Customer Reviews

Van Halen-The Ultimate Song Pages (Guitar Tablature)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When you hear or read that this book is a lot like a phone book, believe it. It is about the same size and thickness as my phone book. Van Halen's "Ultimate Song Pages" are far from the ultimate, at least as I would picture it. The tab is printed on the same paper that your friendly white pages are printed on, and with the same kind of visual resolution. That being said, it is often difficult to make out the difference between a 6, an 8, a 3, or a 0. This can make reading and interpreting this tablature an exercise in supreme patience, as one goes through the various possible interpretations of poorly resolved numbers to find the correct fingerings by ear. A book of this magnitude, an all-inclusive tome of Van Halen's original songs, could have been much better. Compared with the Beatles Scores -- which are entire scores and not just guitar tab; which are presented in an even smaller volume than "Van Halen"; which are far easier to read due to the higher quality of paper used to print upon; which includes more songs than "Van Halen A - Z" in a single, more compact volume -- "The Ultimate Song Pages" falls far short of the mark. To its credit, "Van Halen" does have guitar tablature for all of VH's original songs and the diligent guitarist could use this book to work out all the guitar parts for all the songs. The transcriptions seem to be fairly accurate as far as I can tell. For most guitarists, working out these parts and playing them fluently is a bit of work anyway, so the challenge in figuring out just what is printed on the pages of this volume is probably a good learning exercise in and of itself. I have serious concerns as to how well this book will stand up to the rigorous use it will take for most of us mere mortals to play like Edward. The book is just made cheaply and it looks chintzy to boot. Buy it if you love Van Halen and can't afford to buy tab books for each of their record releases. If you can afford to do that, stay away from this book. If you can't, or if you have plenty of money like I do and you are simply curious, then by all means, buy this book. I would give it 5 stars for content, 1 star for presentation, and the average of those two scores places it a solid 3 stars. Better paper, printing, binding would make this a solid 5 all the way 'round. But that's just my opinion...

This amazing book features the complete guitar TAB for every single Van Halen album (1186 pages). This thing is huge. I don't have the skills to play most songs yet but maybe at some point i'll be able to. This is a must-have for every true Van Halen fan. The only reason i didn't give 5 stars is the size, let me explain. Imagine yourself flippping through a phone book, that's what it feels like, the pages are a little bit smaller (8x11)than your regular guitar tab book (9x12).
It should have been split in two books. Also the song You're No Good is not included due to copyright restrictions. It is a great buy, you will not be dissapointed.

This is a huge book, several inches thick and it's all in here. The print is a little small but how else would they fit it all in. Several years worth of learning in one volume. I'm glad i have it.

Every Van Halen track with all Eddie's parts accurately transcribed. The best Van Halen product out there - it's all you'll ever need to play every Van Halen song like Eddie - providing you also have the talent, taste, tone, guitar & amp!

If not, then you're like the rest of us!,but you'll have thousands of killer licks, ideas and techniques to learn, borrow & use to make you a much better player.

Overall, excellent. The only Van Halen book you will ever need!

Great product. Five stars. Some have complained that this book is as big as a phone book...BUT THAT'S THE POINT!!! LOL It's packed with one great VH tune after another, a must for any true musician with a love for one of the greatest bands of all time. Others have noted the fact that the type is small, making it difficult to distinguish the numbers in the tablature but any guitarist worth his salt will be able to easily decipher the tunes. Rock on!

This is a great source of Van Halen Material and the tabs from what I hear are very accurate, but the book itself is like a phonebook, printed on the same type of paper. The print is a little small and when you print on this type of paper, the ink has slight bleed which can make it a little hard to read. If you can deal with this, than it's a great book. If you expect crystal clear, smooth, magazine type of pages then you will have to look elsewhere. For the money, you can't beat this book for the amount of songs that are transcribed! Good luck!

So what if it is as big as a phone book. So what if the quality of the paper used doesn't satisfy everyone. BooHoo! you can't make everyone happy. This book contains every Van Halen song to date with a few exceptions. This book is geared toward those who can not afford to purchase every single albums book. But if you have the money and want to waste it by purchasing all the single books, then by all means do what makes you happy. However, this book is all you need. And to all the Van Halen fanatics out there, you all need to come to the realization that Van Halen is not David. Van halen is not Sammy. Van Halen is not Gary. I love all 3 versions, but Van Halen was, is, and will always be Eddie. Without Ed, no one would even know who David Lee Roth is. Sammy, as much as I love him, never was or is to this day, as successful on his own as Van Halen. You don't listen to Van Halen to hear David, Sammy, or Gary. You listen to hear Eddie. Which is why you are here, because you want to play what Eddie is playing, not what is being sung, and this book offers everything to date. So, for those of you who have issues with which incarnation of Van Halen is best, there is only one, and it's ALL here. So please, spare us from your issues and let the rest of us who truly enjoy Van Halen do so in peace.

This massive book contains every Van Halen song ever (officially) recorded... with the minor exception of Clint Ballard, Jr.'s 'You're No Good' from Van Halen II, which was omitted for copyright reasons.

Here you have everything from the original Van Halen, the Van Hagar era, even the quickly forgotten Van Halen III with Gary Charone.

This is a sweet bargain if you want Van Halen sheet music with guitar tablature. Includes vocal transcriptions.

With this book you can learn Eddie's signature axe licks and show off to your friends (and hot chicks)!

I was not dissappointed with my purchase of this book. Highly recommended!

I ordered this Aug. 20th and I recieved it Aug. 25th in perfect condition and my boyfriend loved his birthday gift. Thanks

Yes,
For musicians this is a good look at Eddie's work..1,186 pages is pretty impressive career. Generally, you'll pay $19.95 for a album you like that consist of a hundred pages or so..Here you get every Van Halen piece ever done..
So, yeah, it's a bargain!
Don't forget your effects pedals..