1984

mediocre

Iconic song, great guitar.

Meh.

First things first: Van Halen was never the same after He Who Shall Not Drive 55 replaced David Lee Roth. For further information, please refer to Nerf Herder's "Van Halen." Now that that's out of the way, anyone with at least one working earhole should recognize the greatness of this album. Not only are "Jump," "Panama," and "Hot for Teacher" my three favorite Van Halen songs, but they're seminal '80s rock tracks, period. All on the same album. They're worth 4.5 stars themselves, and we can just round up the rest of the way to five on general principle.

Hell yeah, this is 80s rock. Love love David Lee Roth, the percussion, and those guitar riffs. One of the things I've had on my bucket list is to learn the drums on Hot for Teacher. The drums really get you going right from the start. Damn good stuff. 🤘

Now this is good ol' fashioned rock and roll sounds like!

As a synth lover, this album slaps. And rocks at the same time. Very energetic album.

Not my genre, sounds really dated.

The mind-blowing-ly good musicianship on all parts is the only redeeming factor of this album

A few good singles and a fair bit of disposable guff - but the singles are really fun.

Muy bueno.

Kyl mä tän varmaan ostaisin kirpparilta jos saa femmalla tai alle vinyylinä, mutta kyl se melkeen häiden jatkoille bookatulla dj-keikalla ainoastaan sois. Pari ”kovaa” hittii mut aika tylsä muuten. 2/5

Tää bändi/genre ei oo kyllä tarkoitettu mulle. Vielä huonompi kuin debyytti, 0/5.

Kuinka monta Van Halen-levyä tällä listalla oikein on :D onhan tääkin hittikimara. 3/5.

Jump is a 5 star song for 5 star men

Jump is great but the rest didn't really catch me so much. I liked drop dead legs though.

Another album that brought me back to the pop-up video mornings. If I ignore the eyeroll-inducing lyrics on a lot of these songs, the music is quite fun. Jump and Hot for Teacher are classics, and Drop Dead Legs was cool.

Excellent album. It's amazing that I already had three of the tracks on this album liked but I never considered myself a Van Halen fan. Listening to the whole album maybe have proven that to be false. "Jump", "Panama", and "Hot for Teacher" are obviously amazing. Discovered I like "Drop Dead Legs" a lot too.

This is one of my favourite album covers ever. The VH tunes aren't really up to that standard

Some pretty generic mid-80s hair rock. Apart from Jump it's largely pretty listless.

The debut of the synthesizer for VH. Last David album. Good stuff mostly

Top 3 Songs: 1 - Hot For Teacher (6) 2 - Panama (3) 3 - House of Pain (9)

“Jump” makes me feel like I’m in Stranger Things on my way to school trying to hype myself up for the day. I guess it makes sense since the album is from the 80s. “I’ll wait” was a good one. I enjoyed the cadence of the song and how the singing I’m not a big rock fan but it’s pretty good.

Great album. It was one of my favourite cassette tapes. Go Eddy!!

This album reminds me of cruising with my dad in his old truck. Lots of great classics on here.

Mad guitar skillz. Lyrics felt trite on first impression

Alright. Like some of the songs.

The synth instrumentals are so 80s. Album is very American and it’s great, very different than what I am used to listening to.

Obviously some real bangers. But about 80% of this album just felt repetitive and boring.

Nice.

Pura energía y guitarrazos como pocos pueden entregar. Mi favorita fue Girl Gone Bad. 4.5 que suben a 5 porque también I'm hot for teacher.

Joya del Rock. Las puras guitarras de Eddie con el estilo que vino prácticamente a crear lo ponen en el lugar para tener 5 estrellas. Hay obviamente un par de rolas no tan buenas, pero incluso dentro de eso, son Rock en una excelente forma.

best song: jump. a little too much of the same but i love the guitars enough for it to not matter

It was fine, nothing remarkable

Listened Before: Y Blistering, break-neck pacing from one of the tightest rock bands of all time. Eddie and DLR in their prime here. This is an absolute scorcher from beginning to end. Even the "ballad" is a rocker. Even in the spots where it loses its edge a bit, it's still pretty darn good. And it's short! Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Panama, Hot For Teacher

Just not that interesting tbh. Jump is a banger but even then only because it reminds me of movies.

Awesome!

No, Mr. Orwell, there were no telescreens, thoughcrimes, and Big Brothers. Not yet. It will be long before that. As of now, we got glam metal! Intense guitar-driven synth rock. Isn't that great? Oh, yes it will NOT age well, but we got Van Halen and their guitar. It will keep it alive and relevant like a cheap preservative.

It's an iconic album. I love Eddie's sound and style; he was one of my heroes. Panama was one of the first songs I learned playing the guitar, and I still enjoy playing it. 5 Stars for this album.

Undeniably talented, but it feels like many of these songs were written simply as vehicles for shredding guitar lines and not much more.

One thing that I was surprised to learn about myself through the 1001 project is how much I enjoy David Lee Roth era Van Halen.

So overplayed and somewhat cheesy, but damn are these songs overall pretty good. Credit where credit is due.

It’s Van Halen

Excellent rock des années 80!

Funny this came around Josh saying in the LD that Van Halen was 100% dad music. Not my bag

Found this a little cheesy, I always think of Van Halen as proper heavy rock but this felt a bit of cheese

A semi-classic!

Overall this record is slightly less ridiculous than I thought it would be. "Jump" and "Panama" are cheesy hits, but given the right context, their punchiness can trigger smiles and even ironic exhilaration. Everything after is just a pretext to make Eddie Van Halen shine, and I guess you have to admit his guitar playing is impressive. Oh, and those synths come back for a track on side two... But at this point, who cares? Does all of this make *1984* an essential album? Not for me. I can be open-minded for dumb stuff sometimes, but you need a music that doesn't sound totally artificial and tasteless, as is the case here. "Daft" doesn't necessarily mean pointless. That's the lesson punk music taught us all. Number of albums left to review or just listen to:  more than 800, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens:  approximately a half so far  Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter (including this one)

Eddie Van Halen er mjög flinkur á gítar. Lögin eru ekki öll leiðinleg. Ekkert þeirra er beinlínis skemmtilegt, en ætli Jump komist ekki næst því. Ætla ekki að spila viljandi aftur.

