Van Halen's '1984' at 40
The seminal record represents an end of an era for the band, and the start of something new for this writer.
Good morning!
Today, we’re taking a look at Van Halen’s ‘1984,’ released on January 9th, 1984
“Do you like the song Jump?”
The new kid in class was staring across our cluster of desks, waiting for my answer. I’m not sure why he thought that would be a good opener. I still don’t. But I did like the song, and it got us talking for a few minutes before our school day started.
‘Jump’ was, of course, one of the hits on Van Halen’s 1984 album. An album that turned 40 yesterday. The band’s 6th record would also turn out to be David Lee Roth’s last, giving rise to one of the longest parlor games in the music world: Van Halen or Van Hagar?1 Nobody throwing Gary Cherone’s name in the mix is ever taken seriously.
Perhaps more than anything, this record represents the apex of the Eddie Van Halen vs. David Lee Roth power struggle. We know now how that war ended, but at the time, I’m not sure how many people recognized it as an actual feud. Roth was the quintessential frontman, papering over any perceived lack of talent with charisma, teased hair, and flying kicks. He wanted to put on a show.
Van Halen did, too, but he was much more interested in the music itself, or rather in where he could push it–and his talents. He’d dabbled with keyboards before, but on 1984, they took on a much more prominent role. Maybe he’d grown sick of playing blistering solos faster and faster. Perhaps he felt like he had nothing left to prove. Maybe he just wanted to try something new.
‘Jump’ isn’t the only track that has keys on it, of course, but people tend to associate the track–-and its iconic opening synth riff— with the album. “I’ll Wait” is built entirely around them.
For better or worse, Van Halen was now a band with synthesizers baked into its sound.
That’s not to say that the classic VH sound was gone– you can still hear Eddie’s trademark killer riffs on tracks like ‘Panama.’ ‘Hot For Teacher’ is an archetypical example of the bawdy songs fans knew and loved.
The record was unquestionably a commercial success, and its more accessible sound was the on-ramp for many fans. Zooming out a bit, it changed the way ‘metal” could sound, with many bands taking the album as permission to add poppier elements to their music. But it was a short stretch for the group themselves, with Roth exiting the band not too long afterward.
Again, for better or worse, this pivot split the Van Halen up and painted a dividing line down the middle of the fan base for years to come.
So, do I like ‘Jump?’ I do. It’s not my favorite song on the record (take a bow, ‘Panama’), and it’s not my favorite album by the band- that award goes to Van Halen II. But it is the song in their discography that means the most to me. That new kid? 40ish years later, we’re still close friends.
1984 might’ve ended the band, but ‘Jump’ was the start of something incredibly important.
Listen:
Van Halen | 1984
Click the record to listen on your platform of choice.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this record! Memories, hot takes, and glances askance are also welcome.
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
For what it’s worth, I’m firmly in the Van Halen/Roth camp. I will carve out an exception for 1988’s ‘Feels So Good.’
Love the school age setup on this one because that’s what 1984 always reminds me of as well. Being a touch younger I knew all of the radio hits but when I picked up guitar in middle school, Eddie was a huge part of my interests, even if I looked at the tabs for Eruption and thought, “yeah, not going to be able to play that one!” Grabbed 1984 on vinyl for probably two bucks back when you could do that, and the loved the synths, especially on the opening title track, which I feel like was this era’s answer to Eruption.
I actually like Van Hagar quite a bit if you look at it as a different band but one of my favorite memories was going to the David Lee Roth reunion tour with my dad. It doesn’t look like it’s streaming right now (c’mon!) but also think their reunion album A Different Kind of Truth was way better than it has any right to be. RIP Eddie.
"Jump" was never a particular favorite of mine because there are so many other great things musically on "1984", and it was so overplayed on the radio. Although VH was at a turning point in so many ways on this album, I think everyone agrees that "VHRoth" was always a totally different animal than "VHHagar". I often wonder what "Crazy from the Heat" and "Eat Em' and Smile" would've sounded like had Dave taken those songs to the rest of the band instead of turning to a young Steve Vai to shred out the riffs.
Now that we have the luxury of being able to look at the complete discography of the band it's clear the "VHH" lineup simply could not have done what "VHR" did at the time on "1984". Roth's talents were a polar opposite from Hagar, and having seen the band several times with both frontmen I winced when I heard Hagar sing the Roth hits, while, thank goodness, I never saw Roth attempt the Hagar material. I can't imagine Diamond Dave digging into "When It's Love" or "Can't Stop Lovin' You".
Sammy is a good front man for sure, but he just lacks that "thing" in his stage presence that DLR just naturally had in front of an audience. Sam made up for that shortfall with his vocal and guitar abilities but Dave lacked in both of those departments. DLR made up for those weak points in dump truck size loads of pure showmanship with his high leg kicks, bouncing from one side of the stage to the other and his signature show ending, toe touching acrobatic jump from the drum riser. That was all OK because EVH was the real musician in the band along with the best rock rhythm section in the business.
Unlike Sammy, Diamond Dave sent lightning bolts of energy through your speakers and into the audience at live shows. Watching Dave work the 670,000 strong crowd at the US Festival in 1983 https://youtu.be/igdZKgESbJU?si=4JtFRlOJSUkdMrqZ should be required viewing of any serious music student. (Make sure you listen for the greatest line ever said to a fan from stage at the 21:33 mark)
All that said, I really enjoy both versions of VH because as a musician I hear two musical lives of the band and can see it as it relates to a young person growing up and changing with the times. Hell, I grew up with these albums, and I wore out several needles on my record player on "1984", so maybe I see a little of my life's own journey in them.
Perhaps I heard it best in 2002 during the initial run of the Sammy Hagar/David Lee Roth co-headlining tour when two extremely intoxicated fans sitting in front of me were debating who was better. One fella put his beer down and looked at his friend and exclaimed, "I just had an epiphany! Sammy tries to party but David Lee IS THE PARTY!"
Long live "1984"!