Who's More Influential?

[Josh Redstone]

This has come up a lot on every guitar site I've been to. Who do you think was more influential in the early 80's, Eddie Van Halen or Randy Rhoads. I know, your tired of hearing it.
I think its like comparing apples to oranges. They are two very different players who had many different things to offer. While Eddie started the whole shredding, tapping thing, I think it was Rhoads who really introduced classical elements to heavy metal, and he wasn't far behingd with the speed thing. Him and Eddie were bigtime guitarists in the LA club scene before making it big.
Just give us your input.

[Wolfgang]

As a Randy Rhoads fan I'd give him the unfair advantage.....but
I'd really have to say both of them are about equal in that category.

[ESP_Viper]

They are verrrry close. But I'd have to say rhoads has made more of an impact on me than EVH.

[Mr B]

But EVH made an impact on Rhandy Rhoads, who then impacted on you. Giving EVH both direct and indirect influence...

[Simo]

EVH for me. The moment i heard Eruption and the intro to Aint talkin
bout love i was blown away. After Slash, EVH would have to my biggest influence.

[Wolfgang]

Well, for me Randy had the biggest impact. I only know 2 evh songs, but i made a point to learn everything randy has done in his entire career, from quiet riot, to ozzy. I think everthing randy has done was the best it could be by anyone, I can't really say "he could have done better here in this song." But thats just my opinion.

@mr b

I know you must be an evh fan or somthing, but evh and randy were different guitarist, their sound was different, their playing style was different. How much impact do you think evh had on randy rhoads? (the only song rr did with 2 hand tapping, was flying high again, I'll give you that much. but what else was influenced by evh?)

[Pezcore]

i prefer RR's stuff, but as far as influence goes... EVH

[Josh Redstone]

Originally posted by Wolfgang
Well, for me Randy had the biggest impact. I only know 2 evh songs, but i made a point to learn everything randy has done in his entire career, from quiet riot, to ozzy. I think everthing randy has done was the best it could be by anyone, I can't really say "he could have done better here in this song." But thats just my opinion.

@mr b

I know you must be an evh fan or somthing, but evh and randy were different guitarist, their sound was different, their playing style was different. How much impact do you think evh had on randy rhoads? (the only song rr did with 2 hand tapping, was flying high again, I'll give you that much. but what else was influenced by evh?)

Randy tapped in alot more songs then that. Besides, Eddie wasn't the first to tap, so someone surely influenced him.
Anyway, I think its apples and oranges on this one.

[fizz]

*sings a song about apples and oranges*

[Wolfgang]

Originally posted by Josh Redstone


Randy tapped in alot more songs then that.

Oh yeah, which ones? I know he did quite alot of single handed tapping, but two handed tapping?

[Josh Redstone]

Crazy Train for one. If you cant hear that tapping, well, your not listening close enough. And I'm sure there are others, one of Randy's favorite techniques was to tap triads accross one string, to make his guitar sound like a piano.
The point I was trying to make was that Randy didn't borrow that technique from Eddie or anything, Eddie sure wasn't the first to tap. The two of them where playing clubs in the same era on the same club scene! They where to equally impressive guitarist with two very different styles, the difference is, Van Halen gained international fame first.
I hear there were Jazz players tapping years before Van Halen, and one of my favorite tappers was John Entwisle, who played bass for the Who. Tapping is nothing new, Eddie just popularized it in rock music.

[Wolfgang]

Just to let you know, I said 1(one) hand tapping. And "flyng high again" is the only song he had that used 2 hand tapping (crazy train doesn't have 2 hand tapping). And i know eddie didn't invent the tapping thing.

[Mr B]

Crazy Train does have a little bit of two handed tapping, you have to see it live.

[Wolfgang]

Mabe in the live version he did (i don't know), but the recorded version on Blizard of oz he didn't. In some interview i read somewhere on the net, he told the interviewer how to play the solo to crazy train, and it didn't involve 2 hand tapping.

[Perfect4th]

For me it's Eddie, but I love 'em both.

I think if Randy had more time and recordings, who knows. I just listen to VH more. Really they are very similiar.

Peace!

[Josh Redstone]

Originally posted by Wolfgang
Just to let you know, I said 1(one) hand tapping. And "flyng high again" is the only song he had that used 2 hand tapping (crazy train doesn't have 2 hand tapping). And i know eddie didn't invent the tapping thing.

Maybe you could explain what one handed tapping is excactly? If you talkin about trilling real fast, than thats not all he does in that solo. He trills with his left hand and taps with his right. And I have this in a songbook so I know that this is the correct way to play it. If I'm not mistaken, what I just explained is two hand tapping.

[fizz]

It seems a bit unfair RR only got 4 and EVH has 11..poor guy..

[Josh Redstone]

Its just cause EVH was famous first. If it had been Randy, he would get all the credit for the tapping, shredding thing.

[Wolfgang]

Yeah, thats true.

But if you look at it logically Eddie was the main man in Van Halen (well, besides Roth). Randy never had a great chance of earning the credit he deserved, because he was known mostly as ozzy's guitarist Not as Randy Rhoads. I sure if ozzy's band was called "Rhoads" (like Eddie "Van Halen") He would be looked at in the "same eye" EVH. But then again, Ozzy was never "main stream" music. He just has an extremely large following. Where as Van Halen was main stream, And they kinda created their own genre of music (which helps your status as a band alot!).

...well anyway, it turns out their is 2 hand tapping in crazy train (i guess you learn somthing new every day) I just learned it by ear a long time ago and can make it sound pretty convincing with one hand.

[Josh Redstone]

I would say Rhandy and Ozzy started something new. That dark, fast type of metal didn't exist before Rhoads. Sure, there was Van Halen, but they werent "Dark" or contraversial like Ozzy.

[Mr B]

no Black Sabbath were not dark or controversial and they did not include Ozzy ;)

[Josh Redstone]

Umm....
Okay.....

[Wolfgang]

Originally posted by Josh Redstone
I would say Rhandy and Ozzy started something new. That dark, fast type of metal didn't exist before Rhoads. Sure, there was Van Halen, but they werent "Dark" or contraversial like Ozzy.

I don't know if ozzy started somthing new... mabe he did for guitarist like us, but in the eyes of most people i think he was put in the same place as black sabbath. Whereas Van Halen was a new type of rock, it was "a happy, party type of music" (Roth called it "Big Rock").

[Josh Redstone]

Yeah, I should have said Randy started something new. You didn't hear that kind of music before. It was like Van Halen, only darker.

[Mr B]

try bold font, if you want Van Halen darker

[DIO]

Eddie for me

It would be interesting to hear their opinions of each other.