''Van Halen'' is the debut studio album by American
rock band
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...
. Released on February 10, 1978, ''Van Halen'' was a major commercial success. The album peaked at number 19 on the US
''Billboard'' 200 and has sold more than 10 million copies in the United States. ''Van Halen'' received
diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
certification by the
RIAA and was received well by the general public making it one the
best-selling albums in the United States.
The album contains some of the band's most well-known songs, including "
Runnin' with the Devil", "
Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love
"Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" is a song by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in October 1978 as the third single from their 1978 debut album, ''Van Halen''.
This song is one of the few David Lee Roth-era songs that subsequent replaceme ...
", "Jamie's Cryin'", their
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of
the Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...
"
You Really Got Me
"You Really Got Me" is a song written by Ray Davies for English rock band the Kinks. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two versions of the song were ...
", and the instrumental "
Eruption
Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...
"; played and written by guitarist
Eddie Van Halen, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar solos of all time and helped popularize
two-handed tapping.
Background
Van Halen began recording demos in 1976. However, a three-track tape financed by
Gene Simmons attracted no interest from record labels. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen was not convinced of the quality of the material because they could not make the recordings with their own equipment.
Simmons left to
tour with Kiss after recording the demos, but said he would try to secure Van Halen a record deal afterwards.
After recording the demos, the band was offered several concerts. At a sold-out show in their hometown,
Pasadena, the group's future manager, Marshall Berle, discovered the band. He and musical entrepreneur
Kim Fowley paired them with
punk rock band
Venus and the Razorblades for a gig at the
Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boule ...
.
After being well received by Berle at the Whisky a Go Go, the band gained the attention of
Mo Ostin
Mo Ostin (born Morris Meyer Ostrofsky; March 27, 1927 – July 31, 2022) was an American record executive who worked for several companies, including Verve, Reprise Records, Warner Bros. Records, and DreamWorks. He was chairman and chief ex ...
and
Ted Templeman of Warner Bros. Ostin and Templeman were impressed with the band's subsequent performance at the
Starwood
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. was one of the largest companies that owned, operated, franchised and managed hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties. It was acquired by Marriott International in 2016.
...
, and Van Halen proceeded to sign a contract with Warner. The recording of their debut album began August 29, 1977 and lasted three weeks. With producer Ted Templeman, it was mostly recorded live. "Runnin' with the Devil", "Jamie's Cryin'", "Feel Your Love Tonight" and "Ice Cream Man" contain guitar overdubs. Overall, the album cost approximately $40,000 to produce.
"We didn't have a ton of material," recalled bassist
Michael Anthony, "so we basically just took our live show and all the songs we knew and went for it. The whole album only took a couple of weeks. Ted Templeman wanted to make a big, powerful guitar record, and he had all he needed in what Eddie was doing."
The subsequent tour began with the band opening for rock acts such as
Journey
Journey or journeying may refer to:
* Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations
** Day's journey, a measurement of distance
** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road
Animals
* Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...
and
Montrose in the United States. They later opened for
heavy metal band
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
in Europe and the United States.
Packaging and artwork
The cover photos for ''Van Halen'' were taken at the Whisky a Go Go, a Los Angeles club at which Van Halen often performed during the mid-1970s. The guitar pictured on the cover is Eddie Van Halen's signature
Frankenstrat
The Frankenstrat, also known as "Frankie", is a guitar created by Eddie Van Halen. Its name is a portmanteau of Frankenstein, the fictional doctor who created a monster by combining body parts of the recently deceased, and the Stratocaster, ...
(before he added the red paint), a highly customized Stratocaster-style guitar built out of replacement parts.
The
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desc ...
thank radio host disk jockey
Rodney Bingenheimer
Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of ''Rodney on the ROQ'', a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he also m ...
and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, the latter usually credited with discovering Van Halen. "A lot of people stick me on their
hanks list even though I don't deserve it," Simmons remarked. "One that I ''did'' deserve to be on was that first Van Halen record – the guys still owe me a couple thousand bucks! But I love 'em."
Release and reception
In the United States, ''Van Halen'' reached number 19 on the
''Billboard'' Top 200; their debut single, a cover of
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...
' "
You Really Got Me
"You Really Got Me" is a song written by Ray Davies for English rock band the Kinks. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two versions of the song were ...
", spent three weeks on the chart, peaking at number 36.
Soon after its February 1978 release, ''Van Halen'' became regarded by fans and critics as one of rock and roll's greatest debut albums; however, its initial critical reception was mostly negative. In 1978, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' critic Charles M. Young predicted, "In three years, Van Halen is going to be fat and self-indulgent and disgusting ... follow
ng Deep Purple and
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
right into the toilet. In the meantime, they are likely to be a big deal." But he also wrote that: "Van Halen's secret is not doing anything that's original while having the hormones to do it better than all those bands who have become fat and self-indulgent and disgusting. Edward Van Halen has mastered the art of lead/rhythm guitar in the tradition of
Jimmy Page and
Joe Walsh
Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr ...
; several riffs on this record beat anything
Aerosmith has come up with in years. Vocalist Dave Lee Roth manages the rare hard-rock feat of infusing the largely forgettable lyrics with energy and not sounding like a castrato at the same time. Drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony are competent and properly unobtrusive." ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' critic
Robert Christgau said, "For some reason Warners wants us to know that this is the biggest bar band in the San Fernando Valley ... The term becomes honorific when the music belongs in a bar. This music belongs on an aircraft carrier."
