The song Sammy Hagar called Van Halen’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’
In the grand story of rock and roll, Van Halen might be one of the only bands that America has as an answer to Led Zeppelin.
There are plenty of bands that came up in Zeppelin’s wake that were able to play slow bluesy riffs up and down the stadium circuit, but no other act seemed to take more chances and push the limits of guitar quite like Eddie did whenever he started his tapping solos. But if you’re a counterpart to Zeppelin, there has to be a moment when people start asking for the real classics to turn up.
And when it comes to Van Halen, the question of which albums are classics really depends on who you talk to. Because when looking at the era with David Lee Roth, it’s either one of the greatest runs of albums that any singular rock band has ever done, or it is a solid, if not spotty, look at what hard rock was like in the late 1970s. While yours truly is in the latter camp, it’s not like they didn’t have their fair share of highlights.
The debut is a classic of the time, as are records like Women and Children First, but however charming it might be, it’s not like the band were exactly looking to make a classic on Diver Down. They were pulling apart from Roth, and when Sammy Hagar took over, many people saw a band defy a death blow the minute 5150 came out. Even if some fans were adamant that ‘Diamond Dave’ was irreplaceable, getting ‘The Red Rocker’ did allow for their music to expand a little more.
No disrespect meant to Roth, but it’s not like he’s got the most range of anyone in the rock sphere. He was a brilliant entertainer, but his singing left a lot to be desired if you weren’t strictly looking for bluesy tunes. And with Hagar’s soaring range, songs like ‘Dreams’ and ‘Get Up’ went from songs that could have worked for Roth to the kind of stratospheric high notes that most of the band didn’t think was possible at the time.
So if that’s what they sounded like right out of the gate, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was what happened when they had a bit more time to grow. OU812 may have been a bit underwhelming, but after recharging their batteries and ignoring the dad joke that comes with the title, there are a lot more thoughtful lyrics on this record on tracks like ‘Judgement Day’. But if Hagar had to be remembered for anything in the band, it would be ‘Right Now’.
Compared to what Zeppelin had done with their classics, Hagar felt that the piano ballad was like their version of ‘Stairway to Heaven’, saying, “The funny thing about ‘Right Now’ is it’s like one of those songs like ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for Led Zeppelin. ‘Stairway to Heaven’ wasn’t, like, a Number One single or anything. It wasn’t even really a single. It was just an AOR track played on the radio. But it becomes one of their biggest [songs]. I believe it peaked in the 20s – the video got great awards and won three MTV music awards and all that. But the song itself wasn’t a giant radio hit or anything.”
Admittedly, the song isn’t nearly as ambitious as Jimmy Page and co. did when making their classic, but you can hear where that comparison comes from. When looking at all the other Van Halen classics, Hagar helped them break through to a new audience with a song that was far more mature than nearly anything else that was coming out at the time, especially when compared to the other poodle-haired darlings on the Sunset Strip.
Van Halen had shed that skin a long time ago, and whereas most people were trying to match Eddie’s chops whenever they played, he showed everyone that it was never about how many scales he went through. It always tied back to the song, and hearing this kind of tune is probably the greatest case the band has for being the greatest songwriters in their genre.
