1984 - Van Halen (1983)

Young me didn’t understand roman numerals until I got hold of this album cover. Conveniently, knowing that “MCMLXXXIV” is 1984 lets you pretty much work out the whole roman numeral system (except for D) from that one example.

Later, as an adult, I’d earned a bit of reputation for my savant ability to “name that tune” as long as it was from the 20th century (can’t imagine why people would think that). My buddy Jason, who was much younger than I was, thought he had a tough one cued up and played the keyboard intro to Jump, one of the most popular songs of the year when it was new. I guess it hasn’t had the cultural staying power of some of the other tunes on that year’s hot 100.

So is it Quality or Nostalgia?

Honestly… it’s still a pretty great record. The unrestrained objectification and misogyny make it a bit dated, but there’s no denying how fun most of this is. Eddie Van Halen was either a madman or a genius. He got his guitar to make noises nobody else could. David Lee Roth was a larger than life jester egging the band on. This album probably couldn’t exist in the modern space, but that’s why I listen to stuff from all over the timeline.

Tracks I Liked

Panama - great tune

Hot For Teacher - hard not to love

I’ll Wait - of all the big songs here, I hear this one most often out in the wild these days.