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But just as world domination for years to come seemed like a slam dunk, one of the most ill-timed split-ups in rock history occurred. Love it.”Īfter the release of 1984, VH embarked on a highly successful world tour, scored further radio and/or MTV hits after “Jump” (“I’ll Wait,” “Panama,” and “Hot for Teacher”), and in the process, became undoubtedly one of, if not the top hard rock act around (appointing them “the American Led Zeppelin” would not have been far-fetched). I would suggest listening to what he does between all that finger tapping and you’ll find some fantastic, juicy-ass phrasing. That never appealed to me, although it probably influenced more young guitarists than any other thing in the history of guitar. “I fell in love with Eddie Van Halen’s guitar tone, and believe it or not, I think the best thing about his playing is the stuff that he does when he’s not doing that finger tapping stuff. But it’s not his fault - it’s the listener’s fault for just listening to ‘Eruption’ and nothing else.”Īnd former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman voiced similar sentiments in the same book. Which is funny, because he has such good rhythm. The ‘Eddie Van Halen bomb’ went off and it destroyed a lot of people’s rhythm. It’s funny to see the repercussions of it. “Eddie Van Halen is 100% great, and he unintentionally really messed up a lot of guitar players - because everybody was so enamored with the flashy parts that it knocked a lot of people off balance. Big) explained in the book Shredders! The Oral History of Speed Guitar (And More), this was not entirely Eddie’s fault. But as guitarist Paul Gilbert (Racer X / Mr. While quite a few rock guitarists began replicating EVH’s trademark two-handed tapping into their solos ever since the band’s debut hit, it seemed like every guitarist was doing so in the wake of the success of 1984. Case in point, a new crop of rock bands embracing synths and scoring hits (Autograph’s “Turn Up the Radio,” Giuffria’s “Call to the Heart,” Europe’s “The Final Countdown,” etc.), while veteran acts not normally associated with synths and keys would also take the plunge (Judas Priest’s Turbo, Iron Maiden’s Somewhere in Time, Kiss’ Crazy Nights, etc.). The reason for such mega-success right off the bat was two-fold - firstly, “Jump” featured an incredibly popular music video that MTV aired non-stop, and secondly, EVH’s much-publicized appearance on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” a year prior caught the attention of pop fans, which resulted in a massive broadening of potential VH record buyers.Īnd fellow rock acts took note concerning Van Halen’s recipe for success with 1984. 2, while “Jump” would top the Billboard Hot 100. Released on January 9th, 1984, the album rocketed up the Billboard 200 to No. And while the presence of synths was undeniable, what ultimately made it not such a big deal amongst their rocker following was that they were not used on every bloody song (really only on three - the instrumental title track, “Jump,” and “I’ll Wait”), and the rest of the album rocked ferociously (“Panama,” “Top Jimmy,” “Drop Dead Legs,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Girl Gone Bad,” and “House of Pain”), resulting in their finest disc since their flawless debut. Unlike Diver Down, 1984 (titled as such in reference to the year it was released, and also, a nod to the famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell) was entirely covers-free. And the main reason they could do so was because this would be the first album that they recorded entirely at EVH’s newly constructed 5150 Studios, in Studio City, California (and once again, overseen by producer Ted Templeman). But the group made it a point to take their sweet time with what would turn out to be studio album #6. This was not the first time VH worked at a brisk pace in the studio (their classic self-titled debut from 1978 took only two weeks to complete).

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The result was an album that included that track, plus a bunch of other cover songs, mixed with a few originals.

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A stand-alone single in early ‘82, a cover of Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman,” was such a surprise hit that the label wanted a full album to cash in on its success. However, their most recent album at the time, 1982’s Diver Down, was a rush-job.