Was dope. Not quit quintessential...but such a fun classic rock record

Not my thing, but hard to hate when they're having so much fun.

Eddie’s pyrotechnics are awesome. But they’re paired with lyrics like, “Throw my rope, loop de loop / Nice white teeth Betty Boop”.

That baby has a cigarette! If I heard Jump before this I would know it but have no idea it was Van Halen. Nice guitar throughout.

It was the 80's. Loud and obnoxious. Jump always was a good song. In the midst of a lot of loud is Eddie Van Halen's guitar.

Sin más. Tenía Jump en mis me gusta.

that's so much fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun

The epitomy of 80's rock I kind of like it for nostalgia and because it's so safe. It reminds me of corny 80s 'coming-of-age' movies. Musically very accomplished, well produced and slick you can't fault it other than it's cliched and not your thing. Looking at the list of albums released at the same time it's sad to say they are ALL cheese......so sit back and clench.

Caught between pleasing the questionable tastes of the 80s and the usual VH desire to shred the threads of reality through riffs, this one falls a bit flat as a whole album. It shocked me when I learned 'Jump' was a Van Halen track for how synth-reliant and cheesy it is, and you expect me to believe this can live alongside 'Hot For Teacher' and form a coherent whole? Some bright moments here but overall just a misfire of an LP in my book.

Not me speed but some bangers

I like my music cheerful fun and energetic. If Van Halen's Jump is wrong I don't want to be right. This album earwormed into my brain when I was at a young vulnerable age. Too late now to do anything about it. Reach down .... between my legs ...

Jump is one of those songs that I always think of synonymously with 80s music... it's a great track, but I couldn't get into the rest of this album really, felt quite aged.

Guitar and synth combo is so fun to listen to Feels like the whole band is just on the edge of losing control One tempo - as fast as possible Panama and Jump are 2 of my favorite rock songs I'm embarrassed by the lyrics sometimes The intro to Hot for Teacher is nuts Super short and an easy listen

Jump, Panama, Hot for Teacher. Classic Van Halen album. Great guitar work from Eddie Van Halen

Iconic. Unique sounds that don’t drown out the vocals and each song didn’t sound like a repeat. Made me feel like I was in the 80s

3.4⭐️

Van Halen knows who they are, what they want to do, and how to do that just right. So damn tight and fun and killer. The synths may take away for some people, but I really think it blends super well with their sound. Pure excellence.

Have you ever felt a guitar string snap back at you after breaking? They can cause major damage, including major bruising and deep cuts. It has to do with the amount of tension required to tune the string appropriately. The string is tightly wound through and around the tuning pegs, causing the notes we know and love to ring true. This album is tighter than that.

Enjoyed it.

classic sounds at places, but of an era

first listen steaming classic

Introen på Top Jimmy va jævlig feit. Og bra med masse synth

synths! (and guitar solos) Loved Jump

Not quite their best work, but still a great album. Eddie was such a reckless wizard on guitar. R.I.P. Favorite song: PANAMA

More than half of the songs are in the good-to-great category. The rest are good enough that I wouldn't skip them.

not for me.

Classic album with a bunch of hard rocking tunes but I'm kind of tired of it tbh

A classic. Rocks start to finish

It's a shredfest with synths. I don't listen to a lot of 80s rock but I can listen to this one anytime. After the spacey one minute intro the album doesn't let up until it's over. Lots of hits and even the non-hits are good. Favorite: Panama

"Van Halen, not Van Hagar" - Joe Dirt Eddie is a great guitarist, and Van Halen is a decent 80s rock band. This is probably their best album and they definitely have a distinct sounds - so, therefore, worthy of the list. But - still - it kinda sounds like the opening scene from Back to the Future where Marty cranks up all those amps and, upon striking the first chord, blows them all up in a blaze of feedback and smoke - except it lasts for 30 minutes.

Great rock album, liked it

This flew by, in a good way. They were all enjoyable, with a couple of stand outs.

The 5 hits on this album go crazy. The rest is fine, but nothing special. I might be being a hardo here but I cant give it above a 7 because the other 4 songs are nowhere close to the bangers. 7/10

You got to ro-o-oll with the punches and get to what's real! 4 certified bangers on this album and the songs in between them bridge the gap well enough. Would listen to while driving.

Feels very very 80s. The synth on Jump is too crazy. Hot for teacher is a horny anthem. Top Jimmy - good song, would make for an even better nickname. Also Panama is pretty good

Jump sounded kind of insane with headphones on. Needed more keyboard

Definitely one from my childhood and though it did bring back happy memories it's not really a classic. Good fun but no depth.

Yawn

Good fun, with enjoyable guitar acrobatics and not as 1 dimensional as I was expecting.

It ain't the worst that I've seen.

a WORMHOLE to the FUTURE

Solid

Liked the album but not much variance in beat / rhythms after 4th song

One of Van Halen's best albums, although, it's due to some really incredible songs amongst some pretty normal ones. Jump, Panama, and Hot for Teacher are rock fundamentals with the big show quality of the first two and the guitar solos in the third. The rest of them just aren't anything to write home about. I'd still put their debut album above this one but anytime we can get Van Halen on here is worth jumping for.

