IMO, EVH was the better guitarist but RR was the better songwriter. So I prefer Randy over Eddie.

Here’s the long answer..

EVH was one of those rare individuals who was a natural-born musician. Imo, he was the most innovative guitarist since Jimi Hendrix and like Les Paul, was also an innovator in the construction of guitars. He basically invented the concept of Strat-shaped guitars with humbucker pickups and Floyd Rose tremolos, which everyone now takes for granted.

As great a guitarist RR was, his true talent was in his compositional skills. Some of the chord changes that he was using in the Ozzy songs he contributed to (Revelation Mother Earth, Diary of a Madman) were groundbreaking back in the day. And of course, his guitar solos were essentially mini-compositions within a song. In contrast, most Van Halen songs are in essence catchy straightforward pop songs with guitar riffs and solos.

Ozzy himself has said that the Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman albums are the two greatest things he’s ever done, in no small part due to Randy.

As a guitarist, RR used a lot of EVH’s techniques such as finger tapping, whammy bar usage and legato playing (which EVH got from Allan Holdsworth). I remember reading an old Guitar Player magazine interview with RR where he said that it killed him that he was using EVH’s techniques, but felt pressured to do so because he had to “play flashy for the kids”. But because of his compositional skills, his guitar solos were a lot more memorable than EVH’s solos.

Therefore, because I consider myself primarily a songwriter who just happens to play a bit of guitar, I prefer Randy over Eddie because of my appreciation for Randy’s skills as a composer.

What I wrote above can be synopsized by comparing Spanish Fly from Van Halen II with Dee from The Blizzard of Oz. The former is a technical blitzkrieg and the latter is a gorgeous composition rather than a shredfest.

#eddievanhalen #evh #randyrhoads

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