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Had a little problem downloading it but Amazon solved the problem. Most people who get this album know what's on it already.
And then their next, "Diver Down", was a near disaster drowning in camp theatrics. Not my favorite VH tune but it plays well as a contrast to what the Guys can really do when they put their noses to the grindstone. There's just no point mentioning any one particular song, the whole damn album "erupts" with fiery molten rock from start to finish. A clear notice that the boys were getting soft. Our prayers had been answered, quality hard rock would live again. And then for insurance there's "Top Jimmy" which makes all the right choices with fierce guitar sonics and a super thick bottom. "Mean Street", "Dirty Movies", "Push Comes To Shove", and "So This Is Love" are all fine mid tempo rockers, but the rest are weak filler.
Again, a perfectly good rock tune deranged by 80s synthesizer madness. The only true thumper was "Unchained". "Panama" is the cavalry thundering to the rescue, a 1000 horsepower dynamo gushing pure adrenaline. (Calm down Aerosmith, you were on "Vacation" from '76 till '87)"Van Halen II" proved them worthy of the crown with another blistering hard set. And the hits here so overwhelm the 2 minor misses that this ranks as not only Van Halen's crowning achievement, but, like their first, is one of the high water marks in all Hard Rockdom.It was supposed to be a horrible year, according to the book, but thanks to Van Halen's "1984" I wasn't so afraid to turn on the radio.
Of course, in the end it would be the last great VH album, but because it was made so hard and true, it would serve me well for many, many years. I'll take a double heap of the deeply hard "House of Pain", if ya don't mind. So that's 6 for 8, if you're keeping score. Oh no, you're too late, they would find me "DOA". The monster classic "Hot For Teacher" scores even higher on the Richter scale, with the most thumps per second of any VH before or since. And, as though we were living in some mythic, noble land, it so happens that these boys were American. "Where have all the Good Times Gone." was just plain mocking me with it's semi-hard poppines.So finally 2 years later, Van Halen strapped on a pair and pumped out some serious hard rock.
It's not soft, but it's just not HARD. Their 4th, "Fair Warning" was just that. It wasn't just a formal birth announcement that great things could be expected in the future from this fine young tot. A very much under-recognized beast. The '78 debut album marked the arrival of a new Messiah. Just to keep us from breathing there's "Girl Gone Bad", a blazing hot Zeppelinesque thrasher that throbs with metal genius. Every song on their debut trumpeted that Van Halen were here not just to remind us what Rock n Roll once was, but declared with a primal howl the magnificent places it will go.
Some people will bitch if I don't mention "I'll Wait" but that's more a song for the ladies to discuss. This disc would serve as my "Excalibur", slashing and hacking a path through the thickening morass of 80's pop crap. If VH could forge this Mighty Metal from the bits and scraps of rock, then the future glinted just a bit brighter. The highlights are the covers "Pretty Woman" and "Dancing In the Streets" which while being fine, creative music, just weren't shaking the rust off my nuts. Not hardly, that first album was delivered as an exquisitely formed, fully mature, battle ready member of the pack.
"Bottoms Up" and "Outta Love Again" are massive crushers, and "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" was right on - this record made me sick with joy. The tunes "Hang 'em High" and "The Full Bug" meant well, but just couldn't tread water. I've yet to mention "Drop Dead Legs" which just tears up its mid tempo beat with raging guitar work. "Could This Be Magic." was certainly a fine bar room chant, but maybe these fellas were needing a recharge. Since there was a scarcity of excellent hard rock since the mid 70's (the Stones would have maybe one true rocker on an album by then, Led Zep were done with the hard stuff in '76), Van Halen would assume the role of "King of Hard Rock".
Their 3rd album had "Everybody Wants Some", "The Cradle Will Rock" and "Romeo Delight" which were worth the price of admission, but the rest showed ominous signs. Any one of these four songs is enough to make me overlook the candy-ass synth rock of "Jump".
Pretty solid effort, for the band, known as Van Halen, featuring songs like: Panama, and Jump.
