Van Halen songs where you can hear a clear influence of other bands?

**Wild Ranger** · 02.15.21, 07:16 AM

These two songs come to my mind:
Bottoms Up - ZZ Top
In a Simple Rhyme - The Who

What are your picks?

**Eric M** · 02.15.21, 07:47 AM

Beautiful Girls - Aerosmith (specifically “Walk This Way”)
Seventh Seal - U2
Once - Peter Gabriel

**I Coulda Hada VH** · 02.15.21, 07:58 AM

Best Of Both Worlds - AC/DC and Kool & The Gang

**Eric M** · 02.15.21, 08:04 AM

Originally Posted by I Coulda Hada VH

Best Of Both Worlds - AC/DC and Kool & The Gang

Ha, yes, that riff always reminded me of “Celebration,” good call.

**JUNGLE DRUMMER** · 02.15.21, 08:36 AM

Panama and Humans Being- AC/DC

Pretty sure Panama is a variation of Dog Eat Dog and Humans Being riff sounds a lot like Overdose.

Pleasure Dome- Zeppelin and the Who.

AFU- has the one part that is lifted from a Zeppelin tune, Nobody’s Fault But Mine IIRC.

Dream Is Over-part of the intro mimics part of Whole Lotta Love.

HFT, I'm The One, Full Bug, Source- the double bass shuffle by Alex is a nod to Billy Cobham's Quadrant 4, Billy being one of his big influences along with Baker, Moon, Rich, and Bonham.

**Eric M** · 02.15.21, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by JUNGLE DRUMMER

Panama and Humans Being- AC/DC

Pretty sure Panama is a variation of Dog Eat Dog and Humans Being riff sounds a lot like Overdose.

Oh wow, both on Let There Be Rock, too! Good call.

**I Coulda Hada VH** · 02.15.21, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by JUNGLE DRUMMER

Panama and Humans Being- AC/DC

Pretty sure Panama is a variation of Dog Eat Dog and Humans Being riff sounds a lot like Overdose.

Pleasure Dome- Zeppelin and the Who.

AFU- has the one part that is lifted from a Zeppelin tune, Nobody’s Fault But Mine IIRC.

Dream Is Over-part of the intro mimics part of Whole Lotta Love.

HFT, I'm The One, Full Bug, Source- the double bass shuffle by Alex is a nod to Billy Cobham's Quadrant 4, Billy being one of his big influences along with Baker, Moon, Rich, and Bonham.

The AFU riff is a variation of Zep's Rock & Roll.

Pleasure Dome rips part of Xanadu by RUSH.

**TheresOnlyOneWay** · 02.15.21, 09:50 AM

I will say this once again. RATT made Way Cool Junior off of Eddie's fill
from Full Bug. Listen to the fill from Full Bug and tell me I'm wrong. Way Cool Junior rocks, by the way.

**I Coulda Hada VH** · 02.15.21, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by TheresOnlyOneWay

I will say this once again. RATT made Way Cool Junior off of Eddie's fill
from Full Bug. Listen to the fill from Full Bug and tell me I'm wrong. Way Cool Junior rocks, by the way.

Also, Winger's Seventeen is a variation of Ratt's Round And Round, which is a variation of Panama.

**Dave's Dreidel** · 02.15.21, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by I Coulda Hada VH

Also, Winger's Seventeen is a variation of Ratt's Round And Round, which is a variation of Panama.

I doubt Round and Round was influenced by Panama. The album Out of the Cellar came out just a few months after 1984, therefore, all the writing and recording was probably pretty close to being done when Ratt would have first heard Panama in January 1984.

Could be wrong, but that's a tight timeline.

**I Coulda Hada VH** · 02.15.21, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by Dave's Dreidel

I doubt Round and Round was influenced by Panama. The album Out of the Cellar came out just a few months after 1984, therefore, all the writing and recording was probably pretty close to being done when Ratt would have first heard Panama in January 1984.

Could be wrong, but that's a tight timeline.

You are correct about the timeline. The main guitar riffs have always sounded quite similar to me.

**JUNGLE DRUMMER** · 02.15.21, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by Dave's Dreidel

I doubt Round and Round was influenced by Panama. The album Out of the Cellar came out just a few months after 1984, therefore, all the writing and recording was probably pretty close to being done when Ratt would have first heard Panama in January 1984.

Could be wrong, but that's a tight timeline.

You could be right, but as quickly as bands used to record back in the good days, it is possible.

**JUNGLE DRUMMER** · 02.15.21, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by I Coulda Hada VH

The AFU riff is a variation of Zep's Rock & Roll.

Pleasure Dome rips part of Xanadu by RUSH.

The one part on AFU that is ripped from Nobody's Fault is where Al does the 8th note snare fill a measure long, followed by 16th notes on the snare for a measure, than a snare/tom roll for a measure. They end up repeating that part later in the song coming out of the solo. And, yeah, the riff is also similar to Rock And Roll.

Yeah, the Xanadu part is in the intro, isn't it? I love that intro by Ed, and he did parts of that intro during his concert solo on the 1980 Invasion tour. The structure of the rest of the song really reminds me of Zep and the Who, and there's the "miles and miles" vocal part which sounds like I Can See For Miles by the Who.