It’s the highest selling record to never go number one. It’s easily sold in excess of 10 million copies. Coming off of the heels of their weak, yet successful ‘Diver Down,’ Van Halen were ready to hit a level of stardom not seen in the hard hard and metal world (besides Quiet Riot). And they would do it with their meticulously crafted masterpiece ‘1984.’
Right from the get go of the album with the amniotic title track, fans new something was different. Instead of simple, raw guitars, bass and drums; there was now a hefty amount of keyboards. And the formula worked. ‘Jump’ became a massive smash hit that the band still closes with. It’s also one of the only songs that’s survived all three phases of Van Halen. Being played to death and to the point of annoyance. The other single on the album that is tirelessly played is the traditional ‘Panama.’ Which is still considered one of the ultimate party rock anthems.
But it’s not the hits, or even the enigmatic ‘Hot For Teacher’ that makes ‘1984’ so special. It’s actually the deep cuts on the album that really make it pop. ‘Drop Dead Legs’ is one of the nastiest, funkiest and most addictive songs in all of Van Halen’s work. The outro is particularly stimulating. Alex Van Halen rides the ride cymbal with swinging 16th notes while his brother and Michael Anthony lay down a killer groove. ‘Girl Gone Bad’ is an excellently written intro. It builds and builds until the main riff enters. And it drops hard. The band has used bits of the intro and riff to bridge songs together live. But have rarely played the track in its entirety. And ‘House of Pain’ is simply kick ass Van Halen. It’s one hell of a closing track that rarely gets its due.
What also makes ‘1984’ interesting is the timing of the album. It was a record of change for Van Halen that bridged the David Lee Roth era of the band with the upcoming Sammy Hagar era. It also set up the band to have four number one albums in a row. Even 1995’s ‘Balance,’ which was released at the beginning of 80’s hard rock being viewed as passe. And that amount of success starts with ‘1984.’ Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it) David Lee Roth left the band after conflicts during the making of the album and the tour. A whole new world opened up for Van Halen when Sammy Hagar joined and there was no looking back for a decade. So crank it, jam it, rock it loud today. Celebrate the success of the excellent ‘1984.’
