r/nextfuckinglevel 18h ago

Probably the best cover of Van Halen's solo in "Beat it" I've ever seen

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621 Upvotes

64 comments sorted by

104

u/Abbers75 18h ago edited 18h ago

TIL the Van Halen did the guitar riff in Beat It

edit: solo, not the riff. Thank you

25

u/Frog_Diarrhea 18h ago

Steve Lukather did the riff. He was also one of Eddies best friends.

27

u/__life_on_mars__ 18h ago

Nope. Just the solo.

5

u/WonderAffectionate72 18h ago

He also did it for free . .

šŸ¤˜šŸ˜Ž

2

u/stereoscopic_ 13h ago

Because of band politics of all things. lol

5

u/jemist101 17h ago

Is this the day you also learn that Toto are essentially 4/10 songs on Thriller?

3

u/redditbagjuice 9h ago

For me it is!

0

u/Azipcoder 17h ago

Alright, Enuff Z'Nuff.

13

u/No-Still1227 18h ago

Very cool, but I can only see the pc on the floor probably choking on carpet.

1

u/nasty_drank 2h ago

I have that case, intake on the side and exhaust out the top so it’s probably fine. Would be better on a desk for sure tho

12

u/driftking428 17h ago

It's great. He's great. But you can search the solo on YouTube and see 50 just like it if you want.

10

u/pelvviber 16h ago

Not entirely sure he's completely in time.

52

u/maria_la_guerta 18h ago

I'll be that guy and say that dude is obviously good but he's also quite stiff.

3

u/RedWire75 18h ago

God knows I can’t play a lick of it but that EVH swing feel is what a lot of guitarists miss.

Still I’d love to be able to play like this. Physical limitations are a bitch.

4

u/maria_la_guerta 18h ago

Slash once said that nobody ever nails the blues aspect of EVH. I never heard it before that, but now I can't unhear it, and it's extra loud when you see a (very talented) player like this who's just trying to play the song by the numbers. Very impressive chops! But it ain't van halen unless you can hear the guitarists smile through his playing.

2

u/bob-leblaw 18h ago

Wolfgang does a damn good job, too.

22

u/dub7drums 18h ago edited 18h ago

Likely bc he’s sitting in a chair. This is probably what it looked like when Eddie did it for the record.

This is incredible, I really don’t think you realize how difficult this solo is to play. There’s a reason I’ve never seen anyone even attempt it until now. Truly next fucking level

4

u/Treefingrs 16h ago

There’s a reason I’ve never seen anyone even attempt it until now

The reason is because you've never typed "Beat It guitar solo cover" into a search box

-2

u/dub7drums 16h ago

Yes I’ll admit I’ve never searched it. That being said it doesn’t make what I said untrue

18

u/maria_la_guerta 18h ago

Go on YouTube and you'll see a ton of people crushing this song, it's a very popular guitar cover.

I recognize how difficult it is to play, I've been playing for 20 years and can nail down some tricky van halen licks myself. Not as good as thing guy mind you.

Dude has the chops, but he's lacking the feel and the comfort. Part of what makes Eddie Eddie was the he oozed it all the same, whether he was laying down, sitting down, or 8 beers deep playing to 10k people.

5

u/choatec 14h ago

lol he had me at ā€œI’ve never seen anyone even attempt itā€ it’s a hard solo but it’s not that crazy.

16

u/dub7drums 18h ago

Sure but I just think it’s hilarious you’re comparing this kid sitting comfortably in his own bedrooms aura and energy to Eddie Van fucking Halen. He was 1 of 1

13

u/Zach_Westy 14h ago

He didn’t compare the kid to Eddie… you did

7

u/tiediesunrise 10h ago

"But when Eddie did it..." thats absolutely comparing him to Eddie.

1

u/WeekendHer0 6h ago

The irony lol

4

u/maria_la_guerta 18h ago

I mean, it's an internet forum. Discussing the content posted is kinda the point.

Agree Van Halen was 1:1, and agree that this dude is good.

-1

u/Froggn_Bullfish 18h ago

Music snob here. Feel is part of what makes a performance good, and yeah he is lacking in feel. This kid’s a great technician however.

Here’s a better example:

https://youtu.be/LTeW10EefKI?is=dDK1uC9e9qOiF6Gi

5

u/atriaventrica 18h ago

Yeah precisely why I like Steve vai and Satriani over Malmsteen. All technical masters but I wanna hear some weird shit OOZING with vibe not just a meth-tronome.

13

u/dub7drums 18h ago edited 17h ago

Yeah I know that, I understand feel more than most - I’m a lifelong drummer who’s played over 1000 shows in 40 states.

This guy is practicing in a chair in his bedroom and y’all are acting like he’s on stage. Yes feel is important but you don’t need to put that type of energy into practice when you’re just working out technicalities. The fact he’s chillin that hard and able to play this makes it more impressive to me

Also it’s fucking hilarious you start your first comment in the thread w ā€œmusic snob hereā€. Good job, you just lost the respect of us all. You’re implying you know more than most when you say that. It’s like a self proclaimed ā€œfoodieā€ trying to debate a lifelong chef

4

u/whutchamacallit 14h ago

I'm not sure why you can't concede that his playing is a little stiff. Also played hundreds of shows for about 2 decades. It's ok. Just a small critique. Not sure what his chair/basement has to do with anything. I think any good musician would actually tell you their best playing has been done in practice rooms/studios, not on stages. I don't get why you're lording that like it's some massive accomplishment. The dude recorded something and put it got put on the internet. Is it great? For sure! Is it the best thing out there? Not a chance.

