10 Hidden Details You Never Noticed In Rock Songs
4. Cathedral - Van Halen
Any time Eddie Van Halen takes a guitar solo on record is cause for excitement. Ever since his first real showcase with Eruption, fans were always willing to just listen to Eddie spend up to 10 minutes annihilating his fretboard, whether it was on stage or on the record. Just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder, Cathedral made for one of the most awe-inspiring screwups on a Van Halen record.
Looking to expand the sound of his instrument, most of this solo involves Eddie playing with the volume knobs and a chorus effect on his guitar, which made his chords sound like they were being pumped out by a church organ. Throughout most of this track, Eddie doesn't even strum, instead using his left hand to hit the frets while his right hand turns the volume knob up and down.
That didn't prevent his set up from acting up though, with things slowly grinding to a halt at the very end of the take. While it sounds seamless nowadays, the reason why Eddie's guitar faded off into the distance is because he ended up breaking the volume knob midway through the take, causing it to feedback before eventually dying. It just goes to show you that even when Eddie screws up, it's because the actual material he's working with can't even keep up with him.