The iconic rock band Wolfgang Van Halen thinks should have their own “Mount Rushmore”
Some bands have made such a seismic impact on the world that you could argue they deserve some kind of immortalisation in statue form. And Tool, Wolfgang Van Halen says, is one of them.
Speaking to Guitar.com about his five all-time favourite guitar players, the Mammoth bandleader and son of Eddie Van Halen is quick to name guitarist Adam Jones and his bandmates and single out their technical wizardry.
Wolfgang is a hugely proficient multi-instrumentalist himself, and therefore recognises the immense skill possessed by each Tool member.
READ MORE: “My dad was a great guitarist but a terrible guitar teacher”: Eddie Van Halen once asked Paul Gilbert to give his son Wolfgang a guitar lesson
“In terms of every instrument I play – bass, guitar, drums and singing – each member of Tool is on the respective Mount Rushmore for their instrument,” he says.
“The first song I heard from them was Third Eye [from 1996’s Ænima], which is funny, because it wasn’t a single or anything. It kind of opened my mind – opened my third eye, so to speak – regarding what music can be.
“I was like, ‘This is a 13-minute song! Not just a four-minute thing!’ It blew my mind when I was in seventh grade. There’s power in its simplicity: when Adam just holds down the rhythms and almost lets Justin [Chancellor, bass] take the lead, they have such a great connection.”
Wolfgang goes on to describe guitarist Adam Jones as the “Malcolm Young of metal”. “He is such a fucking awesome rhythm guy, and he’s a great lead guy, too,” he goes on.
But while Wolfgang Van Halen cites Adam Jones as one of his biggest inspirations, he says Tool’s influence on his music isn’t always so overt.
“In Mammoth, the influence of bands like Tool and Meshuggah will come out in places you don’t expect,” he says.
“If you listen to [the song] The End, the very end of it, there’s this double-kick, half-time, metal-ey thing. They just pop up! Even on the last album [2023’s Mammoth II], on Right?, there’s that Meshuggah-ey breakdown in the middle after the solo. It’s never intentional: I try not to stifle the creative process by overthinking and just do what feels right.”
Also in the interview, Wolfgang recalls his father Eddie being a “terrible teacher”, and even once calling virtuoso Paul Gilbert to give him a guitar lesson. “He laughed his ass off!” he says. “That just shows you how he felt about being a teacher!”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
