EVH nearly killed by Master Cleanse diet?

[Dave W]

After exerting an unusual level of personal discipline, I have decided not to visit this link. 

Harrumph, harrumph.

It's not that bad! It was a commercial parody on SNL starring the late Phil Hartman. Nothing that will make you lose your lunch.

[eb2]

Phil Hartman was fantastic.

I thank the Lord that didn't happen. That would have been an album full of awfully boring navel staring Jazz shredding that nobody understands.

I tend to agree with this.  There is nothing more sad than a rock guitarist drinking the "play-fusion-to-be-serious" kool-aid.  Not that I have any beef with Jazz, and I love a lot of post-bop stuff.  But 70's Fusion is dreck.  It is bad jazz, and horrible rock.  Bad Miles, Horrendous Jeff Beck, and the devadipstick Santana phase was an already grating guitarist going above and beyond. But music is subjective, and I tend to not buy into whatever floats around Berklee.  The fact of the matter is that VH did more on the first lp to change rock and jazz guitar than pretty much everyone since since Hendrix upchucked into his lungs.  That goes beyond all categories, and doesn't mean the influence was always good or bad.  It was both.  The only thing he did wrong apparently was not dropping dead or becoming a religious hermit.

[Basvarken]

[uwe]

It needn't be fusion, not that I consider Return to Forever's Romantic Warrior or Billy Cobham's Sprectrum dreck.

EvH could be dong bluegrass or playing with Paco de Lucia or playing ethno in a carribean band. The umpteenth VH reunion is not gonna do it however and I don't thik he's happy with the current music in his life either.

And I don't think Miles Davis ever saw himself trapped in a fusion box. He maybe invented it with Bitches Brew and then left it quickly alone. Saying Miles is fusion is like saying Hendrix is heavy metal. They both transcend genres.

[Basvarken]

Hey Uwe stop being intellectual about Miles Davis. And listen to the first four VH records and discover the genius of Edward van Halen 

[nofi]

miles davis is generally credited with inventing fusion, good or bad who cares. his body of work before bitches brew is untouchable. nobody comes remotly close. none of it navel gazing but much of it genius and genre changing. i'll take miles over van heflin or most any rock band you can name today. van halen is dutch so i can see the love connection here.

uwe and i agree on something, who knew...

[westen44]

Leaving aside the sheer technical aspects, which seem to be a sine qua non now for almost any discussion, I find Van Halen to be a little dreary and clinical compared to the raw energy of Hendrix's playing.  There seems to be a lot of bashing of Van Halen--the band lately.  I'd rather not be accused of that, or even be accused of complaining that Wolfgang is playing bass now.  It's his life and he seems to be doing pretty well at playing anyway.  I guess I was just never much of a Van Halen fan in the first place, even not really liking very much what they did with "California Girls."  It seems the Beach Boys did a superb job with that in the first place.  My point is just that I like Hendrix quite a bit better than EVH. 

[Basvarken]

...even not really liking very much what they did with "California Girls."  It seems the Beach Boys did a superb job with that in the first place. 

That was not Van Halen! That was David Lee Roth solo...

[westen44]

That was not Van Halen! That was David Lee Roth solo...

I'm talking about the way David Lee Roth sang the song that I didn't like.  In general, I do not like Roth's vocals and feel that Sammy Hagar was much better with VH. 

[patman]

This is only my opinion...in a hundred years, I think " Bitches Brew" will still matter.  If Charlie Parker defined 20th century harmony...Mile defined the harmony of the 21st century and beyond. As a work, it is flawed, but the concepts are timeless.  His playing was already not at its peak, but the harmony concepts were there.

[Basvarken]

I'm talking about the way David Lee Roth sang the song that I didn't like.  In general, I do not like Roth's vocals and feel that Sammy Hagar was much better with VH. 

Whats does that have to do with Edward Van Halen?

[uwe]

Lol, have you now become the Obergruppenführer of thread stringency, Rob?!!!

Eddie is one hell of a guitarist, but of the first four Van Halen albums you mention, only the debut is of stable quality. There are a lot of fillers on the other albums. Van Halen, at least with Roth, were not exactly The Beatles as regards belching memorable songs.

Considering how harsh you are with your own countrymen of Golden Earring, you're waving the VH flag pretty fervently! Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin and now VH, you're really racking them up. I do notice however one thing in common: They were all three hugely inconstent live ... (Now The Netherlands will once again declare war on Germany and we will have to get the paratroopers out in self defense.)

[Basvarken]

Haha, who knows, maybe I've missed my calling?

I bet there are a dozen more bands that I really dig that you don't care for.

I agree on the inconsistancy part as regards to Led Zeppelin and Van Halen. But Thin Lizzy have always been rock solid as a live band (and recording artists too)

[uwe]

You didn't see that last tour, Lynott and Gorham were limp with drug addiction, Sykes was an overzealeous puppy that - during his shred solos - had issues wagging his tail in time (his bad timing continued with Whitesnake). But it's not fair to rate them on the basis of that last tour, their nadir as a band.

Now don't worry, our musical tastes aren't that far apart at all. But wouldn't you like to hear what EvH could do with, say, Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, Myles Kennedy and Geoff Downes? VH (his brother) seems to be his protective, retrogressive foil.

I saw Flying Colors - that potentially prog nightmare outfit of Steve Morse, Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Dave la Rue and the non-prog more indie wonderful singer whose name I have unforgivably forgotten. Except for one song where everyone showed his undeniable chops, it was not widdly-widdly at all, instead it was hugely catchy and melodic with everyone going out of his way to leave the other guys room. And Mike Portnoy, rather than doing a drum solo, sang acapella with Neal and the lead vocalist which had more to do with Crosby, Stills & Nash than with the - to me - live horror of Dream Theater. It was a warm corteous (Portnoy: "Thanks to Neal for letting me ruin his songs by talking me into singing them!") joining of musical talents.
Sometimes, trying something different can take you somewhere. I would love to see EvH in a setting like that with all due respect to the milestone he created with VH's debut some decades ago. Does that make me an intellectual?

[Basvarken]

I have no idea Uwe. Dream Theater has never really been my cup of tea.

I would like to see Eddie Van Halen work with Billy F Gibbons though. VH used to play a lot of ZZ Top covers back in the early VH days.