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Women and Children First

Van Halen - Women and Children First Audio CD

A fair review of the Van Halen "Women and Children First" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Van Halen reviews here, or go back to the Van Halen tabs.

Band: Van Halen
Title: Women and Children First
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: And the Cradle Will Rock... 2: Everybody Wants Some!! 3: Fools 4: Romeo Delight 5: Tora! Tora! 6: Loss of Control 7: Take Your Whiskey Home 8: Could This Be Magic? 9: In a Simple Rhyme

COULD THIS BE MAGIC?
van halen's 3rd release keeps the string of great realeases going, in fact all releases with roth are worth the price(even if they did slip a bit with diver down later on) diver down being their only 4 star release and 3 with cherone being the worst at 3 stars). van halen with roth on the mike.

Van Halen Women and children First
Another great Van Halen masterpiece ! Worth it's weight in gold to Van Halen fans.

vanhalen women and children frist.
i was maybe 7 or 8 at the time. first off diverdown and 1984 and fair warning get so much more attention than this cd. later on i heard it. its one of my favorite vanhalen cds. and so underated. there are so many classic songs. and maybe now that time has passed maybe this cd will finally get the attention it deserves. diverdown in my opinion was just awful . and fairwarning i liked like two songs off it. so pick up the cd already. and be ready to be in awe. the boys are in there glory. and its before the tensions that started to mount in later of 1981. into 1982.
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The first Van Halen album of the 1980s and with proper title is also one of their greatest

The album was recorded in two weeks in early 1980 but the way that lead singer David Lee Roth, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, his drummer brother Alex Van Halen and bass player Michael Anthony played here it doesn't sound it. Van Halen's third album (their first with a proper title) called Women and Children First was originally released in March of 1980. The album was also produced again by Ted Templeman and their first where the band wrote all of the songs on the album.
The opening rocker "And the Cradle Will Rock. . . " had a killer keyboard riff which sounds like an electric guitar but was a distorted Wurlitzer piano cranked through a Marshall amp and stack and two killer Eddie Van Halen guitar solos in the middle. David Lee Roth's vocals were killer on this album. "Everybody Wants Some" is next with Alex's superb drum intro and an awesome song and all I can think about is the claymated hamburger singing this song in Better Off Dead but a killer song nonetheless with stellar bass work from Michael Anthony and more guitar work from Eddie whom just rocks on this entire album. "Fools" follows and is an awesome track which starts out with just Diamond Dave and Eddie's guitar before going into a full throttle rocker. The first half closing rocker "Romeo Delight" is a killer and sounds like proto-thrash with its punkish drumming and metal riffs.
The second half kicks off with the killer fanfare "Tora! Tora!" before rocking out to the speed metal sounding "Loss of Control". Next is the bluesy Take Your Whiskey Home which may have started out as an acoustic piece at first and then rocks out. Next is the acoustic blues of "Could This Be Magic" with Eddie doing some killer dobro and the late Nichollette Larson suppylying some uncredited backing vocals towards the end of the track. The closing "In a Simple Rhyme" starts out as an acoustic piece before it rocks out then slows again then rocks for the solo then slows for the end like in beginning. After the song ends, there is a hidden 30 second instrumental at the end of the album.
When this album was released, it stormed right into the US Top 5 and was another Multi-Platinum hit for the band.
I first heard this album when I got it for Christmas in 1984 on cassette and the album still sounds great today.
Highly recommended! .

Women & Children First
The album went to #6 on the charts & had one charting single: "And the Cradle Will Rock. Though not quite as good as their first two albums, Women & Children First, nonetheless, is still a very good album. . . " which peaked at #55. By the release of this album the group Van Halen was a household name & headliners worldwide. Women & Children First was the first Van Halen album to not have any cover versions of other songs.

The album opens with the hit "And the Cradle Will Rock. . . " which is probably the second best song on the album. "Have you seen junior's grades?" Once again Van Halen combines some serious lyrics & yet they have the tongue in cheek. "Everybody Wants Some!!" opens with Alex Van Halen's drums putting down a steady beat. On Van Halen's first album no song cross the four minute mark; on their second album they crossed the four minute mark twice. On Women & Children first they cross the five minute mark twice with "Everybody Wants Some!!" being the first. This might be some of the reason that the album suffers some; their songs just aren't as concise. I do love the bit in the middle where Diamond Dave throws in a little male fantasy stuff. Next is "Fools" which is the other song that surpasses five minutes. Some of the problem with this song & the previous one is the somewhat extended openings. In "Fools", once they get to about 1:30 into the song, then the song improves. By this time you can tell that Van Halen has kicked much of their pop side to the curb. Because of this they're not quite as innovative though I really don't mind that Eddie extends his leads a little bit. "Romeo Delight" kicks it up a notch but isn't one of the best songs on the album. "Tora! Tora!" is a short solo instrumental by Eddie which was a staple on most of their albums. This segues into "Loss of Control" is the shortest song on the album that has lyrics. It borders on thrash. "Loss of Control" is probably the weakest song they had included on any of their first three albums. "Take Your Whiskey Home" is the best song on the album. It starts off with Eddie playing a mean acoustic guitar & Dave singing. At about 0:45 they kick into the full band & rock out. I love the way Eddie riffs on the song. "Could This Be Magic?" is filler & has Eddie reveling in some blues with Diamond Dave throwing in his diverse background. "In a Simple Rhyme" finds Van Halen closing the album in fine fashion adding just a hint of pop to the song. Even Michael Anthony throws in some bass riffs.

With hindsight it's easy to see how this album was leading into the territory they would cover with Fair Warning. I think Van Halen was trying to change it up a little with this album; their first two albums were very similar & Women & Children First certainly breaks away from that. The remastering is excellent (wish Warner Bros. would remaster ALL Van Halen albums!) but, once again, the booklet doesn't offer any information beyond the ordinary.

You can see a complete list of all Van Halen discography, or go back to the Van Halen tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.