Customer Reviews

Van Halen II

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just too much. This album redefines rock-n-roll. This music makes me want to live fast and die young, and do it before the album finishes.
If you haven't heard "D.O.A." or "Light Up the Sky", buy this album today!! So damn catchy.
Van Halen's first 5 or 6 albums are technical masterpieces, yet paradoxically soulful, and wild, and swinging and reckless, (...). The fans of this band are probably responsible for the wave of teen-pregnancies during the 1980's.
I wish I had more words, but the only ones left are four-letter exclaimations at the brilliance and seductiveness of this album.

In March of 1979, California based rockers Van Halen unleashed their sophomore effort Van Halen II. The album was produced by Ted Templeman whom helmed the first six albums for the band and this album has all but one track written by Eddie and Alex Van Halen(guitar and drums), David Lee Roth(vocals) and Michael Anthony(bass). The album kicks off with a rocking version of the 1974 Linda Ronstadt hit You're No Good with Dave screaming during the chorus as Eddie and Michael sing the chorus. The hit Dance the Night Away follows and was the song that got most attention from this album. Somebody Get Me a Doctor and Bottoms Up are excellent hard rockers and Outta Love Again ends the second half on a rockin note. Light Up the Sky is a kick ass rocker that starts the second half. Spanish Fly showcases Eddie's talents on classical guitar. D.O.A.(stands for Dead Or Alive) is an awesome rocker. Women in Love starts sounding to be a ballad in its guitar intro before rocking out. The closing Beautiful Girls is another rock radio staple and a kick ass rocker. This was the band's first US Top 10 album and second million seller. I first got this album on cassette in March of 1985 and loved it immediately and the remastered CD catalog buries the original issues by a longshot! Highly recommended!

Van Halen II (1979.) Van Halen's second album.

In the late seventies, Van Halen entered the growing rock and roll scene. And only about a year after releasing their self-titled debut album, they released their sophomore effort, appropriately entitled Van Halen II. It seemed that Gene Simmons of KISS was right about these guys - they had serious rock potential. How do Dave, Eddie, Alex, and Mike measure up on their second album? Read on for my review of Van Halen II.

Van Halen's second album doesn't have nearly as many hits as their debut does, which isn't surprising assuming their debut is one of the most popular rock albums of all time. But still, this album manages to serve up its share of hits as well. The melodic rocker Dance The Night Away and the rock classic Beautiful Girls both originated on this album. These two tracks were the only singles released from this album, but they were far from being the only excellent tracks to emerge from it. As they proved on their debut, the band was excellent at covering tunes. Only one cover song can be found on Van Halen II, and it's a cover of the Linda Rondstat classic, You're No Good. When I heard that the band had covered this song, I had serious doubts about how well they would be able to execute it - but their recording that kicks off this album shattered those doubts. This is even better than the original version! And, of course, we have the underrated compositions that the band put together for this album. The hard and heavy Somebody Get Me A Doctor is one of Van Halen's finest songs ever recorded, and it's a shame this one never got more popular. The acoustic instrumental Spanish Fly is also excellent. The first album's Eruption showed us that Eddie was an electric guitar mastermind, and this track proves that he is equally talented with acoustics. Another excellent hard and heavy rocker is D.O.A. (which, in this case, stands for Dead Or Alive.) From start to finish, Van Halen II provides rock and roll excellence that most bands fail to deliver.

The Warner Remasters rerelease of this album improves the sound quality, but I really thing that Warner could have done more with these reissues. Expanded liner notes/interviews/etc. would have made for a good extra, as would bonus tracks. The Madonna reissues in the Warner Remasters series had bonus tracks, so why can't the Van Halen reissues? Or better yet, they could have combined multiple albums onto single discs (one disc could have been Van Halen/Van Halen II, one could be Women And Children First/Fair Warning, and one could have been Diver Down/1984.) That would have been more convenient to fans, but I guess record companies care more about profits than convenience. Oh, well. This doesn't change the way I feel about the album itself.

Van Halen II was an excellent sophomore album for an emerging band. Admittingly, this album is not as good as their debut, but I'm not complaining. More often than not a band's sophomore album fails to top the debut, so this really didn't surprise me. Oh, well. To put it simply, if you liked the debut, you'll also like this album.

