05MACHINE HEAD DEEP PURPLE
1972
Deep Purple’s sixth studio album is, of course, much more than just that riff, but Machine Head deserves to be in this list for Smokeonthewater alone. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore said simplicity was the key to the song’s success, but playing it like him is surprisingly tricky. Blackmore originally used pick and fingers to play both notes in each double stop at the same time.
Hendrix had exploited the potential of a Strat and a Marshall on 10, but Blackmore found a whole different set of sounds in that combination. There was no trace of icepick treble in his gutsy tone. His unforgettable riffs and fluid soloing drew on both classical and blues influences to broaden the vocabulary of rock guitar. Even the self-critical Blackmore had to admit there were good bits on Machinehead. Highwaystar was his homage to Bach, and his alternate picking was cutting edge for the time. He insisted it was the only solo he wrote before recording. Elsewhere, his off-thecuff soloing exhibited feel, control, and his unmistakable approach to the tremolo arm. The solos in Lazy and Picturesofhome raised the bar for technique and expression.
The date on the sleeve says 1978, but a cursory listen to Van Halen’s debut tells you that it is, by some distance, the greatest guitar album of the 1980s. Van Halen didn’t have much in common with The Clash or the Sex Pistols, but the Californians’ brand of ‘Atomic Punk’ had the same urgency as the London punks. None of Vanhalen’s 11 tracks gets near the four minute mark, the perfect antidote to sprawling 70s excess. MTV was three years away, but Van Halen had already invented MTV rock. “We’re playing the 80s,” grinned effervescent frontman David Lee Roth. “Other bands are still playing the 70s.”
The songs zipped by so quickly partly because Eddie could play his borrowed Clapton licks at four times their original speed. But describing EVH’S guitar playing as “fast” undervalues it, like describing the Great Pyramid of Giza as “large”. Not just the best soloist on the planet, Eddie was possibly even better at rhythm – effortlessly grooving, extremely dynamic, and with the best swing in the game. Debates about whether he invented tapping (answer: no) are beside the point. Eddie Van Halen also did not invent harmonics, divebombs, palm muting, legato, or high gain tones, but no one had combined them seamlessly into one coherent guitar style, let alone perfected it on their debut album. Many of the final tracks are first takes, and it never sounds like Eddie might screw up. Where he hits a wrong note, he styles it out and keeps on wailing. Like the gymnast Simone Biles, no matter what acrobatics happen in the air, he always sticks the landing.
Besides his cutting edge technique, Eddie was best known for his infectious grin. Asked about Van Halen in 1986, Jimmy Page remarked, “It’s an incredible technique for what he does. I can’t do it. I can’t smile like him either.” Eddie’s smile reflects the sheer exuberance bursting from the grooves on the first Van Halen album. Listening to it is a joyful experience, and that love of music gave meaning to every note they played. Eddie’s licks had soul, even when he was showing off.
Then there was the tone. It’s doubtful the electric guitar has ever sounded better. Guitarists have devoted their lives to trying to discover how it was done. John Suhr worked on Eddie’s Marshall Plexi in 1991 and swears blind there was nothing unusual about it. He posted on Thegearpage forum in 2010, “When Ed played through this amp in my shop, it sounded every bit like Ed and the first album. When I played through it, it sounded every bit like me. Ed would make any decent amp sound like Ed.”
The 23-year-old Eddie didn’t just invent 80s rock guitar; he did it in a way that no one would ever surpass. A generation of shredders took his technique to new heights, but no one had the tone or the vibe, and no one else looked like they were having nearly as much fun.