When Eddie Van Halen came on the scene in the late 70s, the guitar world was literally rocked with a new sound and new style of playing. EVH had a skill level and dexterity that hadn’t been seen before, but the songs were good too, which soon put the band at superstar level. Here’s the isolated guitar track to “Running With The Devil,” the first song from their first self-titled album. The song still gets lots of airplay, and the album has gone on to sell over 10 million copies. Check out:

1. The lone guitar element in the song. There’s only one guitar at any time during the song, mostly because the band was so used to playing it this way, as it was a staple of their shows before they received a record deal.

2. The guitar sound. It’s a trademark of early Van Halen records where the rhythm guitar is panned on the left and a big delayed reverb to the right.

3. The guitar solo is dryer and panned to the right.

The song begins at 30 seconds in.