Van Halen

Van Halen let everybody know what they were about from the get-go, and this album is a tight 35 minute roller coaster. The sounds from this record took everything rock and roll was about in the 70’s and turned it up to 11. It’s just flat out an album with personality. Eddie’s Frankenstrat guitar creates a wicked, heavy sound that has become iconic in rock. David Lee Roth’s power and swagger as a frontman can be FELT in these songs. Alex’s drumming is legendary, technical and has it’s own unique “closed” sound. Michael Anthony’s background singing is so “chimey” and in-line, and his bass just drives an already high energy tone. We got one of the greatest guitar solos of all time in Eruption, and a slew of hits that have stood the test of time in musicianship. While it may feel a little dated in terms of lyrics and taste, there’s no denying this absolutely an essential album in music history. Songs I Already Knew: All of them Favorite Song: Feel Your Love Tonight Least Favorite: Ice Cream Man (it’s fun, but can be a little cringe and just doesn’t have the power of the other songs)

Guys, it's the first Van Halen album.

“I am a victim of the science age.” What a line! This is another one that feels kind of silly to rate. I don’t generally envy people older than me, but I do wish I had been 13 or so when this album came out in order to have that pure experience of hearing Eddie at a time when no one else on the entire planet sounded like him. I can’t really fathom what that must have been like for young guitar nerds. Anywho, it’s astounding how many singles are on this record. Just astounding. Shout out to the Running with the Dweezil podcast, which I’ve only heard snippets of but is pretty fascinating.

I don't know why I expected a much harder rock/metal sound, but this was fantastic! One of the best albums I've listened to from this. I went back and listened through a lot more Van Halen after this.

Pure magic. This is a candidate for albums I wish I could hear again for the first time. When Edward starts tapping in Eruption you realize he was better than everyone else. By a lot. This album is absolutely perfect. In my top 10 from this whole list. Pure magic. If you give this less than 5 stars you're only semi good looking.

I might not recall all the details, but here goes. I was about 10 years old when Van Halen's Diver Down was released in 1982. I heard their cover of Pretty Woman and thought it was pretty cool. For reasons lost to time, I didn't buy Diver Down but rather this album. Therefore I don't recall how Van Halen I came into my possession, but what I do remember—crystal clear—is the absolute joy it brought me. As the needle dropped and the record spun at 33 1/3 RPM in my little suburban New Jersey bedroom, a whole new world of sound exploded upon my ears. Up until that moment, my musical landscape had been shaped by my parents' oldies and Sesame Street. But this? This was something else entirely. This was testosterone-fueled rock, raw and electrifying. It coursed through my body, transforming me. Hair sprouted where none had been before. I felt stronger. A fire was ignited in my loins, and suddenly, female lust became my new obsession. I was no longer a child.

What a classic album. Their first, legendary. Eruption is a true form guitar solo turned song.

Here's the thing about Van Halen: they're really talented people who haven't made anything I've ever liked. This album is no different. Most of the songs I've heard from them are on this album so I knew I wouldn't feel any different after listening. People go gaga over Eruption but it's simply disjointed, incoherent soloing that isn't well put together. He's just doing a bunch of admittedly cool things like he wanted to show someone all the possible tricks he has. If he had made it mesh together it would've been way more impressive. I get why people like Van Halen, there's just way more acts who have a better use for their talent.

Honestly going into this I was expecting something far lamer, but honestly it caught me off guard with just how hard the band could get with some of these tracks (I LOVE how crunchy the guitar is). Really put into perspective why this style of rock became popular, and how shitty its imitators actually were! I'd definitely say that the album loses some steam in the second half, but I appreciate how lean the it is which alleviates the effect a lot. All killer no filler, which is quite frankly the platonic ideal for a hard rock album. Highlights are Runnin' With The Devil, Eruption, Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love and Jamie's Cryin'.

