Bruce, The Kinks, The Stones and The Who got me 
through Middle School, but by 1983, I knew there was other exciting music out there. I had already picked up on snippets of harder rock, from Rush (“Tom Sawyer”) and the aforementioned Kiss to Queen and AC/DC (“Back in Black,” “For Those About To Rock”) and Ozzy (“Crazy Train”), I had yet to really dive in. That immersion into the newer, harder rock-n-roll happened in the summer before Freshman year of high school (1983).
In the summer before 9th grade, I found the first Van Halen record. This album came out in 1978, so I was late to the party, and I actually worked my way back to it from the 1981 single “Unchained” from the Fair Warning record after seeing the video on MTV. “Unchained” is also on my all-time top songs list, but as I discovered Van Halen, I came upon the first record. Whoa – the other records were good, but this first album was just incredible – packed with great songs.
“Running With the Devil” has one of the coolest openings for a record ever, and is one of the best opening songs on any record I’ve heard. And to come from a new band?! What a statement! They followed that with “Eruption,” which was a jaw-dropping thing to hear for the first time. That led right into the cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.” Given my recent love for the Kinks, that was the deal-sealer. And then “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” – the song with perhaps the most apostrophe marks in any rock song title, and still considered one of the band’s best songs. Now that’s the way to introduce yourselves to the world.
Then, side 2 opens with “Jamie’s Cryin’,” and includes “Atomic Punk,” “Feel Your Love Tonight,” and their second cover on the album, “Ice Cream Man.”
I still listen to this album from start to finish – no shuffle, no playlists – quite often. Along with G-n-R’s Appetite for Destruction and Hendrix’s Are You Experienced?, this is one of the three best debut albums I’ve ever come across. It stands the test of time. What do you think?
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