Rock-tober 07, 2020

I once worked with a guy who often declared, "Duuude! Van Halen is the greatest! Rock band! E-ver!" There are plenty of my peers who would agree. While the band's first album dropped in 1978, they released 6 albums during the '80s when my cohort of Gen X was coming of age. All 6 albums breached the top 10 and all but 1 of them went platinum. The exception? The iconic and highly venerated 1984 went diamond.

Ironically, after the massive success of 1984, the band underwent a pivotal lineup change. Frontman David Lee Roth's bigger than life personality clashed with the more introspective Eddie Van Halen. Roth was well aware he was in a rock and roll band, and he wanted to have fun. Meanwhile, Eddie wanted to continue to hone his craft in more serious pursuits. Both paths were valid but incompatible.

Roth made his exit to pursue solo projects, succeeding in having a lot of fun on the way - consider "Yankee Rose" and "Just a Gigolo".

Meanwhile, after a chance introduction brokered by their shared auto mechanic, Sammy Hagar was slipstreamed into Van Halen. The debut album of the new collaboration, 5150, was the first one from Van Halen to hit number 1 on the Billboard 100, but it wasn't the last. For the rest of his tenure with the band, all 4 albums released with  Hagar as frontman made it to the number 1 spot.

The 50 singles released by Van Halen in the '80s were like mile marker signs as we navigated the pubescent landscape of junior high through to the formative world of high school. From the high energy "Jump" and "Panama" to ballads like "Love Walks In", the band's music were staples at parties, pep rallies, and couple skates at the local rink. The common thread through every one of those singles was Eddie Van Halen's unique sound. His virtuosity with a guitar was legendary. While the industry and trade rags bantered about phrases like "trendsetting" and "pioneer" to describe his artistry with a six-string, to us, he was simply "the guitar god". We all recognized an Eddie Van Halen riff when we heard one. He was likely responsible for launching the most garage bands and gave rise to a legion of closet air guitar wizards.

In the swath of chaos that is 2020, Eddie Van Halen's passing feels like a punitive and unnecessary insult. The world lost a truly gifted and innovative master of his craft. My generation lost a larger than life touchstone of our youth.

"Dreams" - Van Halen