The history of metal music can be broken up into a couple distinct periods, and the early '80s saw the beginning of one of its most important phases. The Neoclassical movement would become one of the most influential ideas in metal, with its focus on elaborate, technical guitar work making it a clear forebear to subgenres like tech death, djent, and mathcore, and leading the charge was a young virtuoso named Randy Rhoads. Though his career was short, he left an indelible mark on the genre, and decades after his passing, he remains one of the most important figures in metal history. Let's look at some of his solos to see why.