Origin:

Decades:

With their 1978 eponymous debut, Van Halen simultaneously rewrote the rules of rock guitar and hard rock in general. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen redefined what electric guitar could do, developing a blindingly fast technique with a variety of self-taught two-handed tapping, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and effects that mimicked the sounds of machines and animals. It was wildly inventive and over the top, equaled only by vocalist David Lee Roth, who brought the role of a metal singer to near-performance art standard... Read More

Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Who, The Kinks, ZZ Top, Black Sabbath, Jeff Beck, Black Oak Arkansas and Deep Purple

Alice in Chains, Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Skank, The Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Def Leppard, Ratt, W.A.S.P., Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Poison, Twisted Sister, Warrant, Sponge, Wolfsbane, Extreme, Queensrÿche, Exodus, Dweezil Zappa and Gary Hoey