Reviews (page 12 of 14)
It’s funny that this music was at one point considered hard and “dangerous.” It almost seems quaint today; a cross between rock and pop. I’ve never been into straightforward rock of the late 70s thru 80s. The bass is usually mixed so it sounds thin, and high cymbals replace low bass drums. When I’m in the mood for hard rock, I prefer heavy rhythm sections and sludgy guitar riffs. Having said all that, it’s Van Halen. The guitar is killer. I know I’ve never listened to this album before but I still knew almost every single song, even the guitar instrumental. It’s a really fun album. It’s an undeniable classic of the genre, It’s just not my favorite genre. I’ll split the difference with my rating.
To my ears, 80s Metal is the worst of all genres. I realize this is not quite the 80s, but its very, very close. Regardless, I involuntarily rolled my eyes when I saw Van Halen pop up. I couldn't bring myself to listen to this at work, so instead, popped it on while I was sitting on my back deck, sipping a beer - with a perfect blue sky and a pleasant warm breeze. And I kind of liked it! For the first 4 or 5 songs, it was pretty good, before it all started waning. But for a brief moment in time, I heard it.
It's fun but samey.
Technically impressive, but the song writing is mediocre at best
I've only ever heard the hits of Van Halen in my 66 years. This is the 1st time that I've listened to a full album. There were songs I liked and didn't like. All in all it was pretty good.
Fun but ultimately empty
Its aite
This is ok. Eddie Van Halen is for sure a great guitarist, but I don’t really love the *sound* of his guitar playing. It just sounds very inorganic - so much reverb and flash just for the sake of flash. Some of the songs are very catchy, others are pretty generic. Not a big fan of David Lee Roth’s singing either. 3 stars.
Easily my favorite Van Halen record. Any rock fan should enjoy this to some degree. I'm not the biggest Van Halen fan, but I do think their debut is an essential rock album. Listen to it loud!
"Eruption" is absolutely disgusting. Top 3 guitar solos of all time, no contest. I love the sound of the guitar. It's a very crunchy, ghastly (in a good way) sound. Van Halen should have gone the Buckethead route and made a fully instrumental album, because the weakest part of this are the kitschy lyrics and vocals. I want to hear that awesome guitar but there's this guy who keeps screaming about all the women he's fucked. So in conclusion: If this didn't have any lyrics it could be one of the best instrumental albums of all time. With lyrics, it's just a pretty good "dad rock" album.
It's not the kind of music I would normally choose to listen to. I get the sense with rock musicians though that often louder = better, as in a foreign country where a non-native speaker tries to make himself understood by speaking louder. I thought of few of these songs were just a little over the top in that way. There were some very good tunes on here though, and I could recognize the quality of the musicianship. The guitar work was pretty impressive and even dazzling sometimes. I had mixed feelings on this one. Overall, I'd say that I liked the album, but I think it could have been a lot better.
Wow. More Van Halen, huh? Off to a good start with "Runnin' with the Devil.” Much fun and probably a better song than anything on 1984 not called “Jump.” The sound here is still decidedly guitar-focused hard rock, but there’s much more in common with early 70s bands like Thin Lizzy, Dire Straits, T. Rex, even Led Zeppelin to a degree. There’s more nuance and focus on songwriting compared to the maximalism of 1984. And just more fun! Like the little mid-song, barbershop number they break into in the midst of the otherwise hard-rocking “I’m the One.” Not to mention that joyously fun little blues number, “Ice Cream Man.” So good. I was dismayed when I saw this record populate after T. Rex last night, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a good time with it. Even if the guitar tones are a bit polished for my tastes and the hoo-rah-YEAH! moments are bit stomach-churning. Still more highs than lows, so 3 stars…by the skin of its teeth.
What you’d expect from a rock album really. Not got much more to add
Not really my style, but it's EVH. That guy could play!
Was this entire album made into singles? Feel like I would give this a 7 but with only 5 stars it’s a 3.
Better record then I thought. Ain‘t talking bout love is still a huge hit.
Pretty rip-ass dad rock album, though unfortunately non of the singles really stuck for me. Standout of the album today was Eruption, I like the boldness of just making a whole track be a bitching guitar solo. Good album, but falls into a background music space for me.
it's so weird that "hair metal" was a genre. why did all of the bands have long hair and play the same music i don't get it
Fun album but very samey. Later tracks not very interesting but the first half is good. Nice guitar tone
80s hair metal from 1978. A fun listen and exactly what you'd expect - slick production, big choruses and super fast guitar solos. A few familiar tracks up top. Surprising to read that 'Eruption' isn't the space alien bit from Back to the Future (that's an Eddie Van Halen solo effort). Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Runnin' with the Devil Date listened: 04/03/23
What a way to make a first impression. Eddie Van Halen just says screw the way guitar used to be played. This is how you’re all going to do it now. There is some amazing guitar playing on this album. The album itself is just okay though. The songs all do sound very similar in style except the beginning of “Ice Cream Man” which stands out as something different. I enjoyed the “Running with the Devil” to “Ain’t Talkin ‘bout Love” but the after that it got kind of boring. Maybe Van Halen just isn’t my thing
The singles are the singles for a reason lol. Wasn't a huge fan of the deep cuts. The singles are okay.
Not a single bad song, I expected worse
pretty decent for boomer rock, expected worse but was pleasantly surprised 3.5/5
Not a fan of this kind of music. Also, what’s going on with “Ice Cream Man”?
should have just jumped
Too much cheesy filler but the album cover deserves an award for design and hubris it's amazing
No comment.
Pretty good early hair band stuff
Nice band of hard rock.
It started to sound like Van Halen then it didn’t. I like when it did sound like Van Halen
Honestly this was a pretty whatever album. It wasn't bad by any means but it wasn't notable to me in any way really. Maybe I only feel that way because I've heard running with the devil and eruption so many times but by the end I was just like "yup that's van halen, alright"
Great songs in this album. Overall most songs sound very similar to me, though.
kom á óvart. blússkotnara. gítarsólóinn leiðinleg. en þokkalegasti blús frá næpuhvítum honkíum.
