January 9, 1984 - 1984

Happy New Year! A month after my last release and nearly two years since "Diver Down", Van Halen released their sixth album "1984" on January 9, 1984. Eddie Van Halen had played some keyboards on their last album, but on "1984" Van Halen join the very large list of rock bands who went full 80s and Eddie uses the synthesizer A LOT on this record. This resulted in even more fans for an already famous band and supported by four very successful singles this would become Van Halen's best-selling album. While others may have liked the more pop-y, 80s approach, if you've been reading this blog you know that I think this is a curse that has sadly overtaken yet another great rock band that began in the 70s. But let's not judge too much before we listen!

The album begins with the title track "1984" and is a one minute instrumental intro. It's just Eddie on this song as he shows off his new love for synthesizers by playing an epic (and a bit trippy) keyboard solo. It's short and not terribly complicated but the effects make it sound really epic as Eddie is having some fun in this little intro. This segues right into the next track "Jump" which would become one of Van Halen's biggest hits and is driven by a very catchy and pretty cool synth riff by Eddie. Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony form a pretty basic rhythm section and David Lee Roth lets out a nice yell before singing the first verse. His vocals sound just like usual as he nicely leads the verse and Eddie drives the synth-y main riff. The verse leads right into a catchy bridge riff that has Eddie actually playing some guitar, but it's not long before the iconic synth riff is back for the chorus. Roth tells us all to jump and Eddie and Anthony echo him by screaming "jump!" in this solid and very radio-friendly chorus. Despite the very upbeat and happy feel of the song, Roth was inspired to write the lyrics after witnessing a man who was threatening to jump off a building, but they turn his morbid thoughts into a terribly catchy pop song! Things flow right into another verse and after another bridge and chorus it's solo time for Eddie. He starts us off with a pretty nice guitar solo, reminding us that he does indeed still play the instrument that he plays better than most, and it sounds pretty good as you'd expect. He leads it right into a synthesizer solo as Eddie shows us what those crazy fast fingers sound like on keyboards. He plays a pretty fantastic solo that makes these 80s-style synths sound as good as they possibly can, but it doesn't hit nearly as hard as a face-melting guitar solo and with my heavier taste I would prefer Eddie stick to guitar. He has made his choice though and despite my dislike this is how the world worked in the 80s. The solo segues nicely back into the catchy main riff and they jam out the solo several times over the final minute as the song slowly fades to an unexciting end. Track 3 is another massively successful single titled "Panama" that Roth wrote about a fast car. It kicks right into things with a nice bouncing guitar riff and after a cool intro Eddie segues beautifully into a heavy main riff and Roth lets out a few classic high yelps before they start the verse. Eddie slows it down and plays some nice guitar as Roth leads a pretty good verse and Eddie uses the same nice little guitar segue as earlier and it turns out the heavy main riff is the chorus riff. The whole band just screams the name of the song for times but the heavy guitars sound great in this chorus. They slow it down again for another nice verse by Roth and after another headbanging chorus Eddie takes off on a pretty sweet guitar solo. He plays some great stuff in this short solo and the end of it flows right into a new part as Eddie plays a quiet but cool guitar riff. We hear the sound of some cars in this part and we hear Roth talking as if he's behind the wheel. This part is a bit unusual for a hit single but Roth makes it sound cool and he sings a brief new part that brings everything right back to the chorus. They jam out the chorus a couple times before ending the song, but the chorus is the best part of this song so it's not a bad way to end things. Up next is "Top Jimmy" and Eddie starts things off with a catchy light guitar riff that sounds pretty cool before moving into a riff that reminds me of 70s Van Halen with Eddie leading the way with a quick and sweet guitar riff. Roth sings a nice quick verse and the chorus is very similar as Roth sings "Top Jimmy, he's the king" a fine tribute to someone. They essentially restart the whole song as they go back to the light opening riff before moving into another fast-paced verse and chorus. After this go through it's solo time as Eddie delivers an awesome solo that is not just incredibly fast but sounds amazing! This is the Van Halen I'm talking about; with no synths Eddie can focus on guitar and that's what we're all here for isn't it?! They play a final verse and chorus before we hear Roth and Eddie both say "ohhhh Jimmy" in very girl-y voices in a weird and funny end to this song. The final song on side one is "Drop Dead Legs" and Alex plays a really catchy drumbeat in this one as Eddie plays a really cool stop-and-start guitar riff that mixes very nicely with it. It hits really hard which I like and Roth comes in to sing a solid verse about women with great legs; things could not be more Van Halen. Eddie switches to a lighter guitar riff in the chorus but he's still playing some great stuff as Roth also sings in a lighter voice for the chorus. Eddie takes off afterwards with a cool little guitar bit and Alex plays a nice drum fill to bring things back to the swinging main riff. After another solid verse and chorus they shift into a different riff that is on the same rhythm as the main one but Alex is playing a beat twice as fast and Anthony leads the way briefly with a pretty sweet bass riff. This great rhythm section sets the stage for Eddie's guitar solo and and he plays some pretty great guitar overtop of this already solid riff. It's a long solo that goes on for over a minute and takes us right to the end of the song so Eddie takes his time and plays lots of great stuff right up to the finish. 

