Kyle Cravens October 20th, 2020 - 11:02 PM
Paying tribute to a legend. Through a heartwarming Instagram post, Machine Head’s founder Robb Flynn payed homage to the now deceased Eddie Van Halen, by playing one his most famous solos, Eruption. The post is captioned by Flynn, saying, “‘Eruption‘…nothing will ever be as good as the original But I’m gonna keep on trying every day, like I have for 30 years, to get that good. R.I.P. G.O.A.T. #eddievanhalen”
Van Halen himself was already the immemorial rock god that history will write him in as before he unfortunately succumbed to cancer on October 6. According to Theprp, Flynn has been sharing several posts that celebrate the life of personal and world renowned guitar hero Eddie Van Halen.
Van Halen formed in Pasadena, California in 1972. The original lineup included Eddie on guitar, his brother Alex Van Halen on drums, bassist Michael Anthony and front man David Lee Roth. The band is best known for Eddie Van Halens signature guitar playing. Their self-titled debut burst onto the rock scene in 1978, and listeners were baffled by his style, as he had adapted the guitar in ways not yet tried in rock and roll. He popularized a technique known as guitar tapping, which allowed for quick arpeggios in succession of one another. His trademark guitar playing was so new and innovative in fact, that during their breakout years Eddie would frequently turn his back to the audience during solos, as a preventive measure against imitators.
The band was slick and dangerous, and enjoyed commercial success while topping charts well through the 1980s, even after a front man swap that traded David Lee Roth for Sammy Hagar. Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. You can check out other musicians reactions to Eddie’s passing here.
Machine Head is an Oakland native heavy metal outfit, and is still riding the wave of their newest 2- track single, “Civil Unrest.” It contains the tracks “Stop the Bleeding” and “Bulletproof,” which features Jesse Leach, the front man of fellow heavy metal group Killswitch Engage. In our own brief review of the double sided release, we called it, “An aggressive metalcore track, with harsh screamed vocals, aggressive breakdowns and brooding guitar riffs.”
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
