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Favorite Van Halen Songs: Listen To, Play, Wish You Could Play


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Posted

With all this VH talk:

My favorites to listen to and play:

Beautiful Girls

Unchained

Runnin' With The Devil

So This is Love

Feel Your Love

One that maybe not everyone likes:

I'll Wait

Wish I could Play:

Hot For Teacher

Ice Cream Man Solo

How 'bout you?

Posted

I wish I could play any of'em, but Panama will get me to pull out a guitar and try.

Sadly, we can't all be Zenmindbeginners.

This guy almost singlehandedly got me to purchase an Axis and a Tonelab (which didn't help at all):

Posted

I wish I could play any of'em, but Panama will get me to pull out a guitar and try.

Sadly, we can't all be Zenmindbeginners.

You are too kind good sir. That stuff makes my heart sing.

I totally dig playing "Outta Love Again"... I'm working on "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" which feels really good to play

The stretch on the opening salvo in the "Ice Cream Man" solo will take me another couple of years to learn... my "Hot For Teacher" is getting tighter and tighter (still somewhat sloppy)

Yup, I'll Wait is too cool.

I used "1984" for my bodybuilding routine in the "1990 King's Mountain Classic"... way cool.

The intro to Fools contains the most blistering fast playing Eddie ever did... to be able to play that one day would be AWESOME!

I gotta profess my love for "Little Guitars"... it's an amazing song with quirky and elusive guitarwork, Dave sings his ass off on that one. He reaches shades of Tony Bennett or a Flamenco singer on that song.

But...

My favorites are "Drop Dead Legs", "House of Pain" and "Girl Gone Bad" they feature Eddie's evolved guitarwork and tone... the phrasing is simply to die for. I am a long way out from being able to tackle them... they are Eddie's crowning achievement in my book.

I've been on a Van Halen kick for the past year and it looks like it has no signs of stopping.

I think they're the ones that really won the Cold War for us. The quintessential American band.

Posted

Ice Cream Man and Dance The Night Away. Way back when, my band played a couple others, too. But I don't try to cop Eddie's solos - I don't get to bang Valerie, I don't have to play all his notes!

Alan

Posted

Atomic Punk! House of Pain (from 1984): too much fun

Panama, Hot For Teacher and Unchained. Alas, of these three I used to play Panama well enough, could do a decent enough fake of the other two.

+1 to ZMB: love Drop Dead Legs.

But is there anything in their catalog more fun to play than Everybody Wants Some? It always seemed wide open for adding personal interpretations and goofiness, or it could be done straight up to great effect.

Haven't tried any of these in years (not a lot of call for them in a worship environment ( :lol:)) and to be honest, I've just forgotten about them over the years. I'm 47 and for many in my generation EVH invented the electric guitar. I've still got an 1984-ish copy of Guitar World with him on the cover (in the attic, somewhere). IIRC, it has a hand written transcription of the Hot For Teacher solo in the back - good times!

Posted

Listening

I'm The One

On Fire

Light Up THe Sky

Romeo Delight

In A Simple Rhyme

Dirty Movies

So This Is Love (the live one from Oakland 1981 kicks the shit out of the album version)

One Foot Out Door

Hang Em High

Little Guitars

The Full Bug

Drop Dead Legs

Girl Gone Bad

Wish I Could Play

Wish I had the chops to nail One Foot Out The Door.

I could probably play them and would love to play Dirty Movies and The Full Bug and in a band situation.

Posted

I can listen to the first four VH albums, beginning to end, and go back for seconds. After those, I tend to skip a handful of songs, on the

remainder of Roth - era tunes. Songs like Jump, get skipped as soon as possible. And I just don't listen to Van Hagar.

I really wish I could pick up the Eddie style of playing better, but I seem to have a mental block that kicks me into suck mode, when I attempt

to hang with him.

Posted

My car is currently loaded with VH1, 2, WACF, FW and 1984. Diver Down is the one Roth-era LP that is just kind of "meh" for me. Some good stuff, but more filler. Van Halen ceased to be listenable to me when Dave left.

Currently, we're doing these live:

Runnin w/the Devil (complete with car horn intro, thanks to Murkat)

Eruption

You Really Got Me

Ain't Talkin Bout Love

Just yesterday, I worked up the Drop Dead Legs intro (havent played that since 1984) to use somewhere in the set.

Love to listen to

Everybody Wants Some

All of VH1

DOA

Most of VH2

Mean Streets

One Foot Out the Door

Unchained

Etc...

Posted

My current band plays the VH version of You Really Got Me and I love to play Somebody Get Me a Doctor, Ice Cream Man, and Dance The Night Away. In fact, I think I'll incorporate Ice Cream Man into my blues band' repertoire.

For listening, anything off the first 4 lps. Seriously.

Posted

To listen to, play or whatevah, I've got to go for;

Jamies' Cryin'

And the cradle will rock

Atomic Punk

Everybody wants some

DOA

Posted

Favorite to play lately is "Mean Street" (I've always loved the snap in the rhythm and the searing G chords), and in the last week all the usual suspects with a prominent phaser or flanger because I picked up a cool flanger (Ibanez Airplane Flanger) and I'm learning its nuances (including how I can pull down the regen and range and "fake" a Phase 90 well enough).

+1 on Stike's yearning for "One Foot Out The Door." I'd love to spend an afternoon giving that one another solid stab. I remember trying it when I was younger and walking away frustrated.

Posted

Favorite to play lately is "Mean Street" (I've always loved the snap in the rhythm and the searing G chords), and in the last week all the usual suspects with a prominent phaser or flanger because I picked up a cool flanger (Ibanez Airplane Flanger) and I'm learning its nuances (including how I can pull down the regen and range and "fake" a Phase 90 well enough).

+1 on Stike's yearning for "One Foot Out The Door." I'd love to spend an afternoon giving that one another solid stab. I remember trying it when I was younger and walking away frustrated.

OFOTD has the best pinch harmonic of all time.

Posted

light up the sky is my current fave.

i can play pieces of a lot of 'em, but never worked any up completely

(even the ones we covered at gigs i'd wing parts of 'em)

Posted

I'd like to work up the Mean Streets intro - always loved that song. The intro has kept me from diving into the rest of it (although it shouldn't).

Alan

Posted

I had eruption worked up pretty well at several times. Its not my natural playing tendencies and I have to woodshed it for a day or two to do it now but its the one to do for me. Teenage Bill that's lives in my head is always stoked when I work it up

Posted

My all time faves to play are Feel Your Love and Little Dreamer

I was showing off for the new guitar playing neighbor tonight and did the into to Hot for Teacher (bout half speed) and the solo from Panama.

I don't dislike Sammy but I can't think of a Sammy era song I play

Posted

Lots, just plain lots. I'm not a Van Halen (the band) fan, but Eddie's always been a real talent with great touch and tone. Lots of flair.

Posted

Back in the day, we did:

Ice Cream Man (RULES!)

Jamie's Cryin'

Eruption/You Really Got Me

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Unchained

Dancin In the Streets (*lot's* of fun to play)

We tried Panama, but the odd time signatures were a bit too much for us as a group. :)

Always wanted to learn Little Guitars and Drop Dead Legs. At this point in my life, i wouldn't mind just re-learning the songs above. I was called on stage to join a buddy of mine recently, and we played Tush and You Really Got Me. He looked at me before YRGM and asked if i wanted to do Eruption. I hadn't tried that in about 15 to 20 years, so i opted to take a pass rather than look like a complete fool... :D

Ah, good times, good times...

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