Hard rock Styx helped further cement heavy rock in the Midwest as a form of stadium rock. In 1978, Van Halen emerged from the Los Angeles music scene with a sound based around the skills of lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen. He popularised a guitar-playing technique of two-handed hammer-ons and pull-offs called tapping, showcased on the song "Eruption" from the album "Van Halen", which was highly influential in re-establishing hard rock as a popular genre after the punk and disco explosion, while also redefining and elevating the role of electric guitar. The opening years of the 1980s saw a number of changes
Hard rock failed to come close to the success of the band's late 1980s and early 1990s material. More successfully, AC/DC released the double platinum-certified "Black Ice" (2008). Bon Jovi continued to enjoy success, branching into country music with "Who Says You Can't Go Home", which reached number one on the Hot Country Singles chart in 2006, and the rock/country album "Lost Highway", which reached number one in 2007. In 2009, Bon Jovi released another number one album, "The Circle", which marked a return to their hard rock sound. The term "retro-metal" has been applied to such bands as Texas based the