An absolute ripper of an LP – convinced Eddie and co. walked into the studio, cranked their amps, and proceeded to ram out all 35 minutes at once. There's not a whole lot in the way of dynamic, rhythmic, or melodic contrast, but that's not the goal here. EVH revolutionized guitar for a reason, and while I suspect many will be turned off by the technical wankery that dominates most of the album, I'm all here for it as a guitar dude. Hearing those two-hand tapping runs all over each track makes me grin ear-to-ear, and the whole LP is worth it just for the gratuitous bombast of 'Eruption.'
I imagine a lot of people around the world going, “Holy shit! What is this?!?” when this album came out. Let’s all bow down to Eddie Van Halen and his guitar mastery. Mad respect. Listening to this album, specifically Eruption, a light bulb went off. This is the sound I associate with 80s metal guitar that turns me off. It’s technically phenomal, but at the same time…gratuitous. This is the source. To be clear, Eddie’s sound here is great. He’s carrying this whole album. It’s the lesser imitators that came later and tried to make their own version of this, for a solid 10-15 years, that I don’t like. The let down on this album are the lyrics. They aren’t particularly stimulating and they are too repetitive.
Calkowite zaskoczenie redempcja Van Helenowa, po ostatnim picku od bandy spodziewalem sie mocnego szrota, a dostalem mocno old skulowe rokowanie z 78, byl to debiutancki material zespolu, ktory od razu otworzyl im droge do zlota i platyn, 11 trakow na 35 minutach daje dosc szybkie ale jednoczesnie harde granie, posrod orginalnych utworow bandy na krazku sa tez dwa covery, bardziej rzucajcym sie w oczy jest you really got me kinksow i drugi ice cream man od pana Johna Brima, sporo jest fragmentow instrumentalnych, gdzie Eddie Helenowy popisuje sie swoimi skillsami gitarowymi czy sitarowymi na aint talkin about love, pomimo tego ze nie wymyslili kola na nowo, to jednak graja z energia potrafiaca porwac sluchacza, wiec swietnie sie bawilem podczas dzisiejszego sluchowiska wczuwajac sie w wyjcowanie rokowane i juz wiem czemu dostali przydomek bandy ktora uratowala muzyke rokowa, a na plejke idzie openingowy running with the devil, atomic punk i little dreamer, czuje boomer czlowiek gdy zadowala sie juz muzyka ktora brzmi jak wszystko co juz slyszal, ale jednak wszystko co sie czlekowi podobalo, w przeciwienstwie do muzyki generowanej praktycznie przez ai jak dzisiaj
Great album, only issue is Eruption grates, 1 min 40 secs of EVHs self indulgence
One or two made it onto my Playlist. Generic 80s sound
Nice classic Rock. Some of the Riffs zave been sampled.
2nd December 2022 Listened during the late afternoon while making cauliflower curry. Chilled Friday, dump and rugby Saturday and Stowe on Sunday with mum and dad. Don’t think many people shred like Van Halen, classic 80s bro rock and I’m kinda here for it. 3.5 if I could, not sold on the Kinks cover.
Guaranteed to satisfy!
Not particularly my favorite genre of music. Pretty straightforward classic rock music. For the most part it just kinda bores me, but the guitar work is the only noteworthy aspect of it. Eruption is actually awesome, and the solos in some of the other songs keep the record from being complete waste. 5/10
Schlechte drei. Wegen der ersten vier Songs, die zweite Hälfte der Platte finde ich etwas schlechter.
Fun as a 80s album. Kinda hair metal without becoming too stupid.
Solid album, high energy and fun, but nothing particularly stood out to me
Much nicer than I thought, nice mix of pop and hardrock
3 tai 4
Dit album heeft een paar goede popnummers van onze Nederlandse rockers. Het heeft helaas ook wat pingel-pongel nummers waarbij het spelen met de gitaar belangrijker is dan muziek maken. ***
A pleasure to be reminded of Eddie Van Halens brilliant guitar work, but also great pop rock. The ancestors of bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn.
Better than expected
Litt glammy, mye fete riff
I can see why Marty likes them.
Some classic Van Halen, but those tracks are more fun to revisit then the album.
Pleasantly surprised, not as heavy as expecting.
Completely understand why this one got popular and is considered a classic but so much of it just isn’t for me. Too many of the hard rockin songs sound the same. For all of Eddie Van Halen’s talent he has never seemed to understand how to use it to its full extent to make something that sounds different.
Good guitar and alright vocals
OK hard rock, nothing more than that (except for Eruption and their version of You really got me). Sounds very much like the not-best Uriah Heep albums.
Pretty cool
Riffage. Not really ever going to be my thing but it's fun. Classic case this of me having absorbed 40 years of culture influenced by it but never the source material. For instance can't hear Ain't Talkin About Love without wanting it to go the way Apollo 440 took it. I wish the tunes were as good as the guitar work. I can bet this will go down better with me than the 1984 one, but will have to wait and see.
Meio chato, meio metal farofa
Obviously planted one of the big flag in the hard rock scene, particularly on the American side of it. Still fairly meathead, as befits its genre, and despite the accolades I found the music got a little plodding at times. Would happily listen to any of it most of the time, would never seek out the album to listen to again.
It’s Van Halen. It’s exactly what I expected.
A solid classic rock album, that also probably has such a historical impact that I don't know about as always. :P
Several good hits on this album; really enjoyed Eruption
Hillitöntä vasemman nypläämistä ja kahden käden pikkaamista. Noh mitähän tästä nyt sanois. Must tää on siis kyl ihan positiivisen puolelle menevä vaikka samalla luiskahtaa tiukan seisari-kasari-machoilun puolelle. Ain't talkin' bout love on vitu härkänen. Ei tää neljää pongoo saa millään mutta ehkä nyt kolmosen sitten. 3/5
More metal-y than I expected
Fine, not particularly interesting.
