In Van Halen Rising, the author talked to someone who was friends with the brothers when they were younger and said whenever she saw Alex play she could swear she saw crystals appear in the air, she was in awe
I'm electrician at work ; electronic music dj , electronician , and musician when i have time , build amplifier and other drum boxes /sound machine , i love to play in drum this one 4:00 need to be fast and very clean ! yeah Alex is a Master Monster !
Alex Van Halen has to be one of the most under rated drummers in rock music. As a drummer since 1960, myself, I enjoy his playing. Then again, I am a huge Van Halen fan.
Same thing with sammy, as soon as he joined van halen everyone e forgot that sammy is a seriously good guitar player, it would be hard to be in a band with someone that no matter how good you are that you know 90% of peole are there to see that 1 person
C. Doom Schneider John Bonham might be the most technically skilled drummer ever and he was a legend. But Keith Moon drum work is incomparable. His fills have more personality than any other drummer ever. He made the drums speak!
I don't think people really pick up on what he does because the sound of his drums gets mushed together. Whenever you hear him by himself practicing you get a clearer tone and are awed by how simple he makes it look. He's an all around musician because he is a classically trained pianist so his jazz drumming is great also. He also has a brilliant mind for building his sets as they are the most amazing out there. It would be great to have a poster with every set he built put on there together.
Just search for isolated drum tracks, then you'll hear it. The unaltered drum track from KISS Alive! has placed Peter Criss firmly atop my favorite drummers list. I've heard Kenny Aronov make mistakes in person. I've heard Steve Marone make mistakes in person. Alex. Lars. But I have seen the original KISS lineup live 17 times and I have never heard Peter screw up once. Nor Bonham, Moon, or Ginger Baker. The GREATEST don't screw up.
@@elitewarrior0076 no way man. Alex brought that jazz swing and shuffle to rock n roll. he took all the standard meters and put that jazz touch to it to give it a feel that nobody in rock had or has today. and im as big a peart fan as anyone.
Sadly, Alex has never gotten the praise that he is indeed earned!!! A great drummer.....awesomeness Has motivated thousands and some of his ideas are being used today by others.
Alex is definitely a majorly underrated drummer. It's always John Bonham or Neil Peart who takes he cake, but Alex could be right up there with them I believe. Him and his brother are among the best drummers/guitarists out there.
+Brandon Thornton Totally agree with you, he's way more talented than people realize, everyone's too focused on Eddie (no offense to him, still one of the best like you said).
+Brandon Thornton Totally agree. Alex has incredible speed and freedom around the trap, and Eddie, I just love his guitar solos. My favorite is on "So This Is Love" which is on Women or Fair I can't remember. All those classic riffs, Eddie wrote those. They are the best drummer/guitarist combo ever.
Van Halen as a band pushed each member to the extremes of what a human can do with an instrument. It wasn't a competition - it was purely encouragement, perseverance and love for music. Everyone in the band became musical gods because of this.
His kick drums had very distinctive sounds as well. Also, he is the only drummer I ever saw that could do a roll on a crash cymbal but keep it subtle so it blends with the rest of the music instead of overpowering the rest of the music like an accent.
I always thought that Alex had the best sounding drums of all. The clear tones and defined vibrato they give off. I'm so glad that he never changed the tones of his drums. Kudos to Alex for being such an amazing drummer.
You like that sound, from this drummer, 🤢 yuck. Triggers with echo suck. Sound is so FLAT. Give me an acoustic kit, some coated heads, and real wood toms.
Anybody who doesn't include him in the top 10 rock drummers in history is insane. I'd put him in the top 5. He had speed, power, timing, expression, musicality and imagination. He had it all.
Alex and Eddie were both extremely talented and made an incredible team. It was as if they could read each other's mind and know where they were going with a song. There was a loving bond between them that made their music special.
To say that Alex and Eddie were the dynamic team everyone speaks of, is an understatement. No wonder the last words spoken between Pantera's Vinnie Paul and Dimebag were "Van Halen" as they did for years before every concert they played.
I saw him in Augusta GA...started with a slow movin strobe light until it stayed on!! Awesome....and they ALL have their own solos. I compare no drummer to another.
I was thinking he has to be one of the best drummer's I've ever seen, sadly I was comparing Alex Van Halen to Lars Ulrich. I thank you for putting this comment because I now know I can't compare any drummer to another.
I was "forced" into a situation where I had to use them(Lounge act,top 40 in Vegas) and these Simmons pads almost completely ruined my wrists! Felt like hitting a tree with a baseball bat!
Never owned a Simmons 'kit, but did have a go on one in about 1990. Absolutely nothing like hitting conventional, acoustic heads, but hey, that's where technology was at then, and i was impressed and still love that typically 80's electronic drum (toms especially) sound. Alex is such a phenomenally underrated player! And RIP Eddie... \m/
So many people on here talking negative about this. You don't like it, oh well. But, as a fan of the 80's I remember when he did this. For those of you negative on Alex Van Halen, let me see you do this. This man has made a solid living doing what most of us are either not talented enough to do, or just plainly lack the conviction to do. From what I see here are a bunch of self proclaimed music critics who wouldn't persuade me to buy music anyway.
Alex and Ed feed off each other.Both give V. H. unique sound.Nobody can replicate that bond.Without ed or al no unique music. VAN HALEN 4EVER! (R.I.P. EDD)
I am a drummer myself and started playing the drums about a year before I heard of VH. I was 10 at the time. After my brother exposed me to their music I was hooked!! I can't read music buy if I listen to a song at least 3 times I can play verbatim. There are so many great drummers out there I have learned from over the years and continue to learn from no doubt. A never ending story. But playing VH tunes is always the best for sure. I continue to perfect my craft and emulate my drum hereos.