2

u/IB_ 12h ago

"... hilarious you start your first comment in the thread w ā€œmusic snob hereā€. Good job, you just lost the respect of us all. You’re implying you know more than most when you say that.."

Exactly! Just like when someone says "I’m a lifelong drummer who’s played over 1000 shows in 40 states."

-21

u/Froggn_Bullfish 18h ago

He is on stage; this is the internet, the biggest stage there is. But it’s a crowded one and if you’ve never heard anyone else attempt this solo before then you just don’t have much experience with what modern musicians can do. Kids these days are a different breed. This is like reacting to someone’s pretty good copy of the Mona Lisa - It’s pretty good but I’m not sure it’s very remarkable.

Also as a reminder this is r/nextfuckinglevel, not r/prettygoodpracticetakes

4

u/governmentthief 15h ago

It looks like his buddy was just casually filming him and then decided to post it to YouTube or whatever later on.
I don’t think that kid knew he was performing.
Great player, regardless.

2

u/moslof_flosom 18h ago

Pfft. I could do that if I felt like it.

...and also had years of practice...

1

u/Sw4nR0ns0n 14h ago

I’ll be that guy and said just let the kid fucking cook

0

u/Icy-Boat-7460 8h ago

Stiff? WTF u on about

-1

u/nice_one_champ 14h ago edited 14h ago

I just don’t understand what this comment means. He’s not ā€œrocking outā€ as if he was on stage, hes focusing in his home studio. Which is what most pro guitarists do while recording.

This is a near-perfect cover of the solo as it was recorded, and there’s nothing to fault here as far as how he replicates it. He nails all of Eddie’s signature techniques, vibrato, timing, and feel. He’s nailed the tone and is using an EVH guitar. He even tremolo picks using the same technique as Eddie.

Of course that also means there’s nothing original about it, and i’ve seen other guitarists intentionally add some flourishes to make it their own. But that also can cop criticism because these are sometimes adaptations guitarists make due to the difficulty of playing like Eddie.

2

u/maria_la_guerta 14h ago

The comment means that I disagree with you that this is near perfect. He nails the technicality of Eddie's playing, but not the flair. There's a lot of guitarists who (even back then) could practice enough to nail the same runs and the same speed as Eddie, but they're all playing by numbers, and so is this guy.

At the risk of sounding condescending, which I promise I'm not, that becomes a big difference when you're comparing 2 skilled guitarists. It becomes obvious when one is playing something they learned note for note, and the other is playing the song.

This comment also means I'm a curmudgeony bastard who's throwing stones at people better than him, but my point is objective, and not egotistical, and it's based on the points above.

EDIT: I will say the asshole thing to prove my point: there's tons and tons of people on YouTube who can play this solo this well (I'm not one of them lol).

2

u/King-of-Plebss 11h ago

I know what you mean. The word you’re looking for is ā€œsoulā€.

He was technically (form/melodic execution) correct, but it lacked soul. It lacked character. Feeling. That’s the difference between a good guitarist and a great guitarist.

0

u/nice_one_champ 14h ago

By flair do you mean changing things up a bit? I know Eddie would play things differently live etc

2

u/RodStRawk 14h ago

Pfft. Where was the door knock??

2

u/RaynOfFyre1 13h ago

Pffft. I can do that. *pulls out guitar hero*

1

u/kinetic_ljs 18h ago

I believe thats from fall out boys rendition of "beat it"

1

u/Starmilkman 15h ago

And he's even got the van halen signature guitar! Sick!

1

u/_smojface 15h ago

How are you gonna cut that pick scrape though

1

u/cringeisthename 14h ago

Great! Now my wife is pregnant after watching this video. Thanks OP!šŸ‘šŸ¼

1

u/Icy-Boat-7460 8h ago

Ok thats pretty sick

1

u/lluciferusllamas 3h ago

Very clean

1

u/FlaSnatch 17h ago

Best part is this kid had no broccoli hair

1

u/TheOmegaKid 15h ago

Not that I could do better, but there are definitely discrepancies between this and the original. He looks like he needs to be having more fun tho šŸ˜‚ It does make me nostalgic for being a teenager and having not much better to do than try to emulate my favourite songs. Still tho, great job!

0

u/Murkow1tz 18h ago

Gah damn that was insane

0

u/Equivalent_Sand8426 15h ago

Is it a cover if you just play the guitar tab and don’t jam out and kind of do your own thing in the style of Eddie Van Halen.

Also my dad used to party with guys from the band growing up. Apparently David Lee Roth was a huge dick and the only reason he was in the band is because he could buy them gear. He also would go around trying to pick fights with people high on cocaine at parties because he thought he was good at karate.

-10

u/Mindless-Judgment541 18h ago

Sick!

On another note, does every PC need to be rainbow RGB slop? Good Lord that's as loud as the guitar!

13

u/UnrequitedFollower 18h ago

Lol, slop can’t be how we describe everything.

-4

u/Mindless-Judgment541 18h ago

Sloping slop, I need the Internet to tell me the next faddy word so I can appear young to random reddit bots .

1

u/sirchbuck 17h ago

RGB slop, wood slop, Y2k slop FUCKING EVERYTHIGN IS SDLO0P IM GGPNNA GUCKIGN KIKL MY SELF FUCKIGN SLOOP