#292 Van Halen, 'Van Halen' (1978)

Previously #415

This album changed everything. The way Eddie Van Halen played guitar was like no one before him, and despite hundreds of thousands of copycats, like no one since. As a 14-year-old at my first guitar lesson, I clearly remember my teacher asking me what my goal was, who did I want to play like? I pointed to the poster hanging behind him and simply said “Him.” The man on the poster was Eddie Van Halen, and he would go on to inspire millions of kids. The album starts with ‘Runnin’ With The Devil,’ but that’s not the song that was to announce Van Halen’s arrival to the world. That would be track 2, ‘Eruption;’ a song that brought together metal and classical music. A 1 minute and 42 second instrumental song that changed the way people thought about electric guitar and changed the way people played it, popularising the two-handed tap. That song segued into a cover of The Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’ (remember when I spoke about their influence at #384?) and then into one of the greatest guitar riffs of all time, ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love.’

In 1976 the band recorded a 3-track demo with one Gene Simmons (from KISS, of course). Simmons abandoned them to go on tour and while Eddie wasn’t completely happy with the demos, they did secure the band some gigs. At one of them, they were discovered by their future manager who booked them for a gig at the famous Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip. That led to their getting signed by Warner Brothers. They recorded the album mostly in live takes (with a handful of overdubs) for $40k and the rest is history. I’ve focussed completely on Eddie, but it would be remiss of me not to mention incredible frontman, “Diamond” David Lee Roth, master drummer, Alex Van Halen, and the man tying it all together, Michael Anthony on bass. Eddie sadly passed away a few months ago. His impact on guitar and rock music is everlasting.

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