I can still remember the feeling of hearing 'Runnin' With The
Devil' burst from my cheap headphones - most likely on my Sharp Cassette
Walkman, by the way.
My older brother had a cassette of Van
Halen's '1984' which I ritually abused often in my Walkman and
ghettoblaster. 'Panama', 'Hot For Teacher' and 'Top Jimmy' were smoking
tunes to me, and even 'Jump' for all its synthy pop sheen had a ripping
guitar solo. The sound, attitude and tone of that record convinced me to
reach back and before long I had a double cassette copy of Van Halen I
& II.
H-O-L-Y!
The tone!
It smacked me around the
head. The car siren fades out, the bass thump introduces the end of the
world, and Eddie rips into that simple, arrogant riff. The guitar tone
was like nothing I had experienced before, and I was a guitar child of
the eighties.
As I said, I had absorbed '1984' - a guitar tone
that can't be said to be vastly removed from Van Halen I if you were to
describe it in words. Mid rangey, ripping, squealy, sustainy, popping,
substantial, echo-y (but never drenched, always with its own sense of
space) - those words can be used for 'Hot For Teacher' as well.
But
- they are worlds apart in impact to me. Eddie, a souped up Plexi
Marshall, an echoplex and some homemade partscaster guitars created what
would always be 'the tone' for me to chase on that record.
And it
was never quite the same again after that, albeit there were slightly
different iterations of it. Van Halen II was similar but lacked the body
of the first record and little bit of the 'sizzle', both 'Women and
Children First' and 'Fair Warning' started to go darker in tone
(although hats off to 'Unchained' of course!), 'Diver Down' and '1984'
seemed to lean a little more back to II's tone.
Van Halen I's
incredible jaw dropping tone was really never to be replicated by Ed on
record again. Worse still, it became apparent that he had started to
disown that sound as from 5150 through the Van Hagar years his tone
became tamer and tamer. Less 'sizzle', more digital chorus.
Which
brings us to the latest chapter in the Van Halen tone saga, 'A Different
Kind Of Truth.' The 2012 release was a welcome return to form for a
band that had lost its way long ago, even if it was obvious that Dave
was certainly not in possession of the same voice. Given that Van Halen
had never really been about vocal prowess in the first place, it
mattered little. (Michael Anthony backing vocals aside... but I
digress.) But, Eddie's tone? What direction had the divebomb master
taken this time with his all-important sound?
Truthfully, given
attempts with most other facets of the release to cast a backwards gaze
to the glory days of the band, I was hopeful of a faithful attempt at
gunning for Van Halen I's mystical tone. Of course, I was sadly
disappointed. Ed had instead attempted to modernise his sound - which
seemed to consist of dialling down the digital reverb and chorus units
(thankfully) but instead driving up a stark, fizzy high gain sound that
is more akin to a hardcore band than Van Halen. Actually, it is a tone I
find quite difficult to listen to for long periods.
And so, with
hope ever springing eternal, the glorious quest for Van Halen I's
elusive guitar tone continues. Will Ed ever try and recreate it? Is it
long lost, never to be found, along with his bell bottoms, 70's hair and
youthful gummy grin?
I know it's the latter, but I can dream.
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