A year after "Eruption" changed everything Van Halen dropped their follow up aptly titled
Van Halen II. For me this was my actual introduction to the band. The summer of '79 I turned 16 and I had been sent off to the Bowron Lakes to work with the Park Service's Youth Crew. It was an amazing summer, and while I didn't bring any music along with me, I did bring my guitar. Others though did bring music, and that summer I was introduced to Styx and Van Halen II. I heard Rush for the first time when someone played "Bastille Day" and I loved it. We also argued about Journey's "Wheel in the Sky" just being a lame rip off of "Layla" and we all agreed that disco sucked, but "Heart of Glass" by Blondie and "Driver's Seat" by Sniff 'n' the Tears got a free pass. We also agreed that we all loved "My Sharona" at one time but were thoroughly sick of it.
Van Halen was cool. It was the perfect blend of rock and pop with a ballsy swagger that seemed to be missing from most of the stuff we were listening to at the time. David Lee Roth gets the bum's rush now as a singer, but there was a time when his sly wink and nod double entendre delivery combined with his falsetto scream was the shit. Dave was cool man.
If Dave was cool, then Eddie was smokin' hot. Edward was the aural architect who with brother Alex on drums, and bassist Michael Anthony on the high counter vocals crafted their own sound. When you heard a Van Halen track there was no mistaking who you were listening to. The fret gymnastics were more than just technical wizardry they were ear candy and his rhythm work was the foundation that supported the songs.
The big songs to me at the time were "Dance the Night Away" and the rockin' "Somebody Get Me a Doctor." When I finally got the album for myself, which was a few years after the fact I was finally able to get into the album's deeper cuts.
Everyone loves to single out "Spanish Fly" which was a minute of Edward showing off his tapping on an acoustic guitar. It is pretty mind blowing, but honestly unlike "Eruption" which was dace melting, "Spanish Fly" was more a curiosity. Kind of a look what I can do snippet. I always loved Linda Ronstadt and her cover of "You're No Good" with Andrew Gold's guitar outro. It is one of my favourite songs. The Van Halen cover while pretty cool feels like a missed opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I like the song, but I would have loved to hear how Eddie would have interpreted Andrew's arrangement.
Trying to jot down my thoughts on this one is like trying to put smoke in a box. I have so many memories that are intertwined that trying to unravel the threads is nearly impossible. I'm left with a bunch of rather contradictory memories and impressions that are frankly kind of disjointed. Much like what you're reading if I'm being honest.
In many ways Van Halen II was a sequel more than a follow up. The band was still mining material that was written before their first album and they were still in the enviable position of being able to choose from songs that they had to some degree polished and tested.
However, I don't think that's entirely correct. Whereas the first album was the one to announce the band, Van Halen II was like having a friend come over and hang, and they brought beer. This was a rock record that had no problem with having some fun. Heck "Bottoms Up!" sounds like a party with Dave barely keeping it together. Two of my favourite songs close out the record, "Women in Love..." and "Beautiful Girls" are so good. Who doesn't love an album that ends with a smooch?
The one thing I did not remember was how short this was. The whole album just crests a half hour. Which feels weird as the songs don't feel short or truncated. A few of the songs are around four minutes, but I guess the rest are around three so I guess it makes sense. I hardly have a chance to get comfortable on the couch when I have to get up and flip the record over.
First world problems.
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