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The Jesus and Mary Chain have claimed that Eddie Van Halen is one of the “worst guitar players in the world” and that he “ruined rock guitar” for two decades.
Speaking to Stereogum over the weekend, the Scottish alt-rock band's two guitarists, Jim and William Reid, unleashed a verbal volley against one of guitar’s most beloved virtuosos. If 2026 cooks up a hotter take than this, it might just melt the entire planet.
While stating his claim that having less gear can make players more creative, Jim Reid says, “I can play guitar, but only just. It’s kinda deliberate. I play guitar to the level I need to. Sometimes knowing too much about making music gets in the way, and it ends up back to Eddie Van Halen again.”
It’s William who then gets the heaviest blows in, dubbing Eddie one of the “worst guitar players in the world.”
“I can’t stand Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing,” he offers. “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 playing as fast as you fucking can and cramming as many notes in one second as you could.
“I listen to [Joy Division/New Order bassist] Peter Hook’s riffs, and I think that’s a thousand times better than anything Eddie Van Halen could ever conjure up.”
The influence that Van Halen had on the guitar scene at the time has been widely discussed. For example, Wolfgang Van Halen once said that his dad had “kind of ruined” the guitar scene in the 1980s because it gave rise to a sea of copyist players.
That said, such sentiments have never been voiced quite so, er, enthusiastically.
Eruption alone permanently changed the electric guitar landscape, but Wolfgang argued these copyists ignored EVH’s other qualities – qualities that apparently the Jesus and Mary Chain aren't too fussed with.
In related news, Steve Lukather recently issued an update on the forthcoming Van Halen record, which will bring to light never-before-heard Eddie material.
