Van Halen (album)

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Van Halen
Van Halen album.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 10, 1978 (1978-02-10)
RecordedAugust 29 – October 4, 1977 [1] [2] [3]
Studio Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood [4]
Genre
Length35:34
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Ted Templeman
Van Halen chronology
Van Halen
(1978)
Van Halen II
(1979)
Singles from Van Halen
  1. "You Really Got Me"
    Released: January 1978
  2. "Runnin' with the Devil"
    Released: April 1978
  3. "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love"
    Released: June 1978 (Japan) [5]
  4. "Jamie's Cryin'"
    Released: July 1978 [6]
  5. "On Fire"
    Released: September 1978 (Japan)

Van Halen is the debut studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on February 10, 1978, by Warner Bros. Records. Widely regarded as one of the greatest debut albums in rock music, [7] [8] [9] the album was a major commercial success, peaking at number 19 on the Billboard 200. [10] It has sold more than 10 million copies in the United States, receiving a Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and making it one of the best-selling albums in the country. [11]

Contents

Van Halen contains some of the band's most well-known songs, including "Runnin' with the Devil", "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love", "Jamie's Cryin'", their cover version of the Kinks' 1964 song "You Really Got Me", and the instrumental "Eruption"; written and played by guitarist Eddie Van Halen, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar solos of all time and helped popularize two-handed tapping. [12] In 2020, the album was ranked number 292 in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Background

Van Halen recorded demos of 10 songs in November 1976 during sessions at Village Recorders in West L.A. and New York’s Electric Lady studios produced and financed by Gene Simmons of Kiss. [13] However, the resulting three-track demo tape attracted little interest from record labels, and Kiss’s manager Bill Aucoin even declined to manage the band. [13] Guitarist Eddie Van Halen was not convinced of the quality of the material because they could not make the recordings with their own equipment. [14] Simmons left to tour with Kiss after recording the demos, but said he would try to secure Van Halen a record deal afterwards. [15]

After recording the demos, the band was offered several concerts. At a sold-out show in their hometown, Pasadena, the group's future manager, Marshall Berle, discovered the band. He and musical entrepreneur Kim Fowley paired them with punk rock band Venus and the Razorblades for a gig at the Whisky a Go Go. [16] After being well received by Berle at the Whisky a Go Go, the band gained the attention of Mo Ostin and Ted Templeman of Warner Bros. who both attended the band's performance at the Starwood on February 3, 1977. Van Halen proceeded to sign a contract with Warner. [17] [18]

The recording of this debut album with producer Ted Templeman began August 29, 1977. [19] The tracks were recorded quickly during sessions between August 31 and September 8, 1977. [20] It was mostly recorded live, [21] but "Runnin' with the Devil", "Jamie's Cryin'", "Feel Your Love Tonight" and "Ice Cream Man" contain guitar overdubs. [22] Edward also overdubbed his solo for "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" with an electric sitar. [23] Work on the album ended October 4 with the final mixing of "Little Dreamer" and "Eruption" (titled simply "Guitar Solo" on studio documents). [3] Overall, the album cost approximately $54,000 to produce. [2]

"We didn't have a ton of material," recalled bassist Michael Anthony, "so we basically just took our live show and all the songs we knew and went for it. The whole album only took a couple of weeks. Ted Templeman wanted to make a big, powerful guitar record, and he had all he needed in what Eddie was doing." [24]

The subsequent tour began March 3, 1978 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago with the band opening for Journey and Montrose in the United States. [25] [26] They later opened for heavy metal band Black Sabbath in Europe and the United States. [27]

Packaging and artwork

The cover photos for Van Halen were taken at the Whisky a Go Go, a Los Angeles club at which Van Halen often performed during late 1976-1977. The guitar pictured on the cover is Eddie Van Halen's signature Frankenstrat (before he added the red paint), a highly customized Stratocaster-style guitar built out of replacement parts.

