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Van Halen - Diver Down Audio CD

A fair review of the Van Halen "Diver Down" 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.

Van Halen Band: Van Halen
Title: Diver Down
Rating:
Release Date: 2000-09-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Where Have All the Good Times Gone! 2: Hang 'Em High 3: Cathedral 4: Secrets 5: Intruder 6: (Oh) Pretty Woman 7: Dancing in the Street 8: Little Guitars (Intro) 9: Little Guitars 10: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now) 11: Full Bug 12: Happy Trails

diverdown.
isn't a band supposed to grow. hearing all these rave reviews. the sound tired and worn out. no originality there. just boring. .


Vaudeville meets party band
Clearly the first six albums are the best & Diver Down is no exception. Its hard for me to pick my favorite VH album. Its fun, diverse and of course it features great guitar work. The first 4 albums rock hard from start to finish but this one has more peaks & valleys (covers, instrumentals & rockers. ) It seems that there was progression starting with their first album. VH1 & VHII are both very similar to one another but the first albums sound is more edgy & aggressive (party band). Woman & children first still rocks hard but sounds more mature, meaningful & has more changes in tempo. Fair Warning starts to sound more modern, funky & colorful. Now we have Diver Down that is more of a step sideways rather than a step-up (not a bad thing just different. ) Its kind of nostalgic with western & vaudeville flavors mixed with good rockers that I think all work well together and make for a fun album for all ages. 1984 would continue in the progression using more keyboards to update their sound. The band seemed to be at their peak during 1984, but Diver Down is still a vital VH album with a cool cover and is beautifully remastered to sound fresh.


Not just the one before 1984.
" Pointing to the profusion of cover songs and the fact that the mini-Moog riff that opens "Dancing In The Streets" was meant for an original VH tune he was writing, EVH noted, "I'd rather bomb with my own stuff than score with somebody else's. Eddie Van Halen once referred to DIVER DOWN as his "least favorite album. " In that vein, I once read a review of this LP that said, "This is the product of an exhausted, bored band at a creative lowpoint. "

True, true. Yet DIVER DOWN is not a terrible or even a bad album. It is merely mediocre by the standards of the Old (1979 - 1985) Van Halen. And considering that band gave us ridiculously brilliant albums like VAN HALEN I and 1984, that's a sliding scale.

First of all, the three main cover tunes ("Dancing", "Where Have All The Good Times Gone?" and "Pretty Woman") are well done, although "Pretty Woman" is technically way off, the result of the band playing it in the studio from memory rather than actually doing their homework (just like high school, Dave!). In fact, I like all of these songs better than their originals - VH truly made them their own. In keeping with old VH traditions, there are also two gag-reel songs, "Big Bad Bill" and "Happy Trails", which are as ridiculous as you'd expect them to be.

On the softer, more AOR-radio friendly side, we've got "Secrets" and "Little Guitars", two underrated and understated tunes you will never - ever - hear on contemporary radio. And the good old VH trademark of an instrumental song ("Cathedral") marks the first real foray by Ed into keyboards and is really a beautiful and evocative track. His next outing was the key-solo on "Jump", and we all know how that one ended up.

DIVER DOWN has a vaguely spaghetti-Western type of theme (I guess Dave was watching a lot of Sergio Leone in 1982?), most particularly on the oddly compelling song "Hang `em High", which is arguably the best track on the record. In addition, "The Full Bug" features an exuberant harmonica solo. This song rocks full-bore and will get you a speeding ticket if you listen to it while driving.

All in all, DIVER DOWN is decent three-star album from a great band playing with one hand occupied by beer, or possibly a groupie's bra. It has most of the things you'd associate with DLR-era Van Halen, the main difference being the lighthearted, almost disposable nature of the songs, which lack the hard, gritty resonance of earlier albums or of side 2 of "1984. " It' a quirky, very distinctive, upbeat type of Big Rock with just enough edge to prevent it from straying into sugar-pop-rock territory.
.


top notch album
Cover songs, yes. People seem to either love this album or hate it. As strong as the first couple of records? Maybe not. Still, a really solid record from one of the best rock bands ever. I always like cover songs that add something new to the original song. This is an album full of songs like that, in a variety of genres from R&B to jazz. A great band that played well together recording great songs. I wish there were more albums like this one.


Van Halen NOT Van Hagar
Say what ya will. . Van Halen has had a well rounded collection of stuff to work with, a few line-up changes. . . That's So Rock N' Roll. . . Diver Down is a great example of what in took to make it memorable. . . yep, it may be dated material and not the first thing that comes to mind when somebody says: "Van Halen". . . but, isn't it just great to be able to listen to it. . . Again!?.


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.

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