Review of Van Halen's "1984"

1984 (1983) is the fifth album from legendary rock band Van Halen. Generally recognised as the band's breakthrough record it also saw the band embark on a controversial change of direction.

This is apparent from the start. '1984' is a short, instrumental introduction to the next song and is driven by synthesiser as opposed to the expected guitar. As if that's not enough the next song- the famous 'Jump'- is just as centred around the synth. Catchy and grand it is one of the two standouts on this album, but it led many rock fans to wonder where all the guitars had gone.

The other outstanding song on 1984 is the unexpectedly melodic 'I'll Wait' and, probably coincidentally, it too is heavily reliant on the keyboards. Still guitar fans shouldn't despair even if they have to suffer some cringeworthy moments. Eddie van Halen's guitar introduction to 'Top Jimmy' is fantastic and shows just why many regard him as its leading exponent in the world. His playing in the bridge for 'Panama' is also another good example of his talent.

The same can be said of his performance in 'Girl Gone Bad'. Strangely for a Van Halen album this is one of only two unadulterated rock numbers on the whole album and, as such, lacks some of the subtleties featured in, say, 'I'll Wait'. Still that's why it's so good to listen to and it really does grow on the listener. It's companion 'House of Pain', however, could do with some improvement.

The rest of 1984 is made up of songs which can best be described as harmless fun. 'Drop Dead Legs', 'Panama', 'Hot for Teacher' and 'Top Jimmy' are inane, but who really cares? 'Top Jimmy' especially, the best of these four, really rocks and David Lee Roth's lead vocals are very impressive.

The last thing that remains to be said for this album is how 80s its sound obviously is, the synth being the most obvious manifestation of this. Accordingly, over time, it has lost some of its edge and doesn't sound as hard-nosed as when it was released some 15 years ago. A couple of the songs are excellent and, 'House of Pain' aside, the rest make pleasant listening.

RATING: 6.5/10

Go To Page: 1

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic