Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Number 822 - Van Halen


Number 822

Van Halen

"Best Of Both Worlds"

(1986)
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................Genre: Rock...............
Yes, it is the album without David Lee Roth. Who do i prefer lead singer of Van Halen? Probably Roth, however "Best Of Both Worlds" is a good song and Hagar makes this song his own.
Hard night?
The power struggle within Van Halen was often painted as David Lee Roth's ego running out of control -- a theory that was easy enough to believe given his outsized charisma -- but in retrospect, it seems evident that Eddie Van Halen wanted respect to go along with his gargantuan fame, and Roth wasn't willing to play. Bizarrely enough, Sammy Hagar -- the former Montrose lead singer who had carved out a successful solo career -- was ready to play, possibly because the Red Rocker was never afraid of being earnest, nor was he afraid of synthesizers, for that matter. There was always the lingering suspicion that, yes, Sammy truly couldn't drive 55, and that's why he wrote the song, and that kind of forthright rocking is evident on the strident anthems of 5150. From the moment the album opens with the crashing "Good Enough," it's clearly the work of the same band -- it's hard to mistake Eddie's guitars, just as it's hard to mistake Alex and Michael Anthony's pulse, or Michael's harmonies -- but the music feels decidedly different. Where Diamond Dave would have strutted through the song with his tongue firmly in cheek, Hagar plays it right down the middle, never winking, never joking. Even when he takes a stab at humor on the closing "Inside" -- joshing around about why the guys chose him as a replacement -- it never feels funny, probably because, unlike Dave, he's not a born comedian.
Guitar hero
Then again, 5150 wasn't really intended to be funny; it was intended to be a serious album, spiked by a few relentless metallic rockers like "Get Up," but functioning more as a vehicle to showcase Van Halen's -- particularly the guitarist's -- increasing growth and maturity. There are plenty of power ballads, in "Why Can't This Be Love" and "Love Walks In," there's a soaring anthem of inspiration in "Dreams," and even the straight-up rocker "Best of Both Worlds" is tighter and leaner than the gonzo excursions of "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher." And that's where Hagar comes in: Diamond Dave didn't have much patience for plainspoken lyrics or crafting songs, but Sammy does and he brings a previously unheard sense of discipline to the writing on 5150. Not that Hagar is a craftsman like Randy Newman, but he's helped push Van Halen into a dedication on writing full-fledged songs, something that often seemed an afterthought in the original lineup. And so Van Hagar was a bit of an odd mix -- a party band and a party guy, slowly veering into a bourgeois concept of respectability, something that eventually sunk the band -- but on 5150 it worked because they had the songs and the desire to party, so those good intentions and slow tunes don't slow the album down; they give it variety and help make the album a pretty impressive opening act for Van Halen Mach II. ~ [Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide]
For more Van Halen see Number 617
For David Lee Roth see Number 997
For Randy Newman see Number 958
What does RS think?
The big question is whether even a sound as titanic as Van Halen's can sustain the loss of a loudmouth voluptuary like David Lee Roth, or will the whole metal ball simply collapse under the weight of generic gee-tar pyrotechnics? Though often derided as a frontrunner in the Most Obnoxious Man in Rock sweepstakes, Diamond Dave's giddy way with Uzipaced wisecracks and an unarguably media-genic presence gave Van Halen an overpowering edge on the legions of bands competing in the power-party rock arena. If rock & roll has become a circus maximus, then David Lee Roth was both a patter-spewing ringmaster and an untamable animal in the ring.
The Eddie-Sammy combination forms its most explosive bonding on "Best of Both Worlds." Centered on a transcendent guitar riff not unlike the chordal motif of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration," "Best of Both Worlds" is a double rock dialectic. While Eddie is busy resolving the problems of pastoral versus grunge guitar, Hagar confronts the madonna-whore paradox with quasi-religious fervor as he contemplates the possibility of divine revelation inherent in sensual experience. If one might "tune in to what this place has got to offer," one might attain heaven on earth through rock, through love, through grace. "It's not work, that makes it work no," Hagar sings. "Let the magic do the work for you." ~ [Source: RS 1986]
For Madonna see Number 478, #571, MM Vol 1 #077
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Not one song) and the Album ranked at (Nor one album)
This song has a Definitive 1000 rating of 62.8 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

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