1984

great!

The best Van Halen album. Jump, Hot For Teacher, and Panama are all classic songs.

Absolutely fantastic hair metal. Soaring guitars, killer vocals.

TRop Bon et trop classique, toutes les chansons sont bonnes et bien faite. C'est vraiment un top album ! 5

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.

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.

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

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.

It’s Van Halen

Excellent rock des années 80!

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

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 ...

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.

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

Classic

Yes

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.

Rock and Roll Gold!

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

All time reat

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.

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.

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.

curto muito o som deles

Amazing!

so good, more heavy that I would guess.

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

so good

Takes me back to my youth

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?

Fucking excellent album

One of my favourites of all time.

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.

Awesome. Front to back. Not very long either!

....

piriripiriripirirpiruuru pam pamparampamparamfuoo panama panama a panama panama a o o o o

Woohoo! Only 33 minutes long and has the best Van Halen songs.

Yeah it's more mainstream (not that VH were ever the hipster's choice) and synth-heavy, but wow so good top-to-bottom. The band are in top form, and I confess to loving this album as a kid. My only regret is that by the time I saw them live they were in full Hagar.

Very good noder

It's good. "Fair Warning" is a much better album though.

Beutyfull rock

Buen disco. Temazo historico jump. El resto cumple muy bien. 8/10

Strong 4 perhaps weak 5, so many great classic rock songs, but there are a couple weaker songs that stop it from getting a 5

Eddie Van Halen is a pretty standard guitar god, in that he has clear skill but so rarely uses it in a way i find compelling. For me, at least, they're a band with some OK singles, but largely cheesy even at their best. We'll see how a full album feels. After a perfunctory synth intro, 1984 immediately transitions into some of the most iconic pumps of fake organ in history. “Jump” is big stupid party music. It gets in and tickles the lizard brain. And it really is gloriously stupid. Whaoohhh! Hey you! Who said that? This is immediately an album that tells you you don't need to think. So I attempted to approach it on its terms, as brainless as I could be. (Like “Disarm,” as a kid I often sparked about “i aint the worst that you've seen”. Diamond dave looked like an absolute troglodyte in this video. I have since, indeed, seen worse, but it felt like a pretty presumptuous statement to me at the time) And while the album isn't all big dumb singles (Panama isn't exactly smart writing, and is a bit clunky if we're being honest, but it's all about that gang-vocal chorus), it certainly does have two of EVH and DLRs goofiest. Jump, sure, but also Hot for Teacher, which is more notable for Roth's ad-libbing humor than for anything else, but it's puerile in a way that is nevertheless pretty familiar. Hot for Teacher is grown men translating what it was like to be pubescent. But it also has a fun as hell pull-off riff, iconic intro drumming, and a frenetic pace. It's almost innocently horny. And again, big and dumb. Even if I'd never seen the video, I could picture David and the gang doing that exact dance on “got it bad, got it bad, got it bad”. You really do imagine the guys were having the time of their lives. Outside of that? I can't find fault with the harmonic riffing in Top Jimmy and similar textures in Girl Gone Bad. I'm less convinced that Eddie always knows how to make his solos fit the songs they're in, but one can barely deny his skill. And the album is perfectly paced at 33 minutes. There's only so much of this that you can stand in one sitting, and 33 minutes make this feel like a classic. It's never really bad, often quite enjoyable, and it requires nothing of the listener. It ain't high art, but it's good entertainment, and you don't get much mass market product of that quality these days. I'm gonna want to give it more time to really get a feel for it, but i'm comfortably sticking ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ on it for now.

When I was 16 and this album came out, I saw it as a sell-out. I had all of their earlier albums but I refused to get this one. Maybe it was the use of synths and the flashy video for "Jump." Maybe I was tired of David Lee Roth's shtick. Whatever it was, I missed out on a very good album. It's just a good time and, though the last two songs are pretty forgettable, it's a great album of the 80's. These guys had a formula that they weren't afraid to tweak and it paid off.

Lyrically this is vacuous, misogynistic, straight up dumb. But something about Van Halen works for me on a less cognitive level. Maybe it's Eddie van Halen's shredding or Alex van Halen's drumming or the interplay between them, not sure. Hot for Teacher exemplifies their chemistry perfectly. They get lumped in with hair metal, but they were better than that, theyre not exactly Bon Jovi. The pivot to the 80s with the synths too mostly works for me.

If you were a fan of early Van Halen and you hate this album, I get it. I do. When I think about hard rock, Van Halen is one of the first band that comes to mind; and yet here they are with this pop rock album full of synths. But I don't care. 1984 is full of all-time classics, even if they're the kinds of classics that end up being overplayed on the radio. "Panama" and "Jump" (especially that one) are the worst offenders. But come on, "Hot for Teacher" has one of the best intro of any song ever.

really like the synth and guitar mix

Captured this era so well!

Van Halen are probably the only hair metal band I still enjoy. There are a lot of great songs here: Hot For Teacher, Jump, Panama, Drop Dead Legs. However, there are 2 or 3 songs I feel are just okay, which keeps this from getting a 5, but it is still a very strong album. High 4.

This is a really solid album and a capsule to understand rock in the 80s. Such a fun album, the energy is quite contagious and itbis hard not to sing along with some of the singles. A solid 4

Geordie Greep is better.

Cheesy as possible. Pretty much everything that is wrong with Rick music, America, men, and the world is what makes up the record... But it still makes your toes tap.

Very good

Me lembro bem de quando eu era pequeno e tive o primeiro contato com o Van Halen, mesmo sem saber quem eram eles. Panama fazia parte da intro do Gran Turismo 4 e se tornou um dos pedaços mais nostalgicos da infância. Eu fui realmente conhecer o que era o Van Halen muitos anos depois, e como a maioria das bandas de rock clássicas, naquela época eu não me interessava tanto assim. E ainda demorou um bom tempo até eu mergulhar na discografia desses caras. Em questões técnicas não é necessário dizer muito, essa é uma das bandas que mais se diversificaram no gênero nos anos 80, e o 1984 juntamente com o auto intitulado de estreia detém as músicas mais famosas do grupo, e também as que mais expressam essa originalidade. Esse disco tem uma variedade de texturas sonoras, sintetizadores, refrãos bem chiclete, e algo que eu gosto muito nele é o fato de ser um disco bem curto, mas ao mesmo tempo bem completo. Não tem encheção de linguiça, sem baladinha romântica pra mascarar falta de criatividade, é direto e reto. Um ótimo trabalho de uma banda que teve altos e baixos na carreira, mas que os trabalhos principais deixaram um marco na história. Rest in Power Eddie Van Halen.

Sure, it’s a bit dated at times. But the drum fills are killer and really smooth. Guess I haven’t noticed this before in detail. Enjoyed this listen! 3.9/5.0

Some top tier hair metal. Full of Diamond David Lee Roth doing Diamon David Lee Roth things. Exactly what you want from a Van Halen album. 4*

Fun and a bit ridiculous … second half falls off a cliff to an extent but the Jump / Panama back to back was incredible. 3.5+

Favorite track(s): Jump, Panama, Top Jimmy, Hot for Teacher, I'll Wait, Girl Gone Bad Heard before Previous rating: 8/10

Very catchy. Love the guitar playing and the synths are fun too.

