Listening Post: Van Halen - Van Halen

When I was about 15 or 16 my best friend in the summer vacation town of Bar Harbor was a guy named Pete. I met him while we were both prep cooks at the town's greasy spoon. Pete was a metal guy all the way. Used to listen to Pantera before anyone knew who they were. He took me to see Ozzy at the Blizzard of Oz tour stop at the Bangor State Fair, (Randy Rhodes was 5 feet from me and a little band named Def Leppard was the opener). Pete also had a pair of pants tailor painted with white stripes to emulate Eddie Van Halen's guitar. While I was immersing myself in Queen, Pete was learning to shred. I never even gave the Pasadena boys a chance.
Let's remedy that now, shall we?



Van Halen - Van Halen - 1978 (Buy It)

Samurai Frog was the first to respond. His missive was quick. It was terse. It was direct. He wanted VH. I shall oblige. For that reason and also because, driving to the farmer's market, "Running with the Devil" came on my ipod and I got hooked.

Holy fucking god.

It really really was better to grow up and listen to music in the 70s than the 80s or now, wasn't it?
Van Halen is one of, if not the, most assured debuts I have ever heard. Every note, every lyric, every pound of the drum is fashioned with such assuredness that one would assume that these guys had been around forever.
As a collection of songs, it doesn't let up. There is no moment of shit. No filler.
Eruption? Not only was it apparently so insanely influential that it inspired a legion of guitar gods to pick up the axe and shred, but it sounds fresh today!
And, any band that takes an iconic rock song, like The Kinks's You Really Got Me and make it sound like their own, really have something going on.
In fact, there is a uniquely wonderful thing happening here. This is the sound of a band so at ease yet so fired up, they want to prove something to the world, to themselves, to some parents, to some girl, while at the same time, they never beg you to like them. The KNOW they are the shit and they have the chops to prove it.
Classically trained children of a classical musician bring rock to a new place. Instead of going the prog-rock route that so many of that kind of student does, Eddie and Alex just redefine rock to meet their talent.
And Roth! He is Joel Grey's emcee dipped in a vat of sex.
You've heard about 75% of this album already. There's no way you couldn't have. But, if you don't own it, you really should. I can't believe I missed it, eschewed it, passed it by.
Pete was right.

Grade A+

A Side: Running with the Devil, Eruption, You Really Got Me, Jamie's Cryin', Ice Cream Man......
Blindside: On Fire & I'm the One (Even though it sounds like a warm-up for Hot For Teacher)
Downside: Little Dreamer, it's good, just not up to par.