Great Metal Albums of 1982: Van Halen- Diver Down
It was while on liberty in Toulon, France that I saw Van Halen’s fifth album in a record store there. I made a mental note about buying it then one of my marine buddies actually did. After giving “Diver Down” a listen, he proclaimed that the album sucked and had another person corroborate his feelings on it. That was enough to put me off buying it. Furthermore, when returning to the US two months later, hearing the first single, “Pretty Woman” didn’t inspire me with confidence and neither did the follow up single, “Dancing in the Street.” In fact, those songs gave me the impression that Van Halen had given up song writing and were simply getting by covering other’s songs. Then about a year later, I heard “Happy Trails” on a bar’s juke box and thought, “Now I’m definitely not going to buy this.” So, last Sunday night was the first time ever, that I listened to the full album.
Let me say that “Diver Down” doesn’t suck. However, it’s not as good as their previous four albums either. One thing I noticed and I wished I knew back then not to trust a song played on commercial radio, is that the radio version “Dancing in the Street” had much of Eddie’s guitar solo removed and that’s a shame. I think that song has his best solo on the album. While it may not be as good as it’s predecessor’s, there are some glimpses of what made Van Halen great in the early 80s. The first two tracks had me thinking that maybe this album wasn’t going to be as bad as I first imagined. There are three instrumentals on the album, nothing like “Eruption” but “Cathedral” is quite good. “The Full Bug” is a good one towards the end and it could have been the closer but now that I see that “Happy Trails” is at the end, I think that maybe they were trying to go out with a sense of humour so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on that one.
As for the band, David Lee Roth’s vocals are just as good and he stamps his personality on the album. Then again, his ego couldn’t be ignored and his limited vocal ability fits in well with the songs. As usual, Eddie has spots where his guitar work shines, it’s just unfortunate that there isn’t a cool solo with every song. Needless to say but the rhythm section of Alex and Michael is as solid as the other albums no faulting that. So, my verdict is that “Diver Down” is not bad. It would be even better if they had not included “Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now.)” A totally unnecessary song in my view.
Track Listing:
- Where Have all the Good Times Gone
- Hang’ em High
- Cathedral
- Secrets
- Intruder
- Pretty Woman
- Dancing in the Street
- Little Guitars (instrumental)
- Little Guitars
- Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
- The Full Bug
- Happy Trails
David Lee Roth- vocals, synthesizer, harmonica, acoustic guitar on The Full Bug
Eddie Van Halen- guitars, backing vocals
Michael Anthony- bass, backing vocals
Alex Van Halen- drums
If I had ignored my buddy thirty three years ago and had bought “Diver Down,” it would have gone into my rotation. I listen to albums in a strict order, don’t ask. I wouldn’t have listened to it once and then forgotten it. However, when I did listen to it, it wouldn’t have been with the same enthusiasm as the first four Van Halen albums.
Next post: Loudness- Devil Soldier
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This entry was posted on September 16, 2015 at 10:39 am and is filed under 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Americans, Classic Rock, David Lee Roth, Diver Down, Eddie Van Halen, France, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, The 1980s, 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.
8 Responses to “Great Metal Albums of 1982: Van Halen- Diver Down”
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September 16, 2015 at 10:23 pm
I thought this was called ‘Driver Down’ for years, absolutely no-one I knew owned this LP.
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September 17, 2015 at 8:28 am
I know a few who do but it’s not one they regularly whip out and listen to.
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September 16, 2015 at 10:25 pm
I agree with all of this. Diver Down does NOT suck. It’s Diver Down…it is what it is.
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September 17, 2015 at 8:28 am
Well put!
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September 18, 2015 at 11:16 am
Great review. Love this album.
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September 18, 2015 at 4:05 pm
Thanks, it was better than I thought it would be.
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September 22, 2015 at 6:39 am
Secrets is a nice little tune but Little Guitars is as good as anything they did off any of the other albums. Aside from that though….
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September 22, 2015 at 2:52 pm
Yes, they’re not bad tunes but me thinks you were going to continue here.
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