Van Halen II Revisited

[Halen High]

I think that along with Fair Warning, VHII is Van Halen's most interesting album. I love the way that album captures the vibe of the late 70s metal/hard rock culture that was taking off.

Light Up the Sky is my favourite track. I read an interview with Dimebag Darrell a few years ago in which he said that Eddie's solo in that song is the best metal riff he'd ever heard.

And Dave's vocal treatment of the material is just brilliant. The kind of diversity and imaginative vocal style that VH has lacked since Dave left.

[Bill Lumbergh]

Great post............amazing album. Believe it or not, this is the album that made me a fan for life. I bought the first album and really dug it, but for some reason VHII REALLY hit home. Nowadays I do prefer I(which I rank third behind FW and WACF), but II brings back some of my best memories. If you don't love it, you don't have a pulse.

[Bill Lumbergh]

And I agree, I do think it's the most diverse VH album.

[Cato]

I love VHII as much as Queen II!

[Rikk]

Originally posted by Cato
I love VHII as much as Queen II!

QUEEN II is great. What an excellent, under-rated album!!!

[Warham]

Outta Love Again.

One of the true classics, and unmentioned by alot of critics.

[spanishfly48]

yea that song has one killer drum beat. im not much into drums, but that one just kills me everytime

[smaz]

VH II isn't my favourite, it's not got so many hits on it for me that I like. VH I was an album with every song a hit. I love 'em all.

[GAR]

Originally posted by Fabulous Shadow
VHII My fav VH album of all time... Tied with Fair Warning!

VHII is my alltime album of alltime pop music history, tied with nothing.

[DLRdelight!]

Great review man. Personally one of my favorite albums

[Halen High]

Originally posted by smaz
VH II isn't my favourite, it's not got so many hits on it for me that I like. VH I was an album with every song a hit. I love 'em all.

VHII will probably grow on you the more you listen to it. It wasn't one of my favourite VH albums, but now I have it right up there with Fair Warning. Every time I listen to that album I hear something new in there. Either in Dave's vocals or Eddie's amazing guitar play. Certainly not an album of 'hits'.I think that apart from Dance the Night Away it's more alternative in nature.

[Halen High]

Originally posted by Bill Lumbergh
Great post............amazing album. Believe it or not, this is the album that made me a fan for life. I bought the first album and really dug it, but for some reason VHII REALLY hit home. Nowadays I do prefer I(which I rank third behind FW and WACF), but II brings back some of my best memories. If you don't love it, you don't have a pulse.

Absolutely!

I'm listening to VHII a lot lately.

D.O.A. reminds me of the late 70s movie 'Over the Edge" with Matt Dillon, even though it wasn't used on the soundtrack.

[tobinentinc]

Everytime I listen to it, I say this album kicks ass! Then when I listen to it again, I say the same thing. This is up there with Fair Warning and Van Halen. Nothing, but good things on this album.

[POJO_Risin]

Jesus Christ, did I see someone fucking say BALANCE IS BETTER THAN...

christ...

that fucker should be banned on general principal of being a fucking homo...

wake the fuck up dude.

Get rid of your Best of Olivia Newton John, and listen to some real music.

[Dan]

Dance The Night Away,what a great song,I know the ladies like it too.

[POJO_Risin]

The album, top to bottom...is good...

I've never understood why this album generally gets ranked below some others...

quite honestly...minus 1A and 1B (VH and FW), I can't understand why folk don't have the rest of the Rothera ranked 2...tied...lmfao...

[TLR]

Just listened to II today...ahhhhh.....

[Dr Volospion]

VHII.....Classic. Women In Love is one of the best tracks VH ever came up with in my opinion. Must admit I prefer Women And Children First out of all of the classic VH catalogue though......

[fenway5150]

In 1988 when I started getting into Van Halen, my older brother told me that I really needed to hear Van Halen II...he said it was his favorite and that he listened to it all the time....I took his vinyl version of the album and played it on an old record player in our living room. I was officially an old school Van Halen fan from that point on.

[Seshmeister]

Originally posted by POJO_Risin
Jesus Christ, did I see someone fucking say BALANCE IS BETTER THAN...

christ...

that fucker should be banned on general principal of being a fucking homo...

wake the fuck up dude.

Get rid of your Best of Olivia Newton John, and listen to some real music.

It's frightening....

Personally I would rather listen to Olivia anytime.

Let's get physical..physical... Oof

To be honest I've heard Balance about maybe once or twice, I had given up on Van Hagar a long time before that.

Given the current rip off tour they're doing I thought it was funny after doing a google search on it when I saw

Big Fat Money
some say money is bad for the soul
bad for the rock, bad for the roll
bad for the heart, bad for the brain
bad for damn near everything, oh
yea
it must be good for something
come on pay the rent
telephone, telefax, telefunkin',
teletrash
tell a cop, tell a friend
think we've hit the stoney end
nothing left, nothing right
now they want a bigger bite
everybody wants some
everybody wants big money, oh yea
they want big fat money
that's what i want
big fat money
too much temptation
enough to kill a generation
space station, starvation, premature
ejaculation
this ain't groovin', this ain't funky
it's on my back
but it ain't my monkey, no
oh yeah, gimme some of that big big
money
that's what i want
big fat money
big big money
smoke this, eat that
my ol' lady's gettin' fat
high rise, high rent
before it's earned, it's all been spent
where's it gonna come from?
who's it gonna go to?
ain't beatin', but i'm being eatin' by
money, oh yeah
big big money, gimme, gimme, gimme
some of that big money, alright
that's what i want
well alright, oh, big big money
now gimme, gimme, gimme
some of that big money
that's what i want
that's all i need
gimme big fat money
gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme
gimme some of that big fat money

Cheers!

[Cato]

Originally posted by Rikk
QUEEN II is great. What an excellent, under-rated album!!!

yeah.

and Queen II is as exciting as Mad Max 2 or Police Academy 2.

[Chaz Rock City]

My brother got me Van Halen 2 for Christmas when I was 10. Women and Children First is still my favorite Van Halen cd

[wombattt]

my first VH album...bought it on vinyl at Zayre's (Northern US pre-wal-mart) Always had a special place in my heart. The cymbal before the solo in Outta Love Again.....so well placed.

Picked up a remastered CD in 2002/3 (can't remember..what a drag it is getting old) Gained a new appreciation for the entire work. The CD quickly became my summer soundtrack.

[Seshmeister]

Jesus the thing I wrote for the 25th anniversary of VH2 was 17 years ago...

Nice to see some old names posting, some no longer with us...