The Jesus and Mary Chain’s William Reid says Eddie Van Halen was one of “the worst guitar players in the world”
The Jesus and Mary Chain’s William Reid has come out swinging at the late Eddie Van Halen, branding him one of “the worst guitar players in the world”.
Van Halen, who died in 2020, is widely viewed as one of the most pioneering guitarists of all time, but Reid has made it beyond clear that he doesn’t share that belief.
In a new interview with Stereogum, his brother Jim Reid first brought Van Halen up while discussing his own approach to the guitar, sharing, “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?”
Then, William added, “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.”
The Scottish guitarist then explained why he believes Van Halen had a detrimental impact on the wider world of guitar playing, stating, “I think he ruined rock guitar all through the ’80s and ’90s ’cause so many people copied him. And 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.”
Reid then explained why he believes New Order and Joy Division’s Peter Hook is in a different league to Van Halen, noting, “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.”
While Van Halen may not be to the taste of The Jesus and Mary Chain, they will be teaming up this summer with The Hollywood Vampires, comprising of rock legends Joe Perry and Alice Cooper, as well as Johnny Depp, and Tommy Henriksen, for a series of huge UK shows.
They will play the O2 Arena in London on August 12th, before moving on to the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, the AO Arena in Manchester, and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
It has now been two years since they released their last album, Glasgow Eyes.
In a three-star review, Far Out wrote, “Glasgow Eyes is no Psychocandy, but that’s to be expected – that album was released 39 years ago. Regardless, Glasgow Eyes has none of the same innovative or enduring appeal that their debut continues to have. It’s in no way a bad album, instead, it commits the deadly sin of being painfully average, idling along with few memorable cuts to be found.”
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