Thrash metal and jazz guitarist Alex Skolnick believes Eddie Van Halen was “overshadowed by his own brilliance,” to the point that his virtuoso lead guitar skills distracted people from Ed's talents as a riff writer.
Skolnick — who spent much of his career in American metal heavyweights Testament and exploring jazz guitar with his namesake trio — points to the driving riff in "Mean Street," from 1981’s Fair Warning, as an example.
“To me, it captures everything that’s great about a riff,” Skolnick tells Metal Hammer. “It’s angry, more than was expected from a band like Van Halen, who had a lot of very pop melodies, especially in the vocal tunes. That whole tune captures some aggression and intensity, and I can’t think of any metal players that weren’t influenced by that riff in one way or the other.”
Beyond Eddie's riffs, Skolnick believes the guitarist excelled at the nuances of guitar playing, which are often overlooked considering Ed's skills with two-handed tapping, pinch harmonics and lightning-quick fretboard runs.
“I think Van Halen sometimes gets overshadowed by his own brilliant lead playing and shredding,” he says. “There’s so much more to him: timing, swing, tone and especially riffs. 'Mean Street' really captures the best of the riffs.”
Discussing another stand-out riff in Van Halen's catalog with Premier Guitar in 2020, Skolnick picked "I'm the One," from the band's 1978 debut LP.
“It's among the riffs that have had the biggest impact on me,” he says. “I didn't know I wanted to be a heavy rock guitarist. I was learning all types of music: the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Kiss, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It never occurred to me to be a virtuosic or lead guitarist. That all started with this song.
“Truth be told,” he adds, “a couple of tracks earlier in the album was 'Eruption.' For myself and many others, that changed our lives. So that had already hit me over the head.
"But when I heard 'I'm the One,' that sealed the deal. I knew I wanted to focus on these types of riffs, I wanted to put more blues into my playing and be a virtuosic, technical guitarist. It just has so much attitude, it's a sneer; a blues attitude that's also very punk rock and very precise.”
Meanwhile, the guitarist has opened up on his short-lived tenure in Ozzy Osbourne’s band, revealing the one reason the gig didn’t work out.
And while in his chat with Premier Guitar, he quoted Steve Vai’s famous comment that “only an idiot would try to play like Van Halen,” Eddie believed only one guitarist could out–Van Halen-him.
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