Album Review Revisited

October 25, 2020

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With the recent passing of Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen it is only felicitous to look back at one of Van Halen’s more “controversial” albums-well among the devoted fanbase. 1984 was no doubt a commercial success with the album being certified Gold only months after its release, and in 1999 was certified Diamond by the RIAA. Many of Van Halen’s most remembered songs and videos came from this album (Jump, Hot for Teacher, Panama...). There is no question that 1984 is one of most iconic albums that defined the 1980s.

But with any big success comes backlash from true fans who felt as though their heroes and idols had sold out. Many Van Halen fans to this day still debate as to whether 1984 can be considered as “heavy” or “hard rock” due to the use of the hefty amount of synthesizer on the album. Eddie Van Halen was scrutinized by the rock listeners for selling out by using synths on the album. As everyone knows, the early 1980s was bombarded with the new wave movement and doing a new wave type song with a synth was like Kiss and The Rolling Stones doing disco just a few years earlier. It was a great way to label if you wanted your album to be relevant, but another way for rock listeners and non-conformists to label you as a sellout.

Another added layer of turmoil for rock fans and diehard Van Halen fans was the departure of singer David Lee Roth. There was some buzz going around that David did not love the creative process while working on the 1984 album. Talks of a meeting where Eddie declined to record the soundtrack for a film David was to be the lead in was cementing the future of the band as we knew it. Word got out that Eddie was scouting for a new singer in early July and by September Van Halen performed Farm Aid with Sammy Hagar as their lead vocalist. Because the album was so successful after its release, bitter fans were even more bitter when they knew the future of the Van Halen as they saw it was over. For many fans like myself, Van Halen ended with the introduction of Sammy- no disrespects to Hagar but I can drive 55.

There is no denying the goldmine of melodic and catchy tunes on the album- but being an avid pre-Hagar listener, I would argue that their previous albums contain these same (successful) ingredients just executed in a different way. Most critics love that the album songs put more emphasis on the songs rather than the “rock” sound; and by doing this the band was able to showcase their excellent songwriting skills. When listening to the album you do sense the tightness of the band is little off, but Eddie’s guitar work and experimentation with the synth, and David’s vocal still make it an epic Van Halen album.