I remember hearing this as a kid when my dad played the vinyl. Headbanging then and headbanging today. Insane riffs from Eddie catapults this record into the stratosphere. Van Halen taught a lot of people how to rock. Tap tap TAPAROOO, ERUPTION!!!
i feel like i’m starting to realize that if i listen to these albums enough, in the background, i’ll likely find a song i like and the album will grow on me
The album as a whole sounds exciting at first but starts to get repetitive by the time you reach the b-side. Listening to one of the 'best of' compilations is a much better option when it comes to Van Halen. (My favorite Van Halen songs are: Ain't Talkin' Bout Love, Jump, Panama, Hot for Teacher.) #1 Ain't Talkin' Bout Love It has one of the coolest guitar riffs ever and the chorus is catchy too. Also love the use of the ride cymbal during the chorus. #2 I'm the One I really appreciate how Eddie Van Halen always sounds very expressive despite all the pyrotechnics. It's dynamic, raw, often very impulsive but never mechanical and all in all highly individualistic.
Pretty good.
This was ok, but nothing stood out to me.
Lots of classic songs on here. Most are pretty played out from me; only FM rock station where I grew up played lots of Van Halen every day. I've grown to like most of these songs as I've gotten older. Hard not to appreciate Eddie as a guitar player. I still Like 4 Non Blondes version of I'm The One better, and 2 Minutes to Late Night mined this album hard for their Bedroom Covers series, so at the end of the day there are versions of most of these songs I'd rather listen to.
A fun listen with rock and a little blues tossed in for good measure.
Well it was certainly interesting to read up a bit about Van Halen's journey. This album is not really for me. Faves: Atomic Punk, Little Dreamer, Ice Cream Man
La face A est franchement réjouissante et pleine d'énergie. La face B est pleine de remplissage.
Amazing guitar player. Enjoyed the couple of hits. Rest of the album just blurred together. It was ok
Surprisingly good.
It's good rock, but long guitar solos do nothing for me 3.3
decent but not my favorite. i think the other van halen album on the list has more of their iconic songs. There were some good songs on this, and the guitar play is really impressive, but the lyrics were a bit uninspired and there were some forgettable songs. The first four songs were great, but hte rest of the album doesn't really hold up imo.
What would become MTV rock emerging out of British metal influences, this has enough going on to keep you awake. And Eddie of course, introducing the world to rapid guitar solos.
I hadn't realised how many Van Halen moments that I was aware of all came from this album. It packed full of classic rock songs and samples. This was a much more enjoyable listen that I had anticipated.
The cover of "You Really Got Me" got me, wasn't quite so keen on the rest though.
Not a big van Halen fan. Fun album though.
"Van Halen" is a frenetic debut by a frenetic hard rock band, leaning towards a glam metal that would become the band's signature style. "Runnin' with the Devil" and "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" are very good songs.
Huh. I wouldn’t have guessed that I would ultimately start enjoying a Van Halen album. First listen was a bit like nails to a chalkboard with that over the top guitar sound and them lyrics - but digging a bit deeper and some forgiving for hair metal misogyny- there is some honest to god good tracks here. Not going to be my favourite - but would listen next to what I consider fun albums like Iron Maiden.
2/28/22 This album didn’t speak to me like some of the others have. Didn’t dislike it but thought it was a bit too shrill and chaotic for me. I hate that the lead single from this album is a cover. For some reason that really annoys me lol. Favorite song: Jamie’s Crying
Listened Before? P Whoooo doggies! This one is a scorcher from beginning to end. They were on so much coke they squeezed an hour of music into 35 minutes! Gotta love the 80's! Pros: Pretty much front-to-back good songs. Absolutely KILLER guitar sound and skills from EVH. He was one of the great ones. Ice Cream Man is an underrated gem. Cons: Unfortunately, the rating for this album is going to be wrecked by mainstream rock radio again... much like AC/DC's Highway to Hell... There are 4 or 5 songs on this album that got absolutely RAILROADED into the ground over the past four decades. I didn't skip them on this listen, but almost definitely will in the future. At least You Really Got Me is short! Added to Library? P Songs added to Playlist: You Really Got Me, Ice Cream Man
Groovy
Loved it in high school
Is what it is I suppose - competent but leaves me cold. However happy to listen to a landmark album a couple of times
I dig it
It's fun and I appreciate the energy, just not for me.
Ну для любителей
1978!!! asocio esta música y esta imagen a los 80 incluso a finales de los 80, lo mismo fue la inercia y llegada tardía a España de toda la música prohibida durante la dictadura. El disco no está mal, pero para ese año "Ain't talkin' 'bout love" es una obra maestra.
Die sind eigentlich die Migos für Rock insofern dass die ein bestehendes Movement nehmen, ihren eigenen Spin drauf tun der hochglanzpoliert ist aber immer bangt und so einen breiten Zugang für die Musik schaffen. Funktioniert lustigerweise genau wie Migos dadurch aber eher in kleinen Dosen als über ein ganzes Album. Aber ka das hat größtenteils Spaß gemacht. Die Riffs knallen, der Gesang ist recht charakteristisch. Manche Songs sind etwas redundant und wie gesagt viel länger als 35 Minuten würd ich’s mir nicht anhören.
Best solo guitar I've ever heard. But not much political interesting
Not bad not bad. Made cookies while listening to this and they turned out good.
Uplifting and fun album.
This song is hits front to back! Felt like I’d heard them all before. Unfortunately as an album it didn’t mesh super well for me
sometimes you forget how good they were. what talent all-around
This was a surprise. I'm not a Van Halen fan at all, but had heard most of these songs. I had thought that all of these were from the mid 80s but knowing that this album was in 1978 shifts my perspective. They were ahead of their time. The "non-single" songs all had a more 70s rock vibe to them.
