In 1981, coming off their tour for "Women and Children First", Van Halen went into the studio to begin work on a new album. This is one of their most under-rated albums to date, but it still rocks (and you can hear "unchained" at almost every hockey game you go to).
Once again, Van Halen does what they do best, THEY ROCK!!!
1. MEAN STREET: This is, quite possibly, one of VH's finest songs ever. It starts off with some crazy guitar work (what do you expect, it is Eddie Van Halen afterall) which is followed by sort of a bluesy riff, some drums and then evolves into a great song. David Lee Roth out does himself on this track with some amazing singing. Eddie and Micheal Anthony provide some very nice background vocals. This song also has one of the craziest solo's I've ever heard. But that's just me. 5/5
2. "DIRTY MOVIES": A horrible song to follow a classic. This talks about...well, watching dirty movies. Eddie's guitar work is mediocre at best, which is too bad because the song starts off very promising. Even the solo blows (which is rare on any VH track). Eddie even uses his seldom-used slide in some parts. Easily considered a filler track on this album. 2/5
3. SINNER'S SWING!: Now this is more like it! A fast pased song that makes you want to get up and dance. Alex Van Halen's drumming is very good on this particular song. Mike's bass is non-existant during this track except for certain parts, but it gets the job done. Eddies solo is a thing of beauty, but it is a little short. Still a great song though. 4/5
4. HEAR ABOUT IT LATER: Another great track. This one starts off with some strange sounding guitar and then picks up to be a great song. The only down side is how much over dub is used in this song. At one point, you can acutally hear about 4 guitars working at once. Still a strong song, though. 4/5
5. UNCHAINED: This is my favourite Van Halen song. Finally, not a whole lot of over dub, great guitar, noticible and pulsating bass, excellent drums, and who could forget David Lee Roth. His Vocals are supurb and you can hear when the adrenalin takes over his voice (which happens not to long after the beginning of the song!). A short solo, followed by what seems to be Roth talking to Ted Templeman (the producer) about "getting some leg tonight for sure". An instant classic. 5/5
6. PUSH COMES TO SHOVE: A quiet and slow song to calm yourself down from the previous song. Excellent bass by Mike Anthony and some very nice drum work by Alex. Roth adds some soft (and perhaps even sinnister) vocals. Eddie's guitar really doesn't enter the song completly until his solo, but boy does it enter! A great end to an average song. 3.5/5
7. SO THIS IS LOVE?: Again, a bass driven track with some good singing. It starts quiet and then picks up into a kind boogie song. Eddie's solo (for some very odd reason) reminds me of Poison's "Your Mama Don't Dance". Perhaps Poison got the idea for that song from this song. Another noticible filler to the album, but at least this one is pretty good. 4/5
8. SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN THE PARK: A strange instrumental that features Eddie on the keyboard. Only two minutes long, this song prepared VH fans for what was about to come only 3 years later. Not a very catchy bit, however. 2.5/5
9. ONE FOOT OUT THE DOOR: A fairly good closer to a great album. Mostly crazy guitar courtesy of Eddie, with some vocals by Dave. A crazy solo fades off as the song and album end. Very short (not even two minutes long) but still very rockin'. 3/5
This album deserves a 4/5 only because of some pretty bad songs on it. Let me know what you think of this review, because it's my first one and I think its pretty good.