Wow, I think this is the first we've gotten from Van Halen, a band that I know extremely well. Alex and I listened to so much VH back in the day, we even made a movie pretending to be the band. Not sure why this band in particular connected with us so much...maybe it's their simplicity? There's not a whole lot of depth to their music, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. You know the lyrics on first listen thanks to David Lee Roth yelling and repeating them. The drumming and guitarwork is excellent, thanks to the undeniably talented brothers Eddie and Alex. The mere existence of Eddie Van Halen is an anomaly, especially for a band that frankly doesn't need unmatched, virtuosic solos abbreviating their stadium anthems. I'm not sure how many of these were chart-topping hits, but for me there's a run of six straight bangers--on an album with only 8 actual songs. That's absurd. The two biggest songs on here ("Jump" and "Panama") are two that I would rank lower than most people. Actually, I don't know if that's fair; maybe haters would hate those two the most. But what I mean is my nostalgia isn't impervious when it comes to those tracks, because while they are fun and exuberant they are simple to the point of feeling stupid. Looking through their discography, I think this is my second-favorite Van Halen album, behind their self-titled (which I do think is on the list too). It's not the most sophisticated album or band from this era, but there's a satisfying quality to their music nonetheless. For me, it's familiarity. This one's getting the nostalgia bump to a 5, though if I were to be more realistic and critical I'd give it a 4.5. Anything below that and I'd be lying to impress people. Favorite tracks: Top Jimmy, Hot for Teacher, I'll Wait, Jump, Drop Dead Legs, Panama. Album art: A baby with angel wings smoking a cigarette. Gotta be their most iconic, and their most interesting. I love this one so much. Look at the wee bastard. 5/5

Pretty decent! Knew like half the songs going into it but still enjoyed! Rating: 7.8/10

Chose to listen to this as a tribute the weekend that Eddie died in Oct 2020 and enjoyed it. This time I'm being critical. The hits are very good (Jump, Panama, Hot for teacher) the others are not particularly memorable. So just a medium album. I think their first album is probably stronger.

As technically proficient as the instrumental portion is, it isn’t terribly interesting. The vocals ruin it anyway.

Pinnacle of 80's dad rock. If youre into that probably one of the best albums of all time. I'm not so 3/10

Classic

The singles are great

Saw Van Halen twice live in the late seventies. They were awesome live. Never really considered them a hair metal band in the same vein as Rat or Nazareth or Poison. When this album came out I felt like it was a commercial sell out. On re-listen I think that was a bit harsh. A nice party rock album. Good but not great.

Yes

Was good, familiar songs to listen too.

OK - but not really a stand-out album for me.

Cet album est fantastique. Il contient tout ce qui fait que Van Halen est Van Halen : Irrévérence, humour, rock, ainsi que ce qui le met dans une classe à part, le groove. Oui, ce band groove. Les 4 membres sont super solides. Aussi, ils sont très techniques, mais ils savent quand être plus retenus.

Je ne suis vraiment pas un fan de glam rock, mais cet album a son son et contient quand même 3 des plus grands hits du band. J’aime le mix de drum de Drop Dead Legs qui rappelle Led Zeppelin. Je ne sais pas s’il y a eu un litige avec Queen pour la chanson House Of Pain, mais le riff est pratiquement pareil à Stone Cold Crazy. Donc album à écouter certainement et peut-être le meilleur du groupe?

Half of these songs are massive radios hits years down the line, leaning hard in the overplayed direction. Objectively, it's a very good album.

yeah good music but didnt really catch my attention

Rock and Roll Gold!

Von allen Fitzlern fand ich Eddie Van Halen immer am musikalischsten und habe ihn dafür immer geschätzt. Aber diese Platte ist bis auf Jump echt nicht gut. Und auch das Solo in Jump ist nicht sooo gut.

Another solid Van Halen album. This one isn’t as good but still entertaining and impressive. Jump and Panama are pretty classic rock party songs. Hot for teacher is a solid rock song. There’s a couple lulls but overall this is a good album. 7.5/10

Van halen? more like van, hajde odavde iz mojih ušiju. 2 zbog jump

Oh, znam pjesmu Jump, dobra je. Kad sam slušao album na putu do posla, okrenuo sam kapu naopako i nisam htio pozdravljati ljude jer sam badass, al sam ipak pozdravljao, al nisam djecu koja su išla u školu - valjda se neki red treba znat.

Ocjena više jer sam davno slušo na repeatu hot for teacher i jump

I have mixed feelings about Van Halen. First of all, their music is very dated and firmly rooted in the 80s synth and hair metal aesthetic. Second, their lyrics are at worst crude, and at best, unimaginative. However, their musicianship is tight, acrobatic, and expressive although it doesn’t show much variation. As a guitarist, I understand why they are important, but I find their melodies lacking. EVH is incredibly technically gifted, but his style doesn’t resonant with me as much as the style of other less technical more melodic guitarists. To me, Van Halen is less about solid song writing and more about showmanship.

Really. 1980s American cock rock. One of the best 1000 albums of all time. Hmmmph. Impress me...I hope Jump isn't the best track cos I'm not a fan. Roth is an obnoxious arsehole. EvH is a great guitarist...but if I'm gonna lay into Yeezus for its lyrics its only fair to point out the shite that runs though this load a bollocks. (Hot for Teacher is exhibit #1) 2.

Good but it aged a bit. The lyrics did I mean.

Although there is the odd moment - this isn't for me

I GET UP 4

Might as well Jump.

One of my favourite albums by one of my favourite bands. I love it all from Jump to Top Jimmy to Drop Dead Legs and all places between!

An iconic album and one that was part of the soundtrack to the 80's. Even if I dismissed Hot For Teacher, Jump, and Panama, I'll Wait is still amazing and 3 stars on its own.

American guitar pop

3.5/5. Good. I liked this album. It was fun and fast. Panama, what a great song.

Can’t lie, definitely enjoyed listening to Hot For Teacher.

3.5

Brill to hear some of these classics

the synth opening for JUMP is good. But other than that, this is annoying to me.

26/04 That was banging, the drumming in Hot For Teacher was insane. It was amazing

Great album that I never fully appreciated until I got old.

Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, "1984" is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. It offers a nightmarish vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance is in the prescience of modern life—the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language—and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written. Hold on, wrong "1984"... I loved the first Wonder Woman movie. So how did the same people create such unwatchable trash in "1984?" Hold on, that's not right either... 1984 was a year of disappointments. I stopped being an only child. Reagan was overwhelmingly re-elected. The Olympic Games were held without the US getting a chance to beat communists. The Tigers and the Raiders and Italian soccer were world champs. I give the year one star. Wait, I'm gonna get this right... Ah, I'm supposed to be reviewing "Panama." Great country. With a plethora of deserted islands, chilled Caribbean vibes on one side and monster Pacific swells on the other, Panama sits poised to deliver the best of beach life. And a whole other world begins at the water's edge. Seize it by scuba diving with whale sharks in the Pacific, snorkeling the rainbow reefs of Bocas del Toro or setting sail in the indigenous territory of Guna Yala, where virgin isles sport nary a footprint. Meanwhile, surfers will be psyched to have world-class breaks all to themselves. Hello, paradise. And finally... Listening to Van Halen's "1984," I recalled my Bon Jovi review from a while back. "I feel like rock got progressively heavier through the 60s and 70s until it gave birth to heavy metal and thrash metal. Then the 80s took that heavy sound and dialed it back for pop radio and consumerism, and thus came hair bands." Yep, that fits Van Halen, even if they aren't quite in the hair band grouping. There are some classics on here, but I can't help hearing their guitar riffs and thinking about how they took heavy metal riffs and made them a bit too palatable and frankly kind of boring. And as a somewhat attractive educator, I can't get down with the whole vibe of "Hot For Teacher." That song, by the way, starts with one of those aforementioned diluted metal riffs before trying to save it by segueing into a nice little blues bit, but then ruins it with weird horniness. Also, I am not in agreement on the synths. Particularly the weird fake organ stuff on "I'll Wait." I think that song would be so much better if they stuck to guitars. Anyway... tldr... lousy year, great book, middling album.

I’ve never given Van Halen a chance until this album. Sure I’ve heard the hits, but I never so much as listened to an album of theirs. Admittedly, it was on purpose. There was a guy in first year of uni that loved VH, staunchly in the DLR camp…hard core. One weekend I went home and when I came back something had happened and our friend group had shunned him. Like ignored his existence moving forward. I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I followed along, which I’m not proud of. I was never close to him, but I feel bad for how it all went down. I love that VH took a turn toward the synth sound on this album. Now I realize that the synths are why I’ve always loved Jump so much. It’s also no surprise that I like I’ll Wait. On second listen, Top Jimmy is a nice song with some well executed triplets in the lead guitar part that feel playfully offbeat. However, the 30 second appearance of the whammy bar (1:45 mark) is deflating. I fucking hate the whammy bar. I’ll dissect this more in a year or two when we get to Metallica’s Master of Puppets. For now I have to say that I enjoyed this album, whammy bar excluded, and will be listening again soon. Now I have to figure out if I’m in the DLR or Haggar camp…or both if that’s even allowed.

Solid album. Hadn't heard many of the songs, and glad I've heard them now. Thirty-three minutes packed with hard, awesome rock. Added! Will listen again & again (though I'm kinda tired of Jump...)

Brilliant

Lekker onvervalste 80s rock muziek. Klinkt wel lekker, maar ook niet weer super bijzonder. ***

Hit after HIT!! That's the first comment on the YouTubes. I disagree, it's more shit after hit. The YouTube comments for this album are a treat. you can tell what generation their fans are instantly. This guy sums it up. This song is #3 in my top-5 underrated Van Halen songs. 1. Fools 2. Sinner's Swing! 3. Top Jimmy 4. Could This Be Magic? 5. Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now) If someone didn’t know who VH was and asked me to give them only one song to try and get them into VH, I would give that person Fools. It has it all. Improve, energy, riffs, pounding rhythm section, killer backup vocals, etc, everything that is VH to me. How could they leave that song off their setlist for all these years? It was one of their first ever original songs and is found on their live recordings from their club days but never played on any major tours after WACF came out. WTH?! Sinner’s Swing is a killer song! 2nd song on their FW tour setlist and never played again. Ugh! Top Jimmy is where I get when people say that Ed was a better rhythm player than given credit for. It has a killer intro and mean riffs in a funky weird song. It’s definitely VH, alright!  They were just showing off when they did Could This Be Magic and Big Bad Bill. I know BBB is cover but still. They are showing off just how talented and versatile they were. What other successful mainstream band could pull off songs like those? That’s like Black Sabbath recording a country song or Air Supply covering an Accept song. Music could go on for another million years but there will never be another Mighty Van Halen! 🇺🇸

Rubbing bacon on my clit and listening to Van Halen. What a beautiful evening.

Awooga

All time reat

Best Song: Hot for Teacher. Often times, songs are either funny or musically interesting. This is the rare case in which it's both. This song is positively sweaty. Worst Song: I'll Wait. Sometimes, David Lee Roth just sounds like a poor man's Phil Collins. Overall: Van Halen elicits a very specific feeling. You're near a body of water. The sun is setting. Your entire body is slick with lotion. You've lost track of how many beers you've had, but you have the vague notion that you're halfway to wherever it is you're going. A feeling of existential dread begins to push on you from the periphery. Is this it? Is this what life is? You belch and crush your beer can, grabbing a cold one from the bucket. Too Hot For Teacher comes on. As quick as it came on, the feeling of dread is gone, replaced by the need to Air Drum.

Sadly I was too young, but fuck it would've been great to be around when Van Halen was THE soundtrack to fingering girls in the park. 5/5.

There was peak Van Halen, and there was everybody else. This album is a testament to that. Great from start to finish.

Bad boy glam rock packed full of bluesy riffs, furious drumming, and synth fills. I can practically hear the sweat rolling off their chest hair and onto their skin tight vinyl pants! I honestly never fully appreciated just how great a track 'Hot For Teacher' is. Each part played and sung is remarkable on it's own, and they fold and flow together so perfectly. 'Girl Gone Bad' is another impressive showing by the band, showing just how tight the band is with or without David Lee Roth.

Not bad...

Interesting instrumentals ruined by incredibly cringe lyrics. This type of rock music is not for me

It's not my fav VH album but it's hard no to love this. I was 12 years old when it came out and there wasn't anything much cooler than VH at that time.

Classic 80's Rock. Not my favorite, but I respect the sound of the time.

Might as well jump.

I did enjoy hearing this, particularly as it made me feel nostalgic for eighties American movies.

1 1/2, inte min kopp alls

Not a fan. Really dislike the space-like synths. Melodies in the guitar solos have no emotion, only bragging. Some tunes are catchy, I guess.

