I think its a combination of being talented and also an exceptional stage performer… I think Edward Van Halen had all of that wrapped into one. Him and David Lee Roth put on an awesome show. The two of them were excellent front men and the rest of the band was great also. For example there are alot of “bedroom players” who can sit and riff, but try running around on stage and playing the same rifs while running around…although Ill admit its a different time now,maybe people wouldn’t care if someone stood like a statue riffing or even sitting at a live show…?
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Neither were any number of influential players. Jimmy Page gets hammered for his sloppy playing…Hendrix had an…interesting relationship with the beat…
If technical savvy meant anything to listeners, Shawn Lane would’ve won a hundred Grammies.
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Yes hence why i said in my initial statement, “decently talented,” lol
Personally, I would rank Eddie’s technical abilities pretty highly. Those tapes from the '78 tour are just as terrifying to me as anything Yngwie would be doing a few years later. Both players in their respective primes give me the same vibe of having any level of technical ability at their disposal that they wanted. Of course they both chose very specific things that didn’t really overlap. But if you just look at the purely mechanical stuff, like Eddie’s shuffle or his ridiculous forearm tremolo, you definitely think, ok this is one of those special people who can figure out the techniques as a teenager that took me decades to pick apart.
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I agree and I really wasn’t trying to discredit Eddie in any way. I was really just trying to make the point that I don’t think in current times it would come down to technical ability as much as personality, marketing and situation (In a very very basic nutshell lol). Let me try to explain it this way. Let’s pretend The Rock was a pretty good guitar player; like good enough to play some ACDC tunes or crazy train whatever. His personality and financial situation to reach so many people would put him in a position to reach a guitar status
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What if that actually happened but he crossed over into the country genre and he changed his name to “The Country”?
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Johnny Depp plays guitar, but I don’t think anyone takes it seriously. I know the band is Hollywood Vampires, but I’ve never sought out and listened to any of their tunes. I can’t recall any newer rock music that caught my ear. I think the l
Most recent that I’ve been into was the album " Firepower" by Judas Priest from 2018. I do enjoy the guitar work on that.
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Firepower is an excellent Priest album. I feel the songwriting is superb. Way better than that 80’s crap like Turbo Lover or whatever.
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True, im just guessing and shooting the sh*t at the end of the day haha. Although i do think in terms of marketing and charisma, THe Rock is in his own league vs Johnny Depp
Jeff Beck did, for whatever that’s worth.
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Johnny Depp plays guitar. He is not a ‘guitar player’ in the sense most use here.
As for taking him seriously, I think the guy is enjoying himself and has something to say.
The only difference between him and us is the fact the at he was already famous. So he has access to a bigger outlet. I really dig his voice.
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But therein lies the rub…there’s an enormous difference between being able to play “Mean Street” or “On Fire” and creating “Mean Street” or “On Fire”.
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Yeah true haha honestly the more I think about it the further away from an answer I feel haha. I was just throwing some ideas out for discussion. At the end of the day, everyone is constantly posting about their lives all over the internet so there are no surprises really.
Posting about the part of their lives they’re willing to show you.
Social media is as fake as anything can be.
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iPhones, instagram, and Polyphia are three sources that are DRIVING guitar playing and guitar music more than ever in my opinion. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has used the pandemic to get in the woodshed or start playing. (I wonder if the secret to Tim Henson is his neck tattoos 
)
TY @Troy for this killer site. Only wish I found it sooner!
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Well the first time we had classical which provided functional harmony, mixed with African music that had been brewing for I don’t know, thousands of years. There was ragtime, blues, jazz, and for some inexplicable reason everything came together with grunge. Good heavy music was everywhere in the '90s and somehow it didn’t seem fake. If you scratched beneath the surface there were bands like Fishbone and King’s X but even the stuff on the radio (Metallica, Alice in Chains) was dangerous, subversive rock music.
I’m tempted to say it’ll never happen again but hey, I’ve been wrong before. 