Van Halen - 1984
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Free Music Notes for 1984
Free Music Review: It's not my personal favorite Van Halen album, but it's still amazing!
Hit: 5 Stars
I love most Van Halen albums, but I think "1984" is my least favorite. The reason for this is that it seems more like a novelty album than any artistic endeavor ("Jump" is a silly song, for example). However, I still think that it's an amazing and influential album (for fusing electronics with hard rock) that, even though it may not be for everyone, will still greatly satisfy hard rock and Van Halen fans. This is definitely the album where they all-but changed their sound when they all finally agreed to use some synths with their hard rock sound. This ended up working extremely well alongside Eddie Van Halen's amazing guitar work, though it made the songs a little cheesier. David Lee Roth still sounds as great as ever (he's one of my personal favorite hard rock singers) as he puts much needed energy into relatively dull lyrics (it's not about the lyrics anyway - it's about the guitar playing and the energy). The most well known songs here are obviously the hits "Jump" and "Panama", but the rest are good too, even if they have to grow on you (that was the case for me) - they all exhibit great musicianship and energy. Even though it's my least favorite Van Halen album, it's still a great CD to own and one that I think most genre fans will love! I'm not sure if other genre fans will like it, but they'll probably enjoy the hits. All things aside, this is absolutely recommended!
Highlights include:
"Jump"
"Panama"
the rest are good, too
Free Music Review: Van Halen rulz!!!!!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
This band means so much to me. I'm sure countless fans feel the same pleasure I do listening to these artists. We are all at least 30-40 yrs. old by now. lol!!! I'm glad I grew up when I did.Free Music Review: Van Halen's Best Album!
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is the best album Van Halen ever recorded. This album has everything Great riffs, excellent drumming, excellent keyboard work, excellent bass work, catchy choruses, falsetto screams and amazing solos. This is also Van Halen's last album with David Lee Roth.
1.1984- 10/10 An excellent minute long keyboard solo by Eddie. This is like a keyboard version of Eruption and it has a great melodic, majestic and epic feel to it.
2.Jump 10/10 This is Van Halen's biggest hit ever and one of my favorite Van Halen songs ever. This has a great keyboard riff from Eddie Van Halen and great vocals from David Lee Roth. This has a great chorus too and is a little poppy but still an excellent song. Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo is great as it's filled with pinch harmonics, bluesy bends, fast flurries and a great tapping line. Eddie Van Halen's melodic keyboard solo is great too and works as a trade off with his guitar solo. This melodic song is a classic.
3.Panama- 10/10 Another classic. This has a great melodic guitar riff and some cool harmonics. David Lee Roth's vocals are excellent and the bass and drums sound great. Another great chorus too. Eddie's guitar solo is great and has plenty of bluesy bends, tapping lines and whammy bar dives. The subtle use of synth adds a nice touch too. Another classic song and another huge hit.
4.Top Jimmy- 10/10 A great fast paced song that starts off soft but goes into a great melodic fast song. Eddie throws in another great guitar solo which ends with an amazing fast flurry and David Lee Roth's vocals sound great. Some more good synth in this song too.
5.Drop Dead Legs- 10/10 Another great melodic rocker. David Lee Roth's vocals sound great over the hard hitting riff. This song reminds me of classic Def Leppard too. Another great solo from Eddie Van Halen with some virtuoso shredding lines, subtle blues licks, excellent tapping lines and pinch harmonics. Another classic.
6.Hot for Teacher- 10/10 Another big hit with an excellent drum intro and a great fast riff. The part where David Lee Roth talks is cool and the chorus is great. Eddie Van Halen has a great blazing guitar solo too. Another classic.
7.I'll Wait- 10/10 This song starts off with a great keybord intro. The drums and bass sound great and the keyboards work great on this song that reminds me of Bon Jovi and Dokken. This is my favorite Van Halen song too. The chorus is one of my favorites and this is probably David Lee Roth's best vocal song on the album. This has one of the best guitar solos on the album too! Another hit and Van Halen's best ballad type song.
8.Girl Gone Bad- 10/10 This starts off very subtle and has some great fast licks by Eddie near the start of the song. This song explodes into a fast song too with trademark David Lee Roth vocals and a one of Eddie's best solos ever that combines speed licks with subtle blues licks. Another great chorus too.
9.House of Pain- 10/10 Another great song. A perfect album closer and a great rocker with an awesome riff. Eddie's solo is excellent and David Lee Roth's vocals are great.
If you don't already have this album than you need it! This is Eddie's best album solo wise and the songs are the best. Fans of classic rock, synth pop, hair metal, arena rock and virtuoso guitar work need this album. The band is
David Lee Roth- Vocals
Eddie Van Halen- Guitar, Keyboards
Alex Van Halen- Drums
Michael Anthony- Bass
Free Music Review: Going out with all guns blazing
Hit: 5 Stars
With the release of Van Halen's self-titled debut in 1978, Van Halen became almost immediately one of rocks premier acts. In the late `70s and early 80s, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, and David Lee Roth were the undisputed titans of rock. Every year saw the release of a new album and tour. The original lineup of Van Halen was the ultimate hard-rock band; screeching guitar solos, an ultra charismatic frontman, and killer killer live shows. In the annals of hard-rock, few, if any, top the mighty Van Halen.
But alas, all good things must come to an end. It's no big secret that frontman David Lee Roth and the rest of the band were never very close. Egos must certainly have been involved. The world's most renowned guitar player and a superhuman frontman would be bound to clash. Unable to get along with Roth, as early as 1981, Eddie Van Halen had contemplated leaving the group. It's a miracle the original lineup of Van Halen stayed together for as long as they did.