This is classic rock at its finest. EVH's guitar playing is up there with the best of them. Half of this album had some of rocks biggest hits. Blah blah blah ai could go on. I like this album, bit don't love it. I can't give it a 5 but I probably should.

back on track...ish really liked it

Pretty strong tracks, a real stadium band

Very few albums/songs will bring me back to such a specific time. The album being named after a year doesn't help. Watching on Mtv, every kid halving this half shirt. The crappy mirrors you could win at the county fair. This screams being 9 years old and for that reason I still love it.

SYNTH! The synth throughout the entire album is done amazing and especially in the intro. The group founded by a guitarist who is recognized for his incredible skill really found itself in their keyboardist on this record. In this one Van Halen really left their mark.

Funnn

Embarrassingly fun to listen to

no word

Musically great. Eddie Van Halen’s guitar imaging is insane. The album has a powerful, engaging sound. The only thing holding it back is the lyrics. Some of the songs are quite bad lyrically. Even so, I’m giving it a 4. If the lyrics were better in the b-sides, this could be a 5.

Classic, one of the best for this genre of hair metal, glam rock, whatever it's called. -1 star for Hot for Teacher, which is just too hard to listen to.

190. 1984 - Van Halen (1984) 8.31.26 Variety: 4 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 4 Uniqueness: 4 Emotionality: 3 = 4.0 Our second and final Van Halen album on the list, and not too long since we had the debut. That one ended up getting a 5 from me as it was a blast the whole way through, and held up pretty well. While I've heard several of the bigger hits from this one on the radio pretty consistently over the last 40+ years, I have to say I'm not as confident that the rest of it will stand the test of time. I like me some cheesy synths, but this one has a LOT of it. And if I recall, it's where the band transform into the caricature of themselves of the infighting, crass, drug-addled, yet super slick and commercially mainstream powerhouse. David Lee Roth's solo stuff would start coming out after this, and despite liking some of that quite a bit, I think it was all downhill from there. The less said about Van Hagar, the best I think. I'm looking forward to this one as I know it'll be a good time. "I think of all the education that I missed/ But then my homework was never quite like this" THE TRACKS Side one "1984" - Worth noting only in that it serves as a fine preview of the synth heavy, polished bit of gleaming studio production we're in store for. "Jump" - A classic in any era, untainted by the 80s synth sound that otherwise falls flat for so many other acts during this time who tried and failed to mix it with traditional rock instrumentation. When I was a kid this song felt big and epic and like some ort of super vitamin injection of positivity. Lyrically I think it's concerned with the micro - Diamond Dave wants to get laid, and this is his best spiel. At a macro level though this is BIG. How can you hear that synth breakdown after the guitar solo and not feel the vistas of possibility opening up before your very eyes. When the main synth melody comes in again at 3:05 - that is the cornerstone of the song. This song is awesome, and everyone knows it. Even the people who hate it because they hate life. "Panama" - If "Jump" was the band's New Deal of the 80s, with them declaring loudly that they have one foot firmly planted in the future then this is the calming reassurance that they haven't lost their edge and can still deliver some good times, some crunchy licks, and some sleazeball fun. I've mentioned a couple of songs in our reviews so far that are great driving songs - "Human Cannonball" by Butthole Surfers, "Kickstart My Heart" by Mötley Crüe - and this one hold's the Silver in my heart, just below AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill". And that's mainly due to the wonderfully smutty spoken word breakdown messes with the vibe just a tiny bit, car-related as it is. But the rest of it ( who doesn't crank the volume for that last bit?) is built for SPEED. Two all-time classics in a row. What a great start. Let's hope they don't run out of gas too soon. "Top Jimmy" - The energy on this one is out of control. The verses on this one might as well be the musical embodiment of a rocket-fueled flight down a hill of pure white Columbian snow. "Whatever the hell is a 'Top Jimmy'?" you might be tempted to ask. Well, Dave and the boys tell you exactly what and who this is. This is all very edifying, but it implies the existence of 1) a "Bottom Jimmy" ( what is HIS story and did his life just spiral downward to his current lot, or was he defeated in the battle of the bands that saw his rivals the Rhythm Pigs ascend? So many questions) and 2) the possible existence of at the very least a "Middle Jimmy" and maybe a whole ranking system for other more and less successful Jimmy's. Enquiring minds want to know. "Drop Dead Legs" - The band proving they can get as basic and stupid as the best of them. This sounds like the band taking a swing at, or possibly homaging AC/DC. Not quite as catchy ( or gloriously stupid) as the best AC/DC stuff, it at least does a decent enough job of keeping up. We'll just call it the album's first rest spot. Side two "Hot for Teacher" - Holy shit... Another certified classic. Of all of this song's finest qualities ( the catchy as hell sing-a-long vocals, Eddie's guitar solo, the general gloriously stupid vibes) it's Alex Van Halen's drums that will be forever burned into my brain. Dude is great on all of their songs, but this is calling card track I think. Amazing stuff. To truly appreciate this already great song, you just can't not watch the iconic music video. Some people might roll their eyes out the immature presentation and questionable subject matter, and they might be right to do so. And if it bothers you, that's a legitimate take, but you might have picked the wrong sort of musical list to dive into. For me, it works a s high camp. It's raunchy and childish, but it's also funny and weird, and pretty tame, even for the era. Go watch some W.A.S.P. videos and get back to me. "I'll Wait" - If "Jump" was Van Halen with one foot planted in the future, then this one is the second foot coming over to join it. It's SOOOO very 80s. Like this is "In the Air Tonight" 80s. This one is all driving synths and drums. Roth's voice even comes across as robotic here. And it's very cool. Of all the tracks on the album, this one has grown on me the most. Weirdly I don't think they did a music video for this one. "Girl Gone Bad" - Michael Anthony finally gets his moment in the spotlight here as the galloping bass line smashes through the noise and rises up above everything else. Otherwise though, it's as generic as you can get on here. There were a few parts that reminded me quite a bit of Rush. "House of Pain" - Not terrible by any means ( nothing on here is) but that first side especially is a LOT to live up to, and this was not the big finish I wanted it to be. If anything it's slightly watered down from what we got on the last track, both of which were very instrument heavy, almost like Diamond Dave needed to go "freshen up" for long sections. HIGHLIGHTS - "Jump" - "Panama" - "Top Jimmy" - "Hot for Teacher" - "I'll Wait" MIDLIGHTS - "Drop Dead Legs" - "Girl Gone Bad" - "House of Pain" LOWLIGHTS FINAL THOUGHTS "When we get to it, I'll have a lot of praise for 1984 as well, but I'm predicting this one will edge it out for me, if only just. This was a delight to revisit" - Me. Turns out I was pretty close. I do like this quite a lot still, and I think it has aged well enough. Considering all of the trend chasing, pop-forward pieces. It gets a bit saggy near the end, but three iconic songs on a single album release is more than most bands, including a lot of the classics on this list could ever ask for. This easily belongs on the list. It suffers in comparison with the first one because that feels perennially fresh to me, and there are a lot of dead ends here. Even just a few years later I think most hard rock bands had moved on past this sound, even if it did sound like the future in 1984. And as mammoth a success as it was, it signaled the band's death knell I think. And after a bad breakup the band rebounded with more success, but as a creative shadow of its former self. In my opinion. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Keep it all, even the lesser material FURTHER LISTENING - Pyromania by Def Leppard - The Final Countdown by Europe - Crazy from the Heat EP by David Lee Roth - Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi - Midnight Madness by Night Ranger - Night Songs by Cinderella

Being so honest, I did not know that 'Jump' was Van Halen. This was such an unexpected album for me in a really good way

thoughts: - jump right off the bat? okayyyyyy - hot for teacher? x2 for Glee covers

Pretty good stuff.