N'ayant pas trouvé d'angle à donner à ma critique du jour, je me suis rendu sur la page Wikipedia du groupe qui nous intéresse. Et quelle ne fut pas ma surprise de constater que ladite page ne contenait pas la moindre rubrique dédiée à d'hypothétiques polémiques. Rien du tout. Pinuts. Une lueur d'espoir fit scintiller mon œil lorsque je vis que le mot "scandal" apparaissait une fois. À ma grande déception, il s'agissait en réalité du nom d'un autre groupe duquel faisait partie une certaine Patty Smyth qui, dixit, ne devait pas être confondue avec [la punkàch] Patti Smith (?!) Non mais on se fout de ma gueule en plus ! Évidemment qu'on va les confondre c'est exactement le même nom t'as juste mis des Y pour pas que ça s'écrive pareil !! Ils se prononcent comme des i les Y !! Pour en revenir à Van Halen, c'est donc du rock lisse, sans scandale, sans polémique. C'est du Kids United en fait. Sauf que non, erreur, les Kids United ils en ont des polémiques ! Eux ont osé crier "tout le monde debout" à un public exclusivement composé d'handicapés en fauteuils, ça c'est Rock'n'Roll.

Amazing musicians but lacking in memorable lines and choruses. Great guitar playing but too many riffs are the same and at 100 mph and played for the sake of it

Ok well Edie Van Halen is a very talented guitarist and David Lee Roth a charismatic front man, but unfortunately stylistically with their guitar wizardry and rock star wailing I am left cold. All style no substance. Not surprisingly the best sing for me by far is Ain"t Talkin' 'Bout Love, where both of these indulgences are reigned in. 2.5 🌟

Next level guitar, arrogant sleazy vocal delivery. Outstanding production. And then for that 'difficult second album' they go and release Van Halen II which is even better!!  

Great Rorschach test of a record: if you hate it, there's something wrong with you. Hopefully it's a temporary condition. I'm not much of a "cock rock" fan but this is a great record that transcends genre. It also lays out the blueprint VH would perfect with albums like Diver Down and 1984. They perfected it, but not necessarily improved it, if I may say that. By "blueprint" I mean that this album truly hits all the key points you want from a most satisfying VH record (in no order): Skull-crushing guitar solo (Eruption) Diamond Dave (Ice Cream Man) Pensive Dave (Little Dreamer) Mean Mistreater (Jamie's Cryin') Mister Mischief (Runnin' With The Devil) Kinks Kover (You Really Got Me) Hot for ___ (I'm The One) They throw off a really unusual mix of talents and vibes but that's what made them better than KISS and everyone else on the scene before and after. Maybe AC/DC is the only other cock rock band in the same league. What makes this particular album stand out from the rest of their work is that it sounds like they are playing live in the studio with maybe only some vocal overdubs. There are maybe two songs I don't like that much but otherwise this is lights out.

I knew more songs on this album than I thought!

La verdad nunca me llamó la atención Van Halen y le entré a este disco con muchas reservas. No pensé que me fuera a gustar tanto y sí quiero escuchar lo demás que han hecho. Grata, grata sorpresa. Songs: Ain't Talking' Bout Love, Little Dreamer

The musicianship is pretty good, not going to deny that. But I definitely didn't enjoy this one. Being the precursor to the whole annoying bleh glam rock / hair metal / pop-hard rock scene makes them more original than the plethora of copycats of a thoroughly unoriginal style, but it doesn't make them any less annoying. I did enjoy the short guitar instrumental at the beginning and I liked Little Dreamer as well - a solid highlight on an otherwise lame album. Ice Cream Man started annoying, but turned into the only actually interesting track. The rest of the album was a slog, boring and galling. Luckily it was quite short.

Ludicrously overblown, sterile, soulless, awful. Dave Lee Roth's vocals are like Mariah Carey's - fabulously technical and gifted, but emotionally dead.Like a pantomime dame. Van Halen's guitar wizardry also leaves me cold - I hate shredding. Play it slowly but with feeling please.

Poodle rock

Well well well.the blueprint for hard rock and heavy metal for decades. Talent and personality to spare. The sound of Southern California an updated Beach Boys that would never be duplicated despite many attempts. It sounds like an Iroc with the T roofs off driving in the summer on a Friday night.

