Reviews by linkyboy

“Runnin’ with the Devil” is one of the all-time best introductions to a band—the thumping bass, Eddie Van Halen’s distinctive sound, and David Lee Roth’s screlting all grab you by the face.

They follow it up with “Eruption,” which instantly cemented Eddie as a force to be reckoned with. And at under two minutes, the song somehow manages to avoid seeming overindulgent.

Track three: their cover of “You Really Got Me,” by the Kinks. Another hallmark of Van Halen that I’ve always loved is their ability to make a cover song their own.

And so, in just the first three tracks of their debut album, Van Halen expertly announces their intention as a band. But what made me decide to ultimately give this album 5 stars wasn’t from any of these songs. Rather, it was the doo-woo section on the lesser-known fifth track “I’m the One,” that did that. With it, Van Halen showed their willingness to step out of their genre, to have fun, to be referential, and to do it all while being unmistakably themselves.

This is the first album to come up for me that I was already intimately familiar with. In fact, there was a time where I considered this my favorite Led Zeppelin album (although that was mostly because the acoustic tracks were a revelation for me and my gateway into folk-rock).

On my first close-listen in probably a decade, a few things struck me: first, that the album is much more bluesy than I remembered it. In fact, though the acoustic tracks are notable, it’s not as many as I remembered. Secondly, it’s not a particularly consistent album. I’ve never been crazy about tracks 2, 3, and 4 which is a shockingly rough first half of an album, considering that it opens with the all-timer, “Immigrant Song.” “Gallows Pole” is one of the greatest tracks Zeppelin ever recorded, and one of their most underrated.

Wow, on just the first track, the aptly named “Folsom Prison Blues,” the energy is palpable and unmatched on any other live track I’ve ever heard! To think these prisoners got this experience, how they must have felt! The little aside in “Dark As the Dungeon,” when someone swears in the audience is so endearing—it just sounds fun and shows Cash as the consummate performer he was! The cheering at references to murder, drug use, and violence might seem morbid—I see it more that these prisoners were feeling represented in a way they rarely felt in media. After all, isn’t that what we all want? Cash was in a sense “one of them!” And the occasional announcements for prisoners to go to the counselor, the booing at the introduction of the warden, the instructions to the prisoners on how to exit the space, the hollers and chatter in between songs—it’s an album like no other!

I’ve never been particularly keen on modern country, but this early country that feels more born out of folk and Americana is much more appealing to me. The story telling, the simple production, and Johnny’s gruff baritone are intoxicating. Amazing album, so glad to listen to it!

There is something about the whimsy of this album that’s so appealing—the collage of styles, at times humorous, at times dark, at times poppy, at times heavy. Compressed drums loops, dirty guitar strings, dub basses. Yet, when I compare it to Demon Days, this album feels like it contains less songwriting—more like “idea-splattering.” Nonetheless, it is certainly fun and listenable, but feels more like a premonition of what was to come than anything.