Driven by Edward Van Halen's innovative guitar style and David Lee Roth's ultimate rock frontman moves, the music of Van Halen has influenced a generation of guitar players, metalheads, and music fans all over the world. Little Guitars is a tribute album that features some of the best musicians in the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal genre paying tribute to one of the coolest bands in the history of Rock N' Roll, Van Halen.

Here's a track by track review:

1. Unchained - Good rendition that features Jack Russell's (Great White) trademark growl and some serious shredding by Dweezil Zappa.

2. I'm The One - Sick soloing by shredder Doug Aldrich, but I could do without the uninspired Mark Slaughter vocal track.

3. Dance The Night Away - Joe Lynn Turner's soulful vocals totally make this track, Reb Beach aptly handles the axe work.

4. Light Up The Sky - Two Words: Yngwie Malmsteen!! Malmsteen's solo totally smokes any solo on this record -by far!! Doug Pinnick, Billy Sheehan and Vinnie Colaiuta turn up some great performances as well. This is the best track on the album.

5. Panama - Good soloing by George Lynch. Jani Lane's voice sounds pretty good.

6. Hot For Teacher - Good drumming by Gregg Bissonette (He's had practice), John Corabi's raspy voice is perfectly suited for the song. Bruce Kulick handles the lead guitar.

7. Running With The Devil - This is my favorite Roth-era Van Halen tune and Stephen Pearcy ruins it. Jake E. Lee's guitar work is phenomenal but Pearcy's off-key shrieks are hard to stomach.

8. Pretty Woman - A nice change of pace, beautifully sung by Matthew and Gunnar Nelson. Albert Lee (Nice Guitarwork), Tony Levin and Aynsley Dunbar round out the song.

9. Atomic Punk - Another good song ruined by a subpar vocalist as Fee Waybill (The Tubes) ruins the song. Brad Gillis proves why he's the king of the whammy bar though.

10. So This Is Love - Blues Saraceno shreds away as Jeff Scott Soto wails away. Good rendition.

11. Little Guitars - Mean guitar work by Mitch Perry, and perhaps he would have sung it better than David Glen Eisley, but it's still a good rendition of the song.

Little Guitars is an enjoyable listen and stands out as one of the best "tribute" albums out there, if anything, for the shred factor. It wouldn't have hurt them to put a couple of the Sammy Hagar era tunes (Best Of Both Worlds, Black N' Blue, etc) but it doesn't kill the record. Van Halen fans and Shred fans should definitely pick this up.

Shred Pick - "Light Up The Sky" (3:48)

Reviewed by Henry Bocanegra

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