Van Halen II
They didn't break any new ground but played around with the formula that made the first one so good. ESSENTIAL ALBUM!!! Van Halen is essentially a continuation of their previous album. Of course the second album performed better on the charts because of the recognition they had gained from the first release. Van Halen II peaked at #6 & it had two charting singles from it: "Beautiful Girls" peaked at #84 & "Dance the Night Away" climbed all the way to #15, the best performance by all of their first four singles.
The album opens with their incredible cover of "You're No Good". Linda Ronstadt had released the song previously in 1974 & might have been the best known version of the song until Van Halen covered it. Diamond Dave with this album seemed to find a higher upper range with some of his wails. "Dance the Night Away" finds the group blending rock & pop only like they could do at the time. There have been few bands that could create incredible rock songs (with signature leads) & still have as much pop sensibility that these guys had. "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" is one of their crowning achievements, Eddie playing a chunky rhythm that's instantly memorable. The instrumental section is one of pop-metal's best showcases. "Bottoms Up!" increases the pop quotient without giving up much in the rock or guitar quotients. By this time the party atmosphere is thick, you can sense & feel the band members are having as good of a time as we are. They sound like they REALLY enjoy what they do. "Outta Love Again" is probably the closest thing to filler on the album. "Light Up the Sky" finds the band back in full-rock-mode; though nothing on the album quite equals the three opening songs. Eddie really shines in his short solo that features his innovative finger-tapping style. "Spanish Fly" is a short acoustic instrumental where Eddie shows he can play a guitar without the distortion of volume, the sign of a great guitarist! This segues into "D. O. A. " which lyrically shows off their twisted sense of humor. "Women in Love" crosses over into slightly more (just barely) pop ground with Eddie playing a distinctive opening riff. "D. O. A. " & "Women in Love" were the first two songs on Van Halen albums to surpass the four minute mark. This is the mark of their pop sensibilities, that they kept their songs concise without getting into extended and/or overblown leads. Though, without a doubt, Eddie Van Halen could have done it & kept it interesting. The album closes with "Beautiful Girls" which is probably the next most commercial song after "Dance the Night Away".
After listening to Van Halen's first two albums you can understand why they became staples on FM radio. Their blend of pop, rock & metal was unique in the seventies & is still somewhat unique today. The remastering is excellent but the booklet doesn't offer any information. .
A Solid Sophomore Effort
Prior to Sammy Hagar joining the band for 1986's "5150" album, I really had little interest in Van Halen. When it comes to Van Halen, I might be in the minority in terms of how I became a fan of this group. In fact, I never really was a fan for David Lee Roth - as I had thought him as a clown more than a musician. I had felt that Hagar had always brought a high-level of musicianship to the band. When I saw Van Halen in 2004 with Hagar, I confirmed my feelings about Hagar being the real deal. However seeing the band in 2004 gave me a whole new appreciation for the other members of the band - Michael Anthony, Eddie Van Halen, and Alex Van Halen. In fact, Alex's drumming really blew me away. Because I was so impressed with the band, I felt I owed it to myself to go check out the band again for the 2007 reunion tour - this time with Roth on vocals (and Eddie's son Wolfgang replacing Anthony on bass). Once I saw the band live with Roth, I understood why so many people loved Roth as the lead vocalist. While I'm still a Hagar fan, I got a whole new appreciation for Roth's talents. Thus, I began a journey to start to explore the early albums that featured Roth on lead vocals. I was very impressed with Van Halen's self-title debut album. I would also be impressed with how Van Halen would follow things up on their sophomore effort - 1979's "Van Halen II".
"Van Halen" was a legendary debut hard rock album. Songs like "Runnin with the Devil", "Eruption", the cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me", and "Jamie's Cryin'" are legendary songs. One cannot argue the talents of the individual members (Eddie on Guitar, Alex on Drums, Anthony on Bass, and Roth on vocals) of the band that helped make their debut a great album. In fact each member is a a Hall of Fame musician in their own right. However, I think the glue that made everything fit together was producer Ted Templeman. Templeman was able to mold an enormously talented young band and make them operate as a cohesive unit. For the most part, the same formula is applied to "Van Halen II" - namely Templeman weaving the individual talents of the members of Van Halen together. While not overall as strong an album as the debut album, this still is a worthy follow-up.
Here is a track by track synopsis:
"You're No Good": On "Van Halen", Van Halen established themselves a great cover band with the cover of "You Really Got Me". In a way, covering a Kinks song almost seemed a natural for the band. Covering this Clint Ballard Jr. song that was made famous by Linda Ronstadt is a more of a stretch. Yet, the band pulls it off beautifully putting their own harder-edged spin on this song.
"Dance the Night Away": Lyrically, not a sophisticated track. Eddie's guitar and Alex's Drums are on top-form, but ultimately it is Roth leading some terrific vocal harmonies that make this a Rock anthem.