I'm so happy to see this album included on this list as I think it's the best Van Halen record. This is slammed with absolutely incredible pieces of music- "Runnin' with the Devil" "Eruption" "You Really Got Me" "Aint Talkin' Bout Love" "Jamie's Cryin'" are all SUCH strong tracks to have on one record. Each one absolutely amazing. I love "Runnin' with the Devil", David Lee Roth has such a laid back delivery during the verses that I think is both brilliant and perplexing as an opener for a hair metal album released in 1978. The guitar solo in this is pretty out-of-left-field when you look at it intervallically, but as all things with Eddie Van Halen, it not only "just works", but it sounds amazing and elevated with it's inclusion. "You Really Got Me" is such a fun addition to the album. They do such a good job at taking the beauty and fun of the original (by the Kinks) and maintaining those elements while also putting their wild spin on it. "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" might be my second favorite Van Halen song. That intro riff is SO special, I go and learn it every few years on guitar just to be able to pull it out of my pocket and hear it whenever I want. This is one of the great moments of the production side of Van Halen- where they have this super unique setup where Eddie's guitar is recorded fully panned to one ear, and then sent into a reverb that then gets sent out 100% into the other ear. So in one ear you get his regular guitar sound, and then in the other ear you get this mimic'd version of his guitar part with a bunch of reverb on it. Sounds ghostly and cool and funky all at once. I recommend hearing this with headphones! My favorite from the bunch is the instrumental "Eruption"; the song that made me look at the guitar not as a hobby or something to do on the weekends, but rather as a form of art that I would obsessively have to practice every single day of my life. This single piece of music was my own personal Moby Dick, or rather my own Mount Everest- this towering, intimidating behemoth in the distance that stared back at me with an intensity that equaled my gaze at it. I first truly "heard" this song when I was 15 or 16 and only a year or two into playing guitar, and boy was I transfixed. The introduction to the alien sounding neck-tapping technique, the wild yet tasteful dive bombs with the whammy bar, the immaculately clean tremolo picked sections, the little blues grace notes in between all of the shredded pinch harmonics... it's all so SICK. I haven't tried to learn how to play more of it in years but I used to be able to play some of the harder sections. I think I need to get this one under my belt before my hands start to get slower with age! To put this track 2nd on an album is also so cool. Clear 5/5 for me. Such a great record!

One of the greatest debut albums of all time.

Powerful rock. EVH is the ultimate guitar god. DLR’s voice gives the confidence and swagger.

Kedvenc/Favourite: Jamie's Cryin' Nem véletlenül nagy klasszikus, élvezhető, megvan az egyedi hangzása, hallani lehet benne a hozzáértést és a tehetséget is. A rock egyik alapköve, akárhányszor meg lehet hallgatni, de nem veszít a varázsából soha. It's a great classic for a reason, it's enjoyable, it has a unique sound, you can hear the skill and talent in it. It's one of the cornerstones of rock, you can listen to it as many times as you like and it won't ever lose its magic.

PEAK

Very clear that the guitar work and drumming are second to none. I hadn't listened to this all the way through before. Mostly just "Runnin' with the Devil", "Eruption", and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", which are great. New tracks to add to my rotation are "I'm the One" and "Jamie's Cryin'" Solid album from start to finish, and a great taste of what was to come from them.

Not a debut, a declaration: an album so atomic that its fallout fundamentally rewrote rock’s laws of physics.

C’mon now. This is solid gold.

RIP to one of the GOATs

Très belle performance de Van Halen by Van Halen, mais sachez que le combat face a rob se fait de plus en plus pressant. En effet, hier soir, j'eu la surprise de recevoir un message de mon petit frère, me demandant si je connaissais un certain robbelvedere. Je lui repondais que oh oui, je connais un certain robbelvedere, je le connais même très bien, lui et ses opinions musicales de merde. Il se trouve que rob a fait irruption dans la troupe de théâtre de mon petit frère, et a commencé, en pleine représentation, à substituer au cd diffusant la bande son de la pièce un album de Frank Zappa, sous le regard médusé de mon petit frère, en pleine représentation d'un morceau de bravoure. Cet acte terroriste ne restera pas impuni, rob ne vas pas s'en sortir comme ça. Je vous tiendrai au courant de l'avancée de cette affaire

Great stuff

its not even awful but theres just something about this i find appalling

It's only 35 minutes long There were different songs on this album?

