20 Most Important Hard Rock Albums Of All Time
8. 1984 - Van Halen
If you were into any kind of rock music in the 80's, hair metal more often than not found its way onto your playlist. Whereas thrash may have been a purer antecedent from bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, bands like Motley Crue and Poison were emerging from the Sunset Strip and turning each show into a 24/7 party. Though Van Halen may have had their creative apex on their debut record, it wasn't until 1984 that the hair metal genre reached its fullest concentration.
Coming over half a decade after the band's debut, Van Halen used this record to prove that they were still the kings of the hair metal movement, with songs like "Panama" and "Hot For Teacher" becoming classics in the band's catalog to this day. Across each track, David Lee Roth is the ultimate showman, as he exudes charisma in every word he sings, while Eddie Van Halen teaches a masterclass on how to make a guitar emote.
Even when the band took a risk on the piano-driven pop single "Jump," the results were too catchy to write off. The David Lee Roth era of the band may have been coming to an end, but Van Halen showed that after years on the scene, there was no other band that could equal them.