A final tribute

 The moment when we realized Rock music had changed:

They say that Ted Templeman, their producer, was walking through the halls and heard Eddie playing around with this in the hallway and was impressed.  So he suggested adding it to their upcoming debut album.  And what a debut. 

Not that such techniques had never been done with classical guitar, but they were foreign to rock guitar, and nobody had mastered that level of technique with such skill since Hendrix.  But the speed with which Eddie played was beyond anything people had seen in rock music up to that point.  This was especially true for the usually ponderous, heavy downbeat style of heavy metal that Van Halen first appeared in. 

They soon shed that heavy metal image, with their second album already embracing a lighter, more pop music sound, settling into a more 'hard rock' genre that they would eventually leave again with their fifth album Diver Down - an LP that featured more cover songs than originals.  And those songs were generally lighter, more pop and mainstream sounding than anything heavy or hard rock. 

Publicity pic for the US Festival

They took 1983 off from recording, having only two noteworthy events.  First, they headlined the US Festival, a Memorial Day weekend attempt to recapture the spirit of Woodstock for the 80s.  They became the highest paid performers in history up to that time.  The second big event was Eddie breaking with the group and providing the main riffs for Michael Jackson's Beat It from his Thriller LP.  Many suggest that Eddie's appearance on that album helped expose him - and Van Halen - to an entirely new fanbase.  It didn't hurt Jackson either, bringing non-Jackson types into the Jackson fold simply to hear Eddie's guitar work. 

When 1984 appeared, the first song released was Jump, often played over the airwaves with a synthesizer instrumental named 1984.  In usual Van Halen ways, they captured the much talked about year made famous by Orwell without having anything to do with Orwell.  If some of us wondered about this new song with its keyboards and synthesizer sound, Eddie's guitar work on Jump - and the rest of the album - left no mistake.   Along with Prince, Jackson and the meteoric rise of Madonna, Van Halen defined that year for music. 

Sadly, the breakup came soon after.  Rumors that there was a breakup brewing dated as far back as early 1985, before the release of Roth's EP.  Roth had clearly warmed up to the new Video craze, and was beginning to invest more of his time in unpacking the visual possibilities of that new promotional trick that had only recently been shunned by most mainstream artists (No, MSM, it was not a giant Racist Conspiracy that kept Michael Jackson away from MTV; that was what most artists did for the first year of MTV's existence).  Eddie, on the other hand, wanted to branch off and pursue expanded musical forms.  Roth - who was not the best singer, but a talented vocalist - preferred keeping it light and superficial requiring no more than his trademark quips and shrieks with occasional melodies. 

Whatever caused it, or whoever was at fault, it marked the sudden end to a whirlwind ascension on the music scene.  As Time Magazine wrote at the end of their biggest year, there would be two names forever connected with 1984: Orwell and Van Halen. 

Some say that their first solo ventures were merely patchwork versions of what they had planned for their follow up to 1984.  If you listen to 5150 (Van Halen's first album with singer Sammy Hagar), and Roth's Eat'Em and Smile, you can almost hear that.  Shuffle the two together and divide by two, and you could have had a powerful and worthy follow up to their megahit two years previous.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be.  Both albums are capable, but also lacking.  Eddie and Alex (and to an extent, Michael Anthony) were technically capable, and among the best in their day.  Eddie as guitarist was obviously a high point, and it's arguable that he's one of the greatest guitar players in rock history.   Upon the canvas of their technical abilities was dropped in giant, paint globs the technicolor antics and showmanship of Roth, who seemed to have a bottomless haversack from which to pull in order to keep the crowds hopping.  His humor and devil-may-care beach-bum-with-money personna was the perfect balance to Van Halen's technical prowess.

Both post-split albums showcase that to  a degree.  5150 sounded more 'mature' and more mainstream, but was shallow and at times a bit like chewing on tinfoil.  Roth's album had flair and color and humor, and his backup band was no shakes in its own right, but it lacked that connection to the superior talents of Van Halen.  

Following their solo debuts, when comparisons and personality clashes dominated both tours and sales, it was clear that both would never live up to what they had when they were together.  Roth's next album continued a long streak of forgettable - or wishing you could forget -  albums that showed he desperately needed the musical virtuosity of the brothers Van Halen.  Meanwhile, Van Halen became just another run of the mill rock group with guitars and graying hair, lacking the charm and color Roth brought to the stage and the albums.  

Though like most people I have many different musical tastes, largely due to the influence of my Dad and his love of Frank Sinatra, Sinatra era balladeering, classical and jazz and big band, my goto group was The Beatles.  But they were before my time.  They had already broken up before I was old enough to know they existed.  I discovered them due to the long shadow of influence they cast over the 1970s and beyond. 

But Van Halen was my goto group in terms of my contemporaries (though they were in their early 30s by 1984).  I enjoy The Beatles to this day, and likely listen to them more than Van Halen, or most artists from my youth.  But Van Halen was from my time.  Many memoires flood back over me when I hear that legendary guitar riff, or think of their video shenanigans, or the ornery boy party image that went like a glove with the 80s party atmosphere.   With the Beatles, or other artists from before my time, there aren't really memories per se.  With Van Halen and others of that age, however, they occupy a special place in my life story. 

Like many cases in pop culture, it's surprising to look back and see how fleeting their time in the spotlight was.  By the time I heard of them in middle school, it's as if they had been around for a century and I was a Johnny-come-lately to the party.  Likewise, it seemed as though they had been around forever, and had been Van Halen for endless decades, as each day and week feels when you're young. Yet it was only about six years that they were together.  But it was a fast and larger than life six years, and it captured my imagination all those years ago, and still brings back memories today. 

Indeed, all things must pass