I don't understand this. These people are obviously very skilled at their instruments. And I have no doubt that they are sincere in what they are doing. But. I don't know what they are actually doing. For me the question being asked here is "What makes music "music"? Is it in the experience of the listener? Is it in the intentions of the player(s)? In the conversation space created between the two? If music is in this in-between space, this is a record in which I cannot enter. And I may actually not want to. Sounds are created here, they are put together, and I remain utterly unmoved. If anything, I get irritated. My attention has nowhere to hang on, everything shifts so fast. I cannot see one idea I can get interested and curious about. It feels like being talked at, and I have nothing to say or contribute. It makes me want to be somewhere else, doing something else. The final straw is their cover of the Kinks. It makes me sad that they somehow had to get roped into that mess.

If you ever want to torture me just play continuous guitar solos with zero backing instruments. The Kinks cover was bad. I really do not like this album.

p412. 1978. 1 star. Soulless, spandex-clad, big haired cock rock. Lots of sheen and not a shred of emotion. Yes, you can play the guitar fast, but if you don't put any passion into it then it turns into pomp rock wankage realllll fast. Jeff Beck gets more feeling in 3 minutes than this lot have managed in a career.

Just because you can play guitar doesn’t mean that you should. Everything about this made me feel miserable. Even the ‘humour’ of calling a minute and a half of guitar w*nk ‘Eruption’ could not lift the mood. I’m just glad that The Kinks are all still alive, otherwise they would be spinning in their graves. Dreadful.

Ask yourself, you wanna see van halen?Ask yourself is Sammy Hagar singing? If David Lee Roth is signing the answer is yes!

Had this immediately after Led Zeppelin I. Not sure which is a better debut, both are amazing.

Van Halen by Van Halen it’s a proper banger. I absolutely fuck with the guitar on this album; Eddie’s licks are out of this world, and every riff hits like a bolt of lightning. The mix is phenomenal, with every instrument having its own space while still blending together into one epic soundscape. First off, the guitar work on this album is next level. Eddie Van Halen’s solos and riffs are nothing short of legendary, and I can’t get enough of the raw energy and innovation he brings to each track. It’s a masterclass in rock guitar, and honestly, it’s one of the main reasons I’m so chuffed with this record. The production is spot on too. The mix is crisp and dynamic, ensuring that the guitar, drums, bass, and even the occasional keyboard work together in perfect harmony. Every layer is clear as day, and you can really appreciate the intricacies of the arrangements. Now, about the vocals, they’re top notch. Sure, they might not be the most groundbreaking aspect of the album, but they work brilliantly for what it is. David Lee Roth’s delivery is charismatic and full of swagger, perfectly complementing the explosive instrumentation. His performance adds that extra bit of flair, even if it isn’t the album’s standout feature. If I’ve got a bone to pick, it’d be that some of the tracks can feel a bit overproduced in places, which slightly dilutes the raw, live feel I love about rock. But honestly, that’s a minor gripe compared to all the high points. Overall, Van Halen is a proper rock masterpiece. The insane guitar work, flawless mix, and gritty vocals combine to create an album that fires me up every time I hit play. It’s a solid 4.8/5 stars from me, a true classic that I’ll be blasting for years to come.

Yeah it still rips. The sound every guitarist wanted to copy and still wants to in 2025.

They nailed it so well right out of the gate. Crisp hard rock plus harmony. And Eddy took guitar to a new level.

Surprising that I didn't listen to this record previously. Great hard rock compositions, incredible guitar licks and general feel of the record. Great sound.

The music is so self-assured that sometimes it's hard to believe this is their debut album. A classic and with good reason. Favorites: Runnin' with the Devil, Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, I'm the One (for the scatting), Ice Cream Man Would I listen to it again: Yes

