“Big deal”: The guitarist Eddie Van Halen was at odds with
The 1980s marked a wildly different time for rock and roll.
The bare-chested gods of the decade before had begun to quieten their cries, as music slowly moved away from the grandiose space of classic rock. In its place in the mainstream came a swell of synthesisers and drum machines that would ultimately shape the landscape of modern pop in which we now live, slowly antiquating the primal energy of bona fide rock.
So for the established acts of the ‘70s, who remained strong in their formation and hurtled towards the unknown of this new decade with an open mind, willing to pivot the sound that garnered them previous success. Despite all of the odds and the logical world telling them to disband in a bid to salvage their personal lives, Fleetwood Mac were this act.
They continued on through the muddled aftermath of Rumours’ success, which saw Stevie Nicks establish a budding solo career with Bella Donna while the remaining members of the band struggled with career disillusionment. The rampant drug use continued, and financial desperation awaited some, while Lindsey Buckingham continued on in the same autocratic vein as before, but with questionable creative choices.
Mirage would have marked the end for any other band, given its limp output. But Fleetwood Mac weren’t just any band; they were perhaps the most resilient outfit in all of music and proved that, with their ‘87 comeback Tango In The Night, which, while certainly not a return to their best, did mark something of a restoration of credibility. It had all of the rocky notes Fleetwood Mac fans craved from the bands, but wrapped it up in a more contemporary style of instrumental arrangement that felt more befitting of the synthesized ‘80s.
But there were a selection of bands who were insistent on flying the rock flag in a more traditional fashion. Building on what Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath achieved before them, this new generation transformed classic rock into hair-metal, led by the virtuosic guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix admirers like Eddie Van Halen.
Van Halen took his guitar playing seriously as a means of upholding the traditional values of rock and roll, and saw bands like Fleetwood Mac as commercial sellouts, following the tide in the hopes of money spilling out of the wash.
“If I sit down and play by myself, I play completely different than I would with the band,” Van Halen began, talking of his process.
He continued, “I just really go for feeling in my playing. All our albums have mistakes — big deal, we’re human. But they reek of feeling, and that, to me, is what music is all about. It’s not like Fleetwood Mac. You know, they spend so much time and money on their albums. I think that if something is too perfect, it won’t faze you.”
Fleetwood Mac weren’t exactly deterred by Van Halen’s criticisms either. Lindsey Buckingham once cited Van Halen as an example of someone “who is a great guitarist, a virtuoso. Yet he doesn’t make good records because what he plays is totally lost in the context of this band’s music.”
Together, this rivalry represented the growing pains of rock and roll in the 1980s. Unsure of what the future held in this new commercial landscape, wondering if the genre was more a feeling created by shared playing or an outright virtuoso sound, that centred around the trusty electric guitar.
