Van Halen took the rock world by surprise, becoming one of the architects of a new style of voluble heavy metal, characterized by fast-paced riffs and searing intensity. With his band Van Halen, propelled by their highly energized rhythm section and his fully developed innovative techniques, Eddie Van Halen (b. 1957) invented a style of his own, inspired by Hendrix and Clapton but with affinities to the ideas of Allan Holdsworth.

THE VAN HALEN REVOLUTION

Van Halen's speciality is virtuoso soloing, using wide stretches in the left hand, hammer-ons and pull-offs, and a highly developed technique of tapping notes with a right-hand finger (see below). He also pushes tremolo bars to the limit to alter the pitch of notes by wide intervals, creating dramatic drops in pitch as well as upward movements, a maneuver known as "dive bombing." His fiery solos, crackling with cascading sheets of notes, original melodic motifs and growling, turbulent attack, blasted rock guitar forward from its blues-based pentatonic framework. He was undoubtedly influenced by jazz and classical music, and his immediate acclaim and widespread popularity changed the nature of linear improvising in rock, bringing it closer to some jazz approaches.

The highlight on the debut album, Van Halen (1978), is "Eruption," an unaccompanied solo on which the fast, seamless phrasing sounds similar to classical keyboards. Pyrotechnic additions and shattering metallic incisiveness can be heard on the group's remake of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me," while on Van Halen II (1979), the same linear techniques are used on a nylon-string acoustic guitar, producing the scintillating "Spanish Fly." On "Women in Love," he taps upper-octave and larger compound-interval harmonics. Van Halen continued to produce material of a consistently high quality with albums such as Fair Warning (1981), which contains the solos "Dirty Movies" and "Mean Street." "Jump" and "Hot for Teacher" are the highlights on 1984 (1984), which incorporates guitar synthesizers.

OTHER GUITARISTS

Inspired by innovations, a number of talented, inventive rock soloists started to redefine and expand the rock-guitar vocabulary. Randy Rhoads (b. 1956) took progressive blues-rock and incorporated classical phrasing. His outstanding soloing on Blizzard of Ozz (1981) includes the sharp and sinuous "Crazy Train," the surging "Mr. Crowley," and the inventive "Revelation (Mother Earth)."

A player with strong melodic sensibilities, Steve Morse (b. 1954) started with fusion group the Dixie Dregs on albums such as What If (1978) which showcase his unique, eclectic style, drawing on jazz-rock with blues and country. The accurate definition of Morse's sharply picked lines always stands out, and during the 1980s he also used a guitar synth pickup to extend his range of textures. His instrumental solo album, High Tension Wires (1989), has compositions based around New Age and Celtic folk music. Morse uses multi-layered acoustic and electric guitars in tight arrangements; "Highland Wedding," with its fast passages of embellishment, is an example of his unusual hybrid approach.

Eric Johnson (b. 1954) shows more conventional stylistic influences, fusing blues and rock with sensitivity and finesse, and playing well-balanced, lyrical lines with a smooth sustain as on his album Tones (1986). On the following album, Ah Via Musicom (1990), "Cliffs Of Dover" starts with unaccompanied blues-rock improvising with a pentatonic framework and switches to a rhythmic, violin-like figure. Johnson achieves a creamy, supple upper-register sound and remarkable clarity on a solo that combines classical melodic thinking and blues ideas.

JOE SATRIANI

A gifted individual with versatile techniques and linear scalar ideas, Joe Satriani (b. 1956) plays tour deforce pieces with a modern electric-guitar sound, using effects. Initially inspired by pop and rock, he developed through listening to jazz and classical music, and by studying theory. His compositions often open with heavy metal-style riffs, leading to melodies that themselves preface virtuosic soloing. The emphasis is on modal improvisation, using a technique that seamlessly welds together picked, legato, and tapped notes. Phrases often develop motifs with sextuplet and irregular seven-note groupings. On the commercially successful instrumental album, Surfing with the Alien (1987), the showcase title track opens with rock riffs and the melody has a muted tone. Satriani breaks into lengthy improvising in sections that modulate between major and harmonic minor tonal centers. Among the variations is the use of a special technique to play-fast, high-register trills, finely controlled tremolo-bar pitch variations, harmonics, exaggerated flamboyant bending, double stopping, and tapping. "Midnight," with its synthetic-sounding technical reinvention of a fingerstyle sound, is one of the most unusual tracks. This album established Satriani as the leading technician in rock, and in a career that includes writing about playing, he has become one of the most influential and progressive figures in rock guitar, extending the range and technical horizons of the instrument.

STEVE VAI

After playing with Zappa, Steve Vai (b. 1960) released the debut album Flex-able (1984) with instrumental tracks featuring very fast soloing and unusual arrangements. His playing style is assured, with long sustains, and uses modes, and altered scales, and his solos include ideas from practice exercises and motifs. Vai broadens his palette with all the standard modern rock techniques, including tremolo bar and effects. His album Passion and Warfare (1990) shows differing moods and approaches, including a humor that gives his music a refreshing additional dimension. "Erotic Nightmares" uses modern techniques to convey the experience as a soundtrack astonishingly well. On "The Animal," Vai parodies heavy metal and plays a typically over-the-top solo. "For The Love Of God" has a long, contemplative sustained melody and builds up to an intense, passionate improvisation, scales and phrases erupting over the slow-paced drums and arpeggiated backing.