The liner notes thank radio disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, [28] the latter usually credited with discovering Van Halen [29] although Bingenheimer deserves credit for introducing Van Halen to Simmons. "A lot of people stick me on their [thanks list], even though I don't deserve it," Simmons remarked. "One that I did deserve to be on was that first Van Halen record – the guys still owe me a couple thousand bucks! But I love 'em." [30]

Release and reception

Retrospective professional reviews
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [31]
Christgau's Record Guide C [32]
Classic Rock Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [33]
MusicHound Rock 5/5 [34]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [35]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [36]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [37]

In the United States, Van Halen reached number 19 on the Billboard 200; their debut single, a cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me", spent eleven weeks, three of which in the Top 40, on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 36. [38]

Soon after its February 1978 release, Van Halen became regarded by fans and critics as one of rock music’s greatest debut albums; however, its initial critical reception was mostly negative. In 1978, Rolling Stone critic Charles M. Young predicted, "In three years, Van Halen is going to be fat and self-indulgent and disgusting ... follow[ing] Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin right into the toilet. In the meantime, they are likely to be a big deal." [39] But he also wrote that: "Van Halen's secret is not doing anything that's original while having the hormones to do it better than all those bands who have become fat and self-indulgent and disgusting. Edward Van Halen has mastered the art of lead/rhythm guitar in the tradition of Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh; several riffs on this record beat anything Aerosmith has come up with in years. Vocalist Dave Lee Roth manages the rare hard-rock feat of infusing the largely forgettable lyrics with energy and not sounding like a castrato at the same time. Drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony are competent and properly unobtrusive." [40] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said, "For some reason Warners wants us to know that this is the biggest bar band in the San Fernando Valley ... The term becomes honorific when the music belongs in a bar. This music belongs on an aircraft carrier." [32]

According to Rolling Stone's Holly George-Warren, with the album's release the mainstream media focused on Roth's "swaggering good looks and extroverted persona", while fans and musicians "were riveted by Eddie Van Halen's guitar mastery", which included "an array of unorthodox techniques." [41] She notes that, even before the band's debut, "Eddie became a legend among local guitarists." [41]

Kerrang! magazine gave the album a very positive review, and considers the album to be an "essential purchase." They wrote, "IT'S DIFFICULT to overstate the effect VH's debut had upon its release. With the music world split between punk, disco and prog rock, Van Halen combined a dazzling live show with a party-hearty motto and, in Eddie Van Halen, a guitarist who redefined what was possible on six strings. His sound on this album—christened 'The Brown Sound'—remains the holy grail of guitar tones." [42]

Record World called the single "Jamie's Crying" a "driving rhythm piece, which may be [Van Halen's] most interesting single to date." saying that "its rock energy never lets up." [43]

Commercial performance

On August 7, 1996, Van Halen was re-certified by the RIAA for selling ten million copies in the United States alone. [44] One of only seven rock bands to release two RIAA Diamond status albums, Van Halen remains one of Van Halen's two best-selling albums, along with 1984 .

Van Halen went to Gold status on May 24, 1978, and then went to Platinum status just a few months later, on October 10, 1978. In less than a year the album sold more than one million copies in the US alone, meaning that the album was already a great success. On October 22, 1984, the album went to 5× Multi-Platinum status. The album went to 6x Multi-Platinum on February 1, 1989, and then went to 7× Multi-Platinum on September 29, 1993. In less than a year later, on July 11, 1994, the album went to 8x Multi-Platinum, and finally, on August 7, 1996, just two years later, the album went to Diamond status by RIAA. [11]

The Van Halen album, like Van Halen's other David Lee Roth-era albums—excepting Van Halen II , which was re-certified in 2004, to coincide with the promotion of a Warner Bros. Records greatest hits collection—was last brought by Warner Bros. Records to the RIAA for re-certification in 1996, while 1984 was re-certified on February 8, 1999. [11] The band's split with Warner Brothers in 2002, and subsequent agreement with Interscope has eliminated Warner Brothers' incentive for paying the [relatively substantial] fee to promote Van Halen's back-catalog by having its albums re-certified. Despite lack of re-certification, Van Halen's 1978 debut has continued to sell prolifically, re-appearing numerous times on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums charts, as recently as 2020. [45]

Legacy

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Van Halen as "monumental" and "seismic", while noting that it is typically not viewed as an "epochal generation shift" in the same way as the debut albums of Led Zeppelin, the Ramones, The Rolling Stones, and the Sex Pistols. [46] He explains, "The reason it's never given the same due is that there's no pretension, nothing self-conscious about it." [46] He commented: "The still-amazing thing about Van Halen is how it sounds like it has no fathers ... Like all great originals Van Halen doesn't seem to belong to the past and it still sounds like little else, despite generations of copycats." [46] In Erlewine's opinion, the album "set the template for how rock and roll sounded for the next decade or more." [46] A retrospective review by Q noted, "Hit singles came later, but this dazzling debut remains their trump card." [35]