I mean....this is one of my favorite albums of all time and it is literally perfect. Coming in just over 35 minutes, there are no filler tracks here. The fact that this is a DEBUT album still blows my mind. What an introduction to Mr. Eddie Van Halen. From the fun guitar effects in "Atomic Punk" , to the barbershop quartet in "I'm the One" (which was soooo shocking the first time I heard it), to the crazy solos all throughout (shoutout "Eruption") , all the way to the perfect vocal harmonies by Michael Anthony in "Feel Your Love Tonight," this album has it all. Everyone in this band is soooo insanely talented and they are so locked in and tight the entire time. Hell, even David Lee Roth, while not greatest singer, has some great moments and even a sweet guitar part in "Ice Cream Man." His vocal style fits the band perfectly. While Sammy Hagar is the most talented singer the band will have, Diamond Dave just fits the vibe they are going for. This album has Hannah's favorite Van Halen song "I'm the One" and one of my top songs in "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love." The "Hey" chants at the end of it get me so excited every time. You can tell these guys were having SOOO much fun in the studio. I'd love to be a fly on the wall while this perfect album was being recorded. Liked Songs: Uhhh the entire album

liked songs: pretty much all of them This album is excellent. Short, sweet, and a near perfect debut album. There's some really neat subversion of expectation with chord changes early in the album. I think the only negative here is the vocals, because I'm really just not a fan of David Lee Roth. But, he does fit the music well enough to the point that the vocals don't actually take anything away from the cohesiveness of everything else. 4.5

This debut is blistering. Every single track is jammin. Classic 1001 album worthy: Yes - 44/78

Excellent!

Unstoppable seamless flow of pure hard rock

Classic, no filler. What a debut!

This is define a “moved the needle” record (literally/ figuratively). Eddie and Roth get most of the attention (deservedly) but Alex and Michael are crushing the drums and bass, and the harmonies fill the whole sound out. This record changed rock and roll forever.

Did Van Halen perfect guitar rock started in the 60s and 70s, and infuse it with amazing pop hooks and catchy song structures? Perhaps that's a bit too over the top, but it could be a fun discussion. What a fun album.

Een soort vroege tech demo van wat je allemaal kunt met een gitaar. En dan wel op zo'n manier waarbij het nog wél leuk is om naar te luisteren. De hele esthetiek met leren broeken en blote harige mannenborsten is aan mij niet helemaal besteed en ook in de muziek schemert af en toe wel een klein stukje glam-kitch door (die typische glam-schreeuw waar ik wel eens een klein werkstuk over heb geschreven), maar dit is toch wel enorm lekker. Heel dik gitaarwerk, maar ook de basgitaar en drummer leggen een goeie wedstrijd op de mat en de zang is prima. Slechts 35 minuten en de eerste vier tracks zijn stuk voor stuk Top 2000 waardig, dus dan ga je al gauw richting de vijf sterren. En het is een debuutalbum hè. Bizar. Dus ik heb ergens wel wat kleine kanttekeningen, maar die staan de perfecte score niet in de weg. Ik ben hier niet eens mee opgegroeid, maar toch is dit ook voor mij automatisch een soort van klassieker. Dijk van een plaat. Makkelijke 5. Ik ga de eerste vier tracks meteen nog een keer aanzetten.

A timeless document of what happens when Jewish-American showmanship meets Dutch-American guitar wizardry. There is nothing like this debut. The Sunset Strip, baby!

Turns out Van Halen and Motley Crue are not interchangeable

Day336 - van halen had some all time great albums maybe none better than this one

The absolute best parts of rock and roll excess bottled up into one killer debut record. You know every song on the album, and every song is worth knowing.

Bang, out of the gate comes Van Halen with this cocksure and confident album that changed the sound of hard rock/heavy metal forever. Pyrotechnic, rockin', and above all fun, this album does not take itself too seriously, which is a major blessing compared to most heavy rock bands, who are generally po-faced in the extreme. Eddie's guitar style completely rewrote the book of heavy guitar playing, using the technological innovations of guitar and amplification to reinvent what technique could be. When I was teenager in the 80s, I was heavily into Jimi Hendrix, but a friend made the case that Eddie Van Halen's playing was more influential. And I reluctantly have to agree. When this album came out, it seems like every guitar player had to decide whether to adapt to the new techniques or sound old fashioned. Often imitated but rarely equaled, the Van Halen guitar sound really dominated hard rock/heavy metal for over a decade until grunge started knocking the edges off mainstream playing over a decade later. Some of the songs are relatively weak, especially in the back half of the album, but a record with Runnin' with the Devil, Eruption, and Ain't Talking About Love and their cover of You Really Got Me as the first four tracks is always going to seem weaker in the home straight. David Lee Roth is not the world's best singer, but his confidence, chutzpah and sense of fun leads the band in its party-hard strut. It was such a breath of fresh air for a heavy band to not take themselves too seriously. You just know you're going to have a great time with this album. A dead-set classic.

