Originally Posted by
ZahZoo
Oh come on guys... Van Halen songs are not structured any different than most rock songs... there are 3-4 variations every band used and there's no difference between CVH and Van Hagar other than Sammy used far more simplistic pop melodies than Roth.
It all goes like this...
Intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge (solo) verse, chorus, outro
Most of the variations occur after the 2nd chorus in the bridge... solos can be played over the bridge, verse or chorus rhythm structure... some songs may have what's known as a breakdown... like Panama... which the primary rhythm drops out and drum, guitar, bass and/or vocal solos are added. Some songs may include a pre-chorus either vocally or a mini-guitar solo or riff is added... a limited few may add a 4th verse or drop the 3rd... That's it...
The most unique thing here is Ed's rhythm guitar which combines a lot of chord and lead fills which come off as little mini-solos peppered in rather than just chunking along with the same 3-4 chords throughout the verse and/or chorus structures.
Roth would vary his melodies within those complex rhythm structures where Sammy would just blast his simple melodies straight thru... making for a more boring melody structure lacking tension... and Ed got lazy in that era opting for more simplistic rhythm guitar on a lot of compositions. If you listen to III it's almost like Ed had all that complexity bottled up and let it out all over the place... which is why that album is a compositional mess...