10 Best Drum Solos In Classic Rock

Van Halen were one of the gifts to guitar geeks the world over in the late 70's. Eddie Van Halen's amazing solos are so ingrained in the minds of fans that it's easy to overlook other stellar elements of the group. That being said, Eddie's brother Alex is probably as good behind the kit as his brother is on the fretboard.

"Hot For Teacher" is a song that almost tricks you with how great it's drums are. The opening of the track almost sounds like a motorcycle slowly picking up steam, but the more you listen to the track, you realize everything is being provided by Alex's drums. The toms are great on their own, but the intensity is dialed up even more once the kick drums punch the listener in the stomach. Using that as his preamble, Alex then switches to the song's initial groove, which is about as easy as any of his brother's solos.

Van Halen had already been going strong since their debut record, but this song showed that the band had only blossomed further since their beginnings to become the defining sound of rock and roll abandon. The riffs may mean more to fans, but this drum track has as much hookiness as any other guitar squeal.