AC/DC and Van Halen are two of the biggest Hard Rock bands of all time, and both had incredible guitarists, such as Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and of course, Eddie Van Halen. There are many coincidences between the two groups. For example, both were formed by brothers who were born in Europe but founded the bands in the countries they emigrated to. Later in their careers, both groups had to replace their classic singers and still managed to maintain their success and in AC/DC's case, even became bigger. Over the decades, Angus Young has spoken about many Hard Rock bands, including Van Halen and their late guitarist Eddie. Angus Young's opinion on Van Halen Like most Hard Rock musicians, Angus Young admires Van Halen and obviously, the incredible technique and talent the late guitarist Eddie Van Halen had. When the musician sadly passed away in 2020 at the age of 65, a victim of cancer, the AC/DC leader posted a special message on his social media as a tribute to EVH. “Eddie was a guitar wonder, his playing pure wizardry. To the world of music he was a special gift. To those of us fortunate enough to have met him, a very special person. He leaves a big hole in a lot of hearts. To the Van Halen family my heartfelt sympathies,” Angus Young said. The Scottish musician first discovered their music when he saw Eddie playing live the instrumental track "Eruption" in the late 70s. That song became one of his favorites by the band as he said in the Neil Zlozower photo book (Reported by VHND). “AC/DC played on a bill with Van Halen back in 1978, 1979 for a Bill Graham Day on the Green show. I didn’t know much about Van Halen then except that I remember seeing film clips of them. Especially the one of Eddie playing the solo piece, ‘Eruption’, I was very impressed. I didn’t meet Eddie until years later when there was a Monsters of Rock open-air festival in England. I was shocked to hear he liked my playing. Because I’ve never rated myself as a guitarist.” He continued: “(…) ‘Eruption’ is a favorite track. He’s got everything characteristic of his playing in that song. There’s a bit of everything. When Jimi Hendrix came along it was like, ‘Where did this guy come from? I think that was the same feeling with Edddie. When Eddie appeared on the scene, every guitarist I ran into said, ‘You’ve gotta hear this guy!” Angus Young said. During the same conversation, Young said that like Jimi Hendrix, Eddie was also an innovator. According to him, the late musician also changed the whole landscape of guitar playing and was imitated by countless other guitarists. "He turned the rule book upside down in terms of his approach. There was a lot of experimentation to his playing. Eddie also crosses into that avant-garde thing, which puts him in the same category as Hendrix,” Angus Young said. In the 80s Angus said Van Halen was more of a Pop band and that Malcolm was better than Eddie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9r-NxuYszg&pp=ygUIZXJ1cHRpb27SBwkJsgkBhyohjO8%3D Back in 1984, when AC/DC and Van Halen already were some of the biggest Rock and Roll bands in the world, they were the main attractions of the Monsters of Rock festival in Donnington, England. In an interview with British TV to promote the show, Angus Young was asked if there was going to be some kind of rivalry between the two bands. (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) "Not really (There is no rivalry). It's a different thing, they are more... what would you say? A Pop band, I suppose than what we are. We are a more Rock and Roll band." Two years later, in 1986, when talking with Guitar World magazine about how underrated his brother was, he said that Malcolm was actually better than Eddie. “Malcolm makes the band sound so full. It’s hard to get a big ego if you play in a band with your brother. It keeps your head on earth. Malcolm is like me, he just wants the two of us to connect. Although he lets me take all the lead breaks, Malcolm’s still a better guitarist than Eddie Van Halen.” “Van Halen certainly knows his scales. But I don’t enjoy listening to very technical guitarists who cram all the notes they know into one song. I mean, Van Halen can do what he does very well, but he’s really just doing finger exercises.” “If a guitarist wants to practice all the notes he can play, he should do it at home. There’s definitely a place for that type of playing, but it’s not in front of me,” Angus Young said. Eddie was a big fan of AC/DC and a good friend of Malcolm Young Eddie was a big fan of AC/DC and his favorite album by them was "Powerage". The record was released in 1978, same year Van Halen's debut album came out. Whenever he went to see the Australian band playing live he would always ask the Young brothers if "Down Payment Blues", one of his favorite tracks, was part of the setlist. He even told Billboard in 2015 that the song had one of his favorite guitar riffs of all time. AC/DC and Van Halen had the chance to share the bill of many festivals over the years. Eddie became a good friend of the late Malcolm Young. When the AC/DC rhythm guitarist passed away in 2017 at the age of 64, due to Dementia, the Dutch musician paid tribute to him on his social media. “It is a sad day in Rock and Roll. Malcolm Young was my friend and the heart and soul of AC/DC. I had some of the best times of my life with him on our 1984 European tour. He will be missed and my deepest condolences to his family, band mates and friends,” Eddie Van Halen said. As Angus Young said many times, whenever they met Eddie he was always with a big smile and full of warmth, happy to see them.
