20 Most Underrated Classic Rock Songs Of All Time
10. Atomic Punk - Van Halen
From day one, Van Halen was always about having a good time. The songs may have been a little heavy than what you were used to, but they all had that booze-soaked attitude that made each situation feel like a non-stop party. There may have been an element of celebration in everything they did, but Van Halen were always known as the progenitors of hair METAL.
Compared to something like Black Sabbath, a song like "Atomic Punk" seems a bit tame, but the actual sound of the record is so much more raw than anything else they would ever create. Being the guitar wizard that he is, Eddie Van Halen experiments on this track by making guitar scratch noises that prepare the listener for a trip down the backstreets of downtown Los Angeles. From there, David Lee Roth is off to the races, as he tells the listener about the wild escapades of being the ruler of the downtown crime scene.
While it may feel out of place on the band's debut record, "Atomic Punk" actually serves as a nice palette cleanser in between the anthems across the rest of the album. Even if they weren't the most vicious band in the world, Van Halen could still deliver a metric ton of kickass if the time called for it.