Excellent. Some classics on here.

This one must have their most popular singles on it. We hear them all the time on classic rock radio and in movies. It's just a feel good fun time album from start to finish. Last album with David Lee Roth which would divide the fans and more keyboard synth heavy than previous albums yet it's still essential in the catalog. It's hard not to enjoy this one in all it's bombast and crystal clear production.

Constantly full of life, exciting and energizing, and the hits feel even better with the rest of the album surrounding them. It's an uplifter

What a strong first half. Like most VH albums the second half contrasts quite a bit.

Guilty pleasure? 4 Boolean: True

Van Halen are a bit of a guilty pleasure but this is a legitimately great album (apart from the last couple of tracks that drag it down). They go heavy on the synth and it mostly works really well, some of their biggest songs are on this so worth the inclusion.

Штош. Мало был знаком с творчеством Van Halen до этого, хоть и слышал довольно много разных мнений. В целом альбом скорее зашёл чем нет. Хоть на странице вики и указаны хард-рок и хэви-метал, всё-таки как по мне данный альбом больше запоминается именно глэм-металом. Так часто где-то слышал Jump даже не зная авторства, что как мне кажется это самый хайповый трек альбома, долго думал хочу я его добавить потому что он известный или потому что нравится. Всё-таки второй вариант. Дополнительно добавил Panama. 8.5/10

Твердая 4. Топ-1 - Hot for teacher Топ-2 - Jump

Of all the deeply beautiful, poetic lines and lyrics in the musical universe, “I don’t feel tardy” will always remain one of my favorites. I can’t count how many times I went “aw man, I think the clock is slow” in school. This has been a long standing member of my vinyl collection, and though I don’t think it’s quite as good as their self titled album, it is still very good and a lot of fun to listen. They’re a perfect middle ground between the rock and roll that came before, and the further end of 80s hair rock that guys like Kiss, Motley Crue or Def Leppard occupied. Eddie Van Halen is a master, but his brother on drums is not to be forgotten — that man rips and rolls right along. It will always be Van Lee Roth to me, I don’t think I’ve listened to a minute of Van Hagar. You’ve got three really good songs on this album (Panama, Hot For Teacher, Jump), but much like let it bleed, they’re such heavy hitters that it makes this album legend. There are a few other tasty tunes sprinkled in (Top Jimmy, Drop Dead Legs both rip), but those three are classics, and man is Hot for Teacher a fun listen, plus that drum line thats confused drummers for decades is so dope. Great pick, great listen, great album, great band. I’ll also note that the listen on vinyl is vastly different from streaming…completely different album and sound…man does it rip on the table. I brought my pencilllllll….gimme something to write on!

Hardcore Halen-head harbors hatred, however, heaviness here healed his heated heart! Hackneyed hits hurt, however.

4.5 all the hits.

Прикольный рокешник, но немножка староват Некоторые треки цепляют олдовым звучанием и старым роком, но остальные просто средненькие Прикольна но переслушивать не буду, максимум пару треков 3.5/5

muy guay

Excelente

intros too long for me

Decent album with some really good guitar solos

Tykkäsin! Ei mitään aivan sairaan mieleenpainuvaa mutta soi nytkin päässä jump. Se on ollu mun elämän kulmakivibiisi jollain tavalla aina samalla tavalla ku muutkin kasaribängerit. Oli menevää ja hauskaa. Suussasulavaa.

Teininä kun pärähdin tukkaheviin – ja tietty myös Van Haleniin – aattelin että tää levy on vähän kökkäre. Musta erityisesti Van Halenin debyytti oli kovaa kamaa ja tää oli liian pop, liian synavetonen ja liian sellout. Tää levy oli käänteentekevä hetki metallimusalle ja nosti tukkaheviä ihan eri tavalla näkyviin MTV:llä, jonka myötä osasin arvostaa tän olemassa oloa (ja siis toki esim. Hot for Teacher bängäs). Mut nyt vuosia myöhemmin tää tuntukin ihan eri levyltä. Ei tää ees ollu niin synakuorrutettu tai pop, vaan täähän oli aika paahtoa! Hyviä biisejä vaikka kuinka, eikä siirappista lällyilyä oikein missään. Tässä yhdistyy hyvin Van Halenin vanha saundi ja kasarin muoti-ilmiöt, ilman että se tuntuu pakotetulta tai päälleliimatulta. Eli täähän olikin oikeestaan tosi hyvä, jee!

Onhan tässä ny aivan älytöntä kitarointia, huh huh :D Tässäkin levyssä hittibiisit oli varmaan parhaat palat ainaki näin eka kuuntelulla, mutta kaiken kaikkiaan erittäin bängeri levy.

Uhhhh! 🔥Huomaan et oon kuluttanut Van Halenia lähinnä kokoelmalevyinä, mut aika monta biisiä on tältä ollut niillä edustettuna. Tiukkaa uhmaa ja vähän vaaran tuntua tossa armottomassa tykittelyssä, mut upeasti pysyy lopulta kasassa. Vähän ehkä vikat biisit liikaa samoista palikoista eikä ihan niin kovaa enää pärise kuin levyn alkupää niin lopulta tooooooosi niukasti nelosen puolelle kuitenkin 🥲

Album 281. 1984 (https://open.spotify.com/album/3REUXdj5OPKhuDTrTtCBU0?si=BBt3CPd8TI6GcOMLWQiKDw) — Van Halen (1984) Classic hard rock album, classic 80s. Sometimes boring, overall great and lasts not so long 4/5 Liked: — Jump — Panama — Hot for Teacher

I dig this album, lots of classic rock tracks. Plus it was the year I was born.

Delicious 80s cheese.

I put this a 4 mainly because of the memories it brings and the ubiquity of it at the time, I owned the cassette and liked the whole thing. Still sounds good bringing the david lee fun with the Alex riffs.

This album is great, thank god they rip, cause 10 songs about how hot women are would generally not be it 4.1/5

Pretty nice, solos are good, Jump sound pretty familiar

Grew up with a lot of these tracks as a kid that listened to a ton of classic rock - Hot for Teacher sounds great even 40 years after release. Not the best VH album, but still pretty damn good.

