One break, comin' uuuuuup... ILM Artist Poll #75 - VAN HALEN (Voting thread)

http://i.imgur.com/rz6zN8o.png

No need for nominations, just pick your favourite Van Halen tracks from any of the albums or compilations or bootlegs. Choose your top twenty-two (why not?) tracks and they'll score as follows:
1:40, 2:36, 3:33, 4:30, 5:28, 6:26, 7:25, 8:24, 9:23, 10:22, 11:21, 12:20, 13:19, 14:18, 15:17, 16:16, 17:15, 18:14, 19:13, 20:12, 21:11, 22:10.
Please send your ballot to: johnnyilxfever (AT) gmail.com (except obviously without the spaces and using the @ symbol) by May 20th at 7pm EDT (that's a week from Friday).
In the meantime, use this thread for big upping tracks you want people to vote for.

If you're so inclined, here are some optional side polls...

A. Your ranked five favorite Eddie guitar solos

B. Your ranked five favorite Van Halen albums

Wow, I haven't knocked the dust off that email account since the Pixies poll in 2014. SO MUCH SPAM!

Gotta be the first VH poll that didn't acknowledge the lineup changes and ask, who did you prefer?

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Michael or Wolfgang?

Michael. That was easy.

I may have added one or two more of those things than was necessary.

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Just like Van Halen with lead singers!

http://www.abalonevintage.com/guitarist_edward_van_halen_1979_vhII_sunset_recording_studio_api_urei_gotham_brown_sound.jpg

This might be my #1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CIE041T954

My conspiracy theory, which I've introduced before: much of "1984" is ghostwritten by ringers. The first album is killer, the second loads on the filler. Then the band goes dark and murky, then comes the more or less dire and definitely inessential "Diver Down," and then ... "1984," the pop masterpiece. Van Halen was in no position/condition to pull off that turnaround, and conspicuously the first pressing of the album does not credit Michael McDonald for co-writing "I'll Wait." Michael McDonald! He quickly got his credit, but maybe the others lacked the standing to get that much?

Anyway, that's my conspiracy theory. Might also explain why they went to Hagar, who was a songwriter/musician. Though admittedly his book "Red" talks a lot about the VH bros going through piles of old tapes for new ideas, which they've done throughout their career (the last album, "House of Pain" on 1984), so who knows, maybe there are tons of gems in there and they found enough of them in time for 1984.

"Hot for Teacher" sounds like studio filler. Crazy it was one of their biggest hits!

(I love hot for teacher. Always wished one of the bands I was in could've done an homage video to it.)

the drums on hot for teacher are insane

Seriously. and the guitar solos too.

I guess it's DLR who sounds a little cashed out there.

that brown sound, man

yay a new poll. though i'm not into this Los Angeles band.

the drums on hot for teacher are insane

― lute bro (brimstead), Wednesday, May 11, 2016 9:35 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Hot" would be pretty far up my ballot partly for the drums; this is one of a handful of VH tunes that approaches a Who-like intensity.

And regardless of the quality of whatever was surrounding it, Alex's recorded snare sound is as consistently great as any drummer's, ever.

I much prefer his drum sound pre-F.U.C.K.

Ed's guitar sound too, tbh

Got a ballot in! All Cherone songs.

Cherone's a lurker?

My conspiracy theory, which I've introduced before: much of "1984" is ghostwritten by ringers.

There might be something to this theory. However, I'd take issue with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th albums being the kind of drop-off from the debut you'd claim they are. Diver Down is the only one of the first six that really sounds like a band swinging in the dark. VHII, especially, has some of their best early songs ("Somebody Get Me a Doctor," "Light Up the Sky").

There's a pretty direct line from Unchained to Panama, as far as song construction goes, but maybe Unchained was ghostwritten too. ¯\(ツ)/¯

It's not the official name, but realized last night you could call their debut VH-1.

I think for those two very brown albums (Women and Fair), there's a lot of ugliness and filler, with the highlights being clear highlights. I like VHII a lot, but it also sounds pretty packed with second-tier stuff. Keep in mind, all these albums have amazing songs on them, like Mean Streets or Unchained or Dance the Night Away or Beautiful Girls etc. But I still say there's nothing on Women or Fair Warning that indicates they had a 1984 in them.

The drums on Hot for Teacher are insane literally unplayable, as they're overdubbed like hell. I really don't rate Alex as a drummer, but credit where credit is due, there are some insane time signature switches in songs like "Unchained" and "Jump" that I've never been able to figure out. I'm not sure Alex could either, tbh, just he and his brother work well together. Watching him in the "Jump" video, it could be something as simple as the strange placement of his cymbals, heavy on the left side of the kit, by the hi-hat.

