Van Halen - Van Halen

Van Halen

ESSENTIAL ALBUM!!! One of rock's outstanding debuts that ranks in the top 20 debuts ever. Eddie Van Halen stunned the world with his incredible leads & there weren't too many better front men than David Lee Roth. Though the album only peaked at #19, it's not indicative of the quality of this album. There were two singles from the album that charted: "Runnin' With the Devil" (#84) & "You Really Got Me" (#36). Once again, the performance of the singles doesn't give the proper credit to the band.

The album opens with "Runnin' With the Devil" which showcases the talent of Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen knew how to give us hard rock with a very keen perception of pop & concise songs; rarely, if ever, did their studio recorded songs ramble without direction. "Eruption" is an instrumental that features Eddie's incredible solo ability. "Eruption" segues into their incredible cover of a Kinks song, "You Really Got Me". It's a rare thing when I like a cover version better than the original but Van Halen makes this song their very own. Van Halen's background harmonies are among the best since the Beatles. "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" is one of the best songs on the album, one of their best songs in their entire catalog. Like most Van Halen songs in the Roth era, Diamond Dave's personality oozes throughout the vocals. "I'm the One" opens with Eddie's absolutely smoking a lead, if you haven't been convinced by now just how good he is then you never will be. This is the kind of song that literally invented pop-metal. The band shines in the a capella scat vocals toward the end of the song. "Jamie's Cryin'", though not a bad song, hints at filler but it's good filler. "Atomic Punk" cranks up the guitar quotient(GQ), it's better than the previous song if only because of Eddie's performance on lead. "Feel Your Love Tonight" exhibits Van Halen's combination of pop & rock that made them instant stars. You can hear the influence of the Beatles in their music when they drop in the 'woo'! "Little Dreamer" is one of the mellower songs on the album, yet they still rock. Even going into a minor key Eddie gives ample proof he knows his way around a guitar. It's one of his most tasteful & melodic leads on the album. "Ice Cream Man" is the second cover song on the album &, once again, they turn it into their own. Written by a great but underrated blues artist, John Brim, Eddie shows his acoustic guitar ability & affinity for blues. Dave's personality is a dominant feature of the song. David Lee might never be recognized as a great vocalists but he's extremely talented. "on Fire" is the closing song of the album, with it's appropriate title, the band cooks & smokes its way through the song.

Van Halen surprised the world with this dynamic release, certainly one of the most original of albums. The sound quality is excellent but the booklet doesn't offer anything. I'm not sure if the band could ever top this album but they certainly equaled it on at least two more occasions. Enjoy pop-metal at its very best. September 24, 2008

Van Halen At There Best

Realesed in 1978 Van Halen had been together since 1974 playing gigs and making up songs but it wasnt until 1977 when the bassist in the cool band KISS Gene Simmons discovered them playing at a club in California that they would become the Van Halen we know and love today. In 1977 the band recorded demo with Gene Simmons called, "Zero", containing some songs on this album and future albums they made but this album Van Halen I was the one that got it all started. Recorded over about three weeks in 1978 at Warner Bros. Studios Van Halens first album is probaly there best album they've ever made and was pretty big when it came out. 11 tracks in total and around 35 minutes long its a great hard rock 70s album that any rock fan should own. Starting off with the cool riff, "Running With The Devil", thats bassicly just van halen rocking out and than it goes into one of the best guitar solos of all time from no other than the guitar master Eddie Van Halen that lasts for about 1:42 and than goes into a killer tribute too the Kinks staple song, "You Really Got Me", thats even better than the original lasts for about 3 minutes than goes into the song Aint Talkin Bout Love which has remained a Van Halen concert staple too this date. Than the fifth track, "Im The One", has a cool drum beat thats constant through the whole song than goes into the song Jaimies Crying which has a very simple beat too it and a cool heavy riff but it really starts rocking on the seventh track, Atomic Punk, which has the coolest guitar intro than gets into this very cool and complex drum beat and guitar riff and that bass plays the same riff through out the whole song. Than on the eighth track Feel Your Love Tonight has another cool Van Halen sounding riff but than it goes into Little Dreamer starts off with a cool hard rock style guitar intro and than the drums and bass come in and the vocals too and it just rocks from there. But than on track ten, Ice Cream Man it starts off with this weird 50s style accoustic thing but after about a minute it goes too the van halen we know and love. Than the stellar album ends with the rocker On Fire and like that the blasting album is over. Honestly i dont think Van Halen ever made an album as good as this though 1984 came pretty close and this is like ten times better than any Sammy Hagar album ever made. So what are you waiting for download this album or copy it from a freind or buy it and than put it on you iPod than plug your headphones and blast out this album in its entirey and than post a comment on what you think of it. September 14, 2008

Unique, never-seen-before-or-since musicianship

Well, this first album is of course an all-time classic, as it should be. As has been said before, the Van Halen brothers are the real deal. True classical musicians who also know how to rock! "Bill and Ted"s Beethoven would be proud! Both of them are classical pianists, which is ironic, since Eddie's known as a guitarist, and Alex as a drummer. Yet I've read where Ed actually claims to be primarily a pianist, not so much a guitarist!

