The underrated Van Halen songs Eddie Van Halen called his favourite
American musician Eddie Van Halen was renowned for his guitar-playing skills, although he only picked up the instrument due to competition with his brother, Alex. While Eddie started on drums and Alex on guitar, the pair soon switched and started making music together.
By 1973, with a few other members in tow, Van Halen was formed, frequently playing at different venues and functions in Los Angeles. Soon, they were performing at popular Sunset Strip locations like Whisky a Go Go, drawing the attention of industry figures before Gene Simmons offered to produce a demo tape for the band.
While punk was blowing up in the United Kingdom following its inception in the United States a few years prior, Van Halen opted for a more commercial hard rock sound. In 1977, they released their self-titled debut album, which reached number 19 on the Billboard 200. The record might not have been a chart-topper, but it was still incredibly popular. It is now one of the United States’ best-selling records, cementing Van Halen as hard rock heavyweights.
In the 1980s, the band’s reign only continued, and they scored a number one with their signature hit, ‘Jump‘. While Van Halen’s popularity began to wane as alternative rock gained more prevalence in the 1990s, they still maintained a dedicated fanbase, reuniting for world tours over the coming years. In 2012, the band even released their first record, A Different Kind of Truth, since 1998’s Van Halen III.
Van Halen released 12 studio albums during their tenure, which is a rather daunting number for those newly interested in delving into their back catalogue. However, lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen once picked out some of his most essential tracks from the band during an interview with Spinner, starting with the instrumental number ‘Eruption’ from the band’s debut album. The track utilises Van Halen’s signature ‘tapping’ technique, demonstrating his guitar virtuosity.
He also picked out ‘Spanish Fly’, a similar instrumental number which Van Halen described as “the same thing except it sounds like Segovia doing something, it’s on a Flamenco guitar”.
Detailing further, he added: “I wish somebody would take that technique and do something with it,” joking, “I had no idea it would trip people out to the point that it did.” The song appeared on Van Halen II, released in 1979.
Yet, many of Van Halen’s favourites were less popular cuts, such as ‘Girl Gone Bad’ and ‘Drop Dead Legs’, the latter of which he described as “one of my favourite songs of ours”. He added: “Whether it’s a hit or not, I love that song.”
Van Halen continued: “Probably the more obscure stuff, like Wolfie [Wolfgang Van Halen] loves ‘Romeo Delight’. I do too.”
Both ‘Girl Gone Bad’ and ‘Drop Dead Legs’ appeared on 1984, which was the band’s last album to feature every single core member. While it included songs such as ‘Jump’ and ‘Hot for Teacher’, the guitarist preferred the non-singles. Similarly, ‘Romeo Delight’ is one of the lesser-known songs from Women and Children First, which spawned hits such as ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’.
However, Van Halen also recommends some of the band’s more popular tracks to beginners, such as ‘Jump’, ‘Ain’t Talking About Love’, ‘Unchained’ and ‘Runnin’ with the Devil’. He explained: “To the day I die, we’ll have to play that because that’s what people want to hear.”
Eddie Van Halen’s favourite Van Halen songs:
- ‘Girl Gone Bad’
- ‘Drop Dead Legs’
- ‘Romeo Delight’
