March 23, 1979 - Van Halen II

And a very belated Happy New Year! It's been over four months since my last release, a long gap indeed! Just over a year since their very successful debut, Van Halen released their second album "Van Halen II" on March 23, 1979. These guys continue the same upbeat and party style of their wildly successful first album and scored two more huge hit singles. They couldn't possibly live up to that debut though, could they? Let's find out!

The album kicks off with "You're No Good", a Linda Ronstadt cover. Michael Anthony starts it off with some cool bass and Eddie and Alex Van Halen join in to form a slow rock beat. David Lee Roth sings in his standard voice and in the chorus he hits some really high notes! Eddie sings the backing vocals in the chorus and also plays some decent guitar in this slow song. After the second chorus Eddie goes off for one hell of a guitar solo! He is really shredding it as he plays tons of wicked stuff in this short solo. His epic guitar continues into another chorus as he solos overtop while they jam out the chorus until the end. The next song became another huge hit for Van Halen, titled "Dance The Night Away". Alex opens it with a nice drum beat and Eddie comes in with a smooth, catchy main riff. Roth's vocals sound pretty great as he does his high yelps at just the right moments. The chorus is very memorable and it's no surprise that this would be a very popular song with it's laid-back, feel-good attitude. There's no solo in this one as they continue to jam to the main verse for the whole three minutes, which I find gets a little boring towards the end. Track 3 is called "Somebody Get Me A Doctor" and they kick right into a fairly heavy riff led by some nice guitar. Roth hits some more high notes before singing the first verse in his typical fashion. The verse and chorus are both pretty short as they continue the same hard riff and things get back to normal with an Eddie guitar solo. He does a spectacular job as you'd expect and it seems the song might end there before Eddie ramps up the main riff again. It's a decent one but it too becomes a bit stale after repeated so many times. Eddie gives a few more flashes of brilliance before they bring it to a close. Up next is "Bottoms Up!" and Eddie starts with some slow guitar but things quickly ramp up into a more Van Halen style rock riff. It's another solid riff as Roth delivers more solid vocals. The chorus is short but Alex plays a nice drum fill at the end that leads into the next verse. Instead of another chorus Eddie breaks off for a short but sweet solo and then things quiet down. Eddie plays some light guitar as Roth leads a "c'ma ma ma ma mon baby, bottoms up" sing-along part that sounds decent. This leads into a full-blown guitar solo that sounds pretty amazing! Anthony's bass in the background is great as well as Eddie leads the way with some wicked guitar. This awesome part goes right until the end of the track, and that part was easily the best stuff on the album so far. This short first side wraps up with "Outta Love Again" which has a spacey opening before Anthony starts a nice bass line. The brothers join in to form a cool main riff as Roth quickly sings along. Eddie's guitar sounds pretty good and he breaks off for a nice bit after a typical Van Halen chorus. Roth hits some more high notes in this one and after the second chorus we hear another excellent solo by Eddie that hits all the right  notes. It's a pretty heavy main riff as I like these last two songs energy a lot more than the first few. 

Side two begins with "Light Up The Sky" and Eddie leads another fast, hard rock beat with some great guitar. Roth sings quickly along  in the verse and Anthony's bass sounds pretty good in the chorus. After another verse and chorus they quiet things down briefly  before kicking into a guitar solo. Eddie plays some sweet stuff and Alex delivers a short drum solo after Eddie is done! It's nothing flashy but it sounds good still as it leads into a final verse before the song is over. The next one is only a minute long, titled "Spanish Fly". Similar to "Eruption", this is another Eddie guitar solo only this time it's on acoustic! He plays some great stuff at the beginning and by the end he is absolutely shredding that acoustic! I don't know how he does it, but this minute sounded pretty freaking awesome! He is one hell of a guitarist! Track 8 is called "D.O.A." and they stick with what works as Eddie leads another hard rock riff that sounds great with some sweet guitar. Roth sings in a lower voice than usual but he still sounds good in the verse. Eddie does some classic back-up singing in the chorus as well as spicing the verse up from time to time. Instead of a second chorus we are treated to a guitar solo as Eddie delivers some nice stuff that fits this mood well. They return for another verse and chorus before Eddie goes off for another short solo. After this solo he starts to speed things up and moves into a new riff that sounds good, but it only serves as a fadeout to bring this song to an end. Up next is "Women In Love..." and Eddie starts this one off with a lighter guitar riff that still sounds good, and after 30 seconds or so the rhythm section comes in and they settle into a slow main riff. Roth sings slowly overtop to match the mood and the verse and chorus are both pretty tame by Van Halen's standards. Once again they substitute the second chorus for a short guitar solo but it's not one of Eddie's bests. They do resume the chorus and they try to make it a bit heavier at the end as Roth yelps and rambles along but it, and this whole song I'd say, fall a little flat after a nice string of harder rock. The final song on the record is "Beautiful Girls" which would be another successful single. Eddie leads the way with a catchy guitar riff and Anthony's bass sounds good as well. Roth sings quickly along in his usual style about, what else, beautiful girls. Eddie provides lots of backing vocals and together with Roth they sound pretty good. After the second chorus Eddie gives us some sweet guitar but it's just for a few bars as it's back to the main riff. They jam out the chorus several times at the end as Roth delivers some nice rambling vocals. Most of this song is pretty straightforward though and while I understand why it was a single I didn't think it was one of their better songs honestly.

That is the end of "Van Halen II" and I thought overall it was a decent album, but not a great one. "Spanish Fly" was pretty awesome and there were some other solid riffs and solos but there were also some lesser songs at the beginning and end of the album. I still enjoyed it, but when you remember that just one year ago they released their amazing debut album, this new one seems very underwhelming. It wasn't exploding with awesomeness like the first one and it's ultimately a big step down. Hopefully these guys haven't lost that magic already as I look forward to their next release!