Overrated, part 5 of 10

(see: parts 1, 2, 3, and 4)

I hope you are not bored yet. I am reminding myself of those long countdowns I used to listen to on the radio, especially at year's end. We'd get the top 500 songs of the year or the top 500 songs of all time. Either way, the lists were completely wrong. I recall that Stairway to Heaven seemed always to top the list of best songs. I am a Led Zeppelin fan, and I have to say that it is not the best song ever; it's not even close to the best Zeppelin song. In fact, it wouldn't even make my top 25 list of best Zeppelin songs. But, on to number 6 ...

6) Van Halen - Eddie Van Halen is known for his musical technique of tapping, in which he uses both hands on the guitar neck. Tapping has been around for as long as we have had stringed instruments. Lots of other guitarists have used this technique as well. The thing about Eddie Van Halen is that his style is really all about speed, which is bound to impress certain people.

Perhaps the most irritating thing was Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo in Michael Jackson's Beat It. I didn't like the song, but I have to say that it is very appropriate to place a masturbatory, self-indulgent guitar solo in a song called Beat It. Wikipedia notes that Beat It "is regarded by many as one of Jackson's masterworks." That really isn't saying too much.

Here is the mercifully-short Eruption highlighting his style:



There is nothing musical to me here. It's just speed and self-indulgence. If you want an excellent example of instrumental rock music in under 2 and a half minutes, check this out:



By the way, even though I am not a fan, I was unhappy when David Lee Roth left the band because that led to the inevitable solo career. One summer, while planting trees in southern Ontario, I must have heard Just a Gigolo about ten thousand times in my uncle's old Dodge Dart that only had an AM radio. I can still recite the lyrics. Sadly, science has not figured out how to regrow dead brain cells.

See part 6