10 Perfect Hard Rock Albums Of The 1970s
2. Van Halen - Van Halen
Most of the hard rock coming out of the '70s wasn't necessarily meant to be all that fun. Although acts like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple were selling records in the millions, it wasn't like these were songs that you were going to throw on at a party or anything. That was the start of hard rock though. When Van Halen arrived, we started to realize that hard rock could have a fun side too.
While still embracing hard rock's tendencies, the entire first Van Halen record feels like you've been dropped into one big party in West Hollywood, with David Lee Roth being your ringleader. From song to song, the energy never stops, going from some of the more lighthearted material like Feel Your Love Tonight to balls to the wall intensity on songs like On Fire.
Even when you break out the acoustic guitar for the cover of Ice Cream Man, VH still understands their strengths and dials everything up to 100 for one more go around. Oh yeah...and we also got to see the rise of one of the greatest guitarists in the world, with Eddie Van Halen turning the guitar world inside out in a matter of minutes on Eruption.
To anyone who loves rock and wanted to see what the harsher side of the tracks are like... meet your new favorite band.