At first I was thinking 'i thought this guy was a little better than this' and after watching the whole thing im thinking 'i didnt know he was that good'
Wow, that part near the end is like insect wings buzzing. The Indonesian roots came through a lot more with Alex than Eddie; he looks downright Chinese sometimes!
The sensitivity of the Simmons drum pads were not that great at all. If you hit the pad lightly it sounded just like it did when you hit it hard so all he has to do to accomplish that sound is to do a buzz roll. That's it. Those pads could make a bad drummer sound really good. Not saying Alex is bad at all, he's great but I never thought he was technically proficient. But a lot of drummers stopped using those pads because the technology wasn't quite there yet to give a drummer the actual feel and sound of a real drum from an electronic device. It wasn't till ddrum and Roland came out with their electronic drums that the technology had advanced enough to give a real feel and sound. So the part you're talking about sounds amazing but ask any drummer, a buzz roll is quite easy to do. Hope that helps.
I think you just used the electronics on his touring kits, he pretty much does the same routine for all his solos and there's videos of him using regular drums and he's doing it just as fast..definitely my favorite of all time
Looking at Alexs favial expressions and just how he gets into his drumming its like he transforms to a whole other place. Just absolutely amazing to watch such talent!
Love AVH and I was always fascinated by his kits, especially the Octobans, Roto toms and the bass drums connected with rubber tubing but I could never get on with the electronic drum pads. Never thought that sound belonged in rock n roll.
There is only one Monster on drums he is unreal 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🤘🥰🤘 I believe he is up There with Peart n Bonham Alex absolutely CRUSHES the drums ABSOLUTE NONSTER
During the late 80s, it was very hard watching Haggar follow Roth....I remember thinking how dumb. But looking back on it, Sammy did a pretty good job....No, he's not DLR, but he's pretty good in his own right.
I totally agree. Once I decided to just treat it as a different band,it was much easier. They did put out some really good albums and I saw them live twice, the live show from For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour was AMAZING!
I LOVE solo sammy stuff and montrose ,but the VH stuff will never be as good as DLR. For whatever reason stuff that stuff is Ten Commandment etched in stone stuff.
Alex Van Halen Musician Alexander Arthur "Alex" Van Halen is a Dutch-born American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. Originally, his brother Eddie had taken lessons for drums, while Alex practiced guitar. Wikipedia Born: May 8, 1953 (age 62), Nijmegen, Netherlands Siblings: Eddie Van Halen Nephews: Wolfgang Van Halen Music group: Van Halen (Since 1972) Spouse: Stine Schyberg (m. 2000), Kelly Van Halen (m. 1984-1996), Valeri Kendall (m. 1983-1984)
You can hear Peart influence. Ginger Baker influence. A bit of Bonzo. Maybe a bit of Aldridge. He brought flavors to the table. Then his own. Alex was cooking and nicely done, Sir. Keep cooking with that "Long Lost Recipe".
Jackie Fox from The Runaways saw VH back before they got signed when they played at the Golden West Ballroom and she said she could have sworn she saw crystals flying off Al's drumkit he was so fast. She actually said she had considered him more talented than Eddie
To all the Moran’s that keep saying that Alex is underrated, He is NOT! Where does that stupidity come from??? He is regarded as one of the greatest of all time.
There's John Bonham written all over this composition. And yes...this solo is actually a composition in counts of 4 (for those know anything about music theory) for an untrained ears the fun starts at the 3:00 mark. I do not know how Big Al got away with the Simmons and making it worked for VH music. Even if it was the 80s there's just no place for electronic drum to fit in the hardrock style of music but this is one of those exception. The kick drums looks acoustic but he's kicking pads! Amazing.
I do hear ya , MOST people in the audience ... they "hear" with their eyes and hear what they want to hear, and that is BIG drums...and he does have that going... a big sound. good engineering at the board.
The Van Halen records and live shows would not have been the same without him. He knows when to show off, when to lay low and when to accentuate Eddies playing and David Lee Roth's vocals. On top of that getting in to groove with the bass player whether it's Michael or Wolfgang. That's a lot to think about when your making music and he does it so well. He is awesome!!
How fast do you think he was going? I've seen some metal drummers play but never like what sounded that fast and so much power. I'd like to see him do that around the kit. Sounds like a fan lol.
Not enough people give this man the credit he deserves. It's all Baker, Bonham, Peart and Carey. But Alex is up there with the best rock drummers of all time, IMHO. Eddie got all the attention, but his big bro was a BAMF too.
+Gerber Bernstein i see e drums as just another tool, a way to make sound yours. Alex plays acoustic an edrums both. i prefer accoustic but,all drums have a place :)
This kit puts all of today's kit on the music scene to shame! I am tired of all these mediocre players from today's music playing the same old boring 3 piece acoustic with one cymbal whacking away like a child!
If its a challenge to try to play more creatively i have no problem with small kits. But i agree for most of these new hipster drummers, playing boring grooves with a childish stiff technique
I have a massive 3 up two down kit on a whole big rack system but honestly I prefer to play on a 1 up 2 down or 2 up 2 down kit it allows you to transport it better and forces u to be more creative
everyone has their strenghts and weaknesses. and if you want clean live playing Neil Peart is far more superior than Bonham ever was. I am not bashing Bonham tho. He was a great drummer and thats a fact, but there are plenty drummers better, had more groove, and played cleaner than him...
Robert Dunkes SR in all honesty he is one the greats when it comes to drumming! of course not the best but hes def top 15 for being in such an amazing band and being so unique
