My All Time Fave Albums Pt. 15

In honour of an almost all original reunion and album, I thought I'd post my fave album by the legendary Van Halen.  That album would be Van Halen II.  

Growing up, I was never a huge Van Halen fan.  I only knew a few singles, and just never really wanted to check them out.  In interviews I always found them (DLR in particular) to be arrogant and brash, and that turned me off of them. Their albums were too short, had too many covers, I just never gave them a chance.  Obviously, this was an error in judgement. One day I decided to pick up some classic Roth era VH, and came home with Van Halen II. The cassette I had purchased had the sides reversed, so mine opens with Light Up The Sky, which continues to be one of my top 5 VH tunes.  My feelings about VH were never the same again.  I quickly collected the entire back catalog ,and the love affair began. The thing about this record (and all the classic Roth era stuff) is not what they play, but what they don't play.  They keep it simple, the production is always perfect (thanks to Ted Templeman), Edwards brilliant guitar flouishes, and Roth's unique vocal stylings are the reason why Van Halen is one of the Top 3 bands EVER to come out of the US. The ultimate feel good party band...nobodys depressed when listening to VH (unless we're talking VH III, that's another story).

Van Halen II  doesn't carry the hit status that some of the other records do (I'm a sucker for an underdog), but has fantastic deep tracks like D.O.A., Beautiful Girls, Somebody Get Me A Doctor and the single Dance The Night Away. Just listing those songs off reminds of why this is my fave album from them.  Maybe we'll hear a track or two from this record on the tour! 

The Hagar era was still good (there will be a post about 5150 eventually), but not as magical as the original VH lineup. Any self respecting rock fan should have this album in their collection.  Bask in the glory and majesty of Roth, Alex, Edward and Anthony...all hail VH!