The late Eddie Van Halen is widely worshiped by his rock peers for his immeasurable guitar skills, but don’t count The Jesus and Mary Chain’s William Reid among the rock icon’s fans.
In a new interview with Stereogum, William insists that the Van Halen legend “ruined rock guitar,” even going so far as calling him one of “the worst guitar players in the world.”
The conversation started when William’s brother and bandmate Jim Reid was asked about a new generation of rock bands being influenced by shoegaze music, with Jim answering, “Shoegaze, I’ve got a problem with that just because it doesn’t actually exist, ’cause it was some clown at the NME made that up.”
He then went on to talk about his guitar style, noting, “Not having a lot of equipment actually forces you to be more inventive. I can play guitar, but only just. It’s kinda deliberate. I play guitar to the level that I need to play guitar. And sometimes knowing too much about making music gets in the way, and it ends up back to Eddie Van Halen again, do you know what I mean?
William then chimed in, “I think guitar players should never learn scales. I think the worst guitar players in the world, like Eddie Van Halen… I can’t stand Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing. I think he ruined rock guitar all through the ’80s and ’90s ’cause so many people copied him.”
He continued, “I just couldn’t get any of that playin’ as fast as you fuckin’ can and crammin’ as many notes in one second as you could. And I listen to Peter Hook’s bass riffs, and I think that’s a thousand times better than anything Eddie Van Halen could ever conjure up.”
For what it’s worth, Eddie Van Halen landed at No. 2 on Consequence‘s list of the 100 Best Guitarists of All-Time, a ranking that was helped determined by a survey of guitar players.
The Jesus and Mary Chain are set to play a handful of UK dates with Hollywood Vampires and The Damned in August. Tickets are available here.
