5150

2019 has been a weird fucking year. I got my hands on Martin Popoff's Big Book Of Hair Metal, and suddenly I was very interested in these bands and albums that I spent my teenage years absolutely despising. I was a thrasher, and as a kid, I wanted nothing to do with this poppier and prettier side of metal. So, it was strange to find myself really wanting to dig in and check out those albums that I let pass me by in the 80's.

I was having a good time listening to bands and albums that I had never expected to have any interest in. Motley Crue's Theater Of Pain? Let's do it. Lick It Up from Kiss? Oh, fuck yes. How about some Vinny Vincent Invasion? You're goddamn right. I don't know why the sudden change of heart, but this shit was a blast.

I've got a small handful of records that I inherited from Steve after he died, and I just had them set aside. It was stuff that I wasn't really interested in, but for one reason or another, I just couldn't send it to Goodwill or sell it off to the local record shop. One of those records was a great looking copy of Van Halen's 5150. I've never had any desire to listen to Hagar-era Van Halen, but hey, I was listening to a bunch of stuff that I never expected to like, so on a whim, I threw that copy of 5150 on the turntable. Oh shit. I can't believe that I was actually having a good time listening to it. What the fuck has happened to me?

Let's not lose perspective here, okay? The David Lee Roth stuff is still far superior to the Sammy Hagar albums, but I'm surprised with how much fun I'm having listening to 5150. Do I dare check out the other Sammy albums?

Double Down

It was slim pickings while flipping through the vinyl stacks at the store that I'd stumbled upon in Hanover, New Hampshire. I did alright with the Whitesnake album I'd grabbed, but this place was obviously not catering to the Metal crowd.

While I looking through the records, the copy of Van Halen's Diver Down caught my eye. I mean, I already had a vinyl copy in my collection, but I remembered it as being kind of beat up. With this copy still in the original shrinkwrap, and the promo sticker for (Oh) Pretty Woman, I figured that it was time for an upgrade.

It isn't too exciting, but now I've got two copies of the worst Van Halen record...since obviously only the original David Lee Roth line up matters.

David Lee Rock

You know I get distracted easy, right? I start collecting one thing, only to jump to something else when it catches my eye. I've got so many holes in my Metal vinyl collection, it is embarassing. Hell, I still don't have all the Dio records yet...and I don't even own a copy of Sabbath's Sabotage on vinyl. I need to get some priorities straightened out and address some of these issues.

About seven years ago, I picked up my first couple of pieces of Van Halen...and since then...nothing. While flipping through the used records at Moody Lords, I came across a copy of Fair Warning. Since this is probably my favorite VH record, I immediately pulled it from the bin and added it to the stack of records that I would be purchasing. I know it is difficult to call any Van Halen record "dark", but man there is just something a bit more raw when it comes to Fair Warning. Maybe because it contains the only VH song where David Lee Roth drops an F bomb...or maybe it is the artwork for the album cover that William Kurelek painted while being treated for depression and schitzophrenia in a London mental hospital. Whatever it is, Van Halen does not get any better than this.

On the other side of the coin, we have Van Halen's 1984 album. With the opening synth keyboards for Jump, there isn't anything dark about this album. I really wasn't too familiar with this one. I guess in the general scheme of things, I didn't think too much about this record, and kind of rated it just above Diver Down (which sits at the bottom of the six crucial Van Halen albums)...but giving this vinyl a spin, I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed it.

Okay. At this point, the only VH album missing from my collection was their debut. I was so close to completing the collection, I jumped to eBay to finish this thing off. There was some confusion on my part as to what defined a first pressing for this record. I did some minimal research, and believed that the white Warner Brothers label, with the roman numerals for sides I and II, indicated it was a first pressing, and that's what I set out to win on eBay. Days after I won a copy, I discovered that I was wrong, and an actual first press has the Warner Brothers label with palm trees. Damn. Stupid mistake. Oh well, I guess it really wasn't that important, as I'm not going to worry about chasing one down at this point...but if I happen to stumble across one in the used records bins, I might not be able to resist.

The only Van Halen albums that people need to pay attention to.

There it is...seven years to finally collect six easily obtainable albums. It probably shouldn't have taken this long.