Li even said it himself, that bit he performed for GuitarWorld was just an arpeggio with a few added notes. Infact, going back to Van Halen, he spawned the tapping technique that most of these metal guitarists, including Dragonforce's, impress people with. If you scour the lengths of the net, you'll find someone who thinks the guys from Atreyu are the best, or Synyster Gates, or some other random. Nowadays every teen thinks that their favourite metal band's guitarist is the best in the world. Jimi Hendrix was playing otherworldly shit with his teeth, blowing people like Townshend and Clapton out of the water back when there were maybe a handful of people that were revered on the instrument. If you think he's good, great, I just think it's a bit too easy to get impressed by guitarists nowadays. I'm not saying he isn't proficient, I'm saying people give him too much credit. Herman Li mostly impresses the guys that turn up to the gigs wielding plastic axes, by jumping around and playing really fast.
I've always said that whilst I respect Satch and Vai, they've never really made music I enjoy, I don't act like they're mad songwriters. That said, when he performs Eruption, he's impressing people who actually know their shit. Van Halen is not only technically out of reach to over 90% of all guitarists, but he's not ALL flash, he just can be flashy.
