10 Legendary Music Artists That Never Got Better Than Their Debut Record

It's easy to just laugh off most of the hair metal scene in LA as a product of the '80s. Since most of these bands were just looking to put a bunch of hairspray in their hair and bang on their instruments, this was supposed to be from that period in the '80s where no one was thinking too hard, right? That might be where it ended up, but we were given the future of rock the minute Van Halen came roaring in on their debut.

Arriving a few years before the '80s even started, this is the real watershed moment for LA rock, with Eddie Van Halen becoming the new favorite guitar hero of virtually everyone who heard something like Eruption. Eddie wasn't alone either, with his brother Alex showing off his chops behind the kit and David Lee Roth competing with every other frontman that came his way, strutting around the stage with enough charisma to put some cartoon characters to shame.

As the years went on though, Van Halen never really faltered that often...they were just never going to reach the heights off of this record again. Since this is the album that arguably gave birth to the heavy metal scene, nothing on the record can really be improved upon in any real stretch. Though both the Roth and Hagar years had their fair share of highlights, this is the kind of lightning in a bottle record where all the stars aligned just right. No matter how many times you might try and recreate the magic, you're only going to make this kind of record once in your lifetime.