292. Van Halen, "Van Halen"

 


As pure an expression of rock music as you can find, this debut album by a former bar and backyard party band from Pasadena sold 10 million records and set the stage for bands like Guns N Roses and their considerably less talented brethren.

The really remarkable thing about this album (on this relisten years and years later) is how Eddie Van Halen's guitar is just as much a frontman as David Lee Roth.  In fact, I remember when a friend breathlessly introduced me to this album at, I don't know, 12, 13 years old, he said "You gotta hear this" and played fucking "Eruption," which is essentially a minute and a half long guitar solo.  It's not even really a song!  My interest in lengthy guitar solos being about the same then as it is now, I politely listened but then "Eruption" is immediately followed by "You Really Got Me," (which, at the time, I did not know was a cover) and I was like WHOA HOLD ON because THAT I understood.  I mean, it's a Kinks song so of course it has a great melody and a great riff and I remember being instantly entranced with it.

The opening song, "Runnin' With the Devil," immediately lets you know what you're in for, and that's wicked guitar playing, Roth's nitrous howl, and songs about living your life the way you want and  fucking partying, dude!  Right after "You Really Got Me" is "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love," which has an absolutely killer riff and some interesting dynamics.  Like all the other songs, it's slightly misogynistic, but the lyrics aren't really there to state any message; they're more just a vehicle for Roth's lunatic yelping.  

Eddie died in October of 2020, of course.  It seems pretty clear that, unlike some other bands, Van Halen cannot continue without him.  They changed singers a number of times, famously, but Eddie's guitar playing is the one element of Van Halen that cannot be replicated by another person.  

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Fuck yeah, dude!

Comments

  1. StephenSeptember 16, 2021 at 12:26 PM

    My most-listened-to band since his death.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TKSeptember 17, 2021 at 9:50 AM

      Just the Roth era, or the whole catalog? Any albums in particular?

      Delete
    2. StephenSeptember 26, 2021 at 11:04 AM

      Roth only. First few albums. "Unchained" on repeat. Live on Youtube. The "Hot for Teacher" vid. That sort of thing.

      Delete

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