Page 6-Thursday, June 5, 1980-The Michigan Daily
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VAN HALEN
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Hard rock that won't go
By TIMOTHY YAGLE Van Halen II did not exactly pour audiences' brains out both on vinyl and
the only productive thing Kiss more gasoline on the already red-hot in concert. Such a feat is not that dif-
Gene Simmons has ever done Van Halen fire, "'Somebody Gimmie a ficult and Van Halen achieves it with
ak up with Cher and' make' Doctor," and "Dance The Night the likes of "And The Cradle Will
ks with a terribly mediocre Away", plus lead vocalist David Lee Rock," "Everybody Wants Some" and
d. However, he also discovered Roth's yelping, agonizing and the real speaker burner "Romeo's
ng rock band in California a screaming vocals kept the coals bur- Delight," on Women And Children Fir-
s ago called Van Halen. ning. st.
This rambunctious quartet from the
sleepy little town of Pasadena flew up
the musical charts and leveled the
country like few other chainsaw-rock
bands could after the release of their
debut album Van Halen. Songs like the
powerful remake of the Kinks' classic
"You Really Got Me" and the thumping
"Runnin' With the Devil" along with a
fairly scorching stage show devoid of
gimmicks almost rejuvenated the
struggling heavy metal scene.
WHILE THE unimaginativelv titled
These wreckless Californians just
released their third album called
Women and Children First. But there is
a lack of new and creative material.
Van Halen's albums are almost inter
changeable in that each has its share of
up-tempo, bone-crunching rockers,
bluntly sexual overtones, and a , few
comparatively mellow numbers like
"Dance The Night Away."
Roth, the Dutch brothers Eddie Van
Halen on guitar and Alex on drums plus
bassist Michael Anthony seem to think
they were predestined to blast their
ALTHOUGH Van Halen's music
(many call it noise) appeals to a
specific (younger) genre of rock fans,
Roth somewhat deceptively claims
- "Van Halen's fans are everybody
because everybody has a little hysteria
in them." This is especially evident
witnessing the band live. It's a wonder
all of their gargantuan speakers aren't
blown out after one of their performan-
ces. At a recent gig in Detroit, the hell
raisers displayed a more
"sophisticated" stage show, including a
whopping (and record breaking) 60,000
watts of light and 40,000 watts of sound.
A Warner Brothers (Van Halen's
record company) spokesperson said the
band will be in the Guiness Book of
World Records far "having more lights
out on the road than any other rock
band." And she added on the sound wat-
tage, "certainly Van Halen is up there
with the other bands."
But these facts point out the good and
bad aspects of their show. The lighting
is vastly improved over last year's per-
formance in the Motor City. In fact, the
entire area over the expansive stage is
one solid plane of multi-colored lights
that is choreographed with the flavor of
each song and with certain moves each
band member makes. At one point, Ed-
die Van Halen scampered to the top of
a mountainous multi-level platform
stage right and executed a sizzling solo
with a row of about seven white lights
pointed at his back to create an eerie
silhouette.
The blatingly negative part of the
show is those mega watts of sound. Can
away
you imagine with your ears what 40,000
watts sounds like? - one loud droning
noise and, unfortunately, most of their
concert sounded like this. They simply
outdid themselves in the volume depar-
tment. But this is not surprising for a
heavy metal band. For a band that
prides itself on the uses and abuses of
volume, they do not know what an ac-
ceptable limit is. Consequently, the
crowd is simply overwhelmed by a
wave of unadulterated, boring white
noise.
The Cobo Arena crowd was buzzing
the night Van Halen came to town and
there were a record 33 banners draped
across the tiers of the cavernous arena
(just like a football game). There was
almost constant noise (not from the
band) throughout the evening.
BUT WHAT makes this seemingly
run-of-the-mill lawnmower rock quar-
tet so special? What is so appealing
about their thunderous music? Again,
many call it noise and it is. But one
must consider the additional elements
and persona each musician brings to
the group including Roth's screaming
vocals and the child-like sexual energy,
exuded by the band on stage. One really
can't help but get absorbed by
it all, if only to see what makes this
band tick; the party-down atmospheree
and the simple thrill of having a good
time.
THIS IS why audiences come to see
them-they want to get rowdy and not
feel guilty about it. Everyone, including
the band, gets hysterical. "It's a
therapeutic release,"Roth claims.
Van Halen likes to whip their audien-
ces into a frenzy. "There's no such
thing as a dead audience," Roth
remarked. "The band has to make
them alive or they aren't doing their
job. You should be able to go out there
(on stage) in your boxer shorts and one
white light bulb-the basic equip-
ment-and knock 'em dead. And if you
can't, - you're nothing," he
philosophized.
This is precisely what Van Halen
does-scampers out there with the
basic equipment and cast a noisy rock
and roll spell over their audiences.
SOME BANDS wait for their audien-
ce to get fired up and give them (the
band) the spark to get the evening star-
ted," Roth said. "We don't wait. We
come fully armed. We carry a flame
thrower and we start the spark." He
says their fans come to see them
because "our music is about where we
come from and what we experience."
In this case, one must wonder how
long they can live like this. There really
are only three or four songs worth
listening to on each album which do not
sound like simple rehashes of other
songs.
Women and Children First, whose LP
cover features the band members
having an orgy with themselves, and
the guitar-as-phallic symbol con-
tains a few new twists both in the per-
cussion section and in the weird, almost
agonizing sounds coming from Eddie's
guitar. While the record certainly is not
their worst yet, it is not their best con-
trary to what Roth has claimed. It's
simply like their other albums, with
some great parts and some garbage.
Return trip
Julie Andrews is taking to the skies again in the re-release of Walt Dsney's
classic 'Mary Poppins'. One wonders how well this winner of five Academy
awards will fare among this summer's other releases, but since many of the
people who saw it four or five times the first time around have kids now, it
could happen all over again.
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