WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST Re-visited
Continuing the Re-Appreciation thread begun by Sesh with his excellent review of VAN HALEN II, and following my threads for DIVER DOWN and 1984, I have next decided to write a re-appreciation of WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST (surely one of the most under-rated titles in the band's catalog). It's often stated that out of all the VH albums, the debut really has it all. I feel the debut is amazing, and I feel that 1984 really encapsulates all that's best about VH's various sounds (including Eddie's growing love of electronics). But WOMAN AND CHILDREN FIRST is so totally classic because it really is Van Halen's live album (for me). It has the ultimate live band sound, spontaneous solos, back-up vocals that don't sound like they've been overprocessed (as on 5150)...and this is probably Roth's most confident "swaggar album". I mean, listen to his little spontaneous banter in EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! Listen to his blues crooning at the beginning of FOOLS. Listen to him half-speak the verses of AND THE CRADLE WILL ROCK (very tongue-in-cheek). And yet, after all this swagger and scatting, he sounds as sincere as ever on IN A SIMPLE RHYME. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. It takes you on a million trips and convinced a lot of people that rock 'n' roll could really be dangerous again, but fun at the same time (a lot like APPETTITE FOR DESTRUCTION, which wouldn't appear for another seven years). It's funny that some critics over the years have accused the band of repeating a formula. And the truth is, the 3-piece band IS repeating themselves on this album (although the sound is a bit more bluesy than before). There are still a million brilliant Eddie and Alex moments on this one too. Mikey is...well, he's okay. He's Mikey. But anyway, it's not the band that really steals this one (although they are great)...it's Dave. How does he think up this shit? "I took a mobile light, I'm-a-lookin' for a moonbeam!" (if that's what he even says). This was a new, improved, less-structured Dave. It wasn't until the next album that the band would join in him in actually...evolving.
Coming off of a second platinum seller with VAN HALEN II and getting their name out even more with more big dates as an opening act and also with some headlining gigs, it would be the WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST album that would solidify their position as the new superband. Van Halen could feel pride in the fact that they had a hit single in 1979 (DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY hit the Top 20); and now, in 1980, they would go in and quickly hash out another album and then go on their first big headlining tour (the 1980 "Invasion Tour"). It's incredible that after two years of innovation and revolution, the band still seemed as if it was just getting started. The 1980 tour was going to be legendary. The band even hired a film-camera crew to capture some of the shows, intending to put together a concert film that would "blow THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME away!" If only they had followed up with that promise. A professional film of the 1980 tour would capture the band at their peak...still very young, spontaneous, still a little hungry...a set list not brought down by requirements of "old songs" that needed to still be played...or the hit single. It's a tragedy that the first concert film Van Halen released is the 5150 tour home video LIVE WITHOUT A NET. By the time that video was filmed, the band was already dead. They were safe, homogenized...a lot like other big-time corporate acts. In 1980, they were dangerous...practically a punk band.
One more thing...after WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST, the band took their first steps toward becoming a studio band, with overdubbed guitar solos galore and studio experimentation. WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST was maybe their last declaration of spontaneity. In fact, it may just be the most spontaneous album ever recorded. Hell, the whole thing sounds like a jam session! It's great.
...AND THE CRADLE WILL ROCK
Funny that this is the only song from this album on the band's first (of many, I'm sure) Greatest Hits album. I would say it's actually my least favorite track here. I think it's definitely an experimental moment for the band (on an album without much experimentation). But it also seems to me like Eddie concentrated more on messing around with a new sound than on writing a good tune. I, personally, find the chords a bit boring and the lyrics dull and not up to Roth's usually-high standards (especially his high standards for the time). The song features an electric piano part blasting though Eddie's Marshall amplifiers, with a phaser effect (I think?) on it. And this is the first VH song on which a keyboard appears. It's amazing how many people didn't realize it...it does sound a lot like a guitar. But I never really liked the rhythm sound on this song too much because it sounds basically like a watered-down electric guitar (nothing like Ed's future synth sound). It doesn't have the melody of a keyboard, but it also doesn't have the menace of a Kramer or Fender. As for the song, the chorus is kinda cliched. Even the solo is rather typical (although I like the beginning of it, the way it just buzzes in). Whatever. It's Van Halen experimenting a little and writing a sort of by-the-numbers tune in the process. The fact that the band thinks this is probably the best song to represent this album shows how much they don't get what was brilliant about the early days. (Still, I'd take this song over LOVE WALKS IN any day....)
EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!
A live favorite, the band pulled this one out on every tour up to and including the 1984 Tour. Of course, it was dumped after Dave left the band (although I believe the band may have revisited it during Gary Cherone's short tenure in the band). Eddie rubs the low-E string during Al's jungle rhythm intro, producing a rather menacing scraping sound (probably something they decided to do minutes before the tape rolled...I bet this is Take 1 or Take 2). The riff is simple, the rhythmic idea very primitive: blues riff over a primal drumbeat, with the vocalist yelling a line after each time the guitarist plays a riff (Chicago blues, basically)...band kicks in for simple singalong chorus, cool guitar solo after the chorus. There's not much more to it than that. But that's the point. It's simple, but extremely inspired and almost angry. It's classic Van Halen. That said, this is also not one of the very best songs in the band's catalog (nor on this album). But I s'pose after the "experimentation" of WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST, the band required a song that truly harks back to the first album. The funny thing is, there's no song on the debut that sounds this spontaneous. It sounds like the band marking time (song-writing-wise), but it's still new to the listener. Dave apparently even ad-libbed all his vocals, listening to the pre-recorded music through his headphones. And they're damn funny: "Where'd you get that...oh!" "No no no no, don't take 'em off...leave 'em on." "I always liked those high heels too." "Look, I'll pay you for it...what the fu..." Great stuff. I can see Alex rolling his eyes, hearing this stuff on playback. But it's classic Dave. If anything, it's just great to hear a recording by Van Halen at their peak that was probably written, recorded and mixed on the spot. Amazing that such quick work on a blues/rock song one evening in a recording studio led to the one song on the album they would play more than any of the others (hundreds of times, actually)!!
FOOLS
Again, this sounds like pure spontaneity (although it's apparently a much older song). My one complaint with the WACF album is that as brilliant as it is, it's brilliant as a whole more than part-by-part. It makes a statement in itself, even though not one of the first three tracks really tells you how amazing the whole album is. But this album really is great! Keep listening...I swear, you'll understand. Of course, FOOLS may not be MEAN STREET. But it's such sloppy blues with Chuck Berry-inspired lyrics that you can't help but tap the steering wheel and thank God the band was in the mood to jam the night they threw this down. My god, man...listen to that opening guitar solo (right after the soft intro and simple guitar announcement). It's nuts. And then Ed suddenly shuts up and softly plays a little lick before he kicks into a riff that sounds like it would have been right at home on LED ZEPPELIN II...so simple, so menacing (DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH-DUH). Dave probably again came up with some of the lyrics right on-the-spot ("Ooo, an' I'm sick an' tired of Golden Rules, ah!"?). But that's again what makes it great. This is another "fuck you corporate rock" kind of song. I'd like to have seen the manager of Styx or Journey listen to HIS band tell them that a track like this was going to go on their new album. He would have had a heart attack. And this again proves that Van Halen really were the hard rock alternative to that kind of sugary gloss pop/metal that was so big at the beginning of the 80's. Is FOOLS Van Halen's greatest moment? Hell, no. Does it have all the elements of what made the band great? Hell, yes!
