rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (09/22/83)
Scientific proof that Steve Howe and Eddie van Halen are really the same person: 1) Have you ever seen both of them together? 2) ... Seriously, now. I used the names of Steve Howe and Eddie van Halen PRECISELY because they are so different in style yet have one major thing in common. They are both worshipped as guitar hero idols by their fans because of their fast, intricate playing. My point was that, though people like Andy Summers do not make careers out of playing to impress aspiring teenage guitarists, they are nonetheless extremely good musicians. The fact that Summers doesn't choose to play at lightning speed 24 hours a day shows a little more maturity and confidence than if he did. This maturity and confidence is reflected in his output with the Police. By the way, you're talking to a die-hard Yes freak from way back when some of you kids were too young to even turn on a radio (though, even if you could, you wouldn't have heard much in the way of Yes music). I could rattle off more Yes trivia and lyrics and play more Yes songs than you could shake a stick at. My point is: don't lecture me about the difference between Steve Howe and Eddie van Halen, OK? Despite their very different styles, they come out of the same mold----guitar heroes out to impress their fans with their virtuosity. There's nothing wrong with impressing people with one's virtuosity (in fact it's an important part of what metal music is all about) but there's got to be something behind it all to back it up. Summers' failure to fit that mold (not engaging in simulated masturbation with his axe for its own sake) diminishes him in the eyes of many of you out there, and that's a shame. Then, there's the notion that some people have of Summers that "He's a punk, so he stinks..." I won't even dignify that comment with a response. I'm not accusing all Yes music of being all flash (no pun intended---only really serious progrock fans will even know what that means) and no substance. (Close to the Edge isn't in my personal top five album list for nothing.) I'm also not lumping Yes together with heavy metal. So no flames, OK? In closing, I repeat what is perhaps the rock music quote of the century. Attributed to Steve Howe, upon hearing that Yes will be reforming. He has decided to remain with his moderately successful group Asia rather than join those greedy ex-Yes members who are only out to cash in on the Yes name. "I'm not doing Asia for the money. I'm just doing it to play in a good band."
brooks@ihuxl.UUCP (09/22/83)
Okay, but I still don't understand the correlation between playing the guitar fast and maturity. Carole L. Brooks ihuxl!brooks
bernar@uwvax.ARPA (Bernardo Feijoo) (09/25/83)
Speed alone does not impress me ! Creativity does ! Steve Howe is one of the most creative musicians I've heard ! Sommers is also a very creative musician ! Eddie who ?? Bernardo "whatever is good is good" Feijoo.
ecn-ec:ecn-pc:ecn-ed:ziemelis@pur-ee.UUCP (09/27/83)
Sorry if you got this already. I too believe Eddie van Halen is one of *the* most over-rated guitarists. To me he is just a lot of noise and flash. Every Van Halen album I have heard sounds just like the last one. I also believe that Howe is one of the most underrated guitarists. Howe can play fast, slow, loud, quitely, but most importantly what he plays sounds like music. Howe's talents are being wasted in Asia. True, Asia has some of the best musicians around, but what they are playing is pure bubble gum rock. They join the ranks of REO, Styx, Jouney, Loverboy etc. And he says he's not doing it for the money. Want to listen to good guitarists try Stevie Ray Vaughn, Hendrix, and Al Demiola, John McLaughlin, and Paco De Lucia (sp). The last three are exceptional classical and jazz guitarists. If you haven't heard their stuff before, try their album A Friday Night in San Fransisco. This was the album that turned me onto them. Proud to be a classical and jazz snob while still being a '60s '70s holdout Erik Ziemelis
stevea@uiucdcs.UUCP (stevea ) (09/29/83)
#R:pyuxn:-22500:uiucdcs:10800014:000:438
uiucdcs!stevea Sep 29 01:51:00 1983
In an interview I heard in Chicago just after Asia's first album came out,
they specifically said that they were going to write shorter more air-play
oriented songs, because ELP, Yes, etc. had few long commercial hits (Roundabout
is a notable exception).
Steve Alexander
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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