Van Halen

Van Halen II	1984 1984 was a successful record not only because it contained solid, catchy hard rock, but also because it incorporated synthesizers into the mix, the first metal album to do so to any serious extent. Although the advances in electronic music make this material sound dated now, it's...	Women and Children First Japanese pressing. Reissue of 1980 original release has been remastered and comes in a standard jewel case. Warner. 2005.	Fair Warning Japanese pressing. Reissue of 1981 original release has been remastered and comes in a standard jewel case. Warner. 2005.	Diver Down Japanese pressing. Reissue of 1982 original release has been remastered and comes in a standard jewel case. Warner. 2005.
Back in Black Most critics complain Back in Black, the album AC/DC recorded after the death of their original lead screamer Bon Scott, is ridiculously juvenile, obvious, snickering, bludgeoning, derivative, single-minded about sex and booze, a big cartoon. All true, of course, and--on rock 'n'...	Highway to Hell What Highway to Hell has that Back in Black doesn't is Bon Scott, AC/DC's original lead singer who died just months after this album was released. Scott had a rusty, raspy, scream of a voice, like he might break into a coughing fit at any moment. In other words, on crunchy, hook-...	Best of Van Halen, Vol. 1 It took over 20 years for Van Halen to release a Best of album, and even then, the band downplayed the effort. Instead sticking to the original plan of releasing a two-disc set--one of material with original frontman David Lee Roth, and the other with his 11-year replacement Samm...	5150 As original Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth quit the band to pursue a solo career, or was fired (depending on who you believe), Eddie and Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony carried on by hiring Sammy Hagar. Hagar was a middling artist on his own, but he proved to be a powerhous...	Led Zeppelin IV (aka ZOSO) Also known as the "rune" album or Zoso because of the medieval symbols adorning the inner sleeve, Led Zeppelin's fourth album, released in 1971, turned them from mere superstars into giant behemoths of the rock world. On tracks like "Black Dog," "Misty Mountain Hop," and "Rock an...

How can you NOT like this album!
Attention all you true classic rockers: Nothing beats these guys at their peak! Enjoy!

You Really Got Me
Nowadays, covers are a bane, easy emotional jerkers and PoMo chain-yankers, but, like, back in 1978, no self-respecting rock bands did 'em. Ever. Covers were contaminated by their lowly roots ~ B-sides, bar bands, promiscuousness. Immature and cheap. All the monster kings had their own muse (yeh, with a stray rare exception here and there, butcha knowwhatImean). Blame it on the Beatles. Or better business. But, degeneration set in and substance abusers started penning "symphonic works" which necessitated New Wave and, presto, the cool cover. Here we are in 1978, the year prog tanked, and Devo's killin' 'em with "Satisfaction" incidentally, when, lo and behold, the latest Led Zeppelin contender arrives, ready to napalm America's teenage lumpenproletariat in a chillier economic climate than the one which spawned, say, Alice Cooper. David Lee Roth had smarter and (this is important) dumber instincts than most pelvis-thrusting geniuses of the era so, for you gentle listener, he proceeded to set the carefree cover loose on arenas. Cool move, dude! Not that VH was especially crafty about it; there was that squonking instrumental version by Mott The Hoople (read: Mick Ralphs) in '69 to point the way but no matter, nobody ever squonked like Eddie. And maybe their mouth-watering appetite for covers led to the Sammy-era (99%) ban on 'em. But, hey, by the time of "Can't Stop Lovin' You" they were the Beatles anyway.

SUPER-CHARGED!
if you love smokin' rock with fantastic guitar playing then this CD has to be in your collection, simple as that. And for the reviewer who asked "Would you still like it if it had no guitar solos?" what exactly is your point? This is a rock album and rock albums have guitar solos. Imagine that! He recommends a Metallica CD, well, last time I checked Metallica had a guitarist that played solos. This CD had guitar players scrambling to cop Eddie's licks. When this came out people went "whoa!!!" This CD doesn't need a whole lot of hype, if you like kick butt rock music this belongs in your collection, PERIOD!! [...]