I like the part where you can hear a car's engine roaring. Roth gives a fine vocal performance while Alex returns to that powerful drum sound first heard on "Drop Dead Legs". I like the chord structure underneath since it different from the ones used on the verse/chorus. Still the band delivered one of their best sets. In the outro solo you can hear the influence of another guitarist: Allan Holdsworth, this time being in those fast and slightly dissonant phrasings. In 1976 they recorded a demo version but the band decided to alter its original arrangement when they re-recorded it for "1984" with the most remarkable aspect being its mean heavy riff that is used in the chorus. This song always makes me laugh. His rhythm guitar tone, sometimes referred to as "the brown sound" is one of the best tones I've ever heard while his soloing technique utilizing two-handed tapping (not the first to use it, but a pioneer in employing it extensively in a hard rock context), false harmonics, etc.
Listen carefully before the fade out as the guitar comes in and Eddie plays a staccato riff that the band will later recycle for the song "Top Of The World". This is definitely a high key exit and a highlight. I detected an Uli Jon Roth influence in it.For example listen to Uli's solo in the Scorpions song "Virgin Killer" from the album of the same name and you'll hear a resemblance especially the very last note with the pitch bending down. This is the first album that the band recorded at Eddie's own studio "5150" but unfortunately it was the last collaboration between Roth and band mates Eddie Van Halen (guitar), Alex Van Halen (drums) and bassist Michael Anthony. There's more than one time signature during the solo, another master performance from drummer Alex. A short instrumental "1984" opens the album in an experimental fashion with Eddie playing some melodic notes and chords on a synthesizer.
"Drop Dead Legs" is an underrated composition with an odd time signature riff after its chorus. The lyrics about school are funny and it comes complete with a fake classroom voice over. Thanks for taking the time to read. I like the intro too with a cool arpeggio sequence drenched in false harmonics. Has the band decided to ditch their trademark guitar-based sound to become a synth-pop group. The solo is quite avant-garde with a lot of tremolo usage.
This song could have easily fitted on their debut. It has a tremendous intro with some dark-sounding arpeggios but the guitar work remains interesting all the way through with a memorable verse/chorus structure as well. Later. Of course not, in the middle you'll hear a great guitar solo filled with Eddie's trademark tricks like two-handed tapping, and false harmonics. "Class dismissed." say Roth towards the end. I investigated on the matter and, not surprisingly, found out that the drawing on the album's cover caused some controversy at the time. An unexpected turn happens with "Top Jimmy" with Eddie playing in a funkier style and without distortion here. Also notable is the solo in the middle, which is one of Eddie's most avant-garde with a lot of those high pitched notes with the tremolo arm.
If you are a fan of exotic guitar playing, then check this or any other album from Van Halen. The final composition "House Of Pain" actually dates from the band's club days. Next comes the unexpected return of the synths: "I'll Wait". It is a good preview of what follows: "Jump", a monster radio hit with catchy synth work from Eddie. "Hot For Teacher" is another composition featuring the band's classic debut sound with a really cool lead guitar intro with the two-handed tapping technique. was hugely influential having an impact almost as big as Hendrix. The rift between singer David Lee Roth with the rest of the band was coming to a head here.
Van Halen is one of my favorite guitarists. Once again Ted Templeman produced and Donn Landee engineered the recording. Afterwards another new section is introduced with a fast pattern played with the synth before going back to the intro melody. A great performance from Alex who has a nice powerful sound on his drums here. I've always thought that "Girl Gone Bad" is an overlooked song in the band's catalog.
Finally the band's classic sound is heard. That is artistically speaking of course. Song number three is another radio hit called "Panama" although I really don't know the inspiration behind that title. A great melody introduces it and the guitar is only featured during its short solo in the middle.
But trying to get my guitar playing to sound like Eddie's is a whole different story. When I look at the score itself, it looks kind of easy to play. Too bad Van Halen didn't produce more albums like this. This is such a special album. I have never gotten tired of it, after 25 years. He's a master musician for a reason.
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