Pretty solid mid 80s album. Eddie Van Halen's guitar work is sorely missed today. Diamond Dave. Hot for Teacher is an underrated track, clock is slow, I don't feel tardy being an underappreciated line. Panama, Jump the ubiquitous singles back in the day. Good stuff. Not going to overthink the rating, with I'll Wait tipping from 3 to 4.

Ripping solos on this one! 5 outta 5 for the guitar but the rest has highs and lower highs

Some classics, Jump, Panama, Hot For Teacher, all making the playlist. But I was never as into them as most were.

Doubted between 3 and 4 stars. The album is short, it’s kitsch, it’s nothing new. But still, it has Jump which is an eighties anthem. Panama needs no introduction and Eddie kills it on Hot for Teacher. Fuck it, I’m in a good mood. Four stars.

Januar bis Anfang September 2026 ~ ein Mosaik an Momenten ~ Im Januar beim Solo Album Projekt gehört. Diverse Momente im Spätsommer - Zeltplatz beim Sägewerk, verschiedene Busse und Bahnen, beim Sport.

Samstag 05.09.2026 Auf der Bank im Ottopark und diversen Bibliotheken der FU (sue me)

My favs are “jump” and “ house of pain” really cool 80s instrumentals a good time overall

This album is just fun and a good time all around. If you don’t like it you are missing out. Not gonna win any awards but a solid 4/5

"Hot For Teacher" is really great. I'm a teacher so I have to keep my opinion of that song to myself because I don't want to seem pervy and unethical, but it really is a great rock song. The drums, the guitar, Roth's vocals, that iconic video... it's so delightfully 80's, and the juxtaposition of superb musicianship and cheeky, playful lyrical tone is fantastic.

Forever a Van Halen fan. RIP Eddie

Not really a big fan of this band, but my sister dragged me to a concert in the mid-to late 80’s and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. They were energetic, great musicians, interacted well with the fans, and played for a long time. A most pleasant surprise. The opening acts were Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Steve Winwood. This album has 3 “hits” that were all huge because of MTV — Jump, Panama, and Hot for Teacher. Jump is a classic and the others were hits because of the videos. Pretty horrible lyrics, but a lot of fun overall. 3.5 rounded up for the concert. Also, weird coincidence — today I started watching “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” from 1989 (hey, it’s on The Criterion Channel) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) wears a Van Halen t-shirt throughout.

fun :)

i enjoyed this one. it feels pretty cheesy being as unabashedly 80s as it is but it's still a good sound and a good energy. i like the synths whenever they show up and the driving drums and wailing guitar riffs give it a feel that's surprisingly close to crush 40’s contributions to the soundtracks of mid 00s sonic games, especially on the faster paced tracks. although maybe i was just primed to think that by the album opening with the exact same sound as "live and learn". hmmm..... anyway i guess my favourite track is between "panama" and "girl gone bad" but the quality is pretty stable throughout so there's not much of a power gap between songs. tbh i could see it starting to drag if it went longer but it's only a half hour long so. its just kinda fuckin good!

Its an easy listen for people that dont listen to 80’s music or hard rock in general you can just easily jump into it and have an enjoyable experience

My immediate instinct was to mash 5 stars when I saw the angel on the cover and flashed back to being a teenager. And it largely holds up. The high points -- Jump, Panama, I'll Wait, HFT, and Drop Dead Legs still sound as devilishly tight as they did back then. But man...the rest of the album is honestly filler. I was wondering why I didn't have much of a recollection of Girl Gone Bad and House of Pain -- and it's probably because I was already turning the tape over after I'll Wait finished. That said, the authors of the one-star "this is just sucky dad rock" reviews will never know a moment of true happiness.

Short and sweet, but their debut is better

Me ha gustado en general. 7/10

The swagger and casual sexism of '80s hair metal meets the synthesizer. The Van Halen brothers remain masters of their respective instruments, harmonies and arrangements are strong throughout, and David Lee Roth's voice is excellent when he's not just gasping and squeaking. Four killer hits plus four filler songs of varying quality ("Girl Gone Bad" being my favorite of them) = four stars.

Super great drums and guitars. I was vibing hard with this the whole time and liked it a lot more than I expected to

Klassischer 80er Rock. Das Album von Van Halen, dass man hören sollte. Mit dem Nummer 1 Hit "Jump". 4/5

Actually really enjoyed this

1984 - 3/5 Jump - 4/5 Panama - 4.5/5 Top Jimmy - 3.5/5 Drop Dead Legs - 3.5/5 Hot for Teacher - 4.5/5 I'll Wait - 3.5/5 Girl Gone Bad - 4/5 House of Pain - 3.5/5 A "dudes rock" album that is carried by its hits with the rest of the album being pretty middle of the road. Thankfully all the singles are good enough to put this as a pretty good album, though the other songs sort of feel like filler outside of maybe 1. Thankfully it's short enough to not notice that much. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: Panama, Hot for Teacher

genial album lleno de himnos y la sensación de estar en miami beach en los 80s con gafas sintiendo la brisa en la cara. recomendadisimo loco

Day 27 This is '80s hair metal/hard rock featuring the major hit "Jump," which was even covered by Bruce Springsteen. This is music from my youth. Though I didn't actually own this album back then and had never listened to it all the way through, I did have a cassette copy of OU812, which I think I like a bit better. 1984 is a decent rock album, even if it's a bit infused with an outdated '80s synth sound. However, Eddie's amazing guitar work still makes this a solid 4 stars.

That guitar is sweet in a way I would have loved in high school but am only mildly excited about now. The album is surprisingly varied for something so intensely 80s. The shorter runtime is also nice, and doesn't seem typical for these types of bands.

Rating: 7/10 I find it surprisingly cool and it’s undoubtedly fun. It helps that it’s actually quite varied in its sound and all the best songs have different reasons to love them. Like ok fine Jump and Panama are a great way to start the album, switching it from synthpop to metal and having it feel like that makes perfect sense. Despite Hot For Teacher’s lyrical content, the Van Halen brothers make it a highlight with their pounding drums and riffage. House of Pain is also a shredder. These have to be some of the band’s absolute best songs ever. The rest of the songs are pretty decent too. I think I have to give this a 4 for being a standout among the grating cheesiness found in most other 80’s hard rock and metal

2 - jump - OHHH this song 3 - a part of this song reminded me of pantera for some reason was a coo album

When I saw this was tagged as metal and hard rock, I was pumped. There are some lower points that were too glitzy for me to care much for (80's glam metal and all that), but overall, a heart-pumping high-energy project! The guitar solos were especially exhilarating and I can see why this band is famous for them.

Enjoyed it! Very loud, very 80s glam rock. Aside from Jumo, I discovered and liked “Panama” and “I’ll wait”.

