Shredding is about playing fast. There's more emphasis on technique than being melodic. It's true that players like Yngwie, borrowed from Classical music, but most Classical music wasn't about playing super fast. Shredding was big in the '80s nearly 30 years ago, so it isn't anything new. VanHalen was an innovator in the late '70s - even though it wasn't metal he played, his fast techniques caught the attention of guitar students. By 1990 music went in the opposite direction with guitarists playing very basic melodies, which gave more incentive to newbies that were baffled by the shredders..
But I concur the best songs were written from the 20s-40s. There were better lyrics, more melody, and a better marriage between lyric and composition. And the Jazz musicians... wow!