ROMEO DELIGHT
For me, this is the album's best moment...and among the band's greatest moments ever (if not THE greatest). "I'll take your whiskey to the party tonight and I'm looking for somebody to squeeze!" Oh yeah! Of course, that line is lifted directly out of an older VH song called GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD (great song, appears on the '77 Demo tape). Dave steals his own line and uses it to even greater effect in this classic song that sounds either like the LP is on 78 or the band embraced speed metal before it actually broke! My god, man...this smokes! The drums are so fast and angry, the riff is super-aggressive...pure heavy metal. The first three songs on the album sound like the band is swaggering and finding a good groove. This song sounds like they've had LOTS of cocaine and can't think of improvising if their lives depend on it. There's simply no room to move around in because the beat is going so fast! (Of course, the middle-part with the chorused hi-hat and Dave singing "ooh baby", with the background vocals, is so amazing...more WACF spontaneity). This was also the song the band used to open shows with on the DIVER DOWN tour (was this the opener on the FAIR WARNING tour?). Dave's infamous "I forgot the fucking words!" declaration in the second verse of this song at the U.S. Fesitval was actually his standard line in performances of this song at the time. Of course, Sammy Hagar has probably never even heard of this song...and he definitely didn't ever sing it during his tenure with the band. Gary Cherone did (he's a big fan of the 6-pack); and although such a performance could never be like the original band, it was nice to know that someone in the VH camp was acknowledging this song's greatness (even if this person wasn't even around during that part of the band's history). How on Earth could any VH fan listen to this track and say, "It's good, but not as good as SUCKA IN A 3-PIECE"? It ain't quite RUNAROUND?:eek:After this song, rock 'n' roll should have retired. Why bother trying to follow this? It just doesn't get better than ROMEO DELIGHT.
TORA! TORA!
A fun little recording experiment. This is less than a minute long. In fact, it's never been clear to me why this little piece of noise meant anything to the band at all! There must be hours of this kind of noise on tape in the vault...it reminds me of the little guitar feedback noise at the beginning OUTTA LOVE AGAIN (on VAN HALEN II). Anyway, it's also my opinion that the title actually refers to the little noise piece that fades in...not the actual slow riff that follows with the whole band playing, although both CD versions of this album actually place the track mark later...in fact, the track doesn't switch over until the riff introducing...
LOSS OF CONTROL
A lot of fans don't like this one. I love it. This is the greatest highway song ever written. I swear, I want to outrun every cop in the entire planet when listening to the solo in this one. That damn insane chugging sound that jumps from speaker to speaker in the middle part makes my heart speed up more than amazing sex! It's awesome. This may not be quite the song ROMEO DELIGHT is (let's face it, the vocals are insane). But it makes ROMEO DELIGHT sound like a Scorpions ballad. That's how jacked up on coke and steroids this one is. I recently heard a boot of the band playing this on the "Invasion" tour (in fact, I downloaded it here at the wonderful RothArmy)...it was amazing. They got all the little vocal nuances right: "Oh-woah-woah-woah-woah, loss of control, loss of control, loss of control!", and the guitar solo was spot on. The drums were even more insane than on this studio rendition. Anyway, this is garage music at its finest. The band couldn't try to write a track like this nowadays if they tried. This is a song written by people in their twenties, with enough alcohol in them to kill a herd of elephants. (According to classicvanhalen.com, there's an unreleased music video for this song with the band dressed in surgial outfits. I'd kill to see it! Of course, I'm sure their next DVD will instead contain the "other" version of FINISH WHAT YA STARTED...and this will excite me just as much as someone giving me a remastered copy of MARCHING TO MARS.)
TAKE YOUR WHISKEY HOME
Dave has always said he loves ZZ TOP. You can hear it in this one. My god, listen to Eddie's riff. Listen to his tone. So bluesy. So funky. This one is dripping with J.D. and oral sex. The acoustic intro was new for this version, and this older song actually sounds like by-the-numbers Van Halen rock except for the fact that it's brilliant. It completely swaggers, cut live-in-the-studio (although I'm sure the vocals were added later). BTW, another interesting Van Halen phenomenon is again in display on this album (and pretty much all of the Roth-era albums). The band obviously wrote SO MUCH MUSIC in the early days that they could keep digging out riffs, pieces and entire songs for new albums...each time. Fans constantly point out how songs like BIG TROUBLE and SHE'S THE WOMAN should have been on proper VH albums. Yes, they should have. But then again, we could have also been arguing, "They should have put TAKE YOUR WHISKEY HOME on an album." But that one they had time to get to. Hell, if that follow up to 1984 had been finished, they probably WOULD HAVE included BIG TROUBLE. Still, something as jamming and funky as TAKE YOUR WHISKEY HOME would really have fit on no other VH album. The VH albums have songs almost chosen at random to record, but a certain personality comes out with each album. And maybe this really is the jam album. And this song? Well, it's right at home with FOOLS and EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! Too bad this didn't really become a live favorite.
