OK, I’m struggling here. I can’t figure out my favourite Van Halen album. I need to know, just in case I am ever faced with the decision of which single VH disc to take to a desert island.
It’s a fairly obvious choice between two: Fair Warning and 1984.
Fair Warning – seminal, angry, edgy, brilliant. Side A is among the best unbroken vinyl grooves in rock album history. Mean Street, Dirty Movies, Sinners Swing and Hear About It Later. Four of Van Halen’s greatest tracks in glorious succession. Side B doesn’t let up either. By the time Unchained is over it’s a welcome relief to be brought down a few notches with the breezy, sleazy slow groove of When Push Comes To Shove. We all want to light up a cigarette with Dave after what feels like an orgy. So this Is Love? deserves it’s place towards the end of the album where most slightly sub-par or filler tracks tend to reside, then there’s the anti-climactic final two tracks (which plays out more like one track – and works best when thought of that way). Though the tone of these obscure tracks do add to the overall gritty aesthetic of Fair Waning, they clearly represent the albums Nadir. That said, hard to imagine Fair Warning ending any other way.
1984 – Contains the VH signature tunes Jump, Hot For Teacher and Panama. Like Fair Warning, Side A is flawless – even the instrumental opener creates an exciting, ominous mood. Whatever you might want to say about the saccharine pop sensibilities of Jump, it is beautifully juxtaposed by the crystalline hard rock perfection of Panama. The flippant vibe of Top Jimmy almost disguises the complex beauty of the guitar work and Drop Dead legs is mid-paced groove rock at its finest. Hot For Teacher has more than earned it’s stripes in the pantheon of hard rock history. I’ll Wait is not a bad song per se, it’s just not a particularly great track either and doesn’t rank anywhere near as high as the rest of the albums tracks. Girl Gone Bad on the other hand is not only the high point of 1984, but one of Van Halen’s best pieces of music period. The first 90 seconds or so summing up why Eddie Van Halen is among the most remarkable musicians of the 20th century. Though less anti-climactic than Fair Warning, 1984 closes with a throwback tune – a heavy riffing rocker that fades out unremarkably.
So in summary
Fair Warning:
Awesome tracks: Mean Street, Dirty Movies, Sinners Swing and Hear About It Later, Unchained
Sub-par or filler: So this Is Love?
Low point: Sunday Afternoon In The Park, One Foot Out The Door
1984:
Awesome tracks: Jump, Panama, Top Jimmy, Drop Dead Legs, Hot For Teacher, Girl Gone Bad
Sub-par or filler: 1984, I’ll Waut, House Of Pain
Low point: None
Based on this summary, 1984 has the edge over Fair Warning – but I can’t quite commit to this. So it’s over to you to help me decide….
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Originally Posted by Dave's Bitch
