Review of Women and Children First

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  • Northern Girl
    Full Member Status

    • Jan 2004
    • 3958

    Review of Women and Children First

    Thursday, September 30, 2004
    Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

    Replay: Van Halen, Women and Children First


    It was 1980, and technology was primitive. I had one of those tinny cassette players that lay flat on a table and had a plastic handle on one end. KFM, then an album rock station (an extinct species), announced that it would broadcast Van Halen's new record in its entirety. As a VH fanatic with limited funds, I had only one option: Record the station's broadcast on my tape player. I ordered my little brother to leave me alone for half an hour and closed my bedroom door. At the appointed time, I brought the cassette player's microphone up close to the radio speaker and hit the red record button.

    That bootlegged copy of Women and Children First served me well. In fact, I relied on it for several years. The recording wasn't great, but it didn't matter: Eddie Van Halen's guitar pyrotechnics and David Lee Roth's rock god antics came through loud and clear.

    Women and Children First was Van Halen's third album and arguably its best. The band's first first two albums are hard rock classics, but on its third disc it exhibits total confidence in its ability to enthrall listeners. The album's nine tracks may represent the best example in rock history of a band reveling in its charisma, talent and the utter coolness of standing atop the rock 'n' roll mountain. Almost everything about the album is gratuitous, yet the performers are so good at what they do that it almost never grates.

    "And the Cradle Will Rock" kicks things off with Roth relating a classic tale of a young man at loose ends who finds his calling in rock 'n' roll. It's a theme that runs throughout the album. "Everybody Wants Some" is a jumble of a composition, really, but VH pulls it off, even Roth's play-acting in the middle ("I like the way the line runs up the back of their stockings. ... No, no, no, don't take 'em off. ... Yeah, that's it, a little more to the right.") "Romeo Delight" is a rock 'n' roll buffet, shifting smoothly from rollicking boogie to roller-coaster solo to intricate interlude ("Feel my heartbeat") and building back to a ram-jam conclusion. "Baby, please, I can't take it anymore," DLR pleads, and you believe him. But perhaps the album's highlight is "Fools," during which Eddie Van Halen and Roth basically fool around with their respective instruments for the first third of the song before launching into a midtempo headbang-fest. Roth had an uncanny ability to reach the hearts and minds of his teenage fans: "My teachers all gave up on me/ No matter what they say, I disagree."

    The album closes with the folky "Could This Be Magic?" and the earnest, radio-friendly "In a Simple Rhyme," reflecting the band's ability to drop the pose and delve in the finer points of pop. VH could do no wrong there for a while.--Geoff Schumacher
    Same ole song and dance...
  • manwiththedogs
    Head Fluffer
    • Aug 2004
    • 381

    #2
    Recording off the radio. Man, I remember them days.
    Great post.

    Comment

    • jharp84
      Veteran
      • Mar 2004
      • 2096

      #3
      The tour "1980 INVASION" was in my opinion, after seeing original VH 6 times up through 1984 was the best of their days together!

      Comment

      • ELVIS
        Banned
        • Dec 2003
        • 44120

        #4
        The first time I heard the entire album was a radio broadcast...


        Comment

        • DeadOrAlive
          Veteran
          • Jul 2004
          • 1683

          #5
          Great Album!

          Comment

          • katie
            Crazy Ass Mofo
            • Nov 2004
            • 3072

            #6
            I haven't heard that one.

            Is it that good?

            Comment

            • Angel
              ROTH ARMY SUPREME
              • Jan 2004
              • 7481

              #7
              Originally posted by katie
              I haven't heard that one.

              Is it that good?
              What the fuck are you doing on a DLR website then, fucking trolling cunt!
              "Ya know what they say about angels... An angel is a supernatural being or spirit, usually humanoid in form, found in various religions and mythologies. Plus Roth fan boards..."- ZahZoo April 2013

              Comment

              • katie
                Crazy Ass Mofo
                • Nov 2004
                • 3072

                #8
                Originally posted by Angel
                fucking trolling cunt!
                No I can't say that I have heard of that one.

                Is it any good?

                Comment

                • Angel
                  ROTH ARMY SUPREME
                  • Jan 2004
                  • 7481

                  #9
                  Originally posted by katie
                  Is it any good?
                  I highly doubt she/it/you is.
                  "Ya know what they say about angels... An angel is a supernatural being or spirit, usually humanoid in form, found in various religions and mythologies. Plus Roth fan boards..."- ZahZoo April 2013

                  Comment

                  • katie
                    Crazy Ass Mofo
                    • Nov 2004
                    • 3072

                    #10
                    I liked the words to that Just A Giggylow record,
                    Dave wrote lines like Sam could never come up with.
                    What other bands has Dave sung with Angel?

                    Comment

                    • Diamondjimi
                      DIAMOND STATUS
                      • May 2004
                      • 12086

                      #11
                      I "taped" the world album premier of W.A.C.F. back in 1980. Hosted by DJ Ritchie Yorke and the VH guys. A classic!
                      When I get time I'll upload it to share with y'all !
                      Trolls take heed...LOG OUT & FUCK OFF!!!

                      Comment

                      • katie
                        Crazy Ass Mofo
                        • Nov 2004
                        • 3072

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Diamondjimi
                        I "taped" the world album premier of W.A.C.F. back in 1980. Hosted by DJ Ritchie Yorke and the VH guys. A classic!
                        When I get time I'll upload it to share with y'all !
                        It's already out there sparky

                        Comment

                        • jero
                          Crazy Ass Mofo
                          • Jan 2004
                          • 2927

                          #13
                          Great story! Those were the days.

                          Comment

                          • Diamondjimi
                            DIAMOND STATUS
                            • May 2004
                            • 12086

                            #14
                            Originally posted by katie
                            It's already out there sparky

                            Where ?
                            Trolls take heed...LOG OUT & FUCK OFF!!!

                            Comment

                            • SWEETWILLIAM
                              Groupie
                              • Jan 2009
                              • 50

                              #15
                              That album was a broad reaching spectrum of the band at the time, I loved it !!!!!!!!!

                              Comment

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