Van Halen Album: “Van Halen”

It was the late 70's and unless you lived through it, it may be kind of hard to understand. Disco ruled the radio, you couldn't turn the dial without finding the latest and greatest by the Bee Gees or The Village People. The term "Rock" was now assigned to bands like Styx or Supertramp. The guitar driven rock of Led Zep, The Who and Kiss, were pushed to the back-burner of the American music scene. Then out of nowhere Van Halen burst onto the scene. With the opening chords of "Runnin' With The Devil" into "Eruption" and "You Really Got Me", Van Halen cemented the new American rock sound. No matter what era of Van Halen you prefer, DLR vs. Sammy, it's impossible to top the band's debut album. This was something new, something purely American, and opened the door to what we know as Hard Rock or Heavy Metal today. It's impossible to listen to any rock artist today and not hear the influence of Van Halen. The 80's hair-metal scene was basically made up of bands immitating this album. Is it coincidence that soon after Van Halen debuted disco died, and bands like Twisted Sister emerged? Why bother reviewing the songs on this disk, unless you have lived under a rock for the last 25+ years you have heard each of the songs on this album at one point or another? These songs are classics, and have stood the test of time. I have owned this album on vinyl, 8-Track, cassette and CD. If you don't own this disk already.....well what are you waiting for. Like The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper", or AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", "Van Halen" is an essenital album for your cd collection.

There are very few bands and guitarists in the history of music who changed the face of rock and reinvented the guitar, making everyone who thought they knew the instrument re-evaluate their knowlegde. Well, exactly 28 years ago, on 10 February 1978 came out the greatest rock debut of all times. And to this day, no other guitar album has had more impact on music the same way. Sure there was Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Beck, and many other amazing players before Eddie Van Halen, but even these shredders acknowledged Eddie's impact and unmatchable playing and songwriting. Not since Jimi Hendrix' Are You Experienced? in 1967 were people, both guitarists and fans, so shocked at what they were hearing when "Eruption" hit the waves, displaying yet an unmatched energy, power and technique. Simply put, if there's one album that put guitar-oriented music back in its deserved place in the late 70's and made it stay there for decades on end, it's the self-titled Van Halen debut.

"Eruption" is one of the most important musical statements ever made in the history of rock. Now known as the "brown sound", Eddie Van Halen's monster tone, his acrobatic hammer-ons, pull-offs, whammy-bar dives, and unique trademark two-handed tapping licks on this short instrumental suggest a true virtuoso in every sense of the word. Basically, with this song, Eddie changed everything in the blink of an eye. Even the most prolific guitar players refused to believe the nasty end part of the track was actually played on a guitar, cause it sounded too much like a frenetic keyboard solo. However, what truly makes "Eruption" so timeless is the compositional mindset it entails. Eddie actually wrote this piece way before 1978. There are 1975 bootlegs of Van Halen where Eddie plays a longer version of this piece. The one that ended up on the album is a more refined yet technically challenging version. The most interesting thing about the song, however, is that Eddie recorded it in just two takes. That's not too big a surprise for Van Halen fans though, considering the fact that this band was one of the fastest recording acts in the world and hated going over the same tune more than a handful times.

The album produced two major hits when it was released. The opening song "Runnin' with the Devil" starts out with eight simple bass notes played by Michael Anthony and quickly launches into a hard-rocking anthem that brims with then unheard riffs and burning leads. On "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love", Eddie's opening chords are epic in scope and powerful in impact. Graced with a great chorus and an impeccable back-up harmony, this song probably features Eddie's godliest solo on the album, aside from the untouchable "Eruption" that is. Van Halen's cover of The Kinks, "You Really Got Me", was actually the first single of the album and yielded a lot of fan interest in the band, despite its 2:37 minute running time. The band totally made this tune their own, while staying true to its integrity, they fueled it with their immense musicality and Eddie's soaring lead work. Another cover song on the album was the bluesy John Brim cut "Little Dreamer", instantly catchy with its chorus. The song is special for its acoustic intro though, being the first acoustic stuff Eddie put on tape.

