Episode Details

The Jesus and Mary Chain recently claimed Eddie Van Halen "ruined rock guitar" because generations of players spent decades trying and mostly failing to copy him. That's a strange complaint. When your argument is essentially "he was so good that everyone imitated him," you're accidentally making the case for his greatness. Eddie didn't ruin guitar, he reinvented it. His technique, creativity, tone, songwriting, and rhythm playing changed the instrument forever. And while Jim and William Reid made some influential records of their own, taking shots at one of the most transformative guitarists in rock history feels a bit like complaining that Michael Jordan ruined basketball because too many kids wanted to dunk.