Van Halen Album

The power struggle within Van Halen was often painted as David Lee Roth’s ego running out of control — a theory that was easy enough to believe given his outsized charisma — but in retrospect, it seems evident that Eddie Van Halen wanted respect to go along with his gargantuan fame

It’s called Van Halen II not just because it’s the band’s second album but because it’s virtually a carbon copy of their 1978 debut, right down to how the band showcases their prowess via covers and how Eddie Van Halen gets a brief, shining moment to showcase his guitar genius.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST reached #6 in April 1980 and shows a band progressing towards their eventual peak. “And The Cradle Will Rock” is one of the album’s two radio staples, along with “Everybody Wants Some.”

A Different Kind Of Truth“Different Truth” is keyed more towards the frenetic, adrenal whomp of the first two “Van Halen” albums than to the synthy Top 40 buzz of later hits such as “Jump.” It’s a hard rock album with the flimsiest of melodic pop underpinnings, not, as was once the band’s wont, the other way around.

Almost evenly split between tracks that feature glammy showman David Lee Roth and those that feature earthy screecher Sammy Hagar, BEST OF VOLUME I seems designed to let this pioneering hard-rock band’s fans compare and contrast between its two frontmen.

The Best Of Both WorldsBursting forth in the late 1970s, Van Halen made its mark by melding the hammering wallop of hard rock with an iconoclastic approach to the guitar. With striking virtuosity, Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing succeeded in turning the heads and dropping the jaws of a wide range of listeners.