Good quality rock and roll album. 4 recognized songs
Solides Gitarrengewichse, aber nicht ganz mein Ding. Eine Mood, um bei Nacht durch eine Stadt rumzulaufen, tho.
This is the album that changed... well, something. Eddie Van Halen was pretty amazing and popularized a style that really did revolutionize the way electric guitars are played. With that said, I was never a huge fan of the band while DLR sang, with the exception of the Jump album. 3 stars.
A classic! Might be a bit too "power rock"y for me (might be the voice - kinda like ACDC) but it was super fun. Listened with my mom and she loved it.
I always consider Van Halen an 80s hair-rock band, rather than anything that would be producing an album in the late seventies. This opens with the melodic Running with the Devil which eases in smoothly with harmonies and soft riffs. The long guitar solo in the next track Eruption is far closer to what I consider Van Halen but in the most positive way. Jaymie's Cryin' is an interesting departure from the rest of the album so far - a bit more like an experimental version of the opening track - I'm not convinced that it works though. Ice Cream Man is almost a novelty hit, reducing back to a much more 50s rock and roll sound but performed well and sliced open with a very hair metal guitar solo. Also, the album art is great. Very KISS. Good - You Really Got Me, Ice Cream Man
I know most of these songs from Guitar Hero, but never heard them in good audio quality. I don't mind it actually. Ice Cream Man is creepy as hell. Plus other songs feel condescending as fuck, which I can't stand to listen to personally.
Bing chillin
mycket bättre än baby albumet! gillar hur släpig gitarren o många helt bra sånger men kinda långtråkigt och jag orkar int höra på shreddande man....
Great guitar work. Poppier than I was expecting. Great vocal performances. Not earth-shattering, but maybe worth revisiting.
not bad, nice rock!
Rockin!
surprising easy listen. 3 for being overplayed tho
Some insane guitar aerobics aside, this is a classic of hair rock, full of energy and virtuoso playing. Great great fun and a template for others to follow
3/5 there were some interesting parts, but way too screamy for my taste
Its fricking Van Halen.
Fun, but not life-changing. Wouldn't return to it.
Eddie was a genius.. the songs are alright.
Again, another failure on the 5 start review process. Better than 3 but not a 4.
3.5 | Jump, Running with the Devil, Panama, Hot For Teacher... Todas grandes y excelentes canciones de Van Halen... Absolutamente ninguna de las cuales vienen en este disco. Realmente la única canción reconocible de ellos es su cover de los Kinks que, sí es quizá el mejor cover de esa canción, pero sigue siendo un cover. Este fetichismo por los debuts sigo sin entenderlo. Me recordó mucho a escuchar ese disco de Bluesbreakers con Clapton; sí Eddie Van Halen es uno de los más virtuosos guitarristas del rock, quizá el mejor de sus contemporáneos y de su estilo musical y eso se nota y se aprecia y se disfruta mucho... Sin embargo eso es algo que se podía apreciar y disfrutar mucho en cualquier otro disco más relevante de ellos, no por ser el primero tiene mágicamente que ser considerado grande. Me agradó mucho el disco pero para poner aquí Van Halen creo que hay cosas mucho más importantes que "escuchar antes de morir" antes de este. Me sobresalen un par de momentos... Ice Cream Man con su rocanrol muy simpático... I'm The One que si no fuera por la voz jurarías que es Mötorhead... Ese cover tan bien hecho... Siempre se aprecia mucho escuchar a un miembro de esa "familia real" de guitarristas virtuosos pero creo que hay mejores muestras que poner tanto de él como del grupo en conjunto.
I've not listened to Van Halen much. Growing up mostly in the post-Grunge period these guys were never cool to me and I generally lumped them in with all the (bad) 80's hair bands. Listening to this now... it's not terrible. First off, can't deny that Eruption isn't great... but I mostly came to appreciate that after hearing Mike McCready play it live. The guitars are pretty front and center so that's nice. I'm surprised by how much they sound like Aerosmith to me. David Lee Roth sounds a lot like Steven Tyler. The music isn't as funky as Aerosmith can be but it's basically the same idea. Overall, a surprisingly fun listen considering my general dislike of this big pop-rock style. Aside from some of the guitar playing, it's really not that original. I can understand why lots of people love this and it's on the list - but it doesn't really seem like that much of a landmark album to me and stylistically I'm not really into it.
It's all right
Interesting album, surprising in places and pretty good. I don’t think I’ll listen to it again often, but I enjoyed it.
I used to think Eruption was the greatest two minutes of music ever. I was not correct. But it is pretty cool. Overall album is fine, I'm sure it was very impressive and progressive at the time for rock music but hard to differentiate that in your mind in 2021.
Some positives and negatives for this one. The two main negatives: 1) This album was heavy metal being released at a time when I hated heavy metal, and 2) David Lee Roth is a dough head. On the positive side, Eddie sure can play guitar. I'm almost certain that I just recently said in another review that a guitar solo (literal speaking) is as lame as a drum solo. Eruption is an exception. It's really fucking good. I also really like the two cover versions. The Kinks' cover is made by Eddie's guitar work and Ice Cream Man is just plain old fun. So how do we rate a band that has a phenomenal guitar player that would have been nothing without said guitar player? I am remembering my Led Zep ratings (incl a 5) since my view is that Led Zep would be nothing without Page. Led Zeppers will cling to the view that Plant, Bonham and JPJ are good enough but this is delusional. For Van H, I doubt anyone can even name all the other members and nobody, other than David Lee Roth perhaps, is delusional enough to think they could have made it without Eddie. One thing that is clear is that Led Zep's band members other than Page run circles around their equivalents in Van H. Not sure why I felt the need to justify my not giving a 5 Regardless of how good Eddie is, 4 isn't even on the table.
