Van Halen II Merrill WI

Van Halen II

Van Halen

Warner Brothers Records, 1979

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/08/2001

In all the time we've been online here at The Daily Vault, I honestly can't believe someone hasn't tackled Van Halen II, the follow-up to Eddie Van Halen and crew's landmark debut set.

Maybe it's because only one or two songs get any regular airplay from this 1979 release. Maybe it's because people fear hearing an example of the "sophomore slump," or they're afraid this album won't live up to the high standards that were set on Van Halen. Maybe -- just maybe -- we've been so busy we just haven't gotten around to it.

Does this disc live up to what David Lee Roth and company laid out on their first effort? No -- and anyone who expected those kinds of fireworks two times in a row has to be fooling themselves. This disc comes close to those highs, but the band does fall a little short. Frankly, with the experimentation they do on this disc, I'd rather have them fall short and take chances.

What kinds of chances do Van Halen take? For one thing, there's the ubiquitous guitar solo "Spanish Fly," on which Eddie Van Halen proves he can work magic on any fretboard, electric or acoustic. (If anything, hearing this made me want to hear Van Halen explore the world of acoustic guitars a little more.) You also have the band taking the risk of covering Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good" -- a curious choice to follow up their take on The Kinks's "You Really Got Me."