Maybe this is challopy and maybe it isn't (I don't hang around on guitar player boards or anything), but OU812 is the best documentation of Ed as a pure hot shit player. Some of the rhythm bits he plays on that album, not to even mention the leads, are finer than anything on the first 6.

the movie reminded me how good "Everybody Wants Some!!" is.

?? "Jump" never changes time, it's in solid 4/4 all the way through. Alex just plays some stuff *around* the beat that makes it sound like it's changing time when it's not.

"Hot For Teacher" drums are eminently playable. You can find countless drummers on YouTube playing them.

Yes, you can find people playing certain Police songs, too, to the best of their ability. But the best you can do is approximate it.

OK, fine, "Jump" is 4/4, but those accents are weird on the bridges and solo. What is going on in "Unchained?"

Also straight 4/4. Bro do you even metronome?

Bridge in "Unchained" is sooooooo not 4/4.

Hmm, solo seems to be in 4/4, but beat is super displaced. But not the bridge, which is just weird. Extra measure of 2?

http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/alex-van-halen-hot-licks/P4/

“Unchained”
If the guitar intro of this great song doesn’t disorient you, this section just might. Van Halen plays a tricky beat that’s phrased in 7/4, but is more easily thought of as being all in 4/4.

http://www.drummagazine.com/images/lessons/040813-avhunchaineddrum-1.jpg

Huh. Just gave it a few listens and I still hear something extra, or less, in the bridges, that budges it away from 4/4. But yeah, I guess it does end up back in 4/4. Playing 7/4 against 4/4? Anyway, just such weird little parts, and still as fundamentally tricky as an odd signature, 4/4 or no.

oh god, here come the drummers.

That's the genius ("genius") of the VH brothers -- they can make very simple things sound very complicated! They work together very well to set the listener off-balance as to where the beat is at times. I remember when I first heard "Jump" I was firmly convinced the guitar solo was in 5/4 until I counted it out.

Actually, just to focus on EVH, my guitar teacher has been going through the albums one by one and transcribing the solos (what a nerd thing to do), and he is finding a lot of his stuff even more formidable than he thought. Like, his brain is telling him to play the stuff one way, but a lot of the guitar can only be played some other way. What was this one song he was showing me? Yeah, "Fools," off "Women and Children." It's not a song I've ever really thought about, but he said there's just some bonkers stuff - illogical yet totally EVH logical - going on that just wipe out his hands after a couple of passes. Solo on "Beat It" he says has some nuts stuff in it, too, which he said is a real challenge.

Yeah, I added the guitar solo side poll specifically so I could vote for Beat It.

I just want to share this, one of my favorite musician interviews, from a late 90s issue of Guitar World.

http://www.hsx.com/forum/forum.php?id=3&pid=268235

'Sinner's Swing' FTW.

"When Push Comes To Shove". A bit of a dark horse but also the closest they come to their 70s-rock-band-taking-a-stab-at-disco moment.

This poll oughtta either cement my hazily-held-onto nostalgic love that the part of my heart that still wears a jean jacket with band patches and a turned-up collar still holds for them, or will cause me to dump my collection & just buy a best-of CD for 99 cents.

I really hope people aren't just too exhausted by polls to vote in this one, and/or the VH love on ilm hasn't waned too much as people have come and gone from being regular posters. Slightly worried as only two ballots have been submitted so far, but hey...if there's low turnout, your votes matter even more!

1984 was better because they had a year to make the record. From what I understand, Diver Down and Fair Warning were pretty much done at the last minute with deadlines looming for their next tour to start.

@johnny fever: i'm revisiting the discography before i submit my ballot

like the whole discography

You'll get a ballot from me before the deadline. Just wrestling with the placement of some top fives. Also re-listening to some 5150 tracks to decide if I really like them or am just nostalgic for them.

i'm revisiting the discography before i submit my ballot

I've done that over the past couple days. A Different Kind of Truth really doesn't hold up as well as I'd thought it would, even though half the songs are originally from the 70s.

is Michael Anthony DRUNK BASS SOLO eligible

Also re-listening to some 5150 tracks to decide if I really like them or am just nostalgic for them.

Yeah, went through this too ... and I guess there are actually at least two ways to rock.

hot shoe burnin' down the avenue

David Lee Roth solo material not included in this poll?

i was wondering about that myself but it also makes sense

If we did, would we include Hagar material? Extreme? Montrose? etc.

I mean, I'd be surprised if anyone voted for any DLR beyond 1988 anyway.

Deadline is flexible-ish through Saturday am if that works.

For anybody on the fence, just remember that it takes less than four hours to listen to the whole DLR era.