Eh, not really my thing, but fine I guess. I enjoyed hearing the origin of the guitar line of Apollo 440's "Ain't Talkin' About Dub". Fave track - probably the Kinks cover "You Really Got Me". I quite liked "I'm The One" too, as it started out sounding like a Motorhead song and then went off in an unexpected very un-Motorhead direction... 😆
Tasty riffs. Catchy tunes. Juvenile lyrics.
"I am a victim of the science age A child of the storm, whoa yes I can't remember when I was your age For me, it says no more, no more Nobody rules these streets at night like me The atomic punk" (Atomic punk) Nunca pienso en escuchar Van Halen de forma activa, pero cuando me cuadra oírlos por lo que sea siempre paso un buen rato. Es música entretenida.
Cultura general ya que es un disco bastante vendido a nivel mundial.. Esta entretenido. No me atrapo del todo.
faves: little dreamer, feel your love tonight
Very interesting
Ok, Eddie settle down there fella. There's just so many little guitar noodles all over the place it gets a little distracting.
I enjoyed this, but not a huge fan of the guitar solos, which I’m sure true Van Halen fans do.
classic rock at its classic rockiest.
Great rock, fantastic guitar work. Would have enjoyed it a lot more without the vocals. “On Fire” was fine, but everything else was just David Lee Roth being thirsty and DTF
Some good songs, al lot of mediocre ones, 3 stars for the fabulous guitarplay
Surprisingly enjoyable. Was expecting Bon Jovi in spandex and got Iron Maiden on ecstasy. Some great melodies, especially on the second half of the album when the finger tapping isn't as prominent.
A fine album, just not to my taste.
Very cliché but not bad.
1978 sounds like 1984 in terms of "hair rock". A better album than I remembered with much of the first half being bonafide classics. 3.5 out of 5
Still fun but not as good as 1984, bit too old school rock n roll for my taste.
Kinda fun, some classic tunes. Could get into it if I'm in a certain mood
Good fun but a bit samey throughout
Vreemd hoe je soms een groep denkt te kennen, maar het album u dan toch volledig verrast
pretty good!
Good rock, great guitarist.
Er zitten toch echt prachtige gitaarstukken tussen.
Not bad, but nothing amazing either.
It's Van Halen. You either love them or hate them, it's pretty much that simple.
nice pop rock i guess
Gestopt met luisteren na een paar nummers, dus precies lang genoeg gedraaid om het tof te blijven vinden!
Goh, ik wist niet dat 'Ain't talking about...' eigenlijk van Van Halen was.
2. Would have been 3 if they had the vocals only tracks
Yeah definitely haven't heard this before.
this is a rock music
I'm not a fan of live music, but I guess this is the kind of music where you have to be there to properly enjoy it. Or maybe even out on the road? On Wikipedia it says the guitar solo in the beginning is praised for being the best solo of all time, which I really disliked. So I guess I just wasn't feeling it. The singing was solid at times, but at some parts he just sounded like Elvis. Only three stars from me.
Not objectionable, but I don't love the showy guitar glam rock they do so well.
Better than Van Halen's 1984, with fewer singles, but ultimately just didn't hold my attention as I was listening. I don't think I'll find much occasion to come back to Van Halen in general since I don't have the nostalgia for it.
I'm listening to the first album from Van Halen released in February of 1978. First off, I'm not sure Eddie's guitar genius fits in with a tired morning sitting in a fluorescent cube. Beyond that, it makes me start thinking about being young and driving around with my brother and his friends. I was too young to enjoy this at the time. But Van Halen was always mixed in with the music we listened to on cassette. The alchemy here is pretty stunning and fully formed on their debut. I know Eddie died in 2020, so it's bittersweet to hear his work so early in his career. I remember a former manager for the group said Eddie was dumb as a rock and they always purposely tried to keep Eddie from talking too much in interviews. I think it was understood though that Eddie and his guitar did all the talking, and changed popular music and what hard rock sounded like. I'm not sure how this album might fit into my current life. Perhaps when we need to some upbeat music to clean the house, or some other chore. It's like a freight train. And the best part of listening to these albums is hearing their hits within the context of their original album. The back half, or side 2 of the album, is full of the sort of rocking songs I would expect. With these songs literally pulled out of the air, and never had existed before, I get why this album was so big for guitar rock. I can't imagine listening to this on a regular basis, but I'm enjoy it today.
Did not dislike as much as I thought I would. Now I'm not sure if Van Halen or The Kinks version of "You Really Got Me" is the one I've heard over the years. Can't deny the legacy and technical prowess of the guitar playing, but beyond a fun novelty every once and awhile doesn't do much for me.
Probably the best Van Halen album. The first side of it, for glam metal, is probably as good as it gets but that’s not saying much. I think the guitar playing is obviously stellar but the singing isn’t really my thing. Favorite song: You Really Got Me Least favorite song: Ice Cream Man
3.5
More like David Lee rocks, amiright?
A fun album with some fantastic guitar work. That said, there are a few too many fillers to warrant anything about a 3.
More fun than I expected
I didn't know Van Halen sang all these other songs... rip Eddie :( what a great rock dude
5/10 I am not a fan of heavy metal, and this album is no exception. There's nothing actually wrong with the album, but it just doesn't work for me. (it's also notable that my favorite song from the album is a cover...)
Doesn't speak to me at all. Sounds like Led Zeppelin with zero soul.
I’ve never really been a fan of Van Halen. I feel like a lot of the songs are dumb and boring. But one bonus point for You Really Got Me because I loved that song when I was 11.
It’s exactly what I would think it is. This variety of rock absolutely has a time and place. But unfortunately I haven’t been a twelve year old discovering air guitar in a long time
Very Epic. Obviously Van Halen is a God amongst men on the guitar. Because I play guitar this album was a little redeeming in that sense. Besides the cool guitar techniques, I honestly didn’t care for this album that much.
Eddie is very clearly the goat and eruption is obviously an impressive song but this whole album feels like a 10 year olds idea of good music
shred my ears
Never really clicked with hair metal, but I was able to appreciate the musicianship here -- it's not just fast and screechy and decadent. My favorite track is the first 90 second of "Ice Cream Man," wch is the least typical of the album, so...
Glam-Metal, it's a genre I have historically never really gotten on with. I can appreciate the Eddy Van Halen guitar, I think, I guess? But the overall presentation of this album I couldn't get in to. I have tried listening to the guitar in many different ways, standing upside down, with and without air guitar. But it just didn't quite hit as hard as the Iron Maiden album that we listened to previously. 1 star for Eddy being Dutch.
Didn't listen!
Review: There is a lot to say about this album. There were some highs but some other worldly lows. It felt like the guitar was so good at some points and other times it felt like they were blindfolded just clawing at the guitar. I do not understand how people think Eruption is good. Its just a crock pot of random guitar solos with no purpose. The biggest downfall of this album was the lack of emotion and purpose. It felt like things were being done just for things to be done. There were however some amazing songs. Feel Your Love Tonight being the best by far. It just amazes me how someone can make such good songs and also just straight up noise pollution and then throw them on the same album.
Not my vibe but a few tracks I enjoyed!
hmm not really my usual vibe but not bad to havw playing in the background during work
I recognize why so many people have fun with this album but I just have exceedingly little patience for this kind of cock rock at this stage in my life. Maybe I'm just a grump I don't know. So much pointless shredding, so many annoying 'vocal stylings' (why do they sound like they're getting burned by hot pokers every other verse? why in God's name do they start doing doo-wop singing in the middle of I'm the One? why did they ruin You Really Got Me with those stupid orgasm vocals?) but I do admit I was nodding along to some of the songs in the first half. Not really heavy enough for me to get really into it though. I realize this is kind of an album that you have to turn your brain off for but it's just too stupid for me and not fun enough to make up for that. There are hard rock bands out there who just do this shtick way better and are also not responsible for the plague of hair metal bands in the 80s. Ultimately it sounds like the favorite album of guys whose sex life peaked during the Reagan administration.
This felt like a spoof for what I would think hard rock would sounds like. Actually quite enjoyed it and didn’t know they wrote you really got me.
Crazy cool guitar and very much what i think of when i think of trad rock, not rlly my cup of tea atm, maybe if it caught me at a diff time, really liked ice cream man it felt the least like the other songs rlly caught me
Runnin with the devil definitely my fav.
Meh. Never been a David Lee Roth fan. First song is good, the rest was tedious.
kinda fun i guess but a bit soulless? too American and too Man
Everyone’s got a guy who will say something like, “Ya know, the thing about Eddie was…” I don’t have any specific attachment to Van Halen, though I am a Guitar Guy enough that I should be primed to look past the stuff I don’t like here, and just Enjoy Eddie. But for whatever reason, I am just not big on Eddie! I recognize him as being very skilled and what he’s doing as being very difficult, but I never actually enjoy listening to him. It is what it is.
Pretty alright
i didn't want to listen to this. but in the spirit of "the project".... more bid, dumb, fun rock. i don't hate it. childhood memories, etc.
Was this the birth of hair metal?
I never really liked Van Halen, because in the 80's they were overplayed
Teenage thrashing
pompous hair pop
Fun
some tracks were cool, they probably (most likely) are soundtracks in a movie. otherwise it was fine
Just feels very meh. The guitar work is very busy but the music doesn’t really hit me.
Entertaining
Embarrassing stuff to be found everywhere. Top of the list is that fucking awful ‘You Really Got Me’ cover. Trash. 2/5
Van Halen I enjoyed this a little more than 1984, but some of the same things hold true as on that album - namely I don’t find Dave Lee Roth at all interesting as a singer, frontman or lyricist, and despite its technical proficiency Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing leaves me pretty cold. To be fair his playing does feel slightly more restrained than on 1984, and the album is better for it, but it still has a tendency towards empty grandstanding - e.g. the oft-lauded Eruption, which in actuality is a load of old wank. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love is a great riff and good song, I like Running With the Devil and Jamie’s Cryin, Feel Your Lovin’ and On Fire are all fun enough. The rest is pretty forgettable but I must say I really dislike their version of All of the Day - in their hands the rawness of the original is replaced by a rather dull roominess that strips all the greatness out of it. And Ice Cream is truly woeful and not a little embarrassing. So even though I did like it more than 1984 there’s not really enough here to make me want to listen again so I’ll go with a 2 🇳🇱🇳🇱 Playlist submission: Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
a classic i can't complain
Technical proficiency with no emotion, unless narcissism is an emotion.
ou, é ruim. hard rock que consiste em um mano esbagaçando a guitarra e o resto da banda balançando o cabelo. infelizmente tenho mais de 12 anos, não gosto mto de solos de guitarra desse tipo nao. não me entendam errado, eles tem talento. só usam pro mal.
Kinda feel like I heard it before, it reminded me a lot of Elvis.
Aika perusbluesrokkia
2/5
Deeply irritating
I feel like every Van Halen song I've heard follows a similar pattern: I start out thinking "oh this is gonna be cool" but then we get to the meat of the song and I'm just like, meh. Nothing really wowed me here and I had to stop myself from skipping some of them once I was about halfway through because I would rather just move on with my life to something more fun/interesting. Ice Cream Man wasn't bad, but by that point in the album I was already too burned out to care.
some nice riffs once in while, nothing mind blowing other than that
This kind of sucks. Ain't Talking Bout Love is sick becuase the Minutemen covered it and demolished it! Obviously his band starts writing better songs but yeah, this is kind of a snooze. Jamie's Cryin bops.
No me gusto mucho
Not my flavor
Sans plus 2.5+/5
What I have learned from this is there are so many unique ways to make bad music.
