1978: Van Halen - Van Halen

 


The first album from Van Halen, just wow!  This is one of those albums that makes me wish I was born 7-10 years earlier so that I could have experienced it when people were hearing it for the first time!  I think it would blow my mind!  Even the cover, I would say, "Whoa, these guys look cool!" followed by a Butthead type laugh!  They had the rock chops along with so much groove, bounce and swagger!  Eddie was able to tame a very saturated guitar tone with great muting of string noise and techniques that would change electric guitar forever!  Michael Anthony's bass playing complimented the guitar nicely.  David Lee Roth had the perfect charisma for this band.  Let's go through the tracks...

Runnin' With the Devil: Starts out with that bass thump and the song pulls you in to the album to come.  It is a solid opener. 
Eruption: Starts with a killer drum fill and goes into one of the most famous guitar solos ever.  You got that tremolo picking, whammy bar tricks and that finger tapping magic.  I wish I was a teenager when this came out rather than just short of 7.
You Really Got Me: A great Kinks cover that they made their own.  Much like Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid from Led Zeppelin or We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions from Queen, Eruption came to always precede this on the radio.
Ain't Talkin' About Love: Great riff and sound with that Phase 90 pedal, classic.
I'm the One: A nice fast-tempo rocka, nice lead work and a memorable vocal-harmony breakdown section.
Jamie's Cryin: The melody line sounds like cryin', good song.
Atomic Punk: Another rocka, this song ain't no punk-ass mutha!
Feel Your Love Tonight: A very memorable feel-good tune.
Little Dreamer: I love the feel on this one, slowin' things down a bit.
Ice Cream Man: So good, starts with just bluesy acoustic and vocals then goes into some full band stompin' and more killer-diller guitar lead work, a worthy dessert!
On Fire: A heavy tune and great album closer.

Thanks Van Halen and R.I.P Eddie Van Halen!





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