COULD THIS BE MAGIC?
I've often wondered about the origins of this track. It sounds like a sing-a-long standard. And the lyrics are amazing. I love the rain effect added to the track (song for a rainy day, I guess). And Dave's vocals are so hip on top of the acoustic guitars. I can just picture Van Halen sitting on the back porch, rain dripping off the roof...smokes and beers all around...Mikey serving the other three...Alex convincing himself he's just as important as the other two even though he's not playing an instrument here or anything... I think Dave's playing acoustic on this. Anyway, this is another Van Halen anthem that hardly anybody knows. I know it would never happen, but my ultimate Van Halen reunion show would be not only a set of electric guitar classics but (also included) a short backporch set with this track performed in its entirety after a complete acoustic performance of the LITTLE GUITAR intro from DIVER DOWN. Oh, and another moment in this song that I love? How about when Dave finishes singing the second chorus and then says calmly, "Edward?", before Ed rips into a great acoustic solo. Excellent back-up vocals by Nicolette Larson, BTW. Eddie played guitar on her solo debut in 1978. The poor woman passed away in 1997.
IN A SIMPLE RHYME
This is why I love this band. How could an album that contains a backporch jam like COULD THIS BE MAGIC?, a full-out garage rocker like ROMEO DELIGHT, a keyboard experiment like AND THE CRADLE WILL ROCK and a Chicago blues like TAKE YOUR WHISKEY HOME conclude with a song as rehearsed and accomplished as IN A SIMPLE RHYME? I absolutely love the 12-string electric intro on this...I love how it kicks in and Dave sings his heart out (introducing the "So This Is Love" vocal idea a year before the song of the same name appeared on FAIR WARNING), before the very catchy and simple riff of the chorus. I love how the song is brought down to the soft 12-string electric again (with light drums) and Dave sings some very simple lyrics of love (without sounding ANYTHING like Sammy)..."You coulda heard the angels singin'". I think Dave meant it...don't you? And Eddie's solo after the soft middle-eight is simple and passionate. It's nothing new, but great nevertheless. And when the whole song is finally over, you're gasping for air...blown away by yet another incredible performance. How did they do that? How did they put an song like this together when their fingers were still hurting from playing LOSS OF CONTROL? Well, yes...this was written in 1975. But it sounds like wrote it very recently, inspired by some recent rock 'n' roll heartbreak. To end the album with one more blues jam would have been a mistake. Ending it with this, however, ensured that this was yet another Van Halen that covers everything. (And yes, the little ending jam that the band plays after the last note of SIMPLE RHYME is amusing...and longer on the CD.)
My god. The band always covered everything on every album they cut (with Roth). The debut has both ATOMIC PUNK and LITTLE DREAMER. The second one has WOMEN IN LOVE and LIGHT UP THE SKY. This album has LOSS OF CONTROL and IN A SIMPLE RHYME. This was a perfect band. It would have surprised no one hearing it that the band would go on to cut three more brilliant albums. But this is probably the last Van Halen album to contain their original classic sound. After this album, the echoed guitar panned dead left (or is it dead right?) would be almost history. And that spontaneous creativity would die briefly too...WACF was cut in two weeks. FAIR WARNING would be more labored, or at least it sounded like it. Maybe FAIR WARNING was the bigger accomplishment, but this album really sounds the death knell for the band's early sound. After this, they became a studio band.
One more thing...I know out there, some poor kid has probably missed WACF because the following tragedy has happened to him:
A 12-year-old kid gets into Van Halen after hearing AIN'T TALKIN' 'BOUT LOVE on his classic rock radio station. He goes out and buys the VAN HALEN album and VAN HALEN II. He takes them home and loves them. He is so excited by this band that he has to hear more. He saves up his allowance and lawnmower money and finally earns enough to get one more Van Halen CD. He runs to his local suburban record store and finds just the CD he's looking for...VAN HALEN III!
Ooops...
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