In 1994, Van Halen was ranked number eight in Colin Larkin's Top 50 Heavy Metal Albums . Larkin described it as "one of the truly great" debut albums of heavy metal. [47] According to authors Gary Graff and Daniel Durchholz, writing in MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1999), Van Halen is a "headbanger's paradise"; before its release, "no one had heard or seen anything like it." [34] In 2003, Rolling Stone, listed it among The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, at number 410; [48] the list's 2012 edition had it ranked 415th. [49] The 2020 list placed it at 292. According to Rolling Stone's Joe Levy, the album "gave the world a new guitar hero and charismatic frontman" in Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth, respectively. [48] Levy credits the tracks "Runnin' with the Devil" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" with "put[ting] the swagger back in hard rock", praising Eddie Van Halen's "jaw-dropping technique", which "raised the bar for rock guitar." [48] In 2006, Guitar World readers ranked it number 7 on a list of the Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time. [50] In 2013, Rolling Stone listed the album at number 27 of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time. [51]

On April 15, 2013, David Lee Roth was interviewed by Jay Mohr for his podcast, where he selected the album as his favorite Van Halen recording. [52]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Runnin' with the Devil" 3:36
2."Eruption" 1:42
3."You Really Got Me" Ray Davies 2:38
4."Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" 3:50
5."I'm the One" 3:47
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Jamie's Cryin'" 3:31
2."Atomic Punk" 3:02
3."Feel Your Love Tonight" 3:43
4."Little Dreamer" 3:23
5."Ice Cream Man" John Brim 3:20
6."On Fire" 3:01

Personnel

Van Halen

Production

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Van Halen
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [66] 4× Platinum400,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [67] Gold25,305 [67]
France (SNEP) [68] Gold100,000*
Germany (BVMI) [69] Gold250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI) [70] Platinum100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [71] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [72] Diamond10,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Halen</span> American rock band (1973–2020)

Van Halen was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and for the virtuosity of its guitarist, Eddie Van Halen. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

<i>Van Halen II</i> 1979 studio album by Van Halen

Van Halen II is the second studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released by Warner Bros Records on March 23, 1979, it peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard 200 and yielded hit singles "Dance the Night Away" and "Beautiful Girls." As of 2004, it's sold almost six million copies in the United States. Critical reaction to the album has been positive, with The Rolling Stone Album Guide praising the "feel-good, party atmosphere" of the songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lee Roth</span> American rock singer (born 1954)

David Lee Roth is an American rock singer. Known for his wild and energetic stage persona, he was the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen for three stints: from 1974 to 1985, during 1996, and from 2006 to when they disbanded in 2020. He has also had a successful solo career, releasing numerous RIAA-certified Gold and Platinum albums. After more than two decades apart, Roth re-joined Van Halen in 2006 for a North American tour that became the highest-grossing in the band's history, and one of the highest-grossing of that year. In 2007, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen.

<i>5150</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Van Halen

5150 is the seventh studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released on March 24, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records and was the first of four albums to be recorded with lead singer Sammy Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth. The album was named after Eddie Van Halen's home studio, 5150, in turn named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person. The album hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, surpassing the band's previous album, 1984, which had peaked at number 2 behind Michael Jackson's Thriller album, on which Eddie made a guest appearance.

<i>Women and Children First</i> 1980 studio album by Van Halen

Women and Children First is the third studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on March 26, 1980, on Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Ted Templeman and engineered by Donn Landee, it was the first Van Halen album not to feature any cover songs, and is described by critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "[the] record where the group started to get heavier, both sonically and, to a lesser extent, thematically."

<i>Fair Warning</i> (Van Halen album) 1981 studio album by Van Halen

Fair Warning is the fourth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released on April 29, 1981, it sold more than two million copies in the United States, but was still the band's slowest-selling album of the David Lee Roth era. Despite the album's commercially disappointing sales, Fair Warning was met with mostly positive reviews from critics.

<i>Diver Down</i> 1982 studio album by Van Halen

Diver Down is the fifth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on April 14, 1982. It spent 65 weeks on the album chart in the United States and had, by 1998, sold four million copies in the United States.

<i>Van Halen III</i> 1998 studio album by Van Halen

Van Halen III is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on March 17, 1998, by Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Mike Post and Eddie Van Halen, it was the band's first studio album in three years after Balance (1995), the band's only studio album to feature Extreme lead vocalist Gary Cherone, and the last to feature bassist Michael Anthony, who only appears on three of the album's songs while the rest of the bass parts are played by Eddie Van Halen; his son Wolfgang replaced Anthony on subsequent tours and recordings. Eddie Van Halen's extensive involvement in the album's production, instrumentation and writing have led some, including Anthony, to consider Van Halen III more of a solo project than a collective band effort. Clocking in at over 65 minutes, Van Halen III is their longest album.