4/5

Have I listened to this album before No How familiar am I with this album Pretty familiar How do I feel about this artist? I am pretty neutral about Van Halen Pre-Listen Thoughts: This is another one of my mom’s favorite albums. They used to play Jump over the intercom at my Middle School before the bell rang. The said they were going to start playing music to tell us to get to class but it was literally only Jump, like seven times a day. I predict 4 stars. Favorite track(s): Hot for Teacher, House of Pain Post-Listen Thoughts: Very classic sound for this era. Lots of synth but it works. Overall I liked it quite a bit.

from the moment it starts you KNOW it’s gonna be an experience didn’t know the name of the song jump, neither did i know van halen sings it obviously so i went in expecting nothing and was pleasantly surprised by the cover art alone i thought this was going to be something close to cocteau twins… couldn’t have been more wrong guitar riffs in panama changed something in me 6th song is my life story

As I am writing this at work I have already re-listened to this great album twice in the morning. And yes, of course it's great, but I gotta say - if you asked me 5 years or even 10 years ago, I would have said no doubt this is 5 stars. However VH is yet another one of those bands from my childhood which I kind of outgrew. The singles are majestic as always but album tracks just won't compare to those 3 massive songs here. So I think this deserves strong 4 stars, but it's not really a masterpiece as my younger self would have thought.

Electric, it gets me going I haven't listened to anything as heavy as this before but I like it, not much else to say

never would have thought I'd like Van Halen but that's why this 1001 albums thing is so great!

This album is rock n roll royalty. It’s also hard to fathom that this was the final album with David Lee Roth as the lead singer.

Sure this isn't a 5...right? I'm actually on the fence. This is just pure FUN and I love this album. It's really a 33 minute guitar masterclass from Eddie, from finger-tap shredding to hyper-ZZ Top blues to cool atmospheric picking parts. The hits really hit (starting an album with Jump and Panama back to back??) but a few other songs I hadn't really known very well (or maybe ever even heard before) like Girls Gone Bad. Sure the lyrics are a little reductive but this is pretty much large formal arena hard rock at its best for me.

Good ol rock n roll. Hot For Teacher is legitimately one of my favorite songs ever. Too many hits for me to critique everything else here too much.

start peak, dan beetje minder

This was much better than I remembered. Maybe a little more guitar wankery than I usually enjoy, but solid overall.

Not my favorite Van Halen, but very good. Might have been a 5 but I want to make space between it and some of their earlier work. Also, it might be suffering from the fact that I heard Jump two billion times when it came out. Surprisingly, though, the song holds up.

Yeah. Van Halen rules.

jump being the most pop track on the album is suck a kiiii good for them

Stellar album. Most of VHs best stuff on here. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Álbum excelente de Hard Rock. Vocais e instrumentais excelentes. Músicas muito divertidas. Celest Phoenixcall.

Listens: 3 Standout Tracks: Jump, Panama, Hot For Teacher 1984 is just nowhere as good as Van Halen's eponymous debut album (which I am comparing it to because its also on the List). Points for being a short 33 minute whirlwind of sound. It has some nice tracks (the singles), but is also slightly boring. Solid 3 material. After listen number three, I've changed my mind.I liked it more than I didn't and that means 4.

Heard this album a bunch growing up so got some nostalgia bias going on

Jump is an all time classic. Some other lyrics didn't age quite as well.

House Of Pain

Gran disco

Turns out Van Halen isn't just one guy, they're a band? I imagine this won't be the last time this'll happen...

I’m a bit young for Van Halen; my older burnout cousins were into them and the butt rock thing didn’t really appeal particularly as I came of age musically when rock music had made a darker turn. But as a guitar player, it’s hard to not appreciate Eddie Van Halen. Its difficult to think of a modern guitarist who had more of an influence on guitar playing: he didn’t invent two handed tapping, but he popularized it; he was instrumental in the development of the Floyd Rose locking tremolo, in pushing the tonal capabilities of guitar amps. And while the 70s and 80s had a lot of shredders, EVH stood apart not just for his frankly astounding technical ability, but also his capacity to write songs. And yeah even though I want to dislike the bombast here, the dumb sexism, the sheer exuberance on 1984 wins me over. The guitar playing on this album is spectacular, not just on the hits, but also on the lesser known tracks like Top Jimmy with the opening riff with all those natural harmonics. And while EVH is rightly recognized as one of the best guitarists of his generation, you can’t downplay his synth work here either. Diamond Dave is a natural showman and his charisma is infectious. Alex Van Halen the drums and Michael Anthony on bass round out the band with some impressive rhythms. In terms of sheer talent, Van Halen are one of the greatest, but still they’re a fun listen. It’s still kinda butt rock, yeah, but it’s the highest form of butt rock.

Van Halen... This takes me back. Back to the 80s? What? No. I wasn't even alive back then. No, this takes me back to October 5, 2023. That was when I started the 1001 Albums project itself, and the first that I was given was Van Halen's 1978 self-titled debut album. 983 days later, I'm somehow still doing the 1001 Albums project and I get to listen to a second Van Halen album. I kinda wish I could've gotten this as my final album so that it would've gone full circle to the beginning, but the odds of that happening were always slim to none, so I can't exactly say that I'm surprised that I'm not reviewing this on day 1089. Then again, I am still pretty shocked that it took this long for me to get the second Van Halen album. So, after 32 months since my first Van Halen album, do I still like Van Halen as much as I did back then? Yes! This album's great! I do slightly prefer the debut, but 1984 still has a lot to love. Of course, many of that album's strongest elements return. Eddie Van Halen is still one of the greatest guitarists to ever live and David Lee Roth is a pretty good frontman. The songwriting is still fairly basic, but none of it is bad at all. In fact, the best songs on here are really great. "Jump" is a classic for good reason. The synth-heavy sound is definitely a change for the band, but it worked out pretty well, didn't it? The guitar-focused work isn't gone though. You still have some stellar rockers like "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher" to appreciate. The latter of those two songs opens with a pretty cool drum solo, so that's cool! "Panama" actually has a pretty funny story pertaining to why it was written. Apparently there was a reporter who claimed that Van Halen only made songs about parties, women, and cars, and David Lee Roth was like "Umm... no? We've never made a song about cars," so he decided to write a song about a car. I find that very funny and I don't know why. Great song though, as are the other ones I've mentioned. 1984 is a bit of a stylistic turn for Van Halen, but it is not a bad one in the slightest. The first few years of the 80s treated Van Halen well, it seems. I'm not sure that I could say the same for the years that followed since I haven't heard any of it, but maybe they were good too, I don't know. What I do know is that 1984 is a good album. 4/5.

This album was really consistently good

Highlights: Jump, Panama, Top Jimmy, Hot for Teacher, Girl Gone Bad Insanely strong opening. Hard af and fun to listen to. Not too crazy about a relisten any time soon doe.

Really great rock album. Jump, Panama. Fantastic.

I GET UP

Jump was one of THE songs of 1984 Together with Panama and Hot for Teacher, Dave Lee Roth's antics were hard to escape this year While the opening has shades of "Mr Robotto", thats all forgotten a couple of tracks in, even though the synth remains a too-prominent element While I certainly prefer some of their earlier material, this is an easy 4 stars for keeping the metal flag flying in the crazy eighties

Good dumb fun

база

So 80's in the best way 😆 I love "Jump" and "Panama" 💗💗💗 Guitar 🎸 in "Hot for Teacher" blew me away.. Am I just in a good mood or is this a 5 star?!? Nah its a 4.. Love it

The deep tracks have a good rhythm section, it's clearly very influential for the 80s. i just don't care about the 80s much

Loved the energy. So many songs I enjoyed. Perfect length!

