Great Metal Albums of 1978: Van Halen I
I thought what better way to end the tour through 1978 than to visit the very first album by Van Halen. Like so many great rock and metal albums that came out in this year, this album didn’t come into my fields of vision for another year when I heard a marine buddy blasting it through the barracks. I only heard part of the album, but I was hooked. The weird thing was that I actually bought II before I bought this one.
Some metal officiandos have compared Van Halen to Led Zepplin and I admit there are some similarities. But Van Halen I gave Van Halen a unique sound of their own. To me this was just as heavy as Ted Nugent and it opened my eyes to a whole new world out there in music. You could say that Van Halen I was the final rock in the stream that caused the rivers of rock to overflow.
What really made this album for me was the fantastic guitar work of Eddie Van Halen. “Eruption” totally blew my mind and the way they metalised a classic Kinks song let me know that heavy metal was the road I wanted to travel down. I can’t really think of a track I don’t like but if you were to ask my favourite, it has to be “Ice Cream Man.” I loved the way it starts with the accoustic and then rips into a full metal frenzy. Yes, I can say that for me and others, Van Halen I was the album that paved the way.
Track Listing:
1. Running With the Devil
2. Eruption
3. You Really Got Me
4. Ain’t Talin’ About Love
5. I’m the One
6. I’m on Fire
7. Jamie’s Crying
8. Atomic Punk
9. Feel Your Love Tonight
10. Little Dreamer
11. Ice Cream Man
Van Halen
David Lee Roth- lead vocals, accoustic guitar
Eddie Van Halen- guitars, backing vocals
Michael Anthony- bass, backing vocals
Alex Van Halen- drums
I hope you have enjoyed my little tour through the rock and metal history of 1978 and will continue on the ride to 1979. There will be plenty of albums to come in that year. So, I will leave you for now with one artist I first discovered in 1978 on the Saturday Night Live show. I admit, I like some of Kate Bush’s eccentricities and her early music. It is also probably why I have a thing for British women, after all, I married two of them.
Next post: 1979- The Year the Damn Began to Burst
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This entry was posted on June 28, 2012 at 7:18 pm and is filed under 1978, Heavy Metal, Music, Uncategorized with tags Classic Rock, Eddie Van Halen, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Kate Bush, Saturday Night Live, Ted Nugent, The 1970s, Van Halen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4 Responses to “Great Metal Albums of 1978: Van Halen I”
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July 2, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Killer debut album!
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July 2, 2012 at 4:29 pm
I agree totally! Thanks!
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July 16, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Sure i have been listen “Running with the devil” all my day, Furthermore “JUMP”
Best of Eruption as many impact to many musician in the next era until now this time, This is when Edward was provide his own technique tapping. Many musician using its technique until now. Awesome and Legendary
Nice blog by the way man
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July 17, 2012 at 12:25 pm
You are so spot on about Eruption, EVH pioneered a new guitar sound for the 80s and as you say, it’s legendary.
Thanks bestrockmusical
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