Re: The Official Van Halen Thread
I remember my first listen to Van Halen's first album & how I was blown away by it. My Uncle knew someone that worked in a record store & every so often he would give me promo releases & most've them were throwaway type bands such as Driver,Target, & Blue Ash(although I really enjoyed the albums by these bands & the Cleveland based Blue Ash would have kind of a connection with some other bands later on in the 80's).
Anyway, one day Uncle Ken gave me 2 albums The Ramones 'Rocket to Russia' & Van Halen's debut. He told me that his friend said that both of these records especially the Ramones were much harder than Kiss. Well...I found the Ramones horrible but humorous & then Van Halen just blew me away. I never heard anything quite like it.I could not believe how hot "Eruption was as I swear I could feel my stereo melting & then it lead right into "You Really Got Me". I remembered that song mostly from a TV commercial for a British Invasion double record set & I always thought the song was cool as hell but now it took on an unbelievably new life with Van Halen. Man!!!! There is not a bad song on that first album..."Ain't Talkin About Love" has everything a classic rock anthem needs including "Hey Hey Hey's!!!" that will have you throwing your fists in the air...I love the Bop Shu bops on "I'm the One" & "Ice Cream Man" is just so incredible on so many levels. "Runnin with the Devil",Feel Your Love", "Little Dreamer", & "Jamie's Crying" stood out as sure fire hits to me upon my first listen. This brings me to the 2 tracks that I really love "On Fire" which totally kicks my ass on every listen (I love how the backing vocals just build up in the middle of the song)& probably my favorite track "Atomic Punk" which I love the guitar sound that runs through it especially in the beginning & the song just builds up to that big ending where Roth sings" Nobody rules these streets at night but me...nobody!!...HUUUUUUUUUAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!...THE ATOMIC PUNK!!!!!!(yes I meant to scream that last part & it felt oh so gooood!
Van Halen opened for Sabbath in Niagara Falls upon the release of their debut but unfortunately I couldn't go. I found out from a few friends that VH blew Sabbath off the stage & even had their power cut off so they sang "You Really Got Me" accapella.
I started to worry a bit about VH when I read an article on the band & Roth stated that he liked hanging out at discos & the picture in the article had Roth wearing red Roller Boogie skates. Van Halen 2 just was released & their single(which was the first thing I heard) was "Dance the Night Away". I immediately thought of that article & began to think they were going to go disco eventually. Was I wrong on that one!! While VH 2 was not as great as the first one it still was a great especially with songs like "Somebody Get Me a Doctor", "D.O.A.","Bottoms Up", & "Light up the Sky". I also loved their cover of "You're No Good". The band was amazing live as I caught them on their next tour as they promoted 'Woman & Children First' which is my favorite VH album(Robert Fleishman opened that show). 'Woman & Children First' just was eveything I could expect from a VH album. Not one skip over song on this album as the entire album rocks 'Romeo Delight' would've fit right in on the debut album."Cradle will Rock", "Everybody Wants Some", "Loss of Control",& "Take Your Whiskey Home" all kick ass & one of my favorites is the little ditty called "Could this be Magic".
I remained a big fan all the way through 1984 loving everything they put out with Roth. I already let my feelings known on the Hagar era on another thread so I won't go into it now but the original band could not be beat .I seen them live 3 times & every show was great
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