Van Halen at 50 by Martin Popoff

Author:Martin Popoff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Motorbooks
Published: 2024-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Eddie with Wolfgang tattoo, Los Angeles, 1995

29

MAN ON A MISSION

PUTTING IN THE WORK RESULTS IN FOR UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE

Sammy didn’t “completely” get his way titling his third record with Van Halen (he was on his horse about censorship in rock and was brewin’ for a fight), but he got his way with producers, bringing Ted Templeman back into the fold because he wasn’t getting along with knobsman of choice Andy Johns of Led Zeppelin fame. So, it turns out both cats were involved, one essentially for vocals and the other to help Alex get a huge drum sound—he had asked Johns to dial in a snare sound similar to John Bonham’s, but he also got shimmering, sizzling cymbals and a pounding bass drum attack to complete the circuit. As it would turn out, F.U.C.K. (as the album title is sometimes abbreviated) would represent the biggest, most panoramic Alex drum sound on record, although as a sacrifice, one that lacks in the various unique brown sound touchstones found elsewhere in the catalog.

Next, Eddie is playing his butt off, massaging in layer upon layer of sounds and sound effects, tunes, and tones (many of them astringent and Steve Howe–like, given a change in amplifiers) and putting aside keyboards, save for the iconic piano riff on “Right Now.” The result is a record that is all about the brothers rocking out, with Sammy and Michael joining in and keeping up but, one imagines, slack-jawed at watching Eddie and Alex spin like two tops.

But out there in the world, the record was not universally viewed as a triumph. To be sure, it’s heavy, long at fifty-two minutes, and lacking in extraneous pieces (save “316”) or covers. But critics found Sammy’s lyrics increasingly sophomoric and cocky, and they complained at the lack of particularly good songs and the diminished sense of technological experimentation that made 5150 and OU812 quirky and fresh and even a little bit risky. Instead, what we got was dense and smothering, claustrophobic even.

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