Eddie Van Halen died and he’s the type of vanguard that is so alt.pop to us – but don’t call it hair metal.

The impact of Van Halen can never be underestimated. Before their debuted album, rock music was pair down punk of Ramones, gothic British blues of Black Sabbath, Midwestern progressive rock of Kansas and the pagan rock of Led Zepplin – after Van Halen we had the driving power rock that inspired the hard rock sound that dominated stadium performances throughout the 80s.

Eddie Van Halen changed music. Forever.

Eruption. One word that represents 1 minute and 42 seconds of untamed guitar-playing technique that is considered one of the greatest rock guitar solos of all time. The joke is, the song nearly didn’t make it on the album, producer Ted Templeman overheard it while he was rehearsing for a live show. The engineer just happened to be recording so Templeman had it go on the record. Ironically, Eddie didn’t think it was good enough.

Although, one-handed tapping (hammer-ons and pull-offs) was standard guitar technique, “Eruption” introduced two-handed tapping to the mainstream popular rock audience – almost like playing a guitar like a piano. Eddie Van Halen popularised this soloing option throughout the 1980s and was highly influential in re-establishing hard rock as a popular genre after punk and disco – mostly because he elevated the role of electric guitar in rock music.

Van Halen’s sound is driving, technically flawless and upbeat, exactly what you imaging rock would sound like if it was born in Los Angeles in the 70’s. And, even though Van Halen isn’t “hair metal band” (pop-oriented heavy metal with a distinctive visual image from living in a post-MTV era), they did create the blueprint for the genre that inspired hundreds if not thousands of derivative rock bands that dominated the charts and stadiums all around the world in the 1980s.

Over the years, Van Halen continued to evolve and deliver. Regardless of who was singing, David Lee Roth to Sammy Hagar, it didn’t matter, because it was always Eddie Van Halen and his Frankenstrat that fronted that band.

Rock-on in Peace, Eddie Van Halen.

• By marie
• In alt.pop.zine, In the News