The other songs on the album are Van Halen's poppier hard rock numbers that got the crowds going in concerts, with the groovy bass and sweeping guitar on "Jamie's Cryin'", the ballady "Little Dreamer", and the smoking double solo-inserted "I'm the One". Eddie does some interesting scratching sounds on "Atomic Punk", which has some excellent backing vocals from Mike Anthony and Alex Van Halen. Eddie is "On Fire" on the last song, and his soloing is supposed to show his respect to John McLaughlin, except that I can't put the two guitarists in the same context.

Much like their other Ted Templeman produced classic albums, this disc took a very little time to record. As with their next set of following releases, the music was recorded almost completely live with minimal overdubs. Eddie and the band would only play a song two or three times and pick their favourites. The music was recorded in only six days, while Roth took about two weeks to finish his vocals. The original sound quality wasn't really bad, but Warner Bros decided to remaster it anyway. To this day I still consider sound engineer Donn Landee one of the best in rock. Without Templeman and Landee, Van Halen albums would lack their sonic punch in my opinion. The duo did an amazing job capturing Van Halen's live feel on the first six albums.

It would be hard to imagine a true rocker or metalhead not owning this record. VH1 is not my favourite, but it signalled the beginning of a new era and paved the way for thousands of other bands and guitarists who would rip their songs, image, stage presence, and Ed's chops of course.

What can one say about this stunning debut from the greatest band of all time? To say it revolutionalized the rock scene is an understatment. "Eruption", while not as magical a listen as it was when it first came out, is still one of the best solo's ever recorded. Introducing the two-handed technique, displaying a masterful knowledge of the fretboard, blinding speed, and whammy bar acrobatics all wrapped up into a 2 minute masterpiece of musical brilliance, Eddie Van Halen solidified his spot in the pantheon of guitar gods, and this is just the second cut. Their cover of the Kinks "You Really Got Me" could be one of the best covers ever produced. Burning fretwork also shows up in the solo to 'Ice Cream Man' and the closing track 'On Fire'. After listening to these, you would think that he was all go, all the time, but what Eddie is truly underappreciated for is his ability to lay back and and play rythm. The rythm to 'Atomic Punk' and 'Little Dreamer' show how tight the band is as a unit. Bass player Michael Anthony and drummer Alex Van Halen lay as solid a foundation as you can get, and Eddie has an amazing ability to let the song breath. Vocally, David Lee Roth never sang better than he did on this cd. His playful singing style really complements the guitar, and his lyrics are great for whatever the mood of the song is. Another one of the most overlooked aspects of the Vna Halen sound is the backup vocals of Michale Anthony and Eddie. Eddie's low voice, and Mikes amazingly powerful highs created a three octave sound when added to Roth's. This gave even there heaviest songs an approachable feel to the unknown listener. not so much pop, but enough to catch the ear. Great hooks.

A must have for any fan of music.

Already a great bar band,the ball began to roll for Van halen when Gene Simmons produced their demo.It was only a matter of time before they were signed to Warner Bros.,and VAN HALEN was unleashed on an unsuspecting world.It was soon apparent that the Eddie Van Halen had tapped {no pun intended)into a new guitar style and would soon be called a master;and David Lee Roth had both a sassy attitude and a sonic scream.A rich vein of humor runs through VH1,and would continue to be visible up until OU812.Tracks like RUNNIN' WITH THE DEVIL,AIN'T TALKIN''BOUT LOVE,FIRE AND ATOMIC PUNK crunch with the force of a mack truck;while JAMIE'S CRYIN',LITTLE DREAMER and a cover of the Kinks classicYOU REALLY GOT ME show fine pop savy.Need I mention Eddie's classic guitar solo,ERUPTION! This is ageless hard rock,and a must for any Van Halen fan.

I'm an audiophile and have quite an investment in LP gear as well as computer gear so that I can capture my LP's in 24bit / 192khz glory. This album is the best sounding, best pressed, LP reissue I have bought in 20 years. It is so quiet that there is virtually no surface noise to be detected. I never thought I would hear vinyl this clear and clean ever again.

As for the sound, let's just say that it blows away every CD issued, including the DCC Gold disc version. The sound is warm and analog just like the original recording. All the minute details are there without any of that horrible over compressed, volume limited sound most "loudness war" cd's have these days. All you get is the sound the original artist intended.

I mean this 180g pressing sound so good that I'm litterally about to drool just thinking about listening to it again. I feel like this album is a bell and I'm Pavlov's dog! Mmmmm....