Slash. - Eddie Van Halen

Back in 1978, a little before I started to play guitar, my good friend (and years later bandmate) Steven Adler said to me, Dude, you gotta hear this! He then played me Eruption and You Really Got Me from Van Halens first record on a little Sony cassette player, and it was one of the most exciting things I had ever heard in my life. There was so much energy and attitude! And it was exuberant, no-holds-barred party music: sexy, sleazy, and rambunctious. And to top it off, the guitar-playing was frigging mind-numbing! Never before had I heard rock guitar played quite like that. That was my informal introduction to Van Halen and its extraordinary composer, songwriter, and guitarist, Eddie Van Halen.

The following year, I saw Van Halen opening for Aerosmith at the World Music Festival along with ten or more other bands at the L.A. Coliseum. I subconsciously knew then that rock n roll was entering into a new era as a result of this great new band. They were really powerful and alive, and there was a palpable rush of excitement the moment they hit the stage.

But this is not about Van Halen the band. Its about, in my humble opinion, the most memorable detail in their relentless, high-energy deliverythe guitar-playing. Seeing Eddie live was unbelievable. It was loud and aggressive, melodic, rhythmic, and fluid, with a boatload of charisma and showmanship on top of all that. That first experience seeing him play has stuck with me to this day.

Needless to say, Eddie Van Halen instantly became rock n rolls hottest new guitar player. Literally, overnight. Eddie single-handedly revolutionized electric guitar from 1978 on. His combination of technique, melodic sensibility, rhythm, and timing is awe-inspiring. You couldnt not hear his influence on every youngand in some cases, not-so-youngguitarist immediately after the first Van Halen record came out, and it has been that way ever since. Professional or otherwise, just about anybody with a guitar was or is picking up on Eddies two-handed hammer-ons, harmonics, fluidity, speed, and tone. Hes had a mind-blowing impact on modern rock guitar, to say the very least, and his style, sound, and techniques are cemented into the rock-guitar psyche for all eternity.

Eddie is simply that good: a uniquely gifted musical talent from on high.

All that said, Im truly honored to be given this opportunity to speak his praise as a foreword to this book, which compiles quotes from his friends and peers about how they feel Eddie Van Halen has in some way touched their lives, musically and otherwise. R n Fn R!

Slash

For the last three and a half decades, the world has had the privilege of being exposed to one of the greatest musical geniuses of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Edward Van Halen.

Sure, great guitarists have come before and performed their magic on their instruments, but no one has single-handedly (okay, maybe Jimi??) changed the way the guitar is played, or changed the capabilities of what could be done, on the guitar and to the guitar! Edward took the whole game to the next level.

When I think of Edwards playing, here are some words that come to my mind: spontaneity, tone, feeling, dissonance, effortless consonance, speed, texture, subtleness, proficiency, dexterity, gentleness, ATTACK, BEAUTY, aggressiveness, simplicity, brutality, flexibility, balance, composition, structure, tastefulness, tension, force, clean, refined, unthinkable, and unmistakable. Okay, okay, I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea!!!

My first life-altering experience hearing the music of Van Halen was in 1978. I was in an office listening to the radio, and I heard the infamous air raid siren to the beginning of Running with the Devil, then Michaels pounding bass, then Eds unique guitar chords, then the vocals by Dave. Then the station went into Eruption and You Really Got Me and I was BLOWN AWAY!!! NO BAND had ever sounded like this!!! It was DEVASTATING!!! I said to myself, This band is gonna be HUGE, and I want to be there with them when it happens. And thats EXACTLY what did happen. Van Halen conquered ALL, and I was there with them!!!!

Shortly after, I started working with the band and had the opportunity to do many studio and location sessions with them, but the best part was going on tour with them and watching them playNOannihilate the crowds EVERY NIGHT!!! They were AWESOME!!!!

I got to know the boys pretty well, and we all got along really great. We were pretty much the same age, and we ALL had the same common interests: GIRLS, PARTYING, and MUSIC!!!! Each one of them had their own distinct personality. Ed was always the quiet, shy, bashful one offstage, especially compared to his brother Al. But ONSTAGE, thats where all his aggressiveness and energy really came out in those magical two-hour sets.

I clearly remember that I would be in my apartment on Fuller Street in Los Angeles and I would hear a knock at my door. When I opened the door, unexpectedly, there would be Ed in his brand new CJ 5 Jeep that he was so proud of, BUT instead of parking on the street like a normal person, his Jeep would be five feet from my front door on the front lawn!!! PRETTY UNIQUELY ED!!!!

By the 1984 tour, the band was a huge global success, and the stage production had grown to enormous proportions. The stage was very high, and the front barricade had tons of metal bars going in every possible direction to support it, so it was hard to move around from one spot to another. There were also lots of security personnel in the photo pit to keep the overzealous fans from jumping onstage to get close to their idols. It was very hard to photograph that tour. So what did I do for a nice portion of the set??? WATCH ED PLAY GUITAR!!! By 1984, his guitar-playing talent was absolutely phenomenalunbelievable!!! I was only about five feet away from him and would stare at his fingers while he was playing!! He would mesmerize me every night!! What a GREAT memory!!!

What I tried to do in this book is show you the many different sides of Edward Van Halen, with mostly unseen images that I shot from 1978 to 1984. I also gathered quotes and paragraphs from some of the most renowned guitarists and personnel who worked closely with EDWARD. Most are still here with us BUT some have passed on to the other side. SO, kick back, put on a Van Halen record of your choice, and turn the volume up LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!