What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Talk about Randy Rhoads here.

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rdg
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by rdg »

It looks like the band Chickenfoot is calling it quits after a couple of albums. I think their music is really mediocre. The guy who runs the Van Halen news site says VH's recent album 'A Different Kind of Truth' is the best rock album in the past 20 years. I also find that music to be really mediocre. I just don't see the guitar revolution that EVH and RR spawned. To me, Joe Satriani sucks. The only thing that excites me is what Dave Evans of U2 has done. There are a lot of guitar players out there who are better technical players than The Edge. What he knows how to do is use his effects to create soundscapes which paint a canvas and allow the rest of the band to fill in the details.

I don't think EVH has any historical significance. His music is obsolete. Van Halen 2 (aka Chickenfoot) was a flop. And Randy Rhoads knew this 'guitar hero' business was shaky ground and flew the coup. Look at Zakk Wylde today. Its just sad.
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by Paul Wolfe »

I understand your interest in U2's music and I respect your opinion of Satriani - not everyone likes everything. But to say EVH has no historical significance show lack of understanding. EVH changed the way guitar was played and the way guitars were built - hence his significance. The genre is not "dead" just not appreciated to the level it once was.

As for a VH site praising a new VH disc, wow, shocker. All but one song has been available as demos since the mid-seventies before the debut album was released.

Never heard Chickenfoot, but they are hardly "Van Halen 2". Sure Mike and Sammy were in VH, but Sammy was a solo artist before and after VH. Satriani as well had his own band for ages. This was more of a "supergroup" thing and those rarely go on for long.
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by Paul Wolfe »

rdg, here is a quote from Uli John Roth:
[Interviewer: Today, a lot of kids are learning to play instruments by watching YouTube videos or using digital apps. It’s different from how people of your generation learned, and it seems like these young kids are able to attain an accelerated rate of learning. What are your thoughts on this phenomenon?

Uli Jon Roth: It’s a very, very natural thing that the younger generations always learn much quicker than generations before. It’s like the hundredth monkey syndrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_monkey_effect . I believe that once a person has attained a certain level or ability in any field, it kind of seems to go into the stream of consciousness of the whole planet, of all of mankind, because we’re all connected. It’s then easier for others to pick it up and to actually do the same — maybe not with the same level of excitement because it’s always more special when it happens for the first time, but they can replicate it and then take it to yet another level. This process is normal. It’s been going on since the dawn of time.
Edddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads played some phenomenal stuff back in the day, they did it before everyone else could and were seen as innovators. Today the standards are higher because of what they did. People learned how they did what they did and taught others until it became standard practice.

That is why young people today can't see Jimi Hendrix as being the amazing player that he was - they lack insight into the context of the times.

Your comments, rdg show a lack of understanding the context of the '80's guitar world. It is what it is, but realizing that you have to put a topic into the right context to understand it's importance is where the path to learning begins.

That is where my original question came from, what is Randy's historical significance? To understand it you need to look at the context of when Randy was doing his thing. I lived through that era, so I see it differently than someone who did not.
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by sytharnia »

don't feed the trolls paul .... romeo rose know exactly what he's doing
devorerd
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by devorerd »

Agree Paul, time stamps are the benchmarks for evaluations..EVH and Randy Rhoads, effect those who were in that time period..(Although on Saturday at the grocery store I was wearing my ADOT concert shirt and a 20 something says, "Nice shirt dude)...They are referenced by those who dive into the rock guitar catalog...It's still amazing that we have one of them left, EVH (they have a live album coming out in March) especially after all the health/abuse problems he has delt with...
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by sytharnia »

devorerd wrote:wearing my ADOT concert
I can't for the life of me figure out who that is ... must be getting OLD and the memory is fading :D
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GUITARIDOL5682
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by GUITARIDOL5682 »

That would be a 'A Different Kind Of Truth' Van Halen's 2012 album it should of been ADKOT but never mind Eh!!..
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by Paul Wolfe »

devorerd wrote:...(Although on Saturday at the grocery store I was wearing my ADOT concert shirt and a 20 something says, "Nice shirt dude)...They are referenced by those who dive into the rock guitar catalog...

