Van Halen: Van Halen

Artist: Van Halen
Title: Van Halen
Acquired: Purchased, mid 2000s from Amazon.com
Rating: 10/10

Here is a CD that shows up, does exactly what it intends to do, and gets out. This thing sounds great for being thirty years old, although I'm not sure if virtuoso tap guitar solos are still considered fresh in 2008. This is one of only two Van Halen CDs in my collection, so I'm not able to really put this within the context of their larger body of work. Everything I've heard and read indicates that the music here is fairly typical of their first six albums, in that this is a collection of surprisingly short songs (more on this later) played as hard rock, yet with excellent pop craftsmanship.

Closer to the hard rock end of things, we kick off with "Runnin' with the Devil," which quickly establishes the template for the Van Halen sound - this is not a quiet-sounding band. This thing sounds like it was recorded in an arena, and even some of the people in the cheap seats would have surely had blood squirting out their ears. Credit producer Ted Templeman for somehow adding the requisite amounts of echo to the recording without turning the whole thing into mud.

Meanwhile, singer David Lee Roth, who is perhaps second only to Liberace in the number of times he has been referred to as "flamboyant," simultaneously exudes vast amounts of ego and charisma, making that first track sound more like an invitation to a keg party than to Satan-worshipping. Which is good, because the song isn't really about Satan-worshipping at all. This isn't that kind of band.

Actually, from the presentation to the lyrics, "we've got erections, and we aren't afraid to use them" is the theme that keeps popping up (sorry) here, whether it's exhortations to "show your love" on "I'm the One," the gasps and squeals that punctuate their arrangement of "You Really Got Me," or the leering cover of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man." Even the instrumental is called "Eruption." Not that I hold this singular focus against them, even if things tend a perhaps a little too much towards the sophomoric at times - few bands could objectify women with this much style.

Also, do not think at this point that any of this diminishes the accomplishment this album represents. These guys may seem on the surface to be gregarious troglodytes, but the well-constructed songs betray them - at least one person here is putting a lot of thought into these songs. Witness the arpeggiated chord progressions on "Eruption," the straight-faced doo-wop break on "I'm the One," and perhaps most improbably, the pop fingerprints smeared all over "Feel Your Love Tonight" (complete with Beatlesque falsetto "oohs"). There are few missteps here - the forgettable "Atomic Punk" and the weak fade-out ending to "On Fire" being the only two I even remotely feel like nitpicking.

Now, as for why I find the songs "surprisingly" short - it must have been tempting for someone with Eddie Van Halen's chops to bloat the guitar solos out to interminable lengths. That he resists this urge earns him bonus points from me and a 10/10 review.