<i>For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge</i> 1991 studio album by Van Halen

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is the ninth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released on June 17, 1991, on Warner Bros. Records and is the third to feature vocalist Sammy Hagar. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and maintained the position for three consecutive weeks. The album marked a record in the band's history, seeing seven of its eleven tracks released as singles.

<i>1984</i> (Van Halen album) 1984 studio album by Van Halen

1984 is the sixth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on January 9, 1984. It was the last Van Halen studio album until A Different Kind of Truth (2012) to feature lead singer David Lee Roth, who left the band in 1985 following creative differences. This is the final full-length album to feature all four original members, although they reunited briefly in 2000 to start work on what would much later become 2012's A Different Kind of Truth. Roth returned in 2007, but Eddie's son Wolfgang replaced Anthony in 2006. 1984 and Van Halen's self-titled debut abum are the band's best-selling albums, each having sold more than 10 million copies in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jump (Van Halen song)</span> 1983 single by Van Halen

"Jump" is a song by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in December 1983 as the lead single of their sixth studio album, 1984. It is Van Halen's most successful single, reaching number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song differs from earlier Van Halen songs in that it is driven by a keyboard riff, although the song does contain a guitar solo. David Lee Roth dedicated the song to martial artist Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, of whom he was a student. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "Jump" at number 177 on its updated list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love</span> 1978 single by Van Halen

"Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" is a song by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in September 1978 as the fourth US single from their 1978 debut album, Van Halen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Runnin' with the Devil</span> 1978 single by Van Halen

"Runnin' with the Devil" is a song by the American hard rock band Van Halen, released as the second single from their eponymous debut album in April 1978. The lyrics were inspired by Ohio Players 1974 song "Runnin' from the Devil". In 2009, "Runnin' with the Devil" was named the 9th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. Chuck Klosterman of Vulture ranked it the eighth-best Van Halen song, praising the staccato bass playing as well as David Lee Roth's vocal performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'll Wait</span> 1984 single by Van Halen

"I'll Wait" is a song by American rock band Van Halen, taken from their sixth studio album, 1984 (1984). It was written by band members Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth, along with Michael McDonald, and produced by Ted Templeman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie's Cryin'</span> 1978 single by Van Halen

"Jamie's Cryin'" is a song written by the band Van Halen that was first released on the band's 1978 debut album. It was subsequently released as the third single from the album but did not chart. It has also been released on a Van Halen compilation album and was sampled for Tone Loc's 1988 song "Wild Thing".

<i>Crazy from the Heat</i> 1985 EP by David Lee Roth

Crazy from the Heat is a 1985 EP by American rock musician David Lee Roth. His debut solo recording, it was released while Roth was still lead singer for Van Halen, though he parted ways with the band several weeks later and launched a solo career. The EP is certified platinum by the RIAA, having sold more than one million copies in the United States.

Van Halen was an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1972 by the Dutch-born American brothers Eddie Van Halen (guitar) and Alex Van Halen (drums), plus singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony. The band's discography consists of 12 studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, and 56 singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Van Halen</span> American rock guitarist (1955–2020)

Edward Lodewijk Van Halen was an American musician. He was the guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex in 1972. Van Halen also provided backing vocals for both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, and occasionally played the keyboard.

<i>A Different Kind of Truth</i> 2012 studio album by Van Halen

A Different Kind of Truth is the twelfth and final studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released on February 7, 2012, by Interscope Records, this is Van Halen's only studio album on Interscope and its first full-length album of studio material with lead singer David Lee Roth since 1984. Likewise, A Different Kind of Truth was Van Halen's first studio album since 1998's Van Halen III, as well as their only studio album recorded without bassist Michael Anthony, who had played bass on all of the band's previous albums; Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang replaced Anthony for the album, making this his only studio album with the band. It would also be Van Halen's final studio album before Eddie's death and the group's subsequent disbandment in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">She's the Woman</span> 2012 single by Van Halen

"She's the Woman" is the second song and single from the album, A Different Kind of Truth, from American hard rock band Van Halen. The single was released online and to radio stations February 28, 2012. This is the band’s last official single as a result of guitarist Eddie Van Halen's death in October 2020.

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Works cited

Further reading