In March of 1979, California based rockers Van Halen unleashed their sophomore effort Van Halen II. The album was produced by Ted Templeman whom helmed the first six albums for the band and this album has all but one track written by Eddie and Alex Van Halen(guitar and drums), David Lee Roth(vocals) and Michael Anthony(bass). The album kicks off with a rocking version of the 1974 Linda Ronstadt hit You're No Good with Dave screaming during the chorus as Eddie and Michael sing the chorus. The hit Dance the Night Away follows and was the song that got most attention from this album. Somebody Get Me a Doctor and Bottoms Up are excellent hard rockers and Outta Love Again ends the second half on a rockin note. Light Up the Sky is a kick ass rocker that starts the second half. Spanish Fly showcases Eddie's talents on classical guitar. D.O.A.(stands for Dead Or Alive) is an awesome rocker. Women in Love starts sounding to be a ballad in its guitar intro before rocking out. The closing Beautiful Girls is another rock radio staple and a kick ass rocker. This was the band's first US Top 10 album and second million seller. I first got this album on cassette in March of 1985 and loved it immediately and the remastered CD catalog buries the original issues by a longshot! Highly recommended!

Contractually,Van Halen put out their second album just one year after their self-titled debut. This was 1979,and it was originally released on Warner Bros. new label design,which was solid white. This design lasted through the vinyl phaseout which began in 1989. The album opens with YOU'RE NO GOOD,first recorded by Linda Ronstadt on her 1974 album,HEART LIKE A WHEEL. DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY was the only Top 20 hit on the album. All the other songs are good.

The Van Halen headbangers do it again! While I thought this would not be as good as Van Halen I, it is just as good. It is no less heavier, no less catchy. David Lee Roth is just as good a singer as ever, and Eddie is just as good a guitar player. I feel this album is very underrrated, being as good as it is. Nobody really goes nuts over it the way they do 1984, which is not half as good as this. Some of the best Van Halen songs are on this album. I just don't get it. Anyway, if you buy this album, you will be buying one of the greatest albums ever to fall under the category of heavy metal.

Van Halen II is a great hard rock album, and its almost as good as Van Halen I. Alex and Michael are tight as ever, David Lee gives a steller performance as usual and Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing is over the top as usual.

This album starts off with a cover song, 'Your No Good' it was a linda Ronstadt song untill Van Halen made it their own. My favorite songs on the album are 'Dance The Night Away' 'Bottoms Up' 'D.O.A.' and 'Beautiful Girls' all of which are Van Halen classics, all the other songs on Van Halen II are killer songs as well its just these are my favorites. 'Spanish Fly' is just simply amazing, I mean it Eddie Van Halen is just a damn guitar mastermind, just listen to this song and you will know what I mean!

Van Halen II is a classic hard rock and classic Van Halen album that no fan of either should be without!

Another album from the seventies that was again well ahead of its time. Powerful riffs and an awesome acoustic guitar solo. Buy it!

Van Halen pumped this album out a mere thirteen months after exploding onto the rock 'n' roll scene with their debut. Van Halen II, although it's one track shorter than its predecessor, might not be considered "better," but it is, at the very least, satisfying. The style of II is essentially the same as that of Van Halen I, with plenty of Eddie's good ol' riffs, hooks, and melodies ... and it might be a little more wild, too. The album opens with the mellow "You're No Good," thankfully the album's only cover song. It's always nice to hear these guys "Halenize" a classic with their magic, but it's even better to hear their own stuff.

Just two singles were released from II: "Dance the Night Away," the band's first mainstream hit, and "Beautiful Girls," the up-tempo album closer. "Spanish Fly" is a short, sweet, solo piece, like an acoustic "Eruption." Some consider it filler material, but listen to it and see if you have any complaints. My personal favorite here is "Light Up the Sky," with its great opening and up-tempo beat. The album's heaviest cut is probably "Somebody Get Me a Doctor," or maybe it's "D.O.A." (which stands for "Dead or Alive," by the way).

As far as follow-up albums go, this one's a winner, considering it was put out just a year after Van Halen's debut. Kick [booty]!

with this album, more jams and Eddie shows an "acoustic" side with Spanish Fly.