Rate The Albums: Van Halen II

[topik killer]

Vh2
1) dance the night away
2) d.o.a
3) beautiful girls
4) you're no good
5) light up the sky
6) outta love again
7) bottom's up
8) somebody get me a doctor
9) women in love
10) spanish fly

[Glenn]

1. Light Up the Sky
2. Dance the Night Away
3. Bottoms Up!!
4. You're No Good
5. Somebody Get Me a Doctor
6. D.O.A.
7. Women In Love
8. Outta Love Again
9. Beautiful Girls
10. Spanish Fly

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More perks than Elvis' night stand!!!
www.vhlinks.com

[Dan Halen]

1. Somebody Get Me A Doctor
2. Light Up The Sky
3. Dance The Night Away
4. D.O.A.
5. Bottom's Up!!
6. Beautiful Girls
7. Women In Love...
8. Outta Love Again
9. You're No Good
10. Spanish Fly

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"It ain't gonna change overnight, no. And it ain't goin' away without a fight. Yeah! Livin' with the aftershock."

Dan Halen

[Damn Good]

Light Up The Sky
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
Outta Love Again
D.O.A.
Dance The Night Away
Bottoms Up!
You're No Good
Beautiful Girls
Women In Love
Spanish Fly

[Cabo Kid]

Light Up The Sky
SGMAD
DOA
Beautiful Girls
Outta Love Again
Bottoms Up
You're No Good
DTNA
Spanish Fly
Women In Love

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"Whenever we come to Milwaukee, we try and have a special surprise for you here and tonite we got a whole sh*tload of 'em for you and right now, we want to whip the first one at you here! Y'know, usually Ed doesn't sing this part of the song and when he does tonight for the first time, you'll find out why!"

-David Lee Roth, Milwaukee 1980

[KenyonVincent]

You're No Good
The bass solo intro is about the only thing I like in this song. I don't like the original version, and this is a VH song, original or cover, that I cannot stand at all. But it's not terrible.

Dance The Night Away
Originally called "Dance Lolita, Dance", this is another VH pop tune. This song is cool, showing us Eddie's false harmonics technique quite fully. It's cool how Ed messed up the end of the solo and decided to keep the mistake in there. The title alone suggests this be played at any high school dance. Also made several lap dancers!

Somebody Get Me A Doctor
A cool song with a lot of attitude. It kicks ass from the intro to the outro. The solo is awesome!

Bottoms Up!
Another cool song with an intro that is very simple, but yet very defining. I think the song is kinda cheesey, but it's still cool.

Outta Love Again
This song isn't a great one to me, but musically it's cool. It is supposed to show Alex's great skill, but I hear it as no better than the great drumming he does elsewhere. Still a cool song I guess.

Light Up The Sky
A song that's greatly under-rated. It's cool and the bass line in the intro is so great. Easily one of Mike's most shining moments! Eddie's heavy guitar riff is cool and Al's solo is great. Awesome song and should be on every VH setlist!

Spanish Fly
Mush like "Eruption", this instrumental song kicks much ass. Shows that Ed is good on even a classical guitar. His genius on the guitar shows he was meant to make history, and this track is just another good way to prove just that. He's awesome.

D.O.A.
D.O.A. stands for "Dead or Alive" rather than the usual "Dead on Arrival" like we're used to seeing in a title with those particular initials. "A dirty-faced kid in a garbage can" is easily one of Dave's coolest lyrics. Great song.

Women In Love....
With one of Ed's most angelic intros, this song is a great one. Fits well on VHII. The intro is a cool false harmonic, right where Ed left off in Dance The Night Away." Great tune.

Beautiful Girls
And finally, a song that truely fits Dave's lifestyle. A tribute to the wonderful female species. The silly kiss at the end makes this song strange, but yet very cool at the same time. The intro is cool, and once again Mikey's bass line in the intro is another one of his greatest. Same with his harmonies throughout the song.

Next!

[ May 23, 2001 at 10:42 PM: Message edited by: KenyonVincent ]

[Glenn]

You're No Good-This song really had to grow on me, but I love it. A great soft/heavy song with cool dynamics. And this is one of Eddie's coolest guitar solos, you just have to play along on whatever is handy. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Dance The Night Away-Hear the drums, and you know what song it is. Really feel good, this song makes you glad you're alive. Some really subtle playing in here, and it's got all the elements of classic Van Halen.

Somebody Get Me A Doctor-I remember once driving in Los Angeles, blasting this song, and Eddie Van Halen pulled up beside me. Wait a minute, that wasn't me at all! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Cool song, though not one of my favorites on the album. If they ever play it live again they should reverse the intro chords like they had on the WB demo as a nod to the die hard fans.

Bottoms Up!!-Awesome song, one of their best. Pure attitude and fun. I LOVE the way the guitar sounds right when the solo starts, amazing tone to it. They fuck up the sing along, and leave it in, and that tells a pretty good story of what classic VH was all about.

Outta Love Again-Another song that took me a long time to warm up to. Cool attack Eddie has on the guitar in this song and great backing vocals (you could say that a lot in the VH catalogue). This song is very unusual, and that's one of the coolest things about it.

Light Up the Sky-Another monster song, maybe the best one on the album. Great lyrics, even though I'm still not sure I know what they are. The solo is cool, and it always sounds to me like Eddie is not paying attention to the band, like he's just confident he'll get there at the right time.

Spanish Fly-Give a man a minute, and he'll change the world. Eruption started it, but I find this tune more impressive. So clean sounding, he just nails it.

