When you say Van Halen, are we talking about Eddie Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth, or Gary Cherone?
If we're comparing Eddie Van Halen as a writer to the various G'n'F'n'R writers, I think Van Halen wins by a landslide!
If we're comparing Eddie Van Halen to Slash as a guitarist, Van Halen wins every time.
If we're comparing Axl Rose to Eddie Van Halen as a lead singer, Van Halen wins again.
If we're comparing Axl to David Lee Roth, though... I gotta give it to Axl.
So for me, it's a win for Van Halen... with an asterisk.