A nice treat--this is one of my favorite Van Halen albums, and even though I know they're not to everyone's taste I always feel like this album is worth a listen (and not just for the greatest solo track of all time, although "Eruption" *is* a masterpiece). It's tough to pick out favorites from this mighty album, so I'll just note that my least favorite tracks are probably "Atomic punk" (it always makes me think of a couple of Police tracks on their earlier albums where they try to show their punk-like roots, and fail) and "Little dreamer", although "Ice cream man" probably should be there, but it seems like such a quintessential David Lee Roth (cover) song it's hard not to smile (and think of brown M&Ms). And I have to say their cover of the Kinks' "You really got me" is inspired genius. I think what I love about this album, and the band, at least in the David Lee Roth era, is that they did one thing, they didn't pretend to be more complex than they were, and they did it with style and confidence, and they were entertainers par excellence.

Ice Cream Man is one of the best songs ever.

Había escuchado todas las canciones del álbum, pero no sabía que todas esas buenísima canciones eran del mismo álbum. El que más me a gustado hasta ahora.

A capital work in the evolution of rock. A milestone in hard rock history. A pleasure to listen every fkn time

AMAZING ALBUM. ALREADY LOVE IT

J'adore cette album de Van Halen, vraiment un classique. C'est l'album que j'ai le plus écouté d'eux a part 1984, plus pop. Mérite quand même pas plus bas qu'un 4.9, donc 5 ;)

Probably one of the best rock albums ever created, I don't think i need to say much else.

For whatever specific genre of hard rock or metal this is, it’s a 5

Classic 80s glam rock. Still awesome

Just legendary. This album will make me go back and adjust other albums downward as they do not rise to the same level as this 5-star record.

Great classic rock!

Classic record

Stunning. Brilliant. Obviously.

Come on.

Fantastic rock album with a lot of “personality” as another reviewer said. Will be bumping this in my 98 Wrangler with the top down this summer.

Truly innovative. Imagine being a rock guitarist in 1978 and hearing this album for the first time. I imagine it was a bit confusing how he made the guitar sound the way he did. EVH is a top 5 all time guitarist in my opinion, primarily because he did things with the instrument no one had ever recorded before and influenced the next 15 years of rock guitarists. Outside of Hendrix, very few have been so influential. While I’m not the biggest fan of the band overall, this debut is their best in my opinion. I’m The One, Atomic Punk and On Fire are the deep track standouts. For me, a solid 4 ⭐️ as an album

When this album was released in 1978, I was a teenager growing up in a country music scene. We didn’t have access to rock radio. What we knew, we learned from someone else’s discovery. It was not cutting edge stuff. Bee Gees were dominating with Saturday Night Fever. Disco was getting started and my most influential music partner, my older sister, was fully enthrall with disco. That meant I was listening to it too. Out of nowhere (to me), my sister purchases this disc. She had heard it from some teens she and her girlfriends were hanging out with in a nearby town. My first reaction was shock. I couldn’t believe she liked it. But as we kept playing it, I couldn’t help but fall in love with its raw sound. Eddie, of course, is the guitar god, but that wasn’t the only thing that made the band. Michael Anthony’s high pitched backing vocals, David’s swagger and the snare sound coming from Alex’s drum kit was unlike anything I had heard to this point. Today, I still appreciate what Eddie brought to the table, but David’s shtick grew old over time. Not in a way that I don’t want to listen to the band, but certainly in a way that I want grab this album and play it. My rating is a nostalgic one. This album was very impactful to me when it was released. It also inspired the rock bands that comprised the later 80s hair band movement. Which is interesting because I never considered VH to be as glam as what followed.

Great glam metal with a strong current of blues running through the music. The album is stacked with hits, particularly the first half. Fantastic shredding on the guitar solos too.