Van Halen
ESSENTIAL ALBUM!!! One of rock's outstanding debuts that ranks in the top 20 debuts ever. Eddie Van Halen stunned the world with his incredible leads & there weren't too many better front men than David Lee Roth. Though the album only peaked at #19, it's not indicative of the quality of this album. There were two singles from the album that charted: "Runnin' With the Devil" (#84) & "You Really Got Me" (#36). Once again, the performance of the singles doesn't give the proper credit to the band. The album opens with "Runnin' With the Devil" which showcases the talent of Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen knew how to give us hard rock with a very keen perception of pop & concise songs; rarely, if ever, did their studio recorded songs ramble without direction. "Eruption" is an instrumental that features Eddie's incredible solo ability. "Eruption" segues into their incredible cover of a Kinks song, "You Really Got Me". It's a rare thing when I like a cover version better than the original but Van Halen makes this song their very own. Van Halen's background harmonies are among the best since the Beatles. "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" is one of the best songs on the album, one of their best songs in their entire catalog. Like most Van Halen songs in the Roth era, Diamond Dave's personality oozes throughout the vocals. "I'm the One" opens with Eddie's absolutely smoking a lead, if you haven't been convinced by now just how good he is then you never will be. This is the kind of song that literally invented pop-metal. The band shines in the a capella scat vocals toward the end of the song. "Jamie's Cryin'", though not a bad song, hints at filler but it's good filler. "Atomic Punk" cranks up the guitar quotient(GQ), it's better than the previous song if only because of Eddie's performance on lead. "Feel Your Love Tonight" exhibits Van Halen's combination of pop & rock that made them instant stars. You can hear the influence of the Beatles in their music when they drop in the 'woo'! "Little Dreamer" is one of the mellower songs on the album, yet they still rock. Even going into a minor key Eddie gives ample proof he knows his way around a guitar. It's one of his most tasteful & melodic leads on the album. "Ice Cream Man" is the second cover song on the album &, once again, they turn it into their own. Written by a great but underrated blues artist, John Brim, Eddie shows his acoustic guitar ability & affinity for blues. Dave's personality is a dominant feature of the song. David Lee might never be recognized as a great vocalists but he's extremely talented. "on Fire" is the closing song of the album, with it's appropriate title, the band cooks & smokes its way through the song. Van Halen surprised the world with this dynamic release, certainly one of the most original of albums. The sound quality is excellent but the booklet doesn't offer anything. I'm not sure if the band could ever top this album but they certainly equaled it on at least two more occasions. Enjoy pop-metal at its very best.

Van Halen At There Best
Realesed in 1978 Van Halen had been together since 1974 playing gigs and making up songs but it wasnt until 1977 when the bassist in the cool band KISS Gene Simmons discovered them playing at a club in California that they would become the Van Halen we know and love today. In 1977 the band recorded demo with Gene Simmons called, "Zero", containing some songs on this album and future albums they made but this album Van Halen I was the one that got it all started. Recorded over about three weeks in 1978 at Warner Bros. Studios Van Halens first album is probaly there best album they've ever made and was pretty big when it came out. 11 tracks in total and around 35 minutes long its a great hard rock 70s album that any rock fan should own. Starting off with the cool riff, "Running With The Devil", thats bassicly just van halen rocking out and than it goes into one of the best guitar solos of all time from no other than the guitar master Eddie Van Halen that lasts for about 1:42 and than goes into a killer tribute too the Kinks staple song, "You Really Got Me", thats even better than the original lasts for about 3 minutes than goes into the song Aint Talkin Bout Love which has remained a Van Halen concert staple too this date. Than the fifth track, "Im The One", has a cool drum beat thats constant through the whole song than goes into the song Jaimies Crying which has a very simple beat too it and a cool heavy riff but it really starts rocking on the seventh track, Atomic Punk, which has the coolest guitar intro than gets into this very cool and complex drum beat and guitar riff and that bass plays the same riff through out the whole song. Than on the eighth track Feel Your Love Tonight has another cool Van Halen sounding riff but than it goes into Little Dreamer starts off with a cool hard rock style guitar intro and than the drums and bass come in and the vocals too and it just rocks from there. But than on track ten, Ice Cream Man it starts off with this weird 50s style accoustic thing but after about a minute it goes too the van halen we know and love. Than the stellar album ends with the rocker On Fire and like that the blasting album is over. Honestly i dont think Van Halen ever made an album as good as this though 1984 came pretty close and this is like ten times better than any Sammy Hagar album ever made. So what are you waiting for download this album or copy it from a freind or buy it and than put it on you iPod than plug your headphones and blast out this album in its entirey and than post a comment on what you think of it.