Van Halen – Van Halen (Vinyl)
Warner Bros. Records (1978 / This Pressing 2019)

1 review for Van Halen – Van Halen (Vinyl)
Warner Bros. Records (1978 / This Pressing 2019)

1. 

   5 out of 5

   AMG – June 19, 2021

   No other band rocked like this before Van Halen, and it’s still a giddy thrill to hear them discover a new way to rock on this stellar, seminal debut! VH’s debut altered perceptions of what the guitar could do and set the template for how rock & roll sounded. Sheer visceral force is one thing, but originality is another, and the still-amazing thing about Van Halen is how it sounds like it has no fathers. Listen to how “Runnin’ with the Devil” opens the record with its mammoth, confident riff and realize that there was no other band that sounded this way. Everything about Van Halen is oversized: the rhythms are primal, often simple, but that gives Dave and Eddie room to run wild, and they do. They are larger than life, whether it’s Dave strutting, slyly spinning dirty jokes and come-ons, or Eddie throwing out mind-melting guitar riffs with a smile. Of course this record belongs to Eddie, just like the band’s very name does. There was nothing, nothing like his furious flurry of notes on his solos, showcased on “Eruption,” a startling fanfare for his gifts. He makes sounds that were unimagined before this album, and they still sound nearly inconceivable. But, at least at this point, these songs were never vehicles for Van Halen’s playing; they were true blue, bone-crunching rockers, full-fledged anthems, like “Jamie’s Cryin’,” “Atomic Punk,” and “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love,” songs that changed rock & roll and still are monolithic slabs of rock to this day. They still sound vital, surprising, and ultimately fun — and really revolutionary, because no other band rocked like this before Van Halen, and it’s still a giddy thrill to hear them discover a new way to rock on this stellar, seminal debut.