I always loved this tune and how they transformed it into their distinctive Van Halen sound.A really great example of that swagger Van Halen had with Dave singing.I know Eddie wasn't fond of this album because of the cover songs but I feel this tune is one of Van Halen's finer moments.
Dave was first. He made the image of VH. People have a hard time ajusting to a new lead singer, especially when he is loaded with songs he wrote. I like both of them for different reasons.
The vibe totally changed with Sammy Hagar. Sammy was a great singer and had some rocking tunes with his solo band and earlier with Montrose, but to me (as a teenager in the 80s), he never seemed like a good fit for Van Halen. David Lee Roth was a Wild Man/Goofball/Clown that made Van Halen seem like the ultimate party band, while Sammy was more of a generic Hard Rock singer - tons of similar bands at the time had singers like him. They still had huge hits with him, and I like some of them, but give me David Lee Roth Van Halen any day.
Nice! I forgot how cool the guitar effects on the intro sounded on this. It points to the synth work on their next album, 1984. It also reminds me of "Eminence Front" by The Who. David Bowie and Mick Jagger covered this in 1985 too, but Van Halen did it better. That said, I'll reach for the Martha and the Vandellas version first. Marvin Gaye is awesome, so yeah, if you're not familiar with his work, check him out because he brings a lot to the ear. PS. This reminds me of chilling by the pool the summer I turned 15. Heh. Sammy Hagar started out as the singer for Montrose (Check out "Bad Motor Scooter" and "Space Station #5"), then went solo and worked on building his brand as he released several albums in the late seventies. Check out his cover of Patti Smith's "Free Money" or his heartland style rocker "Plain Jane". He wore red and called himself the "Red Rocker" for a time. He made fun party music like "I Can't Drive 55" as well as the theme song to the Heavy Metal animated movie from 1981 or thereabout. Eddie Van Halen was a big fan of Ronnie Montrose and Sammy Hagar was one of the best front guys around at the time, so adding him to the band after parting with DLR made some sense. They enjoyed a lot of success together in the later eighties.
it is actually a synth. he used the same technique as on cathedral. using delay to sequence the notes of a simple arpeggio . Eddie DID play it on guitar live though. which was bad a$$
I'm not the biggest fan of the originals of the covers on this album, but you can't deny they did Van Halen up all of the covers they did. There is nothing wrong with the Van Hagar era. It's just different in some ways, and some fans couldn't handle it.
I think I've replied with this answer to you before about Sam vs. Dave, but Dave was oozing with style and charisma, Sammy was a more mature vocalist who liked to party. I like both. As far as Sammy's albums go, I think he's got the stronger catalog of complete albums IMO. 5150, OU812, and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge are great albums. I didn't feel Balance. Of Dave's I was into 1984,VH1, and A Different Kind of Truth the most. VH2 was solid, but not as good. The other Dave albums just have songs I like, but when I think about beginning to end good.... the above are my choices.
I love 5150, OU812, and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. That album first album to me is especially great, but like you know, a lot of original Van Halen fans really were not really feeling Van Hagar. To me Hagar's version of the band as a little bit grown up and a little less wild than DLR, but that's ok.
If you have noticed all of Van Halens songs up until this album have never been love songs or feelgood songs. This is the beginning of why David Lee Roth had problems with the band and left in my opinion!!!!!
For me, it ain't Van Halen without David Lee Roth... period. I can't stand Hagar and his substandard, sappy lyrics. I REALLY hope that you eventually react to the final =VH= album, "A Different Kind of Truth" from 2012. The band got Dave back, let Mike Anthony go, and added Eddie's son, Wolfgang on bass guitar and backing vocals. In my opinion, it belongs in the same conversation as the original six albums with Roth. Biz, I know that you really focus on the shlyrics. You saw the greatness in Bon Scott's lyrics. I think once you compare lyrics from Roth and Hagar, you'll see a huge drop in the quality from Van Hagar.
This song and this album for me is just so mediocre. Actually the next album, though not as good as the earlier ones, is good. The thing about the Hagar Van Halen era is they really went more commercial, and the overall sound is weak, IMO.
I think it's more of a case that this song was sort of a "sticking point" between Eddie and Dave. Eddie wanted to use that main effect and riff for an original song, but Dave and producer Ted Templeman co-opted it for the cover to "Dancin' in the Streets," and it really rubbed Eddie the wrong way. It's also probably the most visible evidence of the "Diver Down is all covers" problem since it's one of the VH songs from this album that still gets airplay today. I always dug it, though :)