Very fun listen, I've always enjoyed this album. The guitar-work is incredible, of course. More synth than I remembered. Some of the lyrics are cringy though

Such fun. 80s rock is the epitome of classic rock.

There was really good tracks that make you want to rock. There’s a couple that were just ok.

A fun rock album, makes you want to jump from your chair Fav songs - Jump, Hot for Teacher 4/5

It's 3.75

Some great glam metal. Favorite Track: Jump - The synths on this are so good.

Somehow I thought this would be all synths, since I mostly remembered Jump. But this has some good rockers too. Over all I was impressed by it.

This one is very nostalgic for me given it's release date and what was happening then. I know it well and enjoy the material. I probably rate higher than it deserves but it difficult to listen to objectively

A fun album with some big songs! I liked it 4 ⭐️

Pretty silly, but pretty enjoyable hair metal. EVH's playing is out of this world; I can only imagine the impact it had at the time.

How many bangers can you fit into one album? Seriously. Even the non-singles from this are so good.

Good guitar work. Overplayed

-1 for Hot for Teacher.

Yk what I actually really fucked with this one

Not usually my thing

I think I have this one on an audio cassette somewhere.

I like Van Halen too much to even pretend this was an unbiased listen. Not every song on the album is a banger but they're damn close.

Singing Jump for a mattress commercial nearly got the New Directions banned from sectionals! And that's what you missed on Glee. Fun short album! Favourite song: Jump Least: Drop Dead Legs

Absolute banger for the just part. Starting with Jump and Panama sets it up to rock hard.

I don’t know what I thought about Van Halen prior to this but I understand it now!

bangers on bangers. 4.3 sterne

Liked it a lawt. Panama and Girl Gone Bad and House of Pain were my faves. Love the guitar, like cmon It's Eddie. 7.8/10.

That Helene band that I’ve never really listened to too much as an album band only on the radio. I definitely understand why they were a powerhouse in the 80s. Every song rocks. Panama is my favorite.

4/7

While Eddie's guitar playing is formidable, VH wouldn't have particularly stuck out between all those other glam/hair metal/rock bands. His decision to use synths despite David's distaste of it really created an iconic sound that made the difference. Jump and those other songs still are absolute bangers.

One of the best Van Halen albums with the best songs.

Feels like a classic rock album, Solid album for driving around. I liked the guitar work and sound on the tracks. Liked Panama and Hot for Teacher.

קידומת הולנדית

I love VH I&II, but to be honest, I'm not sure I listened to this entire album outside of it's singles. I won't say I'm a huge fan of DLR, but I definitely prefer this version of the band to Van Haggar. That being said, no matter who is singing, EVH does no wrong on the guitar. I strive to sound this effortless on the guitar. House of Pain guitar riff is KILLER. I'm learning that today. Solid album. Still prefer what they did in the first two albums, but this still great. Didn't feel like EVH was a focal point, which is the only reason I really like VH.

This album is such a treat, with the most 80s synth elements imaginable, with some incredible Eddie guitar work. Also, the hits are just classics for a reason. Can't wait to hear their first record.

start and end of album are rather different but i like both genres so…

This is a lot shorter and a lot better than I remember.

Lo quiero en vinilo

Many classics. Love the melodic rock. Very nice.

evh a monster

Iconic and thoroughly fun this album is packed with hits.

Like more than i thought i would. 33 minutes ain't bad. Done obvious bangers and the others were pretty good

Not that i'm too impressed - that was close to what i was expecting from this album. Solid.

1984: wonky synth noise kind of weird intro Jump: overplayed but still good reminds me of red rocks show Panama: good song but the guitar is all panned in the left ear and doesn’t have a lot of depth because it’s just in left Jimmy: really cool song different than normal Van Halen style Hot for teacher: obviously a great song fun to play and great in every instrument except for vocals but it is dlr Girl gone bad: even for a Van Halen album this has a standout guitar solo. Jazzy interlude

很难得的能让我喜爱的hard rock，虽然他听起来不像

It's 1984...it's great.

a part of me wishes I could become a world leader just so when macron comes to visit my country I can get my band to play hot for teacher instead of la marseillaise

Это было охуенно.

I don’t know why I thought this would be a harder rock but I guess it’s because I’ve never gone out of my way to listen to Van Halen. I could listen to these bitches shred for days

This is dope

Another album that I never listened before. Well until yesterday of course. I know all the singles from this album (Jump, Panama and Hot For Teacher) but I never heard the other tracks of this album. And well I was suprised. I really enjoyed all of them and really thought that wouldn't be the case. 4/5

Fabulously energetic and just all around fun album, that despite having some insanely complex musical arrangements, somehow feels super approachable.

Their sixth album. Hair Metal /Rock. Hell of an intro and opening track. It's all so over the top, massive sound and 80s. It is such a short album but swings a big punch. No airs or graces, just Hair Metal in your face. Hair Metal, spandex, slow motion videos of leaping high kicks, it's all bollocks really but we all need escape from time to time eh !? This is just some food fun.

Good listening.

Really enjoyed this one! Good guitar work, not too much. Like the singer's voice, but didn't love it. Could swing along a couple of times. Would listen to this one again.

Singles still hold up STRONGLY. 33 minutes is the perfect run time for an album like this.

This cemented van halen as the dominant 80s group with expert guitar playing

Cool ass cherub smoking cigarettes… just jamming out without a care singing about being cool… it’s hard to hate Van Halen. Even though I remember Jump as the overused pop culture song it’s just so hard to hate it when you hear it. Cool and fun. It’s the simple things that make life worth living.

Si te gusta tocar la guitarra si o si tenés que escuchar este álbum, porque las locuras que hace Van Halen son impresionantes, tiene muy buenos temas y varios me sorprendieron por su complejidad sonora, el álbum del angelito prometió y cumplió.

Hell yeah, a van halen album. A very 80s sci fi intro. Love it. Right into jump, it’s obviously a classic! Great to hear on this album. Panama, Top Jimmy, Drop dead legs. All great guitarwork, especially that solo in drop dead legs. While hot for teacher is questionable lyrics wise, it is in fact an absolute bop. I’ll wait was great! Another few lyric choices I blinked at, but awesome all the same. Girl gone bad was just some pure rock fun! The guitars, the drums, all were great. House of pain was a perfect closer to this album. Overall, this album didn’t try to be anything it wasn’t! It had a sense of self, didn’t go on for too long, and was super fun! 4.5/5 ⭐️ 116/1089

To me, this album is the ultimate mid-80s time capsule, perfectly capturing an era of flashy showmanship, big hair, and sonic evolution. Van Halen absolutely kills it instrumentally, especially Eddie. He totally changed things up by mixing those synths with his insane guitar, creating a sound that was both commercially massive and technically brilliant. "Jump", "Panama", and "Hot for Teacher" are still the hot shit, but even the other tracks are killer. No filler here, just 33 minutes of pure energy. Yeah, the lyrics are a bit dated rock star and teenage, but it's so much fun, you can't help but grin. It's loud, proud, pretentious, and the best of the original Van Halen line-up.

