Who Are the ‘Big 4’ of ’80s Hard Rock Guitarists?

Who are the “Big 4” of ’80s hard rock guitarists?

It’s a daunting task picking the cream of the crop from a decade that was defined by its staggering technical virtuosity. But we’re going to take our best crack at it — and attempt to rationalize some of our surprising omissions.

Let’s get the big one out of the way first: This list does not include Eddie Van Halen. We’ve limited our picks to guitarists who debuted in the ’80s, and because Van Halen released their debut album in 1978, their namesake axman is sadly disqualified.

READ MORE: Who Are the ‘Big 4’ of Hair Metal?

That still leaves an enormous crop of outrageously talented guitarists from which to choose. In making our choices for the Big 4 of ’80s hard rock guitarists, we evaluated their technical ability, songwriting prowess and total output.

So, while Extreme‘s Nuno Bettencourt is arguably the finest guitarist of the glam metal era, Extreme only released one album in the ’80s, and they didn’t hit their stride until 1990’s Extreme II: Pornograffitti.

Likewise, Michael Angelo Batio, the Nitro shredder of quad-neck guitar infamy, can play more notes per second than just about any guitarist living or dead — but often at the expense of musicality and, you know, hooks.

Ultimately, we selected guitarists who could shred circles around 98% of the population, but whose songs also earned a spot in the pantheon of hard rock anthems. These guitarists pushed the envelope with their technical wizardry, honored the key tenets of catchy songwriting and made lasting cultural contributions to the medium.

If that all sounds a bit highfalutin, we promise the music itself is not. Read on to see our choices for the Big 4 of ’80s hard rock guitarists.