Possibly my mother of all guitar riffs and DEFINITELY my favorite from Van Halen, “Unchained” is like a clarion call of sorts: loud, distorted, and in your face; honkin’ outta the speakers like some urgent war cry from restless savages descending the hill upon sighting the enemy. Kicking off side two of album number four Fair Warning and also many a concert since, the song is three minutes and twenty-nine seconds of deadly force courtesy of master Edward Van Halen’s fat punch and wicked use of an MXR flanger that sent the young me into air guitar heaven and had me constantly hitting rewind at the end of song to replay to death. Like Hawk used the say from the Road Warriors\Legion Of Doom tag team of old, I think… “ohhhhh, what a rush!” when I hear that riff. BAM!
Funny about Van Halen sometimes… the riffs weren’t exactly simple and straight forward but I’ll be damned if they weren’t musical. Not only did Edward have some sleight of hand fretboard wizardry and various tricks up the sleeve when playing a lead, he was (and still is) and incredible rhythm guitarist in his own right and “Unchained” is a classic example of pulling out all the stops. That insistent crunchy intro, the cool twists and turns during the verses, the odd little breakdown during the pre-chorus, the little bits of noodling during the lead and “c’mon Dave” section, and the driving, sliding riff and slippery tapping spot that brings it home are those incredibly tasty bits of color that pushes this tune to greater heights. And I’ve not said anything yet about the rhythm section! Yeah, Mike and Al are the engine room for Ed’s acrobatic flights of fancy, essentially following the riff and adding some tribal slam of their own as Mikey holds the root down and Al bashes away relentlessly. And Dave? I’ve been hard on the guy in recent years but he’s on point here, no time for the “clown show” other than the brief ha ha moment with producer Ted Templeman’s “c’mon Dave, gimme a break”, mostly allowing King Edward to be the main focus for a good chunk of the song. Lyrically not much here but who cares? It’s that riff baby!
Some VH fans like the hits, some prefer the Roth show, and some think it’s fun to sing along and letting out their inner Michael Anthony but if yer like me you’re wailing away on your own invisible striped Stratocaster and doing leaps off the couch, coffee table, or chairs in the living room. “Unchained” always was and always remains my monster shot of energy, better than any hot cup of coffee to wake you up on a cold winter morning or greater than any Red Bull or Rockstar drink you can down. It is THE Van Halen riff of all time- now, maybe I should convince my wife to sync it up with my daily alarm clock. As Dave says in the live video… Everybody up!
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Yeah, without a doubt, Eddie’s best monster riff. Imbedded in my mind forever is Diamond Dave jumping off the drum riser as the band kicks in – the epitome of hard rock as we know it in a handful of seconds!
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yeah, that live video certainly made an impact 🙂
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Thinking about what was and what has been but COULD have been? I just don’t think of Van Halen as Van Halen without David Lee Roth. As much as I love Sammy Hagar, it was just Van Hagar to me after Dave was gone. Which was still incredibly great.
But thinking of that got me to thinking of other bands’ post-prime greatness. Like the Stones or Aerosmith. For instance, there’s no doubt in my mind that Led Zeppelin’s greatness is cemented by Bonham’s death. In Through the Outdoor is easily their worst album, so it’s clear they were on a downward spiral from there. Hence, they never made a bad album.
SO. Using just those 2 examples – Rolling Stones and Aerosmith after say, Exile on Main Street and Night in the Ruts – what 20? songs have they recorded since those prime years could you make into 2 great albums to rival any of their best? I’ve thought about doing this just to make my own personal mixtape (probably not a word), and it’s a bit daunting but still maybe an interesting exercise? I could easily say the same about Deep Purple post Machine Head, but I’d have to cut out the non-Blackmore years, because to me, Deep Purple IS Blackmore. Same with AC/DC too post For Those About to Rock?
It would be interesting to come up with just 2 great records those bands made post-prime. It would be a job for sure but a fun one!
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You know, that’s not a bad idea. Would certainly be ripe for discussion regardless of which band you choose. As far as Van Hagar… I always thought the timing was right to move on from Roth as I thought 1984 was a bit overrated. Oddly enough, it sounds closer to the Hagar formula with Jump and I’ll Wait and even the tunefulness of Panama. I just got tired of the Dave shtick. That 5150 tour is still one of my all time favorite concerts to this day. As for the rest of Van Hagar it had its moments, but I really think EVH was wanting to go down different routes and Hagar was the singer to get him where he wanted to go. And if VH got back together again I’d rather them do it with Hagar instead of Roth because that magic of the EVH/Roth era was just a moment in time that could never been captured again. That same swagger and danger is long gone and was missing on the Different Kind Of Truth album- it worked somewhat because of EVH digging out of the treasure trove of riffs from the old days but that rawness was missing. With Hagar, they could still write some decent tunes and pull it off effectively as Sam still has a good chunk of his range.
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