The synth-heavy tracks and pop tracks on this album such as Jump, Panama and I'll Wait are pretty obnoxious and are 2-star songs in my book. The best of the rock tracks are very decent or even pretty good, going up to 3.5-4 stars for me. All in all, too much annoying pop for me.

Oh mein gott halts maul

Kb alter

fuck off

nein

How does anyone enjoy this? Still better than bon Jon bovine at least 2

What a great rock and roll record. Almost a guilty pleasure, but damn, brilliant guitar, and nobody sings like David Lee Roth. VH’s best? Maybe not, but it still wants to be turned up LOUD and a accompanied by a shot and a beer. At LEAST one of each. And I never noticed that the drum into to Hot for Teacher kind of sounds kind of like a big muscle car engine idling.

Catchy 80s album great licks and solos, classic Van Halen.Fav songs jump and kissed the teacher

PANAMA

Great pop rock album. The only thing I would say is that listening to this again years on, I would hardly call this heavy or metal. That is not to say it is not a great album with Diamond Dave shining like... well... A diamond. The Van Halen brothers are on fire, pushing their music beyond the simple hard rock that was by then expected of them.

Van Halen's album is a standard for albums of the time.

Start to finish, this album is fantastic. Van Halen's earlier stuff was more rock/edgier, while this definitely shows their progression into the 80s sound, as evidenced with the synth in "Jump". Every song on this album is a winner (as long as you like Van Halen!)

some memorable and huge hits on this album! i mean, "hot for teacher" is cemented in rock history for a good reason. the drums in that song! but hey, all instruments are working so well on every song: the drums, the guitar, the synthesizer. musically, this album is so beautiful and solid. the womanizing and misogyny i can do without, but i cannot do without those guitar solos. "1984," the opening, title, and lead off track, is a such an interesting choice. it's futuristic-sounding, yet the title is the year it was released. was it irony, perhaps optimism? once the instrumental is complete, the jump right into "jump" hits such a high! this was very much a fun, fun listen, and i rocked out hard today.

Having not heard this album front to back before, I didn't realize that the iconic song Jump essentially had an intro, thanks to the title track, 1984. This is a great synthy lead-in to Jump, and to the album as a whole. In addition, the title track made me pick up on just now synthy this album really is. I was already very familiar with Jump, Panama, and Hot for Teacher, and upon listening to the album, I feel like everything else pales a little bit in comparison to these three powerhouse classics. Still, there is some really rocking instrumentation and guitar work on this album.

This is, by far, the best and most successful Van Halen album. The Van Halen brothers with Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth were the best that they could become and it shows. "Jump", "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher" are three of hard rock's biggest classics and the album as a whole, a short one with only 33 minutes, is pure 1980s rock zeitgeist. The production is overwhelming, the instrumentation, mixing hard rock with glam and pop, is perfect and Roth's voice is amazing in every single track. One of the greatest rock albums of the 1980s.

Not more hair rock. Awful

Ohan tää nyt klassikko. Useampikin päräyttävä ralli.

Exactly as expected

Probably good for its genre but not to my liking, lyrically or musically.

Listening to this I can hear how much it is influenced by bands like Led Zeppelin but also how much it has influenced everything related to rock and hair that came after.

3/5 started well, but didn't make the cut

Young and strong.... You can still feel the energy

Ow, isso me lembra meu ex...

Eddie is a decent guitar player but no guitarist is good enough to carry these songs. Jump is OK but the rest of the songs define obtuse. (And no Less Nessman, I don't mean rounded at the end.) At least the last Van Halen album we were sent had two well written songs - being the two songs they covered.

I was pleasantly surprised with their debut album, chock-full of hits and catchy guitar licks. This one not so much.

This is such clichéd music. I tried to give it a fair shake but I had to fast forward through every single song. This review was done in about 9 minutes.

curto muito o som deles

Great album. Van Halen was a force to be reckoned with. Loaded with hits, and the lesser known tracks still rocked. Only thing that bugs me are Roth's vocals. Never been a huge fan.

Boy...this brings back memories. I was never a Van Halen fan but my brother and cousins were always playing one of their albums. This came out the year I turned 16. All over the radio, MTV..and Eddie was so cute back then.

Amazing!

So much of this album is style over substance. The guitar work here is genuinely way ahead of its time and extremely impressive on a technical level, but it always gets rolled into these generic cock rock songs that sound more dated than ever.

Fun rock album with energy and pop the whole way through

Never really liked Van Halen

"Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue Model citizen, zero discipline" (Panama) "Dig those moves, vampire Set me loose, get it higher Throw my rope, loop-de-loop Nice white teeth, Betty Boop Set it cool real heavy I ain't fooled, gettin' ready" (Drop dead legs)

Okay, I actually... loved this?? Totally shocked me! But, there's just something about the fun excitement that some of these songs bring - like "Jump????" WOW! Makes me just wanna dance around. I never knew I was a Van Halen fan.

12/24/2021 Today's Album: "1984" by Van Halen - This album opens up with what will be the theme of this entire album - S Y N T H S. This ambient opener kicks off perfectly to the biggest hit on the record - Jump. This song still sounds so good today and I think it just shows exactly what Van Halen were good at - blending late 70s rock with new 80s trends like synths and metal to literally birth the hair rock genre out of their Vandussys. Panama is a great track to follow up Jump and is emblematic of the sound Van Halen were pioneering at the time. I think Top Jimmy is a little boring lyrically, but the guitar work is insane in this track and it is fairly short, with pretty much a third of it being expert guitar riffing. Drop Dead Legs ends up sounding pretty generic to me, at least in the beginning. Again, expert guitar work is enough to make this track at least listenable, but I think outside of that it doesn't have a ton going for it. It's just very horny. Hot For Teacher is the 3rd most popular song on the track list and it is pretty kick ass. The guitar riff and crazy fast kick drum beat just makes the energy of this song through the roof and I think the chorus of this song is actually pretty good despite how, again, horny it is. The parts where the instruments cut out for some adlibbing is pretty charming and the ending of this track is just absolutely nuts. I'll Wait starts with these really cool synth effects and the slow pounding beat kicks off a really cool mood for the song as it transitions into a steady groove and a pretty traditional execution. This might be my favorite song from this album that I haven't heard before today. Girl Gone Bad starts off at a fucking 10. Lyrics are dumb but the performances and chilling atmosphere are absolutely killer. House Of Pain kinda fumbles the ending. Sounds like if Tool sucked. Overall, a decent album with great performances. Score: 8/10 Great at moments Highlights: Jump, Panama, Top Jimmy, I'll Wait, Girl Gone Bad

Energetic and fun.

