The last classic VH album was OU812

[YankeeRose69]

The last Classic Van Halen album was 1984.
OU812 is a Van Hagar album.

[pkjr]

Their last "Classic" album was in fact their first.....

Speaking of which,I think those cats who make those docos on classic albums should do one on Van Halen.
Van Halen or 1984 are just as good as Fleetwood nicks or jimi hendrix... [img]smilies/devil.gif[/img]

[AbeVanHalen]

In a certain light, I agree with the statement. If you group albums together, the first 3 were loaded with older material that they rushed to record as quickly as possible.

Fair Warning is an anomaly in the catalog; it was mostly new material, but not well-received by the public.

Diver Down was a somewhat forced (via the cover songs) foray into the pop market. The cover songs really seemed to piss Eddie off-enough so that he built 5150 and started doing things more his way.

1984 gave them huge crossover success via Jump, allowing Eddie to explore keyboards more freely, as well as more song-oriented writing. Continuing with 5150 and eventually OU812, which is arguably the most diverse work the band has done, they were breaking away from pure 'rock' more and more (much to my liking, but much to the dismay of many older fans).

Carnal Knowledge was MUCH more rock-oriented, although there were 4 or 5 tracks that were recorded but excluded for the final printing. (record company pressure to capitalize on the resurgence of a hard rock market perhaps?) Balance continued in that vein. And of course VH3 sticks out for too many reasons to list here.

Looking at things in sequence, 1984, 5150, and OU812 represent a certain era of their own, even with the lead singer change. For ME at least, those 3 are the strongest 3 consecutive releases the band has done. While many would argue that only those BEFORE that could be considered 'classic VH', those 3 records demonstrate the band stretching out more than any others. Since OU812 was the last of the 3, it could be considered the last of the 'classic VH' records, IF you look at it from one perspective.

In retrospect, if FUCK had included the keyboard songs that they had written at the time (aside from Right Now), they would have probably completely been removed from the 'hard rock' category for good, and in 1991, I don't think that would have been as accepted by the masses. Oddly, MTV fell in love with "Right Now", which is the oddball track from the album, so you never know what would have happened had they wandered off more in that direction. Instead, FUCK became the first record with considerable amounts of 'filler' (IMO, Spanked, In N Out, and Man on a Mission should probably have been dropped in favor of some of the other songs they had), whereas before they seemed to keep the number down to one filler track per record (I'm sure I'll get flamed for the first one, but 'Drop Dead Legs', 'Inside', and 'Sucker in a 3 Piece' are not what I would consider first rate songs from VH).

Anyway, it's an interesting topic, but one certain to elicit a lot of negativity due to the fact that a LOT of people seem to hate OU812, at least when comparing it to the other records. But, it being one of my favorites, I take a different angle on it.

[Long John Silver]

Discuss.

[Long John Silver]

Exactically Abe. FUCK has a lot of filler. It has some of my VH faves, TOTW, Dream is over, but since most of it is uninteresting it is one my least listened to VH albums.

And I hate Inside & Sucker in a 3 piece (hurl).

[AL HAGAR]

Interesting. I've had to take a couple of hours to sort through my thoughts on this tipic. First of all I hate the term "Classic Van Halen" this is a term that Dave came up with to describe his work with the band. I just don't like it.
As far as OU812 being the last "classic CD" is an interesting statement. Do you mean that the band stopped growing musically after this was released?
I always look at the Van Halen albums after Dave left the band like this:

5150 was supposed to seperate the band from thier former image which was mainly Dave inspired. The band moved away from a flashy image and comcentrated on songwriting. While most other bands at this time-Bon Jovi, poison and even Kiss-were playing the old VH game VH themselves were playing a different game. NO videos, no flashy costumes no crazy stage. Just 4 guys writing great songs and putting on one Hell of a show. Yes they did write some pop songs but those songs opened VH up to a whole new audience. The Dave era chose to release cover songs to attracta an audience the Hagar era chose to write new material and present in a new way. OU812 continued this trend but even more so. This album is one of the most diverse the band has ever produced. I remember reading a review of it in Circus Magazine and they raved about how this record has something for everyone. They also stated that this might be VH's best release in 10 years. No other band at the time could even hope to release a cd as divers as this. You want balls out rockers how about AFU, Black N Blue, Sourc of Infection. You want Mid tempo rockers? How about Mine All Mine, Cabo Wabo. You want acoustic songs? How about Finish What ya Started? Keyboard songs? When it's love and Feels so good. While everyone else was trying to re-write 1984 van halen were still moving ahead. It's interesting that both these disks-5150 and OU812-still get a ton of airplay while most of the other rock cd's that were released at that time are ignored. Then when everyone least suspected it VH dropped the hammer with a hardrock masterpiece. FUCK is a classic. It is so powerful. It showed that while still being diverse the band could still write a great rock record. I was a little saddened that they moved away from the keyboard orientated stuff. Dreams and Mine All Mine are incredible in that they combine keyboards and guitar in a truely unique way I would have liked to here this taken to the next level. Right Now does that to some degree but I would have liked to hear a little bit more. I beleive this is what seperated VH from most of the bands that fell by the wayside during the early 90's. VH's sound was still totally unique. While I consider Balance a great record I find it hard to enjoy knowing that behind the scenes there was so much bad stuff happening.
Don't know if I really answered anything but hey, this is what I came up with.

