Van Halen. The name conjures up summer, girls, hanging out, good times and above all, rock and roll. Their eponymous first album is an absolute classic. An American beauty that exemplifies all that’s best of west-coast rock. The wonderful cocktail of Eddie Van Halen’s effortless rock-guitar histrionics, and David Lee Roth’s languorous vocals (always delivered with a smile) make for a heady mixture that is perfectly rendered on this record.
I’ll dispense with the tiresome history – go read Wikipedia. Suffice to say, the band is the love child of Van Halen brothers Eddie (lead guitar) and Alex (drums). At a time when disco ruled and its nemesis – the punk movement was gaining mainstream airplay, Van Halen was a breath of fresh air in the straight rock genre.
“I live my life like there’s no tomorrow…yes, I’m livin’ at a pace that kills.”
It’s hard to believe that this classic was released almost 32 years ago – on the whole, the songs have held up amazingly well. The record opens with Running With The Devil, a sober little number, tinged with bombast that contrasts with the band’s reputation for light-hearted fare. Roth’s softly sung verses brought home by powerful harmonies (which the band employ to great effect on a few tracks). Eddie’s fretwork is restrained on the opener, however he lets fly on the instrumental Eruption which at 103 seconds, is literally an eruption of his mammoth talent (did I mention the band were originally called Mammoth?). He is truly the guitar tapping virtuoso par excellence.
Eruption segues perfectly into a classic cover of the Kink’s You Really Got Me. This was the first Van Halen track I heard on the radio and to say I was amazed is an understatement. Performing covers is always a risky proposition for a band trying to make it. A great rendition can catapult you to overnight fame, while a flop detracts from any good original material and the band is instantly consigned to the dustbin of history. For Van Halen, this was a massively successful single and it did indeed help to rocket the band to stardom and cement this album as one of the highest selling debuts by a rock band ever.
“You know you’re semi-good lookin’ and on the streets again. Yeah you think you’re really cooking babe, you better find yourself a friend, my friend.”
The next track, Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love is a somewhat twisted tale of un-romance, well delivered. It’s followed by the ball-tearing I’m The One, a fast-paced rock classic where EVH’s 90 mile an hour relentless riffing and soloing seem to defy the laws of physics for the amount of shredding he fits into less than four minutes. Amazingly, they even manage to squeeze in a four-part barber shop harmony with perfect ease. Bloody brilliant.
I’m not sure if pole-dancing was as popular in 1978 as it is today, yet if there was ever a rock riff deserving of a sweet young thang bumping and grinding to its melody, then the chorus of Jamie’s Cryin’ is that riff. Atomic Punk is a somewhat ordinary album filler, but the band can be forgiven in light of the banquet that’s offered on the rest of this fine record.
“I can’t wait to feel your love tonight…OOOOH!”
Its only when we hit the eighth track, Feel Your Love Tonight that we finally get that west-coast sound that Van Halen is primarily known for. Its worth emphasising just how tight a unit Van Halen are on this record. The two diva’s (Eddie and Roth) ably assisted by the musical mastery of Alex on drums and Michael Anthony on bass. Not only were the guys excellent musos, they all had decent voices, put to frequent good use with multi-part harmonies, as typified on this song and the follow-on Little Dreamer.
The penultimate track Ice Cream Man is one of my personal favourites. It starts as a simple little acoustic 12-bar blues number with Dave’s droll twanging vocals inviting the ladies to lascivious thoughts. The guys then plug back in, to deliver an electrifyingly refreshing take on the standard 12-bar form. Again, Eddie’s guitar is the perfect foil for Dave’s laconic vocal style.
The band finish big with the aptly named On Fire – which they certainly were.
Rarely do a band burst forth on to the rock scene in the way Van Halen did. Dripping with talent, they delivered an iconic record which deserves a place in everyone’s collection. If my review hasn’t convinced you of the merits of this fine album, just ask yourself “Could ten million people (who bought this album) be wrong?”
A classic record to this day. For many a year – whenever someone would ask me what my fave album of all time is, this is the one I would blurt forward. This gem pretty much defined what was to happen in the Metal world throughout most of the 80′s and although it has been a while since I have spent some time with it, there isn’t a single note that has escaped the sinews of my brain! An absolute classic!
Untouchable
This album was like a breath of fresh air when it was released. It remains a favourite of mine and Mick your album review here just sums up that affection.
As JR comments here it is a ‘classic’ in fact I’d go as far as saying it is a 100% pure bred classic