Just sent a hurry-up late ballot :-/
Just 22 songs. No Van Hagar. No 'Rone Halen.
I don't feel tardy.

For anybody on the fence, just remember that it takes less than four hours to listen to the whole DLR era.

― Now I Know How Joan of Arcadia Felt (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, May 20, 2016 5:33 PM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i only had time to get in maybe 90 minutes of VH listening this week, unfortunately. but i'm glad JF has extended the deadline, it'll help!

Little Guitars is going to crush this

but i'm glad JF has extended the deadline, it'll help!

Glad it helps. I'm gonna say that the firm cutoff is 8:30am EDT tomorrow (Saturday) morning, which is about when I'll get up for the day.

i voted mostly on tap harmonics

i voted mostly on brownness

solid criterion

i voted mostly high af

Sent my ballot last night.

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/2061126/eddie-van-halen-o.gif

hot licks

weird that eddie didn't use pitch wheel on jump synth solo

HAVE U SEEN JR'S GRADEZ?

SENORITA

How have I never watched that Stern clip before?

A few years ago I was on the same flight as Roth from Tokyo to New York. Dude flies 1st class.

I didn;t get to send my ballot, but FWIW I would have voted for two songs from 5150 and everything else DLR era.

Voting is still open until tomorrow morning if you wanna.

OH GOD THE PRESSURE

the real pressure is on JF to choose an appropriate POLL reference

POLLing With The Devil

I'm probably not going to get a ballot in in time, sadly, but I'm hoping to see my Fair Warning favourites fare well on this.

It might even make me enthusiastic about some Van Hagar stuff, but we'll see!

xp no

Get, get, get, get, get out and POLL!

ban turrican

oh shit this is gonna be easier than i thought... I can fill 6 or 7 ballot slots just off VH1 and no court in the land would convict me

NOW GIMME SOMETHING TO WRITE ON!

not a category in the poll, but hmm which track is the very brownest?

will vote tomorrow, since you're offering the extension

VERY early cutoff, just keep that in mind.

which track is the very brownest?

I'm thinking Mean Street or Runnin'.

Dirty Movies

ain't talkin' 'bout love is the brownest

honorable mention: i'm the one, unchained

oh hmm panama is pretty brown too

My impression of the brown sound was always their more shadowy, sinister side. Have I been wrong?

Not gonna make it. Tried v hard to get into this but the lack of involving deep cuts scuttled my enthusiasm. Only the hits have wiggled my ass at all in the few hours of running w/the devil through their back catalogue. I have a huge embedded nostalgia for VH and could probably write a reasonably convincing article on their impact & enduring importance or something, but what once seemed fun about them now feels super-tryhard ("Beautiful Girls" OMG kill me now) and the non-fun stuff just hits me like a wet dishcloth. Probably my state of mind more than anything; maybe a new era will dawn (or the meds will kick in) where their brand of whatevs can rock me again, but that time ain't now. Still, "You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real" is one of the best lyrics ever, and I can't bear how great it is when DLR trades vocal squeaks with EVH's false harmonics.

My impression of the brown sound was always their more shadowy, sinister side. Have I been wrong?

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Friday, May 20, 2016

"brown sound" refers to EVH's trademark squishy humbucker/marshall crunch tone.

google will take you down a rathole of guitar nerd discussions of pickups, amps, pedals, settings etc etc but f all that you can hear it immediately.

VH1 remains the gold standard for the brown sound but this guy working "unchained" does it pretty good

http://youtu.be/7-g7xaVa4qI

okay, but what aspect of that very distinctive sound is the word "squishy" referring to?

i mean, yeah, the squishy one, but but but...

lol i knew that was coming. it gets into guitar nerd synesthetic vocabulary really quickly. dancing about architecture maaaan. unchained has some dope stuff going with a flanger too...

oh... ballot in JUST LIKE I POLLED YOU BEFORE BEFORE BEFORE

^^^ seconding that title

voted!

Voting's closed! Thanks everybody.

how many ballots in all?

26!

That's plenty for a 40 song rollout I think.

i better wear a cup

side poll: best beat it solo on youtube

Since I didn't get it in on time, I'll just follow along the results and then post what my top 5 were gonna be.

Results-Have you seen Junior's grades?! ILM Artist Poll #75 - VAN HALEN (Results thread)

Was at a fancy dinner party hosted at an air bnb that had a nice turntable and a dumb selection of vinyl that ranged from George Benson to Taylor Swift to Sublime. Most were clearly there for show (or maybe as a weak effort to offer something for everybody), and some were even still wrapped. But not a copy of "1984," which I put on and which made everyone as happy as could be.