Year Of Metal #090: Van Halen - Van Halen
No band from the hair metal milieu has stood the test of time anywhere near as well as Van Halen (if indeed it’s fair to lump them in with that lot - along with Aerosmith they probably ushered in that movement, but stuck around to enjoy the spoils). There are a few obvious reasons for their longevity - firstly they’re way less embarrassing than the performative partiers clogging the Sunset Strip, and through their eponymous guitarist, they were truly innovative in a way the rest of the acts weren’t. More importantly, though, they could hit you with massive tunes, one after another, as evidenced by the stacked (if top loaded) self-titled 1978 debut.
If you want to talk about strong starts, it doesn’t get much better than this. “Runnin’ With The Devil” should be the last word in glam metal - no one has ever gotten the mix so perfect. The power chords sparkle, the bass chugs in muscular fashion, Eddie’s solo is a strutting, peacocking thing, Dave Lee Roth’s histrionic vocals a vulgar display of charisma. It’s such a magnificent earworm of a chorus, so simple but so meticulously detailed, the glossy harmonies, the glissando bass.
After that, Eddie gets to take the piss for 102 seconds on the finger tapping frenzy “Eruption”. I find it very charming to imagine legions of teens in their bedrooms trying at length to master every divebomb, clanging chord, and hammered on lick of this piece. If we’re being honest, only the tappy bit is really worth listening to, but it takes a guitarist of rare power to get something like this over as the second track on your first album. “Eruption” is a top tier Van Halen tune and I don’t think many other bands could have pulled that off even with all the fancy notes at their disposal.
Then they launch into a cover of “You Really Got Me”. Granted, we’re three tracks deep and they’ve basically written one song, but this is a fantastic cover, with Roth’s voice surprisingly similar to that of Ray Davies (all I could really say is they both sound like they have quite loose cheeks). The crunch and dynamics properly revitalise a tune that’s more than a bit played out. I see producer Ted Templeman has a pretty impressive resume, including my favourite Van Morrison album Saint Dominic’s Preview, so this is a guy who knows from good sounding music.
And then it’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”! We’ve already had an all-timer solo; now we’ve got an all-timer riff, one that’s up there with “Crazy Train” in this genre. There’s a harder edge to this one, though not by an enormous amount. The fleet footed harmonics of the riff imbue it with a bit of a snarl, and Alex Van Halen’s drumming is particularly aggressive here. He’s quite restrained for the most part on Van Halen (though I remember reading a story - likely apocryphal - that he was prone to live drum solos of such length that Eddie would curl up on his amp and go to sleep), but his gunshot snare rolls sound great here.
The album does go rather off the boil at this point. “I’m The One” is dull until Eddie starts tearing it up. Side two starts super strong with highlight “Jamie’s Cryin’”, a brilliant bluesy shuffle in the Aerosmith mould with one of the best choruses on offer. “Feel Your Love Tonight” isn’t one of the best songs but it might have my favourite solo - the chord sequence becomes strangely complex, and the sound of the backing band moving around to accommodate Eddie is really satisfying. Aside from that, the back half is a little thin.
When you get off to such a hot start, it kind of doesn’t matter what you do with the rest of the album, and really most metal bands of any substrata would kill for the first four bars of “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”. But I do think a resequence would be a boon to this album. Spread the hits out a little and keep up the momentum. If only I’d been there at the time!
