Van Halen

Artist: Van Halen

This is one of the greatest hard rock albums ever released. The first power chords of the opening song “Runnin’ with the Devil” immediately evoke images of summer parties, cruizin’ around with friends, and crankin’ the stereo up so loud that the cops come knockin’ on your door.

The album features a total of four hit singles. “You Really Got Me,” “Runnin’ with the Devil,”  “Jamie’s Cryin’,” and “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love” are still played daily on classic rock radio across the nation. Selling 10 million copies, this is one of the most successful debut rock albums. Produced by Ted Templeman, this album’s success laid the groundwork for the release and popularity of subsequent Van Halen records. Rock music changed forever with the release of this album in 1978.

This album also had a significant impact on the guitar playing community. Suddenly, players began trying to play as fast as possible, and imitate Eddie’s trademark two-handed-tapping. The ensuing trend of flashy guitar players dominated 80’s hard rock and metal, but few of these other bands had the talent and song writing capabilities of Van Halen. Despite Edward’s technical virtuosity with the guitar, his music is still commercially viable and listenable on a large scale.

This is one of my personal favorites, and it sees regular rotation in my CD player. As a guitar player, I grew up trying to cop Ed’s riffs and style listening to this record. I especially like “Feel Your Love Tonight.” This song really allows you to hear that famous EVH ‘brown sound’ he’s so famous for; and I really like the looser feel of this song, especially how the rhythm is altered slightly during the bridge.

The album closes with “On Fire” after only 35 minutes of play time. While this is a short record by any comparison, in an interview, Edward said that the band made a conscious effort to keep the time short to allow the vinyl record to be cut in a way that preserved the ‘crispness’ of the VH sound.

Rating: 5/5