10 Forgotten Rock Music Gems From The 80s You Need To Rediscover
7. Mean Street - Van Halen
As the hair metal scene just started to hit its peak, you couldn't find a bigger band than Van Halen. Across their first few albums, die hard fans still treat the David Lee Roth period as one of the perfect runs of albums that was never to be repeated again. So why is it that no one brings up this little gem from Fair Warning?
Considering this was the point where the band was going through a pretty tumultuous time on the road, it's no surprise why they sound burnt the hell out across the album. That didn't mean they were out of ideas though, with Eddie making one of the greatest licks of his career to start us off. If you've ever seen him play this intro live before, it's almost uncanny to hear him get these strange sounds out of his guitar, sounding like he's playing a percussion instrument instead of a six string.
This is also surprisingly dark coming from one of the biggest bands at the time, talking about the rough and tumble origins of the band and the mean streets that they had to grow up in. You got some of the nastiest riffs the band have ever made, a kickass breakdown in the middle of the song, and lyrics about being proud to come from the wrong side of the tracks. This is basically just Green Day's Welcome to Paradise with god tier musicians.