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If you\u00a0surveyed a\u00a0group of rock fans and musicians on matters pertaining to the electric guitar, eight out of 10 would probably tell you Eddie Van Halen<\/a> was one of the\u00a0most technically\u00a0brilliant and innovative musicians to ever pick up the instrument.<\/p>\n The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Jim and William Reid would be the vocal minority, with the latter claiming the late Van Halen<\/a> axman “ruined rock guitar” with his expertise.<\/p>\n The brothers and co-founders of\u00a0the Scottish alt-rock band\u00a0\u2014 whose combination of ’60s pop melodies and noisy guitar squalls became a cornerstone of shoegaze in the ’80s \u2014 expressed their disdain for\u00a0Van Halen in an interview with Stereogum<\/a> last weekend\u00a0prior to their headlining performance at New York’s Total Bummer festival.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Van Halen Albums Ranked Worst to Best<\/a><\/p>\n Jim Reid, the band’s lead singer,\u00a0explained how minimalism and a relative lack of technical knowledge can shape a guitarist’s style for the better.<\/p>\n “Not having a lot of equipment actually forces you to be more inventive,” he said. “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?”<\/p>\n William Reid, the\u00a0Jesus and Mary Chain’s\u00a0lead guitarist, then added: “I think guitar players should never learn scales. I think the worst guitar players in the world \u2014 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. 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. 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.”<\/p>\n For what it’s worth, it sounds like William Reid doesn’t actually hate Eddie Van Halen. Rather, he hates Ratt<\/a>, Poison<\/a> and the myriad other glam metal bands whose fiery lead guitarists were nipping at Van Halen’s heels.<\/p>\n It’s also worth noting that Eddie Van Halen\u00a0freely admitted<\/a> he never learned how to read music and didn’t even take guitar lessons. (He\u00a0took piano lessons as a kid.) And for all of his jaw-dropping technical innovations, Van Halen\u00a0often couched his incredible riffs and solos within catchy, three-and-a-half-minute pop songs.<\/p>\nWhat Did the Jesus and Mary Chain Say About Van Halen?<\/h3>\n
But Wait … Could Eddie Van Halen Even Read Music?<\/h3>\n