Van Halen
The rock quartet Van Halen exploded into the American mainstream in 1978 with an eponymously titled debut album that soon went platinum, thanks to its blend of musical experimentation and an old-fashioned rock 'n' roll aesthetic. Named for Eddie Van Halen, the group's guitar virtuoso, the band's image promoted a hedonistic lifestyle and immediately captured the imagination of many young fans. Drawing from traditions of Southern blues, European baroque, and 1980s America, the band, over the next two decades, weathered major lineup changes and stylistic reinvention to remain one of the nation's most innovative musical groups.
Van Halen came together in Pasadena, California, in the mid-1970s, one of the first of the new wave of West Coast hard rock and heavy metal bands that had grown up on and would eventually replace British acts like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. The band's first incarnation centered on Alex and Eddie Van Halen, sons of an accomplished Dutch musician. The boys' intense classical training helped them produce distinctive and innovative music in an era when many metal bands were surrendering to formula. The band added Michael Anthony as bass player and David Lee Roth as vocalist and gigged locally under the name Mammoth before choosing to call itself Van Halen.
Van Halen paid its dues in the highly competitive Los Angeles music scene, where it was discovered first by Gene Simmons of the band KISS and later by a Warner Brothers executive. Its debut album, with Roth's lewd, growling vocals on songs like "Dance the Night Away" and "Runnin' With the Devil" grounded the band firmly in blues and heavy metal traditions, while Eddie Van Halen's creative guitar work, showcased on the extended pseudo-classical solo "Eruption," appealed to other traditionalists.
The band's next five albums all went multi-platinum, even when the band experimented with organs, synthesizers, saxophone, and a capella crooning, as on 1982's Diver Down and 1984's 1984. The latter album showed the band's more lighthearted, pop-friendly approach, as with the single "Jump" and its video that took advantage of David Lee Roth's high-kicking manic stage presence. In 1985, at the height of the band's popularity, David Lee Roth left the group to pursue a moderately successful solo career. Van Halen continued with new lead vocalist Sammy Hagar, already well-known from his work with Montrose and as a solo performer. The band released three hugely successful albums with Hagar at the helm, maintaining its exuberance while adding a nuance of socially meaningful music, as with "Right Here Right Now," a powerful song and carefully crafted video about taking care of one's own life in the midst of problems abroad. In 1996, Hagar himself left and Van Halen responded by releasing live and greatest-hits albums and attempting a reunion with David Lee Roth at the 1996 MTV Music Video Awards. Van Halen resurfaced in 1998 with new lead vocalist Gary Cherone; "Without You," the first single with this new lineup, debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts.
Still, it is Eddie Van Halen who has been recognized as the force behind most of Van Halen's music. From the beginning, his technical mastery and innovation set new parameters for the iconic Guitar Hero. In his unending quest for superb sound, he rewired amps, assembled guitars backwards, converted arias and concertos into searing solos, and tapped the fret board of his instrument with both hands at once. His solo on Michael Jackson's smash hit "Beat It" gave the song a hard edge, a certain legitimacy in a decade where dance and heavy metal fought for control of the airwaves. Eddie Van Halen, who had married teen idol Valerie Bertinelli, spent the 1990s overcoming substance-abuse problems, but he is remembered for having provided the blueprint for rock idols of his era—beautiful, long-haired, positive, and talented.
Further Reading:
Considine, J. D. Van Halen. New York, Quill, 1985.
Kitts, Jeff, editor. Guitar World Presents Van Halen: Eddie Van Halen In His Own Words. Milwaukee, Hal Leonard Publishing, 1997.
Morison, Buzz. The Mighty Van Halen. Port Chester, New York, Cherry Lane Books, 1984.
Shearlaw, John. Van Halen: Jumpin' for the Dollar. Port Chester, New York, Cherry Lane Books, 1984.
Walser, Robert. Running With the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Hanover, Wesleyan University Press, 1993.
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