There are big holes in my musical experience and I have never heard this song before (except perhaps snippets at a traffic light or in a parking lot). The sound changes dramatically at the twenty second mark of the link (not a field I know much about or care to speculate about, but it sounds like a fuzz box effect is added to the guitar). Several questions concerning this: when you say “the opening gets things going”, and “my favorite song by them” – are you talking about the first twenty seconds [which sounds to me like it has a tension built into it- like a fuse burning down to a blasting cap], the time after 0.20 seconds [which sounds like raw power to me – the post detonation], or both? Is it the same lick after the sonic change just played at a higher volume with effects attached to it? Or does it change otherwise; is the guitar player doing exactly what he was doing before [after some knobs are adjusted] – or does the sonic change indicate a shift in the music itself.
I am ignorant enough to form an argument both ways (and have mentally). It sounds different, but is it musically different? This question is affected by my kid cranking the first Van Halen album three or four times yesterday as we drove between errands. Listening to ERUPTION for the umpteenth time in an afternoon, I started to wonder how much of that is electronic effects? Could Eddie play that on an acoustic guitar and have a similar product? If you miked it and played it as loud as the electric guitar version, would it sound like the same song? Like an elevator version of ERUPTION? I am sure I would recognize it (the mocking sounding exercise which I assume is how arpeggios are practiced on a stringed instrument [Jack Benny used to play the identical notes on his violin occasionally] is very identifiable for example), but does it have the same essence?
In one sense, I am asking if I have the ability to distinguish between genuine musical elements and electronic effects; but I am more interested in if others (especially non musician others) can and do make that distinction easily? Don’t want to derail the thread, but would appreciate answers if any of you have the time to reply. (Thank you for your attention.)
Funny. The first two songs I was going to mention when I first read the thread title were both “Cherub Rock” and “Only Shallow.” I decided not to chime in, as those both begin with drums (“Cherub Rock” with the fun circus drum-roll intro, and “Only Shallow” with four bangs of the snare drum.) So, if we’re not being that technical, those are my picks.
Also, “The Ocean” by Zeppelin if it hasn’t been mentioned already. “When Doves Cry” (which I see already mentioned) is probably my favorite guitar-solo-type (as opposed to a riff) introduction to a song. Oh, and “See No Evil” by Television.
No idea about the the technical aspects, but from an emotional level: both, or rather how one builds into the other. Your burning fuse analogy hits it spot on. It’s 20 seconds of … aww yeah… here it comes… get ready… annnnd… BAM! Fireworks. (And I don’t even regret how dirty that sounds, looking back after I typed it.)
Well, there’s a couple things that happen in that build-up. First you have the guitar playing octave Es with a clean sound that has a bit of a flanger applied to it and Jimmy drumming in a somewhat restrained manner. When you hit 0:20, the distortion kicks in (I think it’s a Big Muff, in this case, which produces a wildly over-the-top distortion sound), and Jimmy also cranks up the volume on the drums and accents every snare hit with a crash. Then they groove along for a bit at 0:25 with the guitars playing basically the same rhythmic pattern, but the drums going into a mid-tempo rock groove, then at 0:31 the guitar go up a few steps, and then again at 0:33, before settling into the main riff of the song at 0:35.
All-in-all, it’s just a beautiful build to get to the main riff at 0:35.
I suspect the intro octave riff it may have been influenced by Neu! and Hallogallo, but I don’t know how much Billy listened to them. (I also hear Neu! influences on “Starla.” If Billy is as much a music nerd as he seems to be, certainly he would have heard them, I think.) I also hear a good bit of Cheap Trick’ in “Cherub Rock” as well, and Billy certainly was a fan of theirs.
Oh, one last thing to notice, if it’s not clear: they’re all just playing the hell out of one note (though in different octaves) until the lead guitar finally changes at 0:31. Bass and guitars are all just playing Es up until that point (and the bass still kicks out Es until 0:43 where finally a new chord is introduced and releases all the tension.)
Cool! And WRT Mr Van Halen: as pointed out, you can hear that it’s him playing no matter what kind of guitar he is playing, although I wanted to note since you mentioned it (“electronic” v “organic”) that Eddie wouldn’t be able to reproduce some of the things on “Eruption”, like the whammy bar divebombs, etc (simply because an acoustic guitar generally isn’t equipped with a tremolo arm) but at the end of the day, he could easily reproduce the piece acoustically and you’d know the song and the artist right away.
Track ten on the first album is ICE CREAM MAN which starts as acoustic and has always been a familiar phrase of music I like instinctively. It then changes from this easy, slow summer afternoon strumming in the shade to some pretty serious rock. I have listened to that over and over to learn how two things that sound so different are part of the same work. I think of it as the FREEBIRD effect; in both songs if you played clips for someone who had never heard the song -from the beginning, and then from after the change and ask which they like better – I believe very few would figure out they are same song (apart from links made by the lyrics).
The question concerning ERUPTION was meant to be: how much of final product is the playing, and how much is the instrument (and amplifier including everything in the loop) on which it is being played. And yes, I know it is off topic; for me they are highly related and have an effect on how it is heard by me. Thank you for your answer.
Love the singer’s voice, but the intro did nothing for me. My first thought when I heard it was the Ramones. (Never really known for their innovative guitar work…)
Thank you. This helps my understanding significantly. Without diverting resources from the original intent of the thread-- would a fairly competent, journeyman guitarist playing Eddie’s signature rig tuned to Eddie specs sound more, or less like the iconic recording we all know than Eddie on nylon string acoustic?
(For that matter, would a steel sting acoustic [being played by the same person who plays the other instruments] sound more like the nylon stringed acoustic-- or an electric with no external effects devices? If this will dis-rail the discussion please disregard!)