Eddie aspires to prick. He's a friggin fraud and a cancer. Now, right? Because between 1978 and 1995 he was the furthest thing from a "fraud" imaginable. He is, in fact, the most influential rock guitarist of all time. Who is in second? Hendrix? Page? I really don't know. But whoever you choose, they are miles behind him. I like EVH as much as the next guy (unless you're the next guy, I guess), but he ain't the most influential rock guitarist of all time. even the modern shredders take more from randy and unfortunately yngwie. EVH's influence is all over the 1980s, it can't be denied. most people who picked up a guitar in the 80s did it with eddie in mind. into the 90s, you hear less and less of EVH in any music. hendrix, page, iommi, these guys can still be heard in almost all serious rock bands today. in fact, iommi might be 2nd only to hendrix because he not only spawned an entire genre but also influenced punk, industrial, grunge, you name it, and the stoner rock genre of today is almost entirely iommi-based. of course, we probably listen to different modern bands and the new bands you're into might be doing EVH stuff. who knows. but EVH is definitely top 10 most influential, maybe top 5, but not #1 Malmsteen doesn't exist without Van Halen. Not every guitarist is a clone of Van Halen's. But he has more of them than anyone else. I love Zeppelin, Hendrix, and most of all Sabbath. But Van Halen revolutionized lead guitar playing in a way no one else did IMO. Malmsteen was influenced by Uli jon Roth and possibly even Blackmore but influenced by EVH.....not likely. Malmsteen couldn't write a memorable riff if he tried like EVH, but he was on the other side of the globe already technically brilliant as early as 78 if not earlier. And to say he doesn't exist w/o EVH holds no basis in reality other than it being your opinion.