One of the coolest of the original gun slingers.
Great rhythm chops. Insane lead chops. TRULY revived electric-guitar playing when it was stagnating in the late '70s.
I'm biased, as he was my absolute hero growing up. He's disappointed me tremendously in his later years.
Regardless, he is a true icon. I've always likened some of his best solos to running as fast as you can, legs fumbling and almost falling down, but catching yourself and carrying it out. Does that make any sense?
(Also, he never used a vibrato as an emergency brake, as so many lesser guitarists seemed to do. It was always tasteful. 'I'll Wait' is an excellent example...)