Van Halen's sixth album was released in 1984. Widely considered a classic of not only hard rock, but of popular music in general, it is one of the best selling albums of all time. But, is the album actually any good? Let's find out.
The album begins with the title track (1984). A short synthesizer instrumental, the song sets the tone for this synth-heavy album. I really like the richness of Eddie Van Halen's synthesizers on this album. The "Oberheim" synthesizer sound is now legendary, and these keyboards command thousands of dollars on ebay today. Next is the legendary sports anthem "Jump". Driven by the same rich synthesizers, the song was a smash hit among the general public, but divided hardcore fans of the band. I like the song still today, but after hearing it thousands of times, it gets a bit stale. Another sports hit comes next, the classic "Panama". Again, I have heard the song thousands of times, and it has started to wear a bit thin. Eddie's guitar is awesome as usual, and singer David Lee Roth is in top form here. A great song, but very overplayed. "Top Jimmy" features mind blowing guitar "harmonics" from Eddie. The song itself is decent enough. A fairly standard sounding Van Halen song, it could easily be mistaken for countless other songs by the band. Kind of goofy, and a little musically "undercooked", I always found the song to sound a little demoish, unfinished compared to the slick polish of the rest of the album.
"Drop Dead Legs" contrasts nicely to the slickly produced hits on the album. The song really shows the genius of Eddie Van Halen; the ability to intertwine complex guitar parts inside a fairly basic and simple rock song. Another Halen song about a sexy woman, the lyrics are fairly simplistic and shallow, but the complex guitars and great harmonies provided by "Michael Anthony" keep interest locked in. A good, but not great song. "Hot For Teacher" is another massive hit off this very big album. A teenage fantasy in song, it epitomizes the excesses of 1980s hard rock. Music was grounded in the fantastic, an escape from the mundane and boring life a pubescent male student. Larger than life like Van Halen themselves, the song is of course a classic. Smoking guitars, a great music video, and of course "Diamond" Dave on the vox singing about a sexy teacher, it really was surely a great time to be a teenage music fan with music as fun as this. Great song. My favorite Van Halen song from the Roth era comes next. "I'll Wait" is a absolute classic. Disproving Roth's concerns about synthesizers ruining Halen, I cannot picture this song without the dramatic synths. Of course guitars are largely absent, but the song really shows that Eddie is a great keyboard player, just as capable as he with guitars. Classic.
"Girl Gone Bad" is a tale of lost female innocence of the sexual kind. The music is very interesting, featuring numerous scales, chord changes, and guitar aerobics, showing why Eddie always has and always will be a true virtuoso of the six-string. A bit too long and jammy, the song is really just a showcase for Eddie's guitar skills, it feels incomplete as a song. The lyrics are pretty minimal, and Roth mainly grunts over the chorus. Not bad, but it feels incomplete. "House of Pain" is about S and M. Roth's vocals lie buried under Eddie's guitar, and I have never liked the mix on this song. Anthony's bass and Alex Van Halen's drums shine, but Eddie seems to be jamming again, showing that he of course has skill on guitar, but that does not mean that this is necessarily a good song.
"1984" is a good album, but it has quite a bit of filler. I prefer earlier efforts such as "I", "II", and even "Fair Warning". Some of the songs are insanely well-produced and extremely slick and tight, while others feel neglected and not fleshed out enough. Still, 1984 showed the original incarnation of the band going out on top, and proved massively successful. But, somewhat overrated.
Rating-7.5/10
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