Does Sammy Hagar Really Prefer Joe Satriani’s Playing Over Eddie Van Halen’s?!
Sammy must be drinking too much of his own secret batch of Cabo Wabo.
In an interview with Gibson.com, Hagar explains why he prefers Satriani over Eddie:
As a writer, Joe is faster. That makes him easier for me to work with, because I come up with things really fast as well. As soon as I hear a chord structure, I have a melody, instantly. And then five seconds later I’m writing lyrics. Working with Joe is great. If I say to him, “Hey, let’s do something funky,” next thing I know he’s saying, “How about this?” It’s like, bang, he’s done. Whereas with Eddie, he would come back a week later and want to re-do something.
But that said, working with Eddie was great, and we wrote great songs together. The Van-Hagar stuff still holds up fantastically well, but it was a slow process. It took three years to write the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge album. And when I tried to do the Van-Hagar reunion, in 2004, and we were trying to make a new record, Eddie could only squeeze three songs out. He’s just not as prolific, and not as fast. So that’s the difference between them as far as writing.
As far as playing goes, they’re both phenomenal. The innovations Eddie came up with in early Van Halen — before I was in the band – were just so unique, he gets lots of points for that. But as just a straight-up player, who can play anything, and plays perfect every time, there’s no one better than Joe.
No one better than Joe?
Bottom line: Eddie Van Halen’s playing is interesting and pleasurable to listen to. Also, Eddie’s guitarwork always fit in well with good songwriting structures. I always found Joe Satriani’s music boring and uninteresting. His playing never fused well with any songs, taking over a song rather than making it more appealing. Sure, Satriani is a phenomenal player, but … please.
March 28, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Are you crazy? You obviously know nothing about guitar playing. They are two different types of players. Eddie innovated guitar playing like Hendrix did before him. Satriani mastered both styles. Satriani boring? Listen to Flying in a Blue Dream, Sateiani Live. You will learn
July 8, 2011 at 10:38 am
I agree. Because of eddie’s lack of knowlege of music theory, Eddie never reinvents himself. I love his playing, but he’s still playing the same stuff he did 30 years ago and never improves. Joe, Vai, Malmsteen, Morse, Eric Johnson, all dwarf what they did way back when. When I listen to him sometimes I can tell he’s playing randomly without really knowing how the scales, and music work.