“In a way, Dad kind of ruined the musical landscape, because instead of everybody wanting to find out who they are, they wanted to be that.”
He also argued that his father’s influence wasn’t entirely positive and that people mostly focus on the ‘flashy’ playing and often miss the real reasons behind Eddie’s greatness:
“People focus on the guitar playing, but, overall, it was the fact that dad is a great songwriter. And that’s what I shoot for, too. It’s not about flashy stuff.”
Toto’s Steve Lukather thinks the same as Wolfgang.
Last year, Lukather mentioned in an interview that he disagreed ‘with the entire concept of shredding,’ and pointed out that Eddie never intended to start the whole shredding movement. He said:
“Back when I started, there was no such thing as ‘shredding.’ In the ’70s, we were just trying to make good records. But then Eddie Van Halen came along and changed the whole game. I remember him telling me once, ‘Man, I didn’t mean to start all this madness,’ but he really did change the entire game. That always cracked me up, as Eddie was the father of shred. But I never tried to do that, and I still don’t. I’m still the same melodic guy I’ve always been.”
Photo: Getty Images North America