Synth is 👌🏾

Essencial, referência do hard rock americano.

Considered there best album but not even close to debut album. Really like this album but wished Eddie lost his synth.

“Jump” has pretty much caused me to stayaway from this album for the past 35 years. That’s too bad, because there are some pretty good songs: Hot for Teacher, Drop Dead Legs, House of Pain (which I think borrowed very heavily from Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe” - check out the ‘cha cha cha cha cha chaaaa’ riffs from each of those songs). In addition to “Jump” the song “I’ll Wait”is another stain on the legacy of VH. Wasn’t surprised at all to see that Michael MacDonald contributed to the writing on this drivel. Despite the flaws, gotta love most of this disc, and excellent choice on the cover art.

Eddie Van Halen's incredible guitar work saves this album from being just another 80's glam rock release. Some real good hits, and some what I would normally call 'filler' that is lifted up by amazing Guitar solos and marching drum beats. 4.5.

Hot for teacher is great if you ignore the lyrics

so good, more heavy that I would guess.

Rockin, naturally. Still can't figure how Eddie made some of those sounds. The songs are really solid, the riffs pop big style. Still a really solid pop rock album.

80s majesty

Cheesy 80s rock. Has the three singles you've heard a million times (Jump, Panama, Hot for Teacher) as well as some lesser tracks.

For this listener, this is the music of childhood. Van Halen's "Jump" is the quintessential example of where keyboards and solid rock & roll can coexist. Having been a 70s band, you can hear the sound change for this album where the clarity of bass gave way to the cavernous sounding thump of the 80s, as though it were recorded in a concert hall vs. a studio. In other words, one would feel this in their chest more as well as in their ears. 1984 by Van Halen, kept the 80s hard while still making use of the complementary sounds that could be produced by keys. While "Jump" is easily the most recognized, it is certainly that way for a reason in that we do not hear it very much anywhere else. The reverb on that creates a bass/baseline hum that quite literally carries the song on a basic, yet profound auditory level. The rest of the album, while not as dynamic as "Jump" turned out to be, is certainly taking advantage of the synth partnership with hard rock, and we are here for it. In fairness, this coexistence may very well have to do with Eddie Van Halen being the player he was, and for that we are grateful. Advances in technology and sound production are welcome, but sound reproduction will always lack that human element that makes it great and meaningful. Van Halen's 1984 makes that case in a decade where changes in the world of music made that significant shift into electronic reproductions being more prominent. RIP Eddie Van Halen (dec. 10/6/2020)

Classic rock is classic. Also, Hot for Teacher makes me want to run through a goddamned stone wall.

so good

Yep - we all love a bit of Jump - it's iconic But the rest of this now... just feels tired Like it was made in 1984 I suppose...

I sort of wanted to hate this, preferring the earlier, more spontaneous (and harder rockin') Van Halen albums. But it is really hard to dislike this record. the songs are really catchy, and the playing is incendiary, almost overworked in the production, but not quite. I like the variety of bringing in the synth (a suitably crunchy oberheim). The four singles are stellar, and even the album tracks are pretty song. Top Jimmy and Drop Dead legs are possibly just filler, but they don't suck. a really good, solid (heavy) pop album, with a lot of fun.

Dosta okej!

7/10, solid glamrock album

Takes me back to my youth

80’s rock, electric guitar & drums, eccentric lead singer

Great Van Halen album with some great hits.

Buen disco

80s hair metal. It may be that Van Halen were the first, they may have been the most proficient, but to my ears the progenitor of 80s hair metal is not distinguishable from so much of the work they inspired. I appreciate the position in history, I even enjoy the genre they were instrumental in creating - from time to time - but I'll not be listening to this again.

it is a great album, dont personally enjoy the style anymore

rock n roll baby

My gym teacher in high school would play "Hot for Teacher" every single damn day when we ran laps (Mind you, this was during the 2000's, not the 80's). Yeah, so that's the one memory I have with this band. Naturally, I grew to despise the song, but it's been long enough for me to let that go. 1984 is full of dad-rock cheese, but there's plenty of badass guitar shredding (and drumming) in here to make up for it. While not something I tend to listen to, it's not that bad. It's just average classic rock to me.

Not their best work, but still gets played.

PANAMA!

This album didn’t excite me. The songs aren’t bad but a bit samey

Way too cheesy for my tastes

Solid rock and obviously 80's, one of the records that fundamentally defines the 80's. Not that it's "dated" and cringey to listen to at ~40 years old, it's a perfect encapsulation of the time along with the time of life - being a scruffy, rowdy teenager. I can't judge whether Van Halen was better with Sammy Hagar, but DLR nailed being a flashy front man for this band.

6/10

Probably fairly groundbreaking but it comes across as it was created by moderately talented people with short attention spans.

A great, if sometimes cheesy album.

A couple of interesting tracks but also a lot of filler. Not really going to listen to this one again anytime soon

Pretty similar to how I feel about their first album except there are synths in this one. I should've probably given yesterday's album a 4 but what can men do

Fan ta detta album

Damn solid album. Van Halen never fails to make me dance like a child.

Pretty much packed with bangers. A lot of classics on this one. The intro to Hot For Teacher is always incredible, and I love the syncopation in the prechorus too. Just all around fun album. Favourite Tracks: Hot For Teacher, Jump, Girl Gone Bad

Good album, knew a few off here. Would give it a 3.5 if I could

It's hard to genuinely listen to this and not feel like it was put on ironically. These songs have appeared in too many things and it's such a fake, put-on vibe. The musical talent is undeniable, but the styling is not for me.