1984 saw the release of the sixth and final classic Van Halen album, the aptly titled "1984." The album peaked at number two on the billboard charts, lagging behind Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (1982). Containing eight Van Halen originals (and one instrumental), "1984" spawned four hit singles and became one the years best sellers. Although Van Halen had achieved platinum success right off-the-bat with their debut, "1984" saw Van Halen's popularity peak to an all-time high. With "1984," Van Halen was no longer just a band for hard-rock fans. Although its predecessor "Diver Down" (1982) had been a major crossover hit, "1984" completed the process, making Van Halen one of the most popular bands in the mainstream as well as the hard-rock community. "1984," along with Van Halen's self-titled debut, have achieved the Diamond Award for sales exceeding ten million copies.
While "1984" is generally regarded by fans and critics alike as one of the decade's best albums, some Van Halen purists find it overtly commercial. These purists frown upon the band's use of synthesizers. It should be noted, however, that (minus the instrumental) only two of the albums eight songs use synthesizers. It should also be noted that these two songs, "Jump" and "I'll Wait" are still rock songs, with plenty of screeching solos, pounding bass, and feature a real drum kit. It's not as though "1984" were a Flock of Seagulls album.
"1984" starts out with the sci-fi futuristic backdrop of keyboards. Titled "1984," this thirty-second-plus instrumental was actually part of a much longer composition. Only the last 30 seconds were used for the album. This new age sounding introduction is quite atmospheric and sets the pace for the rest of the album.
"Jump" was one of the year's biggest hits. With the single and video in constant rotation, "Jump" became a staple for both Van Halen as well as the 1980s overall. The abundance of synthesizers makes it one of the most commercial songs of the David Lee Roth-led Van Halen. Although it sounds dated, it is undeniably infectious. It's a song about taking chances. While it may seem lighthearted on the surface, it was actually inspired from a time when David Lee Roth was watching a man on TV who was about to jump off a building. The crowd was yelling at him not to jump, but Roth though he should. Roth reflected "no, go ahead and jump! You see exits are just as exciting as entrances. Or at least they can be" (Van Halen, Excess All Areas, pp. 50, Castle Communications, 1994).
The hard-hitting "Panama" proved to be another hit single and video. The opening riff remains one of the most memorable and well known intros in rock. A tribute to a car, "Panama" remains one of Van Halen's finest songs. The killer solo, followed by Roth's monologue over the quiet strumming of the guitar, before it kicks back into high gear for the grand finale, is sensational.
The stripped-down, laser-fast "Top Jimmy" was written about a musician by the name of James Paul Koncek, better known as "Top Jimmy," leader of Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs. Roth's high-speed cocky baritone delivery overlapped by Anthony's falsetto harmonies make this song especially memorable.
The album slows down a bit for the laid-back "Drop Dead Legs." While not one of the album's best songs, it's not bad. The solo towards the end sort of comes out of left field, which makes it all the sweeter.
"1984" gets back into high gear for the classic "Hot for Teacher," easily one of Van Halen's best, most memorable songs. With Eddie's killer solos, Alex's pounding machine-gun like percussion, with Anthony's steady bass and harmonies, over Roth's buoyant delivery, "Hot for Teacher" is an undisputed rock classic. One of the biggest hits on MTV that year, "Hot for Teacher" remains one of the most memorable music videos of all-time.
"I'll Wait" proved to be another hit for the band. VH purists, distraught by the sound of synthesizers, may overlook the killer solos. An ode to a supermodel, Roth sounds genuinely distraught, but as confident as ever. "I'll Wait," sounds akin to "Hear about it later" from their classic "Fair Warning" (1981) album.
The closing songs on "1984" are rather dark in nature.
"1984" gets fast-and-furious with the hard-rocking "Girl Gone Bad." The theme of the song is rather self-explanatory. Easily one of Van Halen's most rocking songs, it's just as heavy as anything churned out by the gods of metal themselves, Black Sabbath. With its sing-along verse and heavily melodic chorus, it is one of Van Halen's most underrated songs.
The menacing "House of Pain" had actually already been written several years before. In fact, it had been included on Van Halen's 1977 Warner Brothers demo. It's a good thing that this song wasn't left in the can for good. Another hard-hitting rocker, it makes for a good closer. Whenever I listen to it, especially towards the end, and hear Roth's screeching howls, over Eddie's signature lighting-fast, yet soulful solos, I can't help but feel a little sad. It's a shame that it all had to end there.
Classic Van Halen is right up there with Led Zeppelin and the Doors. While it's a shame the original incarnation didn't record more music together, we will always have those first six albums. While both Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar) and David Lee Roth as a solo artist would go on to make memorable music, "1984" is the final chapter for one of the greatest bands of all-time.
Free Music Review: The beginning of the end!
Hit: 3 Stars
Let me offer a disclaimer here by saying that I am a guitar purist and don't care for Eddie Van Halens transformation into a "musician".
I feel 1984 is the introduction of Van Halen into the arena of "corporate" rock.
I dislike this band with Sammy Hagar immensely and this album has all the flavor of the Sammy era releases.
There are a couple of gems like "Top Jimmy" and "House of Pain". Incidentally, the aforementioned songs are rip roarin with Dave all over 'em and were both written back in the late 70's.
It's hard to put my finger on what really happened to this band but the magic disappeared after "Diver Down" and they really did, as much as I hate to admit it, become an extremely average Rock and Roll band.
1984's predecessor may have been full of cover songs but it didn't lack for that raw energy and the "magic" of Van Halens previous four albums.
In my humble opinion, I believe that this album, and any of the following releases, are recordings of a very average, very formulated and very content rock and roll band.
That's ok so long as you're not the once proud and mighty Van Halen.