Music Monday - 1984 by Van Halen
by David Williams
Last week the world lost one of the great guitar players and innovators. In many ways rock guitar can be divided into a period before Eddie Van Halen came on the scene and after that first album dropped in 1978. His innovations did not end with the first album. Over the next few years the band would become one of the biggest rock acts in the world. In 1984, they released their record 1984 and it took the band to a new level. The album saw Eddie Van Halen experimenting with new sounds, particularly with his experimentation on the synthesizer. Building a home studio allowed him to experiment without other members around. This was particularly helpful because singer David Lee Roth didn’t like new sounds that Eddie was playing with. The experimentation really opened Eddie up to a new level of composition and 1984 was the result. From the pop synthesizer strings of “Jump” to the blues infused scorcher “Hot For Teacher” and all the way to the final blazing rock of “House of Pain” this album does not fail to deliver. Let’s take a quick walk through the 9 tracks of this classic record:
“1984” this is a very different sound for Van Halen. The album begins with a synthesizer intro. You feel like you might have dropped the wrong record on the turntable. This sounds like something from Hearts of Space.
“Jump” – The opening track goes right into the famous synthesizer chords of this classic song. The only #1 hit that Van Halen would ever have. This is the perfectly build synthesizer rock track. Eddie’s amazing guitar solo is all that was needed to make this perfect. This would be the first single off of the record. It would also be the first video on the album. The video is fun though there isn’t much to it. Just the guys hamming it up on stage.
“Panama” – Next track is a classic rock song. David Lee Roth says that the lyrics are about a car and I’m not going to argue with him. All I can say is with some of these lyrics I think that he may not have the most healthy relationship with an automobile! It doesn’t really matter. The track is great and the video is a lot of fun.
“Top Jimmy” is a song about a rags to riches musician. The driving guitars and great riffs are everything that you want in a Van Halen song. The lyrics are based on a friend of David Lee Roth.
“Drop Dead Legs” tells us all we need to know about the song. I don’t know who the lady is walking by, but she certainly sounds like she was worth knowing. More great guitar work from Eddie Van Haled.
Now we get to another famous track. Who lived during that time period and can forget “Hot For Teacher.” David Lee Roth’s lyrics examine that crush that every young man goes through when he is of a certain age and looks up to find a young, attractive teacher. It starts out with a great drum intro that is reminiscent of pencils tapping on a desk. Then Eddie Van Halen scorches through the opening with some amazing licks and his signature tapping. Then we get a blues riff that takes us back to ZZ Top or John Lee Hooker. The whole this is a silly adolescent fantasy with over the top guitars. It’s a fantasy that in my mid-forties I love just as much as when I first heard it all those years ago.
“I’ll Wait” was the second single from the album. David Lee Roth did not like the song at all and pushed to get it removed from the album. He disliked the synthesizers and the overall sound of the song. Eddie pushed to keep the song. Eddie was right. The song is a classic pop-rock song. Just the perfect mixture of keyboards and guitar.
“Girl Gone Bad” starts off with some intense guitar work. We then go into a great barn burning song. Roth’s lyrics tell us about a girl who is gone bad and is "working on the street.” The lyrics are really kept to a minimum here and instead we get a lot of great Eddie Van Halen guitar.
That leaves us at the end of the record with “House of Pain.” This is just a straight out rock song. No intricate chords. No weaving synthesizers and guitars. Just hold on and hang tight rock and roll driven by the guitar and an amazing rhythm section.
1984 was and is an amazing record. As we pause to mourn the passing of Eddie Van Halen let’s take a moment to enjoy and appreciate his many accomplishments. Drop this album on the turntable, pop in the CD, load up the digital player. Whatever you have to do.
Instead of the “official video” here is a great performance of Van Halen from a few years ago. Still rocking it out.