Nice album, not a rock fan, but I'd say the music it's awesome. I marked as favorite a couple of these songs :)

I’ve heard this album probably 100 times but it’s still great (thanks dad)

Really it should be getting a 4 because of how much synth was used on this album but then Panama and hot for teacher really pull this one up. 4.5?

Love, love, love this album. Hey PJ Harvey, this is how to make music that people want to hear.

Some great songs but def not their best offering.

Great fun. Close to 4 star.

I love a lot of 80s hard rock but this just felt built specifically for MTV. Jump is a great throwaway tune and I like Panama but the rest of it left me totally cold

Has some fun songs that I really liked, but felt nearly half the album was well below average. 3/5

3 pretty big hits are great; the rest just okay (all sounds alike). not great, not terrible.

Say what you will but this was short at least

It is what is is, yo.

Loved the beginning but as a whole album itt was too much for me.

The problem with 1984 is that it sounds like 1984: stupid masculine hard rock from the 1980s. It aged like milk. "Jump" and "Hot for Teacher" are great songs, the guitar playing of Eddie is fabulous and David sounds like an on stage must see. Too bad the rest of the songs are subpar and uninteresting.

Fucking excellent album

Over the top 80's rock. I knew a surprising number of songs off this record.

This brings me back to the 80s with the Chicago Cubs commercials on WGN when they would play Jumps. some great songs on here but a lot of this sounds exactly the same. 3/5

Utterly generic

A fun album. Pure 80s in album form. Some huge singles that everyone knows, and the other songs aren't bad either. I wish this rating system was on a 10 star scale. This would be an easy 4.5. Can't give it a 5, becuase I'm saving them for the truly transformative albums, but it's more than the 4 it's getting.

poodle rock

This is an album that I loved. Mike touched base on the drums and I agree. It is just pure fun from start to finish and everyone in the band is on board. Maybe best one two punch ever to open an album with jump and panama. Just loved it.

I mean, it’s Van Halen. It’s not bad - just not my cup of tea. There will always be a time and place for Jump. Unfortunately, there’s just not much of those for the rest of the album for me.

6/10

Classic Rock n' Roll. Not particularly my cup of tea this one but would listen to again. Album art is great would wear it on a shirt.

Didn't hate it.

Stopped listening halfway through Hot for Teacher. Genuinely awful

3.7 - High brow this album ain't! It's the type of music you'll hear at Hooters while devouring a basket of wings. It's got “Panama" and some predictably scorching guitar solos.

I've got it bad. So bad...

Obviously Jump is a stone cold classic, but the rest of the album is surprisingly strong and not as synth-heavy as the opening track suggests. A really enjoyable glimpse back to the good-ole-days

Jump is a banger. The rest is 80s hair metal (although apparently it's not technically hair metal). A fun listen, but the quality tails off in the second half. 3/5.

4/5

The drums on this are out of this fucking world holey moley. I don't know what's happening on Hot For Teacher but it is some wild shit man. Not as good as their self titled and Jump is a radio friendly mess

Full of great hooks and riffs. They’re clearly having a good time, and the album is a lot of fun, almost camp even. File under ‘air guitar hall of fame’ as it’s another one of those records where you can revisit and indulge your teenage dream of being a rock demi-god, furiously shredding your invisible guitar from the comfort of your lounge room whilst avoiding the reality you’re probably having a midlife crisis.

Enjoyable indeed! Might as well buy! (BUY!)

Meh

Eipä ole ennen tullut kuunneltua Van Halenia. Levyn alussa oli paljon enemmän syntikoita ja vähemmän kitaroita kuin mitä odotin. Loppupuolta kohden alkoi mennä odotusten mukaiseksi. Hot For Teacher jäi mieleen. Ei erityisesti häirinnyt, mutta ei mene myöskään omille soittolistoille.

Odotukset tätä kohtaan oli korkeahkot. Van Halenilta oikeastaan vain hittibiisit ovat ennestään tuttuja itselleni. Valitettavasti tämä levy osoitti erinomaisesti, että materiaali hittibiisien ulkopuolella on melkoisen yhdentekevää. Toki esim. Panama ja Jump ovat klassikoita jotka ovat kestäneet aikaa erinomaisesti, eivätkä kyseiset kappaleet ole myöskään liian puhkisoitettuja. Hittibiisit nostavat levyn arvosanan peruskolmoseksi.

Excessive, stupid and fucking great. Songs about fucking, fucking teachers, and, uh, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. A perfect encapsulation of big-hair metal that's still caned at pubs at 2AM everywhere.

Best album by Van Halen

Le doy un 4, pero por Jump.

Classic album by a legend, however it's is overrated. Best song: Hot for Teacher

13th October 2021 Listened on my phone throughout the day while at home. Finished the morning after. Synthy, big, camp, really enjoyed. Jump obviously the stand out, sounds a lot like kiss which is never a bad thing.

One of my favourites of all time.

pretty rubbish 80's rock but jump is a classic

I hated it

Not a big fan of Van Halen, but this album is pretty listenable. I just realized that the synth sounds on this album are pretty much a copy of Abacab by Genesis. Interesting. 3 stars.

It's just not for me. Jump is great and I can see the influence on bands I like such as MLB, but I think as I wasn't into it at the time, it's going to be a struggle to get it now. Great to hear EVH's guitar playing properly though, even if it is masked in synth overload.

No me aporta nada loco, lo he escuchado 5 veces y nada me vuelve loco

Decent 80s metal.

Ooops not one in my Vinyl collection TBH... some 80's rock was a bit grim wasn't it. Jump is about it for me!

Love the guitar but ugh David Lee Roth.

I knew most of the hits off this one, but I wasn't familiar with the deep dives, most of which are fantastic. I also had no idea how awesome of a drummer Alex VH is.

I thought this album would be a good one to listen to in the shower and while bustling around after and it didn't disappoint. This is another one I'll give a 3.5ish to. Am I being too stingy with 4s or have I just not seen enough albums yet?