"Somebody Get Me a Doctor": Similar to "Dance the Night Away" in terms of my thoughts on the lyrics, vocals, and instrumentation. This song took a little longer to grow on me, but eventually it did.
"Bottoms Up": This song has more of bluesy feel to it - thanks to Anthony's bass and Eddie's guitar, yet Van Halen still pulls a hard rock edge on it. Alex sets a thundering pace on the drums that ultimately really makes him the track's star.
"Outta Love Again": Not a bad track, but wasn't one of my favorite tracks. The way to sum this one up is if you love Eddie's guitar work, you will like this track.
"Light up the Sky": Now when it comes to guitar riffs, I think this song is underrated. This is one song where Eddie lets it all hang out with a terrific hard rock effort. Terrific vocal harmonies also help supplement this track beautifully.
"Spanish Fly": This is basically an acoustic instrumental solo from Eddie. While it is only about a minute long, it does have a Spanish feel to it and proves to be one of the more creative tracks on the collection.
"D. O. A. ": This is another terrific Rock anthem. I feel this is an underrated track by Van Halen standards. The whole band rises to the occasion. Once again, outstanding harmonies highlight this. Eddie also manages to get his trademark guitar solo in.
"Women in Love": Again another terrific track that once again is underrated by Van Halen standards. The opening sequence is simply outstanding and features some more great guitar work by Eddie. Following the opening, the song it has a segue into a more classic Van Halen feel. Roth gets a chance to really showcase his vocals on this one - and he is outstanding.
"Beautiful Girls": There is a lot that can be said on this song - Eddie has some legendary riffs and Roth's vocals are on form, and terrific harmonies - but ultimately its Michael Anthony's bass lines that compliment this track perfectly. This is a legendary song and it lives up to its reputation.
Unfortunately, the liner notes are pretty thin and the lyrics are not included. In addition the musician credits are pretty thin as well. A lot of times, a sophomore effort doesn't live up to the billing of a great debut album. While I still would contend this is not as strong as Van Halen's debut album, I still think this is a high quality product. Van Halen fans will love this album. Casual fans should also come to appreciate this collection - and ultimately Sammy Hagar fans like myself will probably see the quality of this collection.
Excellent Follow Up But Value For Money?
This album is one of the greatest ever by a rock band and is essential listening for fans and aspirants of good rock guitaring. I'm assuming as it's not stated by Amazon anywhere on this page to date that this is the Japanese mlps version and if so, this review refers to that version. Although all the tracks have been tuned down to E flat tuning for the guitar (so if you've been trying to play along with the cd and have been finding it hard to do so this is the reason) some of rock guitars standards are on this album and especially so for "Spanish Fly" which is a tour de force of acoustic guitar playing. The extremely tasty guitar licks on all the other tracks are also worth the purchase price of this baby. The remastering though is the 2001 version and so if you already have the old cd of this version, I'm struggling to find any extra value that will justify the hefty price tag on this baby when you are essentially paying for cardboard that isn't one of the better mlps designs that I've seen out there. The cardboard is thin and flimsy and looks as if it will come apart once the glue gets old. For examples of good mlps designs, check out The Band and Hall & Oates releases which are simply works of art on good quality thicker and stronger cardboard.
This is essential listening although this mlps version does not represent good value for money and if you already have a 2001 remastered version in the jewel case, you are better off sticking to it as this is no real upgrade to me.
Van Halen - Somebody Get Them A Doctor........
Starting the album off with two straight covers gained them hits, but is not very original, and seems to be an indication of a struggle to come up with new material. Van Halen II is definitely a step down from the band's debut to my ears. This album always seemed like a summer party album to me. Great to listen to as background music at the beach or rolling around in your car with the windows down, but not something that I would take out for a serious headphone listen at home. Eddie shines on "Spanish Fly", and "Somebody Get Me A Doctor" and "Bottoms Up" are both patented David Lee Roth rants, but overall I find this album rather ho hum, and I think the first album blows it away.
A Nice Farewell to the 70s
It's notably softer than the 1st record, but then we wouldn't want every record to sound the same. While the first Van Halen record remains my favorite, I really did enjoy this one as well. The cover of 'You're No Good' is a really good opener. 'Dance the Night Away' has a nice almost disco sound. 'Somebody Get Me a Dr. ' has its energy. 'Bottoms Up' kind of goes against my nature. 'Outta Love Again' has an almost metal sound. 'Light Up the Sky' was pleasant. 'Spanish Fly' is a nice Spanish sounding instrumental. 'DOA' has kind of a sick charm to it. 'Women In Love' has a good sound. 'Beautiful Girls' finsihes the record in a memorable Diamond Dave fashion. Strangely, while their first record was made in 1978, it sounded more 80s. And this 2nd record while made a year later, has more of a 70s sound. But, that said, it is a really good record. .
You can see a complete list of all Van Halen discography, or go back to the Van Halen tabs
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