I enjoyed it way more than expected. My only reference to Van Halen was the jumping frogs from Sing but other than that, it had a couple of very enjoyable songs. Though it had a few songs that sounded very similar, they are pretty good. My favorite song is Little Dreamer

Now that's more like my kind of record. Powerful music, catchy songs, a unique, instantly recognizable sound, amazing talent on guitar (Eddie) and drums (Alex van Halen) make for a great record. Van Halen's debut has been with me since its release, and while the songs are a bit uneven, I like to return to it to this day.

Must admit, this got an eye-roll when it showed up yesterday. Silly me - it's really good, fresh, sharp and accomplished. Van Halen's quite the guitarist, eh? On the 3/4 edge - tipped over by reports from various people who saw them when a high school band in Pasadena, apparently they were fantastic.

Some great stuff on here even it's showing its age. The B side doesn't quite have the energy of the first 5 or 6 songs but it's easy to see how it could be so big at the time.

6/10

Meh. I mean technically proficient. And I actually used to really like Van Halen, at least passively. But now I just find it's a step above def Leppard. Just basic rock music.

I haven't had listened to this VH's side of music. Interesting. Sounds less mainstream and I liked for that reason. Added to my library

Somewhere between love / hate with this one. There are super annoying elements like endless guitar solos, lots of heavy metal and hard rock tropes. But few of the bangers are still enjoyable.

As 80s rock albums go, this one is pretty damn good

Classic album from a generational band. To be honest, I respect their sound and the mark they left on the rock world. However, this kind of rock has never really been my style and for that reason it’s not getting a 4.

This album is just kinda dumb. The over-the-top singing is kinda dumb, the unnecessarily show-offy guitar playing is kinda dumb, the lyrics are kinda dumb and most of all the Kinks cover is kinda dumb. But oh boy if this isn't some fun dumb music.

A noun that Todd Trainer attached to Melt-Banana works for Van Halen: fireworks. With little exception (maybe just Ain’t Talkin’ About Love), songs are an afterthought, mostly stitched-together prêt-à-porter hard rock riffs overlaid with multi-tracked “wheeeee-I’m-on-a-rollercoaster” vocals. It’s all about guitar spectacle, and that’s fun. I’m glad it exists, I like Bill and Ted and, unlike Melt-Banana, I probably won’t listen to this again.

Nr. 149/1001 Runnin' with the Devil 4/5 Eruption 2/5 You Really Got Me 4/5 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love 4/5 I'm the One 3/5 Jamie's Cryin' 4/5 Atomic Punk 2/5 Feel Your Love Tonight 4/5 Little Dreamer 4/5 Ice Cream Man 4/5 On Fire 3/5 Average: 3,45 Hard hitting no punches held debut album.

Lacks character, but the tunes are strong and never feel too caught in the late 70 hair metal image which I despise.

Notable tracks Ain’t Talkin’ About Love, You Really Got Me, Runnin’ With The Devil

i mean its alright i guess not driving me crazy or anything 3.2/5

2/14/24. Happy Van Halen Valentine's Day! You can't deny Eddie's talent and insane guitar playing, but this style of music doesn't do it for me. There's always 2 or 3 tracks I can keep coming back to however. Maybe it's because this is an album that seemed to kick off the 80s hair metal blitz.

Never really liked van halen, he's great at playing guitar but his songs don't really do much for me

Van Halen is just a really cool band. Hard rock sound, killer vocalist that often steals the show and some guy just absolutely tearing up his fret board for like 2 solos on every song. It’s real rock and roll that gets you pumped up and max out your bench press to. Hell yeah! Rock on man! It’s peak hair metal. THIS is the type of stuff that should be played at halftime of the Super Bowl. Bump being rational, give ‘em what they ask for!

Kinda balls. Eddy van Halen is great but the singer is ass.

Technical flourishes aside, this is not what I expected. A boring rock album.

Not terrible for a debut honestly. I’m just not really a fan of the singer’s voice. Some of the songs also have a gross vibe to them idk. Excellent guitar playing though, I know this popularized the tapping style we hear a lot today.

boring and repetitive

Can only listen to 1 or 2 Van Halen songs and then I’m done.