Side two begins with another wildly successful single titled "Hot For Teacher" and Alex starts things off on his own as he plays a really cool fast-paced drum beat. Eddie begins to solo overtop and he delivers some fantastic guitar in this early solo before segueing nicely into a hard-hitting rock riff. Eddie continues to play some great guitar in the verse and Roth has several funny lines in this song as he talks as if he's a misbehaving student. This song feels like old Van Halen and for fans of their older material like myself things sound awesome with great contributions from everyone. I like the line "I think of all the education that I missed, but then my homework was never quite like this!" before they move into a catchy chorus. Eddie and Anthony sing some classic backing vocals while Roth sings the name of the song in this simple chorus, then it's back to the cool verse. After another nice verse and chorus it's solo time and as you'd expect Eddie plays some wonderful guitar. It's a fine solo that fits the furious pace of this song and they nicely bring it back to the main riff as Roth has another good line with "I think the clock is slow man, I don't feel tardy" before shouting "class dismissed!" You can tell he's having fun and that's one of the best things about Van Halen is they are they who they are, they do what they like and they have a good time doing it. They play the chorus out a couple times, Roth yells a loud "oh my god!" and the band plays a cool rock and roll flourish ending with some solid guitar and drums and end things on an epic note. The next song is the last of the successful singles, this one called "I'll Wait". Eddie is on synthesizer again for this one as he opens the song with some slow synths that sound very 80s indeed. Anthony plays a synth bass on this song as well and things sound very new age and computer-y in the main riff of this song. Things sound decent and it's a fairly catchy synth riff by Eddie but I hate how toned down this feels in comparison to the last song. Roth sings a solid verse overtop this 80s riff and Eddie adds even more synthesizers to the chorus as they are in the background, forefront, and pretty much everywhere! Roth's vocals are sung very nicely and while I do still enjoy it I would rather have Eddie on guitar any day of the week than playing anything on a cheesy 80s-style synthesizer. They return to the main riff and after another verse and chorus Alex plays some nice drums in a new bridge riff as Eddie continues to play lots of synths and this takes us to a guitar solo. The synths are still very prominent and Eddie plays a solo that fits the slower mood of this song. It's not one of his best ones as he slowly plays along but it sounds decent enough and it leads right back into the synth-led main riff. They play a final verse and chorus and they start to fade away as we hear the chorus a couple more times while things fade out. Track 8 is "Girl Gone Bad" and Eddie is thankfully back on guitar as he leads this opening with some nice guitar. He slowly ramps into the main riff which sounds like another nice throwback to older Van Halen with Eddie, Alex and Anthony all playing some cool fast-paced stuff. Roth comes in to start a solid verse and it rolls right into the fast-paced chorus which Eddie finishes off with some sweet guitar. They kick right into another verse and chorus that Fly right by and afterwards Eddie sets himself up nicely for the guitar solo. He returns to fine form on this one as he is all over the place playing some incredibly fast stuff that sounds really good. He slows things down right at the end of the solo and this leads into a quiet new riff that sounds very epic and trance-like. They make their way slowly back to the main riff and fire off with another chorus. They jam out a couple choruses before ending with another rock and roll flourish that once again features some excellent drumming and guitar by the Van Halen brothers. This album is roughly half keyboard-led and half guitar-led and it's clear which one Iblike better as I thought this was another cool song. The final song on the album is "House Of Pain" and it's also part of the better half as Eddie leads the way with a nice catchy guitar riff. Roth sings in his usual style and while it's not fast-paced craziness it's a pretty catchy main riff. There is no chorus as they just jam through a couple solid verses before Eddie takes over for solo time. He plays a pretty good solo as you'd expect but it moves right into a nice building part that culminates with a new solo overtop a new fast-paced backing riff. The transition is done really well they fire off on this new part with Eddie playing some more fantastic guitar. Roth adds some bits of oohing and ahhing in the background but this cool new part and Eddie's solo continue for over a minute and take us right to the end of the album, not a bad way to finish off a pretty good album.

That is the end of "1984" and overall I thought it was a pretty solid album. The 80s takeover at some points and Eddie playing so much synthesizers is not a good thing in my opinion, but despite all that Van Halen have still delivered a great record with several catchy songs. I think it's easily better than both "Fair Warning" and "Van Halen II" and I think it even surpasses "Women And Children First". Their last album "Diver Down" was also pretty good though. It's a really close call and I struggled for a bit to choose, but I think I give the slightest edge to "Diver Down", leaving "1984" in 3rd among my Van Halen rankings. Their debut remains the standard for excellence and I don't like how far away they're getting from what made that album so awesome. Can they keep up this run of good albums? We will see!