya that Ed is still a fine player. He can bust out a rippin' lead when he wants to....guess you cant mature in the eyes of some fans. As for Vai? Again, i'm not knockin' him...but i'm not gonna put the guy on a pedastle because he can play fast. Truth is, if you're going to go that route...i saw the recent G3 in person....Yngwie handed both Joe and Vai their asses.

[DR CHIP]

I think people have a hard time moving on....

We all want it to be 1984 again and VH to be on top of the world (no reference here to the Van HAgar song)....

Fact is it isn't 1984...Dave is not with VH...Ed has changed (for the worse IMHO), and Sam is back....

I still hold to my previous thought and post...if Ed and Vai got up today and jammed - Stevie boy would own that alcoholic like Betty Ford should...

[EddieFan4Eva]

Originally posted by DR CHIP
No offense taken and none given...healthy debate never hurt anyone....

I personally think Ed is not even a 1/4 of what he used to be...I play guitar and think I have an idea, but hey I COULD BE WRONG....

These are my honest thoughts and I will stick with them....

We can agree to dissagree...nothing wrong there. As i said, i'm a guitarist, too.....for about 29 years....i started young. I'm not just throwing blind remarks....i've got a good idea what i'm talking about, too.

[DR CHIP]

It never ceases to amaze me everyone says Vai is faster...Vai is better...speed is only a small part of the pie...Steve plays some excellent slow and moving pieces...

Again on the Yngwie kicking Vai's ass...I have to disagree...speed wise OK, but why does it all come back to speed?????

Vai is technically brilliant and able to play ALL sorts of stuff...Yngwie is diatonic or die baby...period...

Ed, Yngwie, and Vai all have the gift of brilliance...truth though Ed lost it to the bottle, Yngwie has had NOTHING new in 20 years same ol' bllllll bllllll blllll bllll bllll bllll (faster than shit)....

But Stevie boy has really grown as an artist....wonder why he accompanies artisits at the Grammy's????

[DR CHIP]

It never ceases to amaze me everyone says Vai is faster...Vai is better...speed is only a small part of the pie...Steve plays some excellent slow and moving pieces...

Again on the Yngwie kicking Vai's ass...I have to disagree...speed wise OK, but why does it all come back to speed?????

Vai is technically brilliant and able to play ALL sorts of stuff...Yngwie is diatonic or die baby...period...

Ed, Yngwie, and Vai all have the gift of brilliance...truth though Ed lost it to the bottle, Yngwie has had NOTHING new in 20 years same ol' bllllll bllllll blllll bllll bllll bllll (faster than shit)....

But Stevie boy has really grown as an artist....wonder why he accompanies artists at the Grammy's????