D.O.A.-Sounds like a jam that just kept coming up in rehearsal until they were forced to record it. One of Dave's most blatant songs in terms of seeming to be telling a story. Another pure attitude song.

Women In Love...-I love the intro, great tone. Another very unique song for the band, which makes it stand out. An unusual guitar solo as well. Great backing vocals make it a classic sing along tune.

Beautiful Girls-I like this song, but I run hot and cold on it. Some days I like it, some days I love it. Definitely a summertime song, fun all the way. A cool solo that seems really off the cuff.

Pretty basic album cover, but you certainly know what's inside by looking at it. The artwork inside is really cool. Love the shot of Dave doing the splits jump, and Eddie with the Yellow/Black guitar. If you've ever seen the LP version, Alex doesn't look like Alex in the artwork. Mikey looks like he's badly in need of a fashion coordinator.

[billy007]

Van Halen II took awhile to grow on me, even though it may have been the first Van Halen album I owned (my friend bought Van Halen first, which I immediately liked, but I may have bought this one first out of civic duty to be able to play it for the rest of the neighbourhood). It just didn't compare to Van Halen in the "ooh, ah" department - didn't have that same, clean sound and sonic quality that the first album possessed. Still doesn't, but it has its gems. I always was (and still am - so shoot me) a big fan of Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good", so it was hard for me to compare Van Halen's. But now I realise they're so different there's no need for comparison. Like whatever the heck it is Mikey does with the bass at the beginning, and Ed's guitar sound. Of course, nowadays, thanks to Napster, I wonder what a studio version of "Down In Flames" would've been like. I don't list favourite songs, but "Dance The Night" away is at least my sentimental favourite as it is the first song I heard that I knew was Van Halen and I've always loved it and always will. "Somebody Get Me A Doctor" just rocks, while "Bottoms Up" we always loved that part where Dave 'n the boys crack up. "Outta Love Again" starts off with Edward doing some more neat stuff with his guitar and then kicks right along. Always liked "Light Up The Sky" - really wanted them to play it in '81 and have Alex go into an extended solo in the middle, but I didn't realise at the time that not all bands do that (ala KISS). I imagine we didn't care much for "Spanish Fly" but it is of course cool. "DOA" almost got ruined by a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, but it is an awesome excersise for the band. "Women In Love..." has one of Edward's most beautiful intro, and the song isn't bad either. And who doesn't like "Beautiful Girls"? Just the way to be - "drink in my hand, toes in the sand" - ah, that's life (oh, wait, that was Eat 'Em And Smile!) At least Dave's book confirmed what I believed since I first saw the artwork for this album - the split on the back resulted in the cast on the inner sleeve! Can't say it necessarily resulted in the nurses - they might've been there regardless! Go Dave!

[Dan Halen]

You're No Good: Like many VH covers it is well-done and sounds great.

Dance The Night Away: The main hit, a pop tune.

Somebody Get Me A Doctor: One of the hardest songs on the album.

Bottoms Up!: Another hard song.

Outta Love Again: Perhaps the weakest song, but includes an excellent solo from Eddie.

Light Up The Sky: Very underrated, maybe the best song on the album.

Spanish Fly: Eddie shows us what he can do with an acoutic guitar on this one-minute piece that's similar to Eruption.

D.O.A.: Yet another hard rocker with a great riff.

Women In Love...: Features a cool intro from Eddie and has a pretty good chorus and solo.

Beautiful Girls: Dave sings about being on the beach with some beautiful girls. Fun song with good chorus.

[Blind Lemon Loons]

1 Somebody Get Me A Doctor...dig the versions from '82 and '83 with the I'm So Glad and Girl Gone Bad medley...along with the Ed and Al jams/duels...
2 D.O.A.
3 Bottoms Up!...John Lee Hooker, R.I.P.
4 Beautiful Girls
5 You're No Good...well, that sure ain't Linda Rondstadt style
6 Outta Love Again
7 Light Up The Sky
8 Dance The Night Away
9 Women In Love....
10 Spanish Fly

[Menlow]

I've been dreading seeing VHII pop up in the "rank ems". Almost impossible for me, love this one so much...but here goes:

DOA
Light Up the Sky
Dance the Night Away
Somebody Get Me a Doctor
Women In Love
Beautiful Girls
Bottoms Up
You're No Good
Outta Love Again
Spanish Fly

[ben halen]

I've been dreading seeing VHII pop up in the "rank ems". Almost impossible for me, love this one so much...but here goes:

DOA
Light Up the Sky
Dance the Night Away
Somebody Get Me a Doctor
Women In Love
Beautiful Girls
Bottoms Up
You're No Good
Outta Love Again
Spanish Fly

Dude, ok if I join your II Brigade?
I love this album from beginning to end, and never get sick of it.

[Menlow]

Dude, ok if I join your II Brigade?
I love this album from beginning to end, and never get sick of it.

I don't really have a brigade, it's more tongue in cheek in refrence to the head scratchingly beloved VHIII and its brigade. It is though a fine, fine album and always has been a personal fave. Always nice to meet another II fan.

[ben halen]

I don't really have a brigade, it's more tongue in cheek in refrence to the head scratchingly beloved VHIII and its brigade. It is though a fine, fine album and always has been a personal fave. Always nice to meet another II fan.

Haha. Yeah, I kinda figured it was a joke. I got a chuckle from your signature and I didn't want to use it without asking. Just wanted to pay homage to my favorite VH album.

[Van Squalen]

Light Up the Sky
DOA
Bottoms Up
Beautiful Girls
DTNA
Spanish Fly
Women in Love
Outta Love Again
SGMAD
You're No Good