Funny, when I was in Vegas in January I was wearing a Led Zeppelin United States Tour 1977 t-shirt and had at least 4 different guys come up to me and say, "I saw Zeppelin in '77 at..." One guy asked, "Where did you see them?" to which I had to admit, "I bought the shirt at Target." :D
sytharnia
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by sytharnia »

GUITARIDOL5682 wrote:That would be a 'A Different Kind Of Truth' Van Halen's 2012 album it should of been ADKOT but never mind Eh!!..
oh no wonder I couldn't get it :mrgreen:
devorerd
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by devorerd »

Sorry about that..I forgot the "K"...in ADKOT...my bad....nonetheless if you play lead guitar, it's a pretty safe bet you have heard of EVH and RR!
No1UNo
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by No1UNo »

To me, I still maintain in the hard rock / metal genre, that Randy's historical significance was a more intellectual approach to guitar playing given his teaching background...I know some before him had a learned approach to composing their songs, solos, and passages but he also had the chops. Yes, EVH had the chops, the brown tone, and finger-tapping - and ushered in a new era of guitar playing on steroids, but I listen to a great deal of his solos and they are just flash and not really thought out. Don't get wrong, some are amazing and I truly respect him for it, but he didn't do his best on every song. I listen to Randy and I feel he is showing me what I would imagine playing on those Ozzy songs.

This can be debated forever, but TO ME, RR was the first to bring thought and theory and marry that with technique and composition strengths in the hard rock / metal genre.
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by Rocky_Rhoades »

Paul Wolfe wrote:What is Randy's historical significance to the metal genre?

Sure there are a couple great albums, but what else? Not many players post-Randy play at all like him. Some cite him as an influence, but that could be anything from, "I loved those records so I wanted to play guitar," to "I started listening to baroque classics after reading about Randy Rhoads..."

Ed was widely imitated in the '80's and most of the bands on the Strip were popping up there while Randy was recording Diary, so that genre would have happened anyway...

So where does Randy fit beyond a couple great recordings?
One thing Randy left us besides his music.............. The Jackson Randy Rhoads Model Guitars!
Maybe the most influential "Guitar" in Rock and Metal.......STILL!
I think his music was "Groundbreaking" in regards to his musical knowledge. Eddie is what I'd call a "Jammer". He plays what he thinks sounds good, and more than not he's correct. Randy's songs had structure, his solos to me are unbeatable as far as fitting the songs. I think Quiet Riot really held Randy's playing back, because they were looking for more of a Pop style rock, not real heavy stuff. Randy Really started to blossom with Ozzy, and it's a damn shame such a great talent was taken so young. We'll never really know his full potential. To me there are 3 very influential guitar players that have changed the way people play guitar..... Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, and Randy Rhoads!
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by Paul Wolfe »

Rocky_Rhoades wrote:To me there are 3 very influential guitar players that have changed the way people play guitar..... Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, and Randy Rhoads!
I hear this all the time, but no one can tell me how Randy Rhoads changed the way people play guitar. Jimi brought the guitar to the forefront and made rock music about the guitar and not just about the song. He did things no one even imagined doing. He amazed his contemporaries and breathed life into the guitar.

He also, by the way, is responsible for the Strat being the most popular guitar on the planet. Fender was going to discontinue the Strat due to poor sales when Jimi exploded onto the scene.

Eddie took guitar playing to a new level, introduced tapping to the masses and combined the Les Paul and the Strat to create the super-Strat which is the guitar for rock and metal now.

Randy Rhoads played some great songs and fantastic guitar, but what did he bring to the table that wasn't already there that would change the way people play?
devorerd
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by devorerd »

So IMO, Randy brought a couple of things...Mainly for me the use of the diminished scale in context with flattening the 5th...That haunting sound he created probably out of necessity based on the darkened sound that Oz was know for. Secondly, he did (probably influenced by EVH) create a Guitar that became more closely associated with what I call true "Metal", the "Jackson". Since we have two albums to compare from, I often compare them to VH1 & VHII...EVH continued to innovate after those two with his harmonic right hand hammer on's and his use of the delay in "Cathedral", etc......Would Randy have continued to develop once his golden handcuffs were released...Absolutely, his appetite for the guitar was incredible.
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Tito
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Re: What is Randy's "Historical Significance"??

Post by Tito »

i think his hostoric significance was very minimal.he did have phenominal stage presence,was way better as a player as far as what we've heard,and he was still finding himself at the time.so i feel what we have heard is someone in transition
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