10 Best Songs Under 2 Mins
3. Eruption - Van Halen
Length: 1:42
The guitar solo is known to be the best part of most hard rock songs. Though a sick guitar riff might drive the entire tune, things go up to a different plane once you turn on the gain and let the guitar player wail. Since everyone freaks out over these solos, it was only a matter of time before someone turned the practice into a song.
Coming off of Van Halen's gargantuan debut record, "Eruption" made Eddie Van Halen the next guitar god pretty much overnight. Rather than shredding for the hell of it, there's a lot of method behind Eddie's technique, as he goes through different melodic phrases that became musical hooks of their own. The song was already intense, but it goes to an entirely different plane towards the end, where Eddie showcases his tapping technique of having both hands on the freatboard to make intricate musical pieces.
By the time the last whammy bar brings everything to a close, the song has basically put you through the musical equivalent of a rocketship taking off, with every one of Eddie's licks providing the jet fuel. Eddie may have admitted to fouling up some of the more intricate parts in the studio, but what is on the record is the reason 80% of kids pick up a guitar.