This isn’t the best album of the 80s but god damn if it’s not close. Shreds, rips, just fuckin rocks.

Forty years after its wall-to-wall permeation of the airwaves, it’s hard to deny the infectious fun of Van Halen on and in 1984. You can’t listen to this album without seeing the broad grins on every band member’s face in those omnipresent videos; Van Halen was having a good time as rock gods and weren’t afraid to show it. I was surprised how great all the singles still sound today, even “I’ll Wait” (co-written by Michael McDonald, who was apparently in every 1980s recording studio). And the rest of the cuts piece the album together well enough to maintain the energy for 33 minutes. 3.5 stars

Classic

4 bangers, 4 mid tier and an intro squeezed into 33 minutes is pretty impressive. Was sitting at a 3.5 until I'll Wait came on.

This album rules. "Jump" and "Panama' may have been overdone but they are smashes for a reason....I also love "I'll Wait" and "Hot For Teacher". They embraced synths and modern production without selling out, and its a really nice length of an album too. I want to go 5 but I'll save 5 for the self-titled album

I'll wait is my favorite, but I'm not into this type of album, but yes incredible guitar players.

Wow - I’m embarrassed to admit how much I liked this. Shows that you have to separate the music from the look of the band. If I judged solely on the manitards this would never have gotten a listen. 4 stars. Boolean rating: yes! Glad I heard it before I died.

please don't make fun of the fact that the first time I heard Hot for Teacher was on Glee

Short and sweet. Proper classic rock, love all the synth. Not too much differentiation between tracks, but still a very good listen.

This was a lot of fun. I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

Yes, Glam Metal is commercial and mainstream as shit. That doesn't mean I can't have a grand old time listening to it. Hot for Teacher's drum intro is still as iconic as ever, and you can't help but shout "PANAMA!" each time it's sung in the songs. It's as eighties as eighties can be. But that adds to the merit of this album rather than detracts from it if you just consider it a fun time.

You can tell not everyone was on board with the new sound by how much effort the drummer is putting in. If the drummer is capable of a hot for teacher but doesn't do even a fraction of it on some of these songs... Van Halen works best when they all have their foot on the gas, going fast, loud and straight ahead. If they slow down you can see the places where it is unrefined. Like most of the lyrics. I'll give this one the benefit of the doubt, because hot for teacher is basically the best hair metal song out there.

Still holds up after all this time, I had no idea that the drummer was that good.

Must hear before you die? You've probably already heard it by the age of for. All criticisms are valid. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ anyway.

TA cabron nomas

7/1001 1984 - Van Halen (1984) Man this album surprised me completely. First off, the songs I was dreading most were Jump, Panama, and Hot for Teacher having heard them so many times in so many different contexts. But no, they absolutely are the best tracks here, and listening to them in the album made me appreciate them a lot more, and unfortunately made nearly every other track seem not quite as great. Eddie's shredding gets a lot of completely fair praise but Alex's Harley Davidson drumming on Hot for Teacher is unbelievable. This sort of hard rock/glam is something I have a natural distaste for which I think will be demonstrated in my subsequent reviews from this genre - but this was such a surprise to me as it holds up pretty well. Can't stop thinking the album cover looks like something from the wall of a bowling alley though. ★★★★

Fun and rocky. Panama continues to be very fun, 40 years on

It’s going to be a Van Halen summer

Maybe the first 80's album I actually enjoyed. It was diverse and not monotonic, good ol' Rock

This iconic cover with some iconic songs.Has a consistent flow and didn’t feel bored in any part of it. 8/10

I’m hot for teacher!!

Production on this is surprisingly good.

Bangerssss from Van Halen again. Killer performance all around, multiple mega-hits, doesn’t sound too dated, excellent production. Alex is an all-time drummer.

Absolute classic banger Hardrock album. But kinda blend

Det her va veldig mye morsommere å høre på enn æ hadde forventa, og det va æ storfornøyd med. Det e jo ikke min greie sånn generelt, men det va fornøyelig og underholdanes og æ likte det!

Excelente disco

Eddie will be for ever Eddie, one of the best guitar players I ever heard. This album is great, I love it!

Van Halen at the peak of dirtbag rock. Their final entry with David Lee Roth, one of our great Americans, "great" in the sense of exemplifying America for better and worse. Four stars in that I would listen again.

Wenisimo

Me gustó el álbum y la composición de la mayoría de sus canciones. Ciertas canciones suenan un poco estridentes por parte de la guitarra; situación que es normal ya que por lo general, en la época se intentaba alcanzar notas agudas con la guitarra.

Some of the best classic rock from this time has to offer. Amazing singles and virtuosic playing. Really embracing the epically cheesy synths and meshing it with catchy songwriting and rocking riffs/fills.

1984 saw Van Halen cross over to the American pop charts in a pretty major way, with all four of its singles reaching the Billboard Hot 100 and three of those cracking the top 20. it released at the very beginning of its titular year, and its success made the band into one of the biggest in the country and, increasingly, the world over. the only thing keeping it from hitting #1 on the Billboard 200 was Thriller! despite the slight move away from raw hard rock and towards glammier pastures (especially the prominent use of synths), the DNA of Van Halen—Eddie's razor-sharp riffing and shredding, Alex's tight, frenetic drumming, David Lee Roth's bad-boy attitude, and Michael Anthony holding down the fort—remains intact. my top three tracks here are, unfortunately, all singles. I like the deep cuts (especially "Drop Dead Legs", which I remember hearing on the radio here and there), but I think Van Halen and Warner Bros. chose the singles very well. and, hey, I'd still take even the weakest moments here over just about anything this band made in the Hagar years. "Panama" was the song that played under the opening cutscene of Gran Turismo 4, and is thus probably the Van Halen song I've lived with for the longest. it's a song about a car as a thinly-veiled metaphor for sex; a fairly common topic for bands at the time, but one which the band turns into a borderline cinematic three-minute pop odyssey. the quiet bridge after the guitar solo, where the music moves from major to parallel minor, is especially effective. the keys on "Jump" sound a little silly, especially when there's no guitars underpinning them, but it's another wonderfully structured tune; the pre-chorus with its new drum pattern is especially hair-raising. "Hot for Teacher" is a strange one, with a blistering drum opening, verses containing Foley art of a rowdy classroom, and an unrelenting shuffle. I tend to think of the rock music mainstream in the 80s as being pretty inert stylistically, on account of all the dime-a-dozen glam rock and hair metal acts that are all, at the end of the day, fairly indistinguishable. a big reason for that is that many of them were trying to bite Van Halen's thing, and none of 'em came close. strong 7/10.

3.5

4.5

Van Halen was my first favorite band as a kid, and this album was released at the height of that fandom. I know a lot of Van Halen purists don't love this album as it leans into a poppier sound and there's some synth driven stuff, but I think it's really fun and brings me a lot of joy. Plenty of great tunes here, including "Jump", "Hot for Teacher", "I'll Wait", and my personal highlights "Panama" and "Drop Dead Legs". Excellent stuff. 4.5 stars.

