The number one Van Halen song Eddie Van Halen said the whole band hated: “Believe it or not”
By the mid-1980s, Van Halen could have worked with some of the most dissonant noise imaginable and turned it into a hit.
The group had transcended their heavy metal origins and had entered the mainstream. Alongside a run of bands who would make up the hair metal boom of the decade, Van Halen seemed to operate as one of the more avant-garde members of that particular fraternity, largely thanks to Eddie Van Halen.
Through the massive sounds of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar and the star-studded charisma of David Lee Roth, the California hard rock outfit had sculpted themselves into one of the biggest bands in the world, twisting the rock genre at will throughout every one of their albums. Although Eddie Van Halen may have had a knack for writing the heaviest riffs imaginable, he admits that the band was not as taken by one of their classic hits.
During their early days, Van Halen had already been known as one of the most furious rock and roll bands to emerge from the Sunset Strip. While the band would hone their craft playing covers throughout West Hollywood, it wouldn’t be until they recorded their debut album that the world was introduced to their next guitar hero, with Eddie delivering a masterclass in under two minutes on ‘Eruption’.
When working on the next few albums, Eddie would try his hand at writing songs that were even heavier than before. Following in the footsteps of heroes like Eric Clapton, Eddie would often let his guitar do the talking, crafting songs that bordered on heavy metal on albums like Women and Children First.
For a musician with that much musical stamina, it wasn’t long before Eddie started reaching for influences outside the guitar. On their heavier offerings like ‘And the Cradle Will Rock’, Eddie would become more enamoured with playing the piano, creating songs that were heavy in a much different way than what was coming out of the guitar.
While the band were willing to go along with Eddie’s ideas, Roth often felt that their sound was going in the wrong direction, not wanting to lose their signature sound as a hard rock band. When Eddie came to the group with the makings of a smash single based around synthesisers, though, he admitted getting a cold reaction.
Despite the inherent hookiness of a song like ‘Jump’, Eddie remembered the rest of the band hating what he had come up with, telling Forbes, “It’s like ‘Jump,’ it was our only number one single. Believe it or not, I built my studio to put that song on our record cause everyone hated it”. Operating out of his studio, 5150, for the first time, Eddie ultimately put his foot down, insisting that the keyboards have a prominent role on the album.
The song would become a mega-hit for the group and is, arguably, the one Van Halen song that perhaps the entire world knows. Whether it was the pop-adjacent lyrics or the slightly cheesy aura of the production, the band detested the tune. But Eddie Van Halen knew better. As well as being a guitar technician to the nth degree, he was also a keen pop enthusiast and clearly knew a hit when he heard one.
While it may have taken fans a little while to adjust, ‘Jump’ would become one of the most celebrated tracks in their arsenal, complete with a tapping solo to balance out the squelchy sounds of the keyboards. Van Halen may have been back on top of the charts, but the fallout of their new direction spelt trouble for the group’s next era.
After creative differences came to a head on the road, Roth would announce his departure from the band, ultimately moving onto a solo career while the band drafted in Sammy Hagar behind the mic. Even though ‘Jump’ has held its ground as a foundational part of Van Halen, it might also be the song that ultimately broke up the band’s first classic lineup.
