Classic Rock Bottom


 1. You're No Good
 2. Dance The Night Away
 3. Somebody Get Me A Doctor
 4. Bottoms Up!
 5. Outta Love Again
 6. Light Up The Sky
 7. Spanish Fly
 8. D.O.A.
 9. Women In Love
10. Beautiful Girls

With all of the discussion this past week about the possibility of new
music from Van Halen in 2011, I thought we would discuss their second
album.  Van Halen II was released in 1979.  While I agree with most fans
that the debut is possibly one of the best albums of all time, this one
is very close to even with it in my book.  As a matter of fact, it was
the first LP I ever bought with my own money.  The album had two
singles, one (Dance The Night Away) being a relative hit (#15 Billboard
Hot 100) and the other one (Beautiful Girls) not doing so well.  

The album opens with a cover, You're No Good.  It was written by Clint
Ballard Jr., but I remember it at some point being a hit for Linda
Ronstadt.  I like VH's cover version.  I really like David Lee Roth's
vocals.  His screams back then should have been trademarked.  It's
really funny to listen to someone singing along to a VH album as they
try to emulate his vocals.  Everybody does it, at least I do.  Anyway,
back to the album.  Next up is Dance The Night Away.  What a classic. 
How does Eddie Van Halen get that tone?  I have a feeling this would be a
very hard song to cover, just listen to Santana's cover version of it
and see what I mean.  I always thought Somebody Get Me A Doctor was a
pretty heavy VH song at that point in their career.  It's got a great
riff and Michael Anthony's backing vocals are awesome.  Bottoms Up!
follows that as another pretty heavy song, despite the laid back intro. 
And closing out side one would be Outta Love Again, another fairly
heavy tune. 

My favorite VH song starts off side two.  That would be Light Up The
Sky.  I can't listen to this song without being transported back in time
to the very early 80's when my cousins and I would spend every summer
evening outside, thinking about chicks and listening to Van Halen.  Alex
Van Halen lays down an awesome drum track here.  How in the hell could
Eddie follow up one of the best (if not the best) electric guitar solos
of all time?  He throws down a nearly equally incredible acoustic
track.  Spanish Fly definitely cemented Eddie in as an all time great
guitarist.  Another cool riff drives D.O.A.  The guitar intro to Women
In Love is so awesome.  "Honey if you need a woman just as bad as me/
you outta be goin'" pretty much gives away the songs subject matter.  Of
course, I didn't get that way back then, I just thought it was another
cool song.  Beautiful Girls closes the album out in grand fashion.  It
features a neat guitar and bass intro and those typical Anthony backing
vocals.  That is the last of 10 fantastic songs on VH II.

So, as you can tell, I really like this album.  The cover art is a
little plain, but it does feature the Van Halen logo, which makes up for
it.  It's easy to find on Amazon and relatively cheap.  Eight bucks for
the remastered disc.  For a price like that, you should definitely get
it.  But everybody reading this already has it, right?

Hidden Gem Award:  Light Up The Sky


***Click the following link to hear the album: Van Halen II

Views: 50

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

RJ, your Spanish Fly is open, lol!
Mike
Yeah, right. I've got it!

I bought this, when it was released. I did own VH1 at that time, and I was a BIT dissapointed in this one, but over the years, I've become more "fond" of it. It's probably the 3rd best VH-album imo. But I do agree, that "Light up the sky" is the best VH-song!!! (I remember, I was also dissapointed in "Women and children first" when it was released, but when "Fair Warning" came out, I was blown away, again!!)
I forgot to "say": Am I the only one, who's a BIT annoyed by Michael Anthony's backing vocals? I've allways thought that. At one point, I thought it was Eddie singing in the background. It seems, that the voice fit's more to him, I guess. When that is said, there's NO Van Halen without Michael Anthony imo!!!!!!
I remember when this first came out, I had such high expectations that it was somewhat of a disappointment to me. It wasn't until Fair Warning that I really got into the whole work of VH. Today I would say its still not fair to compare the debut with II, but II has some really good stuff on it and it plays real well!

The opening to Women In Love is gorgeous! Beautiful Girls rocks! and I agree with Light up The Sky as the hidden gem
A slight disappointment to me when it first came out, seemed that they were trying to be more radio friendly, especially with the first two songs. The rest of the album smokes (especially "Outta Love Again" which is my hidden gem).

If I were to rate all the DLR albums,this one would be a solid #4. Very enjoyable album.
Like a lot of us, I was also disapointed when it first came out, but have grown to love it over the years. I don't know if I'm in the minority, but it would seem so, as I find Fair Warning to be my least favorite of all the Van Halen albums, with the one exception being Van Halen III. I'm kinda odd in that my favorite Van Halen album of DLR is Diver Down, and I also prefer Sammy on vocals to David when it comes right down to it. I'm also of the opinion that Van Halen w/o Michael Anthony is not Van Halen...he was the background vocalist and even Eddie said so once in an interview. I guess the bottom line with any music is that one mans pleasure is another mans pain.
Wow. I am stunned about "Diver Down". Not a bad album, but ranks at the bottom of the DLR era for me.
Yeah, I thought most people would...like I said, I'm kinda odd in that choice...but I really love that album.
I thought I was a rebel for preferring Fair Warning over and above all VH releases. I do appreciate your view though, I don't think anyone has the right answer on this topic though. As with all music it is a highly personal experience and each song impacts us in different ways!
That's what I meant by the last line of my post...I think music affects us as much by where we are at (as in location, emotions, socially, age, etc) as it does by the music itself. I know that I can hear a song and it can literally take me back 30 years or more in my mind. And that is why I love this place..different views, different thoughts, different ideas, all done with respect towards those whose view differs.

Keep rockin'

RSS

Question Of The Week

CRB Features (Click photo to visit)

Birthdays

There are no birthdays today

CRB Staff Members

 

In Memory Of

Norma Jean Fox
(11/30/1945-9/7/2010)

Photos

  • Add Photos
  • View All

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

Badge

Loading…

© 2024   Created by RJhog (Admin).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service