Some glorious magic singles on this. Hot For Teacher is great big banging blistering bundles of 256BPM fun and Jump is a synth player’s Smoke On The Water. Panama? Fuck yeah! There are a few firecracker moments elsewhere but it is mainly these 3 songs that make this album what it is. Surprised to see Michael McDonald get a co-write on I’ll Wait although it’s disappointing that they didn’t even try to go for something that matched his turn on Ride Like The Wind. It’s not even a Yo Ma Be There. Album is ultimately one where I’d rather just watch the hits on MTV or YouTube. Artwork is horrible. That cherub is going to emphysema for the rest of his heavenly days. Mid to low 4. Second best 1984 behind George Orwell’s.

I quite liked this album, the opening track was a bit weird but overall very good, some very big hits on this album. I did find that although this album wasn’t long I did find myself struggling to get through to the end and if it was any longer that would affect my score more but still a pretty good one overall

Jump is always a great start into the album. You’ve got to love EVH’s playing. I don’t usually listen to hair metal but bring back the hair and the feel good. As an album it’s great and so short you can’t exactly pick it apart.

enjoying! it's giving like Deadpool battle sequence good diversity in songs but they still all worked well as an album i enjoyed it but im not like devouring it hence four stars

4.5 this was fun and fast and feel good! my favourites were 1. hot for teacher 2. girl gone bad 3. top jimmy i.e. the fastest songs… they were awesome even though it’s the most famous song I didn’t enjoy jump too much - I generally prefer the guitar-heavy songs over the synth-heavier songs like Jump and I’ll Wait but yes i will listen to this album again for sure

I really liked this one. It's some classic rock and I was honestly surprised with how good all of the songs were across the album. Often with older music like this it feels like there are only 2-3 songs that are actually solid, but this is pretty killer overall. I've never sat down and actually listened to them, but I can see myself coming back and listening to this for sure. 4 stars I think because I am not saving anything to my liked songs right now.

this was awesome. jump is such an iconic song, the guitar riffs and melodies are great. just a great album overall. love this. 8/10

Classic of 80s rock. A few tracks don’t stand up much for me, but a solid listen just the same. 4/5

A pleasant surprise. I know the singles, but this record really holds up, despite the horny '80s cheese with Hot for Teacher. Jump into Panama is a heck of a one-two, and the rest is solid. Great record.

Thats the good stuff

Glam Rocki üks menukaimaid esindajaid. Ma olin üllatunud, tegelt oli album täis head kraami ja muidugi super kitarrimängu. Trummipartiid on head ning David Lee Roth laulmine on alati iseloomulik. Väärt kuulamine, 3.9/5.

8/10

4.5

For Panama and the cover art, that's a 4 by itself. 4/5

Never been a huge fan, but cannot deny the craft. Some monster tracks with true innovation/skill in playing. Somehow early electric drums sound cool! Never cared for Jump in my skate rink days of yore, but it's a cool exercise and panama and hot for teacher all time bangers.

The right sort of 80s cheesy. Like cheese and pineapple on a cocktail stick.

It's fun. Very technically proficient guitar (goes without saying). Overall felt a bit empty though. A generous four from me.

I expected to hate this based off of the singles I've heard too many times but it's rockin' too hard to ignore Favorite tracks: Drop Dead Legs, I'll Wait, Girl Gone Bad

Van Halen and I have an interesting relationship. I'm absolutely so fucking tired of hearing their music over the radio from every classic rock station in a 50 mile radius, especially the same 5 songs (the worst offender being "Beautiful Girls" which has one of the most annoying hooks I've heard in a song). I've mostly moved past my need for flashy, glammy MTV-era hard rock (with some exceptions) and VH was one of the ones left in the dust when I mostly pivoted away from this kind of music. But at 13, some of these tracks were my life. "Jump" and "Panama" still resonate. It's also worth noting that I didn't hear this album in its entirety until today. That might be part of the problem. This is actually pretty fucking great. Either my bias has slipped away or this is an exception.

This album had some great hits, but it's not their best overall.

Back then I only knew jump and panama and thought to myself that van halen wasnt my type of band so when I saw this album as today's album, i was kinda disappointed tbh so i started listening without any expectations but damn i was so wrong, literally the best album I've listened so far I know now to not judge an album by the popular songs only, because in fact popular albums with popular songs have hidden masterpieces that not everyone knows about

Me gustó muchísimo !!

The vocals are kind of meh but it is forgiven because the instrumentals are FIREE! Panama and 1984 are my favs :)

Jump! And other assorted hits

Loistava levy. 4/5.

4,5 would be

F yeah! David Lee Roth Van Halen is the best Van Halen. This is 80s rock at its finest. David’s voice, Eddie on guitar and Alex on drums?! Insanely good.

Never gave Van Halen a chance, pleasantly suprised. 3.9/5

Truly surprised to rank at 4. Some bangers and the rest are good enough

ya conozco el album, difícil hacer una preview asi jej muy buen álbum, creo que es la representación perfecta de van halen, un rock pesado con una guitarra bien marcada y una vibra bien "badass", sin caer en lo simple y sin volverse glam

Such a classic. Not a huge fan of this style of rock but this album is a bop. “Jump” is an ear worm that I’d rather skip but it’s an undoubted hit (as Van Halen’s only No 1 hit according to Apple Music). The rest of the album was fun and FINALLY some good vocals and coherent instrumentals that I can follow with ease.

nice

Jump is a silly funny song to me, but Panama's a fun rocker. Drop Dead Legs has an insanely fun, heavy swing, Top Jimmy presents a lot of pep with a roaring solo, and Drop Dead Legs doesn't feel like it hides any influences, especially with the phaser on those drums. But the start of the B side with Hot For Teacher... insane drumming. Insane guitar soloing, the Van Halen brothers were pretty unmatched in speed then. But even ignoring that, Alex VH's tom drums evoke so much character, he makes them go from sounding like a motorcycle engine to a goddamn jazz big band ensemble. And on this solo and throughout the whole record, Eddie makes pinch harmonics, tapping, and sweeping seem easy at rapid speeds, seamlessly juggling all of these techniques while still rocketing up the charts. I can do without I'll Wait and Girl Gone Bad, but House of Pain is a fantastic bar fight closer.

Good music. I reo this album from my childhood. It was good to reminisce. The hits were still great. DLR was still a good front man even though I think Van Halen grew bigger with Sammy Hagar. EVH and the band were amazing on this album but it’s not overly amazing.

Great album of them!

Liked it !!

Not a huge Van Halen fan or Glam Metal in general but I can't deny that this rips

The first album I ever bought was this when it was released at the end of ‘83. Whole reason why I picked up a guitar. Not as good as VH1 but definitely this album throws it back to that first album. I feel that all the albums in between were loaded with filler (except for my favorite Mean Streets), especially with Diver Down that was released before this one.

Umulig å ikke bli i godt humør av å høre på denne.

Tre stjerne opprinnelig, pluss en ekstra stjerne for Hot For Teacher.