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Guns N’ Roses might get an awful lot of flack for being one of the tackier acts in the history of rock, but it’s pretty hard to deny Slash’s prowess as a great guitarist. The hat-wearing high priest of riffs is rightfully regarded as one of the finest to ever pick up a six-string, and his lead guitar playing is pretty hard to be on the same level as, even if you’re vehemently against ever sounding like him.
To be called perfect by Slash must mean you’re doing something extraordinary, and it automatically places you among the greats. It’s an honour to have this title bestowed on you by such a proficient player, and it is also indicative of how much attention Slash pays to the rest of his kind. There have been many guitarists who wouldn’t be doing what they do without the direct influence of the Guns N’ Roses guitarists, but there are also several guitarists who came before him who did more than just steer the direction of his playing style.
To call Eddie Van Halen anything less than one of the greats would be something of a disservice to his majestic guitar work and would be ignorant of the fact that some of the techniques that he employed as a player were groundbreaking and innovative, both at the time and now. Van Halen held something of a mysterious power over the fretboard that many guitarists can only dream of replicating, and alongside the band that he gave his name to, he became a pioneer of hard rock and heavy metal that virtually all in his field have aspired to emulate since.
When Van Halen emerged with their eponymous debut album in 1978, the minds of many impressionable young guitarists were blown away by the sheer wizardry on display from Eddie, and the courses of many lives were altered in the sense that they had found their calling in life and were determined to one day be as good as their newfound guitar god. The young Saul Hudson would be one of those, and when he himself emerged with Guns N’ Roses less than a decade later under his infamous moniker, his talents were similarly mindblowing.
Speaking to Paste about just how life-changing hearing the self-titled debut album from Van Halen was for him, Slash marvelled at how flawless they were and how fully formed their identity was from the beginning. “Some bands come out with the perfect first album,” he said, “And that first record is so indicative of the band’s unique sound.”
While it takes most bands several years to find their feet and deliver their most spellbinding work, the California group had such an incredible panache right out of the gates, and most would agree that despite having an illustrious career for many years after, they never reached the dizzy heights of their debut record again on any subsequent releases. Arguably, Guns N’ Roses would achieve the very same feat with Appetite for Destruction in 1987 and produced an album so great they could never surpass it.
Continuing in his praise for the band, Slash said, “Van Halen’s one of those bands that had it down pat on their first record. It’s raw and beautiful, and it’s got a real energy, like a fuckin’ in-your-face guitar tour-de-force.” Packed with face-melting riffs and jaw-droppingly stylish finger-tapped guitar solos, it’s hard to argue otherwise, and it’s no surprise that Slash, of all people, was so enchanted by Van Halen from the get-go.
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