Yet this is not their best album. It's more of a warm-up for what's to come. Musically, that title may belong to either 5150 or OU812. Or the two together could be considered their high-point musically, even vocally.

The editorial reviewer above claims that after 1984 they went into their lean years. We are entitled to state our opinions, but of course nobody's entitled to have everyone agree with them. My opinion is that Van Halen really took off after they dumped David Lee Roth! After DLR they were able to spread their wings musically, and they acquired a real vocalist, one who stands with the greats of rock singers, in Sammy Hagar. To my ears, nothing before 5150 compares musically to the "Van Hagar" era. I seem to be in the minority there, but take a listen to "5150", "Dreams", "Mine All Mine", "Pleasure Dome", and "Human's Being". Van Halen's natural melodic genius is very much in evidence here, which is probably why they've been (erroneously) called pop-rock (by the stubborn or melodically-challenged). If they are indeed pop-rock then it's a slam to much of the rest of rock, particularly heavy metal (which label is erroneously applied to Eddie as a heavy metal guitarist), since it says that these genres are lacking in melody. In some cases, particularly modern metal, that's very true. There's not much today that I've heard in the way of real music, real melodic music.

But Van Halen is nothing if not melodic and musical. Ed is a musician, a guitar player, a melody maker; not a "heavy-metal" guitarist. I've never seen him that way, though I know many do, and that he has influence many many heavy metal guitarists. He plays it his way, and if people like it, so be it. If they don't, no worries because many others like myself will hear the music in his playing, and they will appreciate it as being music, not just rhythmic noise. This last part is really what separates Van Halen from much of the heavy metal genre. Sure, Alex expertly drives a mean drum kit, emphasis on "expertly" and "mean". Sure, Mike drives a mean and relentless bass guitar. Sure, Sammy screams out those vocal cords with the best of them. And sure Ed slings an axe like no one else, faster and louder than most. But it's their technique and musicality, their melodic sense and timing, that makes them stand out; and it's their skill, in particular Ed's ability to sling out the melody fast and smooth, with unique subtle "personality" touches throughout, which makes them great, rather than just good or noteworthy.

And those qualities shine most in the post-DLR era. They're only just beginning with this first knock-out punch to the face of music! August 26, 2008

Great Debut

This album was released in 1978 and is their best album with David Lee Roth. The opening song is Runnin with the devil, which is in my opinion has the best backup vocals from eddie and michael, the 2nd song is Eruption, there are no vocals, just an amazing guitar solo from Eddie, the 3rd song is originally sung by roy orbison, which is called oh pretty woman. The song Jamies cryin is a great song to, but alex van halen said that is his least favorite song in the entire song catalog August 15, 2008

The crown jewel in Van Halen's catalog

I am a big Van Halen fan, and I will say this: After listening to all of their records, I have come to the conclusion that their debut is their finest. In many artists' cases, the debut album is usually one of the weakest in the catalog. But not in Van Halen's case.

1978 was a year of change in rock and roll. The punk rock movement was well underway, and heavy metal was at it's finest. Van Halen emerged; led by Eddie Van Halen, probably one of the best guitarists of our time, and "Diamond" David Lee Roth as the vocalist.

The debut album has got to be one of the best albums of the '70s. 'Atomic Punk,' 'Running With The Devil,' 'Eruption,' 'You Really Got Me' and one of my personal favorites, 'Ice Cream Man' are all here. Heck, it's practically a greatest-hits album!

And, the sound quality is superb! Warner Bros. has chosen this album to be included in their ongoing Warner Remasters series, giving this the (long needed) remaster it deserves.

Overall, if you were stranded on a desert island, and you had to choose one, just one Van Halen disc to take with you, this would absolutely be my pick. To me, there is no other album quite like this one from Van Halen. All of them are great, but this is the best.

Highly recommended for any Van Halen. I don't care if you are one who only buys the best-ofs and greatest-hits albums, you still need to have this album in your collection.

Highly recommended. A must own!

ENJOY!!! August 14, 2008

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