VAN HALEN WANTED BEAUTIFUL GIRLS WITH THEIR BOTTOMS UP IN 1979

For crying out loud, i have been on Twitter all day trying to broker a truce between two women before they kill each other, long story but blimy man all i can say is that social media is a curse when people use it for retribution and intimidation. Something a bit more lighthearted here, VAN HALEN and a classic piece of pisstake rock'n'roll off the band's second album in 1979, titled VAN HALEN 2.

Compared to the thunderous rock'n'roll of the debut album which is simply overflowing with Eddie Van Halen's guitar excess, their second outing had a sparse and five dollar production feel about it, almost as if the album was hurriedly put together.

Given the band's sudden rise to fame and tour commitments after the first album was released, it's quite possible VAN HALEN 2 would have been put on ice if the band would have had more time to coat a few more production layers over it.

As it turned out, it sounds tinny up against VAN HALEN 1, but it's still a blast and a great set of american rock'n'roll. The bands cover of LINDA RONSTADT's YOU'RE NO GOOD is the most workmanlike song on the album, but probaly the heaviest, with a looping epic EVH guitar riff leading into it. DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY is really a nice pop song, cute as a button, but hardly what you would call heavy rock guitar.

Although suffering from garage band production, Eddie's virtuoso guitar elevates medicore material like SOMEBODY GET ME A DOCTOR and D.O.A (DEAD OR ALIVE), helped out no doubt by the buffoonery of DAVID LEE ROTH on vocals, who was at his satirical best on this album.

WOMEN IN LOVE i think eludes to lesbians, hey you cant knock that even though i have never had them in my bed (laugh), and BEAUTIFUL GIRLS is another more standard melodic rocker like YOU'RE NO GOOD which stands out from the eight very unstructured and eclectic tunes. LIGHT UP THE SKY and BOTTOMS UP! are my two favourites, but the best part of the album is the EVH riff to end D.O.A. Now that is classic Eddie Van Halen.