Al Hagar

[AxeSlinger84]

I have a Guitar Magazine from a long time ago with an article written by Wolf Marshall about how 1984 is Van Halen's best work by far and gives many reasons to prove his point. I think it was written in 1984 or 1985 when DLR was still in the band but even considering everything they've done afterwards, I still agree with that article. I oughta go find it and post it up - it's a pretty interesting read.

[Down In Flames]

OU812... Classic... Same sentence? [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Every VH album has its moments, even III (musically, anyway [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ). DD was the weakest album of the Dave-era and OU812 is the weakest of the Sam-era.

I'd take DD in a heartbeat over OU812 even though it has the wretched cover of "Dancin' In The Streets." [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] DD is uneven but 'the feel' and the energy are there, along with some of Dave's most interesting lyrics. Even the short cover of "Happy Trails" fits the album's spirit.

A lot of the music on OU812 is cool. If only the album were mixed properly I'm sure things would be even better. But lyrically, this is Sam's worst VH album.

Mine All Mine sounds like something Gary might have listened to right before he wrote Ballot Or The Bullet. LOL. Al is working like a mofo' on it, though.

When It's Love is the standard ballad you'd expect from the Sam-era. Lyrically generic but musically cool.

AFU is a pretty cool song. I liked the intro. It reminds me a little of "Get Up," just taken down a notch.

Cabo Wabo is pretty cool. Sam obviously digs the place, and his lyrics reflect that. Ed's got a great solo on it.

Source Of Infection... I'm not even going there.

Feels So Good has some nice keyboard work, but it's just... Blah. (Love light? hahaha)

Finish What Ya' Started is probably the best song on the album. The music and lyrics go hand in hand. That's what gets me about Sam. He can write a great song like this, but then crap out when it comes to the likes of Source Of Infection.

Black And Blue sounds almost lazy. I'd lump it in with Sucker In A Three Piece because both are complete filler.

A Apolitical Blues? (I guess they needed something to take the heat off of "Inside." [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ) Along with Dancin' In The Street this song never should have been covered by VH.

It all opinions, but OU812 just isn't a classic album to me. After III, I actually thnk it's VH's worst.

[ScottRoberts]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by AbeVanHalen:

In retrospect, if FUCK had included the keyboard songs that they had written at the time (aside from Right Now), they would have probably completely been removed from the 'hard rock' category for good, and in 1991, I don't think that would have been as accepted by the masses. Oddly, MTV fell in love with "Right Now", which is the oddball track from the album, so you never know what would have happened had they wandered off more in that direction. Instead, FUCK became the first record with considerable amounts of 'filler' (IMO, Spanked, In N Out, and Man on a Mission should probably have been dropped in favor of some of the other songs they had), whereas before they seemed to keep the number down to one filler track per record (I'm sure I'll get flamed for the first one, but 'Drop Dead Legs', 'Inside', and 'Sucker in a 3 Piece' are not what I would consider first rate songs from VH).
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I, for one, love In N' Out and Man on a Mission. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

FUCK was their real, last "classic" album IMO.

[Cabo Kid]

Great topic and great discussion here, guys.

I can't really comment on how much I liked OU812 because to me, they should have remixed it with more of a thick, rich bass sound. Had it had that sound, the REAL Vh sound, I probably would have enjoyed it even more.

I'll also agree that Unlawful was a GREAT album...my favorite Sammy era album for sure! As far as "filler" tracks, though, I don't know why "In & Out" always gets bashed. It's like the "Inside" for "For Unlawful..." I don't think it was meant to be taken seriously. I think it was all tongue in cheek. It is most certainly no worse of a "filler" song than "Hot Dog & A Shake" was for Skyscraper. (BTW, HD&AS is one of my favorite DLR tunes, too! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] )

Back to OU812 though...if it were to be remastered and had the bass put in it this time, I might rank it higher than I do now.

I did enjoy reading Abe's and Al's post above. Great points guys.

[Cabo Kid]

Sorry.

I forgot to give credit to DIF! You had some funny yet substancial points, too. I also agree with your thoughts on Source of Infection. As the comic guy on the Simpsons would say...

"Worst song ever."

[img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[Long John Silver]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cabo Kid:
Sorry.

I also agree with your thoughts on Source of Infection. As the comic guy on the Simpsons would say...

"Worst song ever."

[img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

WTH?? Its one of my faves on it. I love Mike & Eddie's backing vocals on it. So mch fun..

[Down In Flames]

No need to apologize, CK. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

You know, I listened to Source Of Infection yesterday just to make sure it was as bad as I thought it was.

I've really got to stop second-guessing myself. I'd save my ears a lot of grief. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[Glenn]

There was a vibe missing from VH after Dave left (whether that's good or bad is each persons opinion), so for me, 1984 was the last classic Van Halen album.

Luckily it wasn't the last good Van Halen album. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[YankeeRose]

I think the last classic VH album was Balance. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]