Not really my music style but i kinda liked the instrumentals
extended fart noise
jamies crying gefällt mir gut, rest is irgendwie so 0815 rock wie man ihn sich vorstellt.. weiß nicht, nicht schlecht aber auch irgendwie nicht wirklich spannend??!
Rock statement de la época
Surprisingly dull. More virtuosity than tunes, leaving the whole thing feeling oddly hollow and empty. Much less than the sum of it's parts.
Can’t listen at work. Too “intense”
Nothing way too gripping but very listenable, I can see why these albums sold so easily. Highlights: "Eruption", "Little Dreamer", "Ice Cream Man"
Bit mid, right?
its alright
This sounds so 80s and made in great year 1978. Total forerunners ! Regardless of that achievement this album doesn't resonate much with me.
Never one of my favourites, it's too flamboyant and seems like every musician and their technician are trying to be the best new hot shit on this record. It's too much. The songs are okay, few of them better that the rest, shit like eruption do not belong on a record but a live stage. Most of the songs could use trimming and remove the fringes and extra flounces. Sometimes more is indeed more and way too much.
I put Van Halen alongside Motley Crue in the hairspray metal camp. Undeniably good guitar playing - but it’s too polished for my tastes. 2/5
Top 3: 1. "You Really Got Me" 2. "On Fire" 3. "Runnin' with the Devil"
This is probably pretty cool if you know anything about playing a guitar which I don’t so the brilliance (if any) was kind of lost on me. Just a lot of screeching from both guitars and people.
Meh at best.
Dit was bij vlagen echt een hate-listen voor mij. Die stomme gitaarsolo('s), die stomme Kinks cover, dat stomme shoebedoowap stukje, die stomme teksten, die stomme blues cover. Ik ben niet het doelpubliek van dit genre. Having said all of that, af en toe rockt het wel
not my thing. liked the first part of the ice cream song
At this time, this likely sounded like a fresh take on hard rock. In retrospect, it's hard not to hear it as a precursor to hair metal and all of its excesses. The musicianship is certainly impressive, and when it's paired with good songwriting and interesting ideas like the doo-wop interlude on the "Hot For Teacher" dry run "I'm the One," it's a lot of fun. But "Eruption" is a guitar solo yearning for a song to go with it, and other songs also lack good choruses or riffs to bring things home. "Running with the Devil" and "Janie's Crying" predict the slow, sing-along choruses of 80s metal. "Ain't Talkin Bout Love" is the one song where all of the pieces really come together for me. There are some good moments here, but I'm left wishing it had a little more edge.
haven't we had this one before..?? atomic punk low point
Yeah whatever. Got nothing out of this that I couldn’t get out of the transition music in the horrid Henry animated series
Important to know about historically. Over-the-top rock that is leaning towards metal. My parents’ music. For me, though - good but nothing terribly special. I’d listen to it on the radio.
Gitar jiro
te rocky
Achei horrivelmente chato e sem lógica. Solo de guitarra sem rumo e me parece sem identidade alguma.
It’s fine, ok, bland to be honest… but I don’t feel anything.
Я дуже не люблю ван халєн, але тут пісня номер 2 мені сподобалась, тому поставлю 2.
A lot of technical skill that doesn't detract from the fact that this record is rather milquetoast.
Not really my thing. Pretty tacky.
Inte så jättebra men najs gitarr såklart
Pretty ass
Cool guitar riffs don’t outweigh the sloppy misogynistic lyrics
Man, I remember listening to this cassette in our Ford Econoline van for years after it came out as a big part of the soundtrack to my youth. EVH is easily in the conversation of greatest rock guitarists of all time, his brother was clearly in the conversation for most mastrubatory fast drumming of all time, and DLR remains one of the most narcissistic front men ever, with terrible misogynist lyrics second only to AC/DC in their offensiveness (for front line bands). What was once shall never be again for me. Goodbye to frail masculinity, hello to being an adult
Reminds me of driving around listening to am rock. Great guitar, MOR lyrics and vocals. Definitely dated and as I have no emotional connection to this, it’s objectively a two from me.
dr rockso
와 앨범커버 정말 틀기 싫게 생김 노래는 무난무난하네 2
Groupe de hard rock, je n’ai pas reussi a ecouter l’album a cause des guitares electriques et pas forcement a mon gout. Nouveau courant de guitar heros grace a la technique du tapping. Van Halen est classé dans le Livre Guinness des records comme le groupe ayant le plus grand nombre de tubes dans la Billboard Mainstream Rock List.
En lidt genreforvirret omgang. Men der er god energi, og de har helt sikkert haft det sjovt med at indspille det.
It didn't age very well.
I don't get the point of this at all. Very dull.
Don't get the appeal. Its like fake blues.
⭐⭐ Detta är ett väldigt hyllat album, men jag fattar inte grejen. Måste ha hamnat rätt i tiden. Det är extremt framtungt, börjar bra med de fyra första spåren. Även om detta inte riktigt är min grej så kan jag inte ducka för att de spåren är klassiker och svåra att inte gå igång på. Därefter är det inte alls min grej. Det går inte att komma undan att Van Halen och Lee Roth är skickliga. Men det blir mest gitarr/röst show off till ointressanta låtar helt utan personlighet.
