Ah, Van Halen. Just the mere mention of the once untouchable guitar god "Eddie" used to induce female quivers and testosterone-laced overloads from their male followers.
Things have changed. Now, local boy Gary Cherone is out of the band and Sammy Hagar is not returning any time soon, especially considering his thriving tequila adventures. The band's web site lists the members as being Eddie, brother (and drummer) Alex, and bassist Michael Anthony - but no vocalist.
Are we to believe the rumors and buy into the possibility that David Lee Roth is really coming back? Radio stations hinted at the possibility of the original line-up touring last summer, and even mentioned a possible four-night jaunt at Tweeter Center. While it never materialized, the silence from the
Van Halen camp (save for that cancer scare that allegedly involved Eddie) does make one wonder.
Are they taking "baby steps," as Alex said in 1996, and putting it back with "Diamond" Dave? Presumably they would not want to repeat the failed attempt in 1996, which resulted in two new tracks for a Greatest Hits package and a "surprise" appearance at the MTV Music Awards. At the time it seemed to be a new beginning, but turned out to be the end of the road again.
If Roth does return, the time would be ideal - the six albums the original quartet made together have been just re-issued, re-mastered, and sound better than even the pure original virgin vinyl copies.
Their self-titled debut was mocked a bit by the press upon its original release in 1978, but turned out to be one of the classic all-time releases. Roth's swagger was never so raw and effective as it was on this work.
"Ain't Talking Bout Love" is one of the greatest "bad-ass" songs ever - much better than George Thorogood's repetitious "Bad To The Bone," while "Jamie's Crying" hits the teenaged ache of loving unwisely right on the head. Their blistering cover of "You Really Got Me" is still so animated that it almost makes you forget the song was nearly 15-years-old when they covered it in 1978. Almost every hard rock band formed in the '80s has paid homage to this disc. It was their pinnacle product, but they still had much more to say.
Their follow-up, called Van Halen II, expanded their audience base, thanks in part to the radio hit "Dance the Night Away." While it did not contain the same power level and long-term effect as their debut, it contained some of Eddie's best guitar work and licks that most guitarists would sell their souls for.
Women And Children First gave the band its first, sort of "hit single" success with the ode to juvenile trials "And The Cradle Will Rock" and the libidinously spray painted "Everybody Wants Some." Already bona-fide arena headliners at this point, the sea was about to get rough for the band.
Fair Warning, released in '81, was Van Halen's "dark" record. An over-wrought and Viking-like Roth tried at times to make the band more serious and dangerous - bad move, as Van Halen is foremost a party band. Not that the CD is not really well-done for the most part. "Unchained" is superb, as is Roth's brilliant (yet still cocky) rap of a dour realization of misguided affection (shades of "Jamie's Crying") on "Ain't Talking Bout Love."
Diver Down was allegedly put together quickly to capitalize on the success of the 1982 surprise hit single, "Pretty Woman." One of rock's best cover versions, Roth makes a victorious, and brave, interpretation of the Roy Orbison classic. The second hit from Diver Down, a cover of "Dancing In The Street," showed that the group was possibly having difficulty scrambling for original ideas.
Any fears that Van Halen's inventiveness and energy were diminishing were soon quelled with an Orwellian gesture. They turned themselves into unlikely MTV video darlings with the simplistic yet effective visual accompanying "Jump," their biggest smash from their most successful disc (with Roth, that is) 1984. Still irresistible, though now in a cartoonish way, is "Hot For Teacher." What is still a major staple on AOR stations, "I'll Wait" showcases a deceptively subtle delivery from Roth, and Eddie's profound synthesizer somehow conceals the subliminal message of one man's obsession with a fashion model. Made in the days before the word "stalking" was such a part of pop culture.
1984 turned the band into the biggest group in the planet for a time. A sold out tour followed the record (and two other well-done videos) and Roth felt like a big enough star to record solo in 1985 (a four- track cover disc called Crazy From The Heat). This was probably one of the worst career moves in history, as Roth either quit or was fired shortly after the release of Crazy.
The Van Halen legacy remained successful with Hagar at the helm, and Roth had some solo success for a couple of years, but neither Roth nor the band came close to the quality and raw unabashed energy of these discs.
If they never splintered, who knows? In terms of mythological worship and devotion, they were at a time (especially during the 1984 days) the closest thing America had to Led Zeppelin. These re-mastered half-dozen CDs are essential for all rock aficionados.
