This band created the formula for your quintessential hair band. "Classically trained" quiet guitarist who can still rock out; Flamboyant front man, who is a bit gay-but a bit manly. Girls want him, guys want to be him; Your bass player and drummer are always in the background, but everyone knows who they are and how good they are.
Sure, they stole some of their bit from Led Zeppelin, incorporated a little glam (ie: Sweet, New York Dolls), along with coutless other influences. I'm not getting paid money to promote them, I'm just sayin'. If you dig rock and roll, you can't deny Van Halen.
Without the Halen, there would be no 80s Metal. Yea, yea...I know. But c'mon, how much fun is that??
I'm going to represent my "Weekly 80's Metal Video" with this fantastic song. It's called "Unchained" and it is a top notch song. In my eyes, it's actually not a campy, goofy 80's video because VH actually paved the way for the less talented that followed. The Halen need the respect, because care or not, they created a brand new niche in rock and roll.
If you do not like this video, I am sure that I do not want to be associated with you ever.
Enjoy, friends with taste.
ps: I'm really drunk.
Howdy Earl ~ Seems we may have a mutual friend in one T.Wolfe. I visited your blog today looking for an "I Like Whitesnake" post that I'd heard about, and then discovered this one.
ReplyDeleteLemme say first that, you are absolutely preaching to the choir with me. I believe, and I ain't makin this up, that EVH could fart on the pickup of his, or any electric guitar, and make it sound cool. It sounds cliche' (hell, it IS cliche'), but it's true: the guy is a musical genius.
I'm a fan of a few Van Hagar tunes, but there isn't anything "The Halen" came up with that I don't like. It's funny, but if I had to list a least favorite song, it'd be one of their more recognizable tunes: "Jamie's Cryin".
"Ain't Talkin Bout Love" = Quite possibly THE greatest example of "The Brown Sound" ever set to wax.
I could go on and on, so I'll wrap it up with a "nice pick" comment on "Unchained". Can't go wrong with anything off of "Fair Warning".
Good stuff!