Obvious musicianship and insane guitar skills, but i'm afraid besides the known songs, none of the rest really HAD something besides the solos
Putting this in context, it was released in 1978, therefore a time when heavy metal was being perceived in some quarters as old and stale relative to punk and new wave. So I’m going to guess that the super-high energy style and fast beats on a number of these tracks was fairly notable for a HM album of that time? But it’s still got plenty of the heavy metal tropes that don’t do anything for me. There are some good riffs to start songs but then it always morphs into ‘the usual’. Ironically the best track for me - possibly just because I know the original so well - is the cover of the Kinks’ You Really Got Me, a very structured song.
j’ai écouté les 3 premières mais j’étais pas seule et ça faisait nuisance donc j’ai cessé l’écoute je pense pas la reprendre
Runnin with the devil: catchy pero normal eruption: un embole You really got me: ahi va, es x aca aint talking bout love: buena guitarra im the one: ???? cualquiera jamies crying: ok, pegadizo atomic punk: es x aca feel your love tonight: ok little dreamer: no ice cream man: un tema de swing rock? no on fire: no 5/10
okay tbh i’m not a metal rock type of person so this album didn’t do that much for me.. but there are so classics here and there and this record kinda reminds me of my dad so props to that favs: you really got me - little dreamer!
I used to be in love with a girl that looked just like Eddie Van Halen, but hotter.
It sort of sounds like the same song on repeat, but it’s a decent song
not my kind of music
Yeah it wasn’t bad
Loud
it’s classic rock, not really my thing but generally pretty good. one song added to playlist. 2.5 cause i can’t give half stars
This was crazy
I was a little bit disappointed really. There were no standout tracks, and it started to feel very repetitive after a few tracks. As a Brit I can say that Van Halen probably never reached the heights over here that they attained in the US, and this album goes a way to explaining why that is/was (imo). I did make it all the way through without feeling the need to kill myself, but it's not close to 3 stars for me.
fand den anfang sehr vielversprechen habs aber nich ganz zuende geschafft
Not generally my cup of tea but with it being from the 70’s I had higher hopes than usual. I enjoyed the first 20 minutes then I felt it got a bit tedious and repetitive.
Surprisingly very listenable for how much this isn't my type of music (rock/metal) Nobody rules these streets at night like me👹 Fav: feel your love tonight Lowkey all sounds the same
nice! reconozco canciones como you really got me o feel your love tonight, muy bueno pero no se si volveria a escucharlo por mi cuenta. canciones fav: jamie's cryin'; ice cream man
I don't really like classic American rock! The best part of this was The Kinks cover
Not really my jam, I know it was an important work at the time, and I do like rock acts, but this was just not my speed.
Not Bad but I expected something with more lyrics. I liked the guitar in the background but it’s not really my style
Before Listening: I'm not entirely looking forward to this. From what I've heard of them before it's not really my vibe. My mom loves this band, or at the very least really likes the song Jump. When I told her I didn't like it a few years ago she was flabbergasted. Listen Notes I like the original "You Really Got Me Better". This version feels more bland, surprisingly. I actually really like production of "Ain't Talking About Love" but I hate the vocal performance and lyrics. "Ice Cream Man" makes me want to rate this as 1. If there's a hell, this song plays on loop there alongside dance monkey. "Jamie's Crying", "Atomic Punk", and "Little Dreamer" actually aren't bad Overall, I don't hate the production, even tho it can get a little bland at times. Lyrically, this album sucks for the most part, sorry mom. I don't see myself coming back to this at all, even the songs I didn't mind. Very much not my vibe.
Respect it. Good fun. Not necessarily my vibe but some of the guitar rifts are like nothing else.
Bon album mais pas vraiment mon délire
Definitely not interested in this.
It’s okay, you can still love it
2.4 I went in with raised expectations. I knew I'd Running With the Devil and didn't mind it. At least I know now why I'd never heard of anything else. I'm not entirely sure why they're focusing on Eddie's guitar work so much, obviously I know I'm shit at guitar, but I had this impression he was this absolute maestro, yet his solo's seem kind of... Sloppy? Unless I'm missing something there must be at least 100 guitarists out there better than him. Maybe in his time he was great, he can play fast for sure, but I feel like he isn't always hitting the right notes. Other than Eddie's playing it was pretty mid, bland songs, trying too hard to genre hop at times, other members didn't really seem to be blowing me away.
too many hair bands on this list i fear
album was okay? What i would imagine is like a generic late 70s dad rock album. Guitar from Eddie is fuckin sick tho! Fav track: Feel Your Love Tonight
First time ever actively listening to Van Halen! I always heard of them but didn't know what songs they were famous for. Now I do! Overall it's not really my sound, but can definitely appreciate it for what it is.
classic rock from 70s. boring
Talented musicians making boring music
Cock rock for shlock jocks Little dreamer is alright
more sizzle than steak for my ears
If I played instruments I wouldn't have done that
BAD MUSIC. NOT AWFUL BUT STILL VERY BAD
The double-tracked backup singers on this album is so cute. It's not rock n roll though, imo. Listening to Eruption, I was reminded of when Michael J Fox rips off a shred in Back to the Future and says "oh i guess you won't be ready for that for another 20 years". Well I'm still not ready for it 40 years later, unimpressed. 2.5/5 rounded down to 2. Somehow 35 min was too long. I did like On Fire, which funny enough is the lowest listened to song on the album on spotify
It's fine as far as these things go. I prefer Tom Petty if I'm going to listen to this branch of rock.
Not my scene
eddie's best work ruined by david's worst
meh, i like the songs i know and was annoyed to have to listen to this much van halen consecutively
I cant believe this is considered must hear material. Its got good hooks and the guitar trix were """revolutionary""" (stuff that has been done better millions of times in metal albums that would never be put on this website cuz theyre too scary for redditors) but the lyrical content is all boring boomer jokes and cliches. I need a little more than that from my cock rock to get me hard. Like Hot For Teacher I like because its actually controversial and rocks you while it makes you question if its okay lol. This has ice cream man which is also weird and gross but has nothing else going for it. Again, HOW is this must-hear??
Not my thing. "Runnin' With The Devil" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" are alright.
Bit too glam rock
Well it's technically impressive but I don't really connect with the songs.
Why are the ratings on this so high? Tells you a lot about the kind of person who signs up to this website... This went nice and quick. Probably as good as Van Halen get's but they just aren't a very good band - sorry. The barbershop part was laugh out loud funny.