10 Guitar Solos That Changed The Face Of Rock Music Forever

After the massive success that rock had at the start of the '70s, the back half of the decade was starting to look pretty dark. Some of the biggest guitar heroes in the world were starting to fall by the wayside, and even some of the biggest acts in the world like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith were beginning to scramble, either going for something too ambitious or entering the dark periods of their career. Rock was in dire need of a shakeup, and Eddie Van Halen's guitar gave us a new god to pay attention to.

Before Eddie had even unveiled his genius to the world though, David Lee Roth had talked about keeping his guitar solos under wraps, often telling him to turn away from the crowd when he soloed so that no one would see what he was doing. Hell, it even took some convincing to get a solo performance of Eruption for Van Halen's debut, taken from a soundcheck where Eddie launched into his now legendary tapping licks, creating a musical piece that had tons of hooks without needing lyrics, from the fast tremolo runs halfway through to classical esque ending that plays different chords with tapping.

So what you're hearing on this record is practically just the warm up for what those kids in the West Hollywood clubs were getting night after night, turning Eddie into one of the most sought after guitar players in the world for the next few years. Every guitarist that came onto the Sunset Strip may have been looking to become the greatest in the world, but if you had Eddie Van Halen coming to town, you were going to be competing for second place at best.