According to ''Rolling Stone''s Holly George-Warren, with the album's release the mainstream media focused on Roth's "swaggering good looks and extroverted persona", while fans and musicians "were riveted by Eddie Van Halen's guitar mastery", which included "an array of unorthodox techniques." She notes that, even before the band's debut, "Eddie became a legend among local guitarists."
''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' magazine gave the album a very positive review, and considers the album to be an "essential purchase." They wrote, "IT'S DIFFICULT to overstate the effect VH's debut had upon its release. With the music world split between punk, disco and prog rock, Van Halen combined a dazzling live show with a party-hearty motto and, in Eddie Van Halen, a guitarist who redefined what was possible on six strings. His sound on this album—christened 'The Brown Sound'—remains the holy grail of guitar tones."
Commercial performance
On August 7, 1996, ''Van Halen'' was re-certified by the RIAA for selling ten million copies in the United States alone. One of only six rock bands to release two
RIAA Diamond status albums, ''Van Halen'' remains one of Van Halen's two best-selling albums, along with ''
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
''.
''Van Halen'' went to
Gold status on May 24, 1978, and then went to
Platinum status just a few months later, on October 10, 1978. In less than a year the album sold more than one million copies in the US alone, meaning that the album was already a great success. On October 22, 1984, the album went to
5× Multi-Platinum status. The album went to
6x Multi-Platinum on February 1, 1989, and then went to
7× Multi-Platinum on September 29, 1993. In less than a year later, on July 11, 1994, the album went to
8x Multi-Platinum, and finally, on August 7, 1996, just two years later, the album went to
Diamond status by RIAA.
The ''Van Halen'' album, like Van Halen's other David Lee Roth-era albums—excepting ''
Van Halen II'', which was re-certified in 2004, to coincide with the promotion of a
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
greatest hits collection—was last brought by Warner Bros. Records to the RIAA for re-certification in 1996, while ''
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
'' was re-certified on February 8, 1999.
The band's split with Warner Brothers in 2002, and subsequent agreement with
Interscope has eliminated Warner Brothers' incentive for paying the
elatively substantialfee to promote Van Halen's back-catalog by having its albums re-certified. Despite lack of re-certification, Van Halen's 1978 debut has continued to sell prolifically, re-appearing numerous times on the
''Billboard'' 200 and
''Billboard'' Top Pop Catalog Albums charts, as recently as 2020.
Legacy
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine described ''Van Halen'' as "monumental" and "seismic", while noting that it is typically not viewed as an "epochal generation shift" in the same way as the debut albums of
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
, the
Ramones,
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
, and the
Sex Pistols.
He explains, "The reason it's never given the same due is that there's no pretension, nothing self-conscious about it."
He commented: "The still-amazing thing about ''Van Halen'' is how it sounds like it has no fathers ... Like all great originals ''Van Halen'' doesn't seem to belong to the past and it still sounds like little else, despite generations of copycats."
In Erlewine's opinion, the album "set the template for how rock and roll sounded for the next decade or more."
A retrospective review by ''
Q'' noted, "Hit singles came later, but this dazzling debut remains their trump card."
In 1994, ''Van Halen'' was ranked number eight in
Colin Larkin's ''
Top 50 Heavy Metal Albums''. Larkin described it as "one of the truly great" debut albums of heavy metal. According to authors Gary Graff and Daniel Durchholz, writing in ''MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'' (1999), ''Van Halen'' is a "headbanger's paradise"; before its release, "no one had heard or seen anything like it." In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'', listed it among
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...
, at number 410; the list's 2012 edition had it ranked 415th.
The 2020 list placed it at 292. According to ''Rolling Stone''s Joe Levy, the album "gave the world a new guitar hero and charismatic frontman" in Eddie Van Halen and
David Lee Roth, respectively. Levy credits the tracks "Runnin' with the Devil" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" with "put
ingthe swagger back in hard rock", praising Eddie Van Halen's "jaw-dropping technique", which "raised the bar for rock guitar." In 2006, ''
Guitar World'' readers ranked it number 7 on a list of the Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time. In 2013, ''Rolling Stone'' listed the album at number 27 of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time.
On April 15, 2013, David Lee Roth was interviewed by
Jay Mohr
Jon Ferguson "Jay" Mohr (born August 23, 1970) is an American actor, comedian and radio host. He is known for his roles as film producer Peter Dragon in the TV comedy series '' Action'', Professor Rick Payne in the TV series ''Ghost Whisperer'' ...
for his podcast, where he selected the album as his favorite Van Halen recording.
Track listing
Personnel
Van Halen
*
David Lee Roth – lead vocals, acoustic guitar on "Ice Cream Man" (Credited as "David Roth")
*
Eddie Van Halen – guitar, backing vocals,
electric sitar
An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditiona ...
on "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love"
*
Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals
*
Alex Van Halen
Alexander Arthur Van Halen (; born May 8, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1972 by Alex Van Halen, his younger brother Eddie, David Lee Roth, and Mark S ...
– drums
Production
*Dave Bhang – art direction and design
*Jodi Cohen – typesetting
*Elliot Gilbert – photography
*Logan Jervis – engineer
*
Donn Landee
Donn Landee is an American record producer and recording engineer. Much of his work as an engineer has been done with producer Ted Templeman at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, Cal. The pair worked with a wide variety of artists for Warner ...
– engineer
*Peggy McCreary – engineer
*Jo Motta – project coordinator
*Kent Nebergall – engineer
*
Ted Templeman – producer
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Singles
(United States)
Certifications
See also
*
Van Halen discography
References
Works cited
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
Album chart usages for Billboard200
1978 debut albums
Albums produced by Ted Templeman
Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders
Van Halen albums
Warner Records albums