Супер-драйвовый альбом в год, когда я только родился

Iconic, loads of memorable hits, and for sheer instrumentalism alone it’s difficult to go under 5 stars here. No, these are not elegant compositional masterpieces, but there is nobody who can play or sound like classic Van Halen and this album is one of the best examples of that.

walked into this totally blind and 34 minutes later I have to give it a 10/10. I’m not too familiar with Van Halen. I’m familiar with the name but never looked into their discography. I can’t help but feel like I’m missing some context on the significance of this album. Like all rock bands, I’m sure listening to their previous albums will help me appreciate this more, but still for what it is I think it’s amazing. I love how fun, fast, and sassy it is. As soon as I heard that iconic and instantly recognizable synth in ‘Jump’ I knew this was going to be a great (although tragically short) album. I’m a big fan of synth rock and pop rock and this hits all the right spots. I’ll look into more of Van Halen’s stuff for sure. I’m a little worried that 1984 is the peak and everything goes downhill from there tho. Regardless, their self titled debut seems to have pretty high ratings so I’ll look into that one soon.

This brings back memories of an era. I was not a fan, never a fan but I instantly recognise the era and the voice. Great album, I can understand why they have such true live-long devoted fans.

Serious rock but fun…. Socks? 🤘😎

More than 3 less than 4

Hardcore as hell.

Something special about David Lee Roth + Eddie Van Halen

Starting to think this Van Halen fella might be good at guitar

*Rock snob alert*. Not my favorite VH album. Not even close to their bast album with DLR. Panama and Hot For Teacher are rockers. I'll Wait is a great song, and one of the few VH songs where DLR actually sings. The rest of the album is "take it or leave it for me". My rating is for the three aforementioned songs, and for, musically and vocally, them being at the top of their game.

Van Halen est vraiment un groupe très sympa. J'ai d'ailleurs rencontré ses membres alors qu'ils cherchaient un sèche-cheveux dans les rayons de la fnac. Je me suis approché d'eux puis leur ai demandé "Vous cherchez un modèle en particulier ?" alors même que je n' étais pas employé par le magasin. Eddie Van Halen me fit un bras d'honneur et s'en alla faire la queue à l'une des caisses automatiques.

Cet album m'a renvoyé à l'un des jeux videos fétiches de ma jeunesse, Guitar Hero World Tour, où après avoir vaincu Ozzy Osbourne au terme d'un duel de solos endiablés dans un bar du Mississipi, j'affrontais l'equipe FUT de Eddie Van Halen, comprenant entre autres un Arjen Robben TOTW et un Christian Pander au pied d'argent.

Silky cock rock

Monday morning pick-me-up! Great running music;except maybe for the last three songs, in the heavy side and arythmical). Amazing guitar play!!

A brilliant album in it's own way. The intro track and Jump makes you think Van Halen might've gone full synth! Where's the hard rock guitars I'm so used to? But then Panama kicks in and you know they're business-as-usual, and business is really really good. So side 1 is going really well, a nice ambient intro with back-to-back hit singles and then it kinda dips down for two non-singles that aren't bad, but don't have the same lasting power. Still keeps the shredding in tow though; we all love a bit of Eddie shredding. Flip over to side 2, and it's all Alex just killin' it on drums. Oh man! Eddie comes in with pure shred. Guitar and drums are on fire. It's fucked. It's kind of jazzy with it's fun swing and little clean guitar interludes when David Lee Roth asks "What do you think the teacher's gonna look like this year?". Great song. Strong way to open side 2. The rest doesn't quite reach the same level as Hot For Teacher, but at no point are the songs bad or even boring, they're just sort of not quite at the same level. Closest song that could hang would be Girl Gone Bad

One of my bandmates pointed out that Van Halen was more successful with Sammy Hagar than with DLR. Does it really matter? The albums with DLR soar. Does anyone doubt the huge impact the VH brothers have had? While Eddie’s otherworldly skills could have overshadowed everything and everyone else, Alex’s licks, especially on Hot for Teacher, kept pace. On this album it always feels to me that they are competing and racing each other, as if to say Oh, yeah? Top this!

Van Halen's albums pretty much range from good to great. (Yes, even the one with Gary Cherone.) 1984 is a good album with some great songs. The problem is that the first few songs are GREAT, and the last three songs are just... okay. There's no consistency. When I mentioned to my wife about the last three songs, she could not name them. Heck, if "Hot For Teacher" was switched up and was the last song on the album, I would say it's a 5-star album. But as it is, it's...

You know, the synthesizer is such cheesy 80's fare but the greats did it well. Jump is no exception (though a little much on I'll Wait) - you can't help but get sucked in. Of course there's still room for some vintage Eddie (RIP) on the track. And more amazing guitar work on pretty much every track (listen to House of Pain). And then DLR is at his decadent best on this album. Those two just make the album what it is - Panama and Hot for Teacher are classics but they are really ridiculous songs with nothing to them except for the combo of EVH and DLR (to be fair Alex Van Halen's drum work on Hot for Teacher is awesome too). Drop Dead Legs is the best showcase of all the musicians - AVH does good work and Michael Anthony gets time to shine too. Stellar album for anyone who likes rock and even those who don't.

I don't see what this has to do with the George Orwell novel. Just kidding but it's weird that this came after Big Brother and the Holding Co. This is actually the first time I've heard the whole album but of course, like anyone else that grew up in the 80s, I knew "Jump", "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher." Apart from that I wasn't too crazy about the rest of the album. I did enjoy "Top Jimmy" and Eddie is an amazing guitarist to listen to. Not a fan of Alex's drumming at all though. Just an average album overall.

EVH is called a guitar god for a reason. This album is a showcase for his amazing guitar playing. Listening closely I also have a new appreciation for AVH's drumming. The only thing that keeps me from calling this a 5 are the cheesy lyrics...I realize that's part of Van Halen's thing (mainly thanks to David Lee Roth). But lyrics like "dig that steam, giant butt"? Insert eye roll emoji. Then again, lyrics that could be just as cheesy work in Hot for Teacher: "I brought my pencil...gimme something to write on"..."I don't feel tardy." Now that's just funny. I'll give it a 4 for amazing musicianship and fun songwriting, but the cheesy lyrics on songs like Top Jimmy and Drop Dead Legs keep it from being a 5.