 "Not just the one before 1984." | 2009-10-07 |
| - Reviewed By milesmiles |
Eddie Van Halen once referred to DIVER DOWN as his "least favorite album." Pointing to the profusion of cover songs and the fact that the mini-Moog riff that opens "Dancing In The Streets" was meant for an original VH tune he was writing, EVH noted, "I'd rather bomb with my own stuff than score with somebody else's." In that vein, I once read a review of this LP that said, "This is the product of an exhausted, bored band at a creative lowpoint."
True, true. Yet DIVER DOWN is not a terrible or even a bad album. It is merely mediocre by the standards of the Old (1979 - 1985) Van Halen. And considering that band gave us ridiculously brilliant albums like VAN HALEN I and 1984, that's a sliding scale.
First of all, the three main cover tunes ("Dancing", "Where Have All The Good Times Gone?" and "Pretty Woman") are well done, although "Pretty Woman" is technically way off, the result of the band playing it in the studio from memory rather than actually doing their homework (just like high school, Dave!). In fact, I like all of these songs better than their originals - VH truly made them their own. In keeping with old VH traditions, there are also two gag-reel songs, "Big Bad Bill" and "Happy Trails", which are as ridiculous as you'd expect them to be.
On the softer, more AOR-radio friendly side, we've got "Secrets" and "Little Guitars", two underrated and understated tunes you will never - ever - hear on contemporary radio. And the good old VH trademark of an instrumental song ("Cathedral") marks the first real foray by Ed into keyboards and is really a beautiful and evocative track. His next outing was the key-solo on "Jump", and we all know how that one ended up.
DIVER DOWN has a vaguely spaghetti-Western type of theme (I guess Dave was watching a lot of Sergio Leone in 1982?), most particularly on the oddly compelling song "Hang `em High", which is arguably the best track on the record. In addition, "The Full Bug" features an exuberant harmonica solo. This song rocks full-bore and will get you a speeding ticket if you listen to it while driving.
All in all, DIVER DOWN is decent three-star album from a great band playing with one hand occupied by beer, or possibly a groupie's bra. It has most of the things you'd associate with DLR-era Van Halen, the main difference being the lighthearted, almost disposable nature of the songs, which lack the hard, gritty resonance of earlier albums or of side 2 of "1984." It' a quirky, very distinctive, upbeat type of Big Rock with just enough edge to prevent it from straying into sugar-pop-rock territory.
|
| |
 "top notch album" | 2009-09-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2TQ7UVE3I0WNB |
| People seem to either love this album or hate it. Cover songs, yes. As strong as the first couple of records? Maybe not. Still, a really solid record from one of the best rock bands ever. I always like cover songs that add something new to the original song. This is an album full of songs like that, in a variety of genres from R&B to jazz. A great band that played well together recording great songs. I wish there were more albums like this one. |
| |
| "Van Halen NOT Van Hagar" | 2009-03-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1ZVFZMYY41BIC |
| Say what ya will...Van Halen has had a well rounded collection of stuff to work with, a few line-up changes...That's So Rock N' Roll...Diver Down is a great example of what in took to make it memorable...yep, it may be dated material and not the first thing that comes to mind when somebody says: "Van Halen"...but, isn't it just great to be able to listen to it...Again!? |
| |
| "3 1/2 It could have been one of the best, but there are way to many covers" | 2009-01-29 |
| - Reviewed By musik_freak |
Van Halen "Diver Down" is probely the most hated Van Halen album in the Roth Era, and I somewhat agree. I still wonder this?- what if they took of two to three of the dismal cover songs, and added another two to three orginals?
You MIght have had another five star Van Halen effort. All the original songs on "Diver Down" are outstanding. Most are just as Dark as the matrial on "Fair Warning". The album starts out with the cover "Where have all the Good Times Gone" which isnt a bad track, and it is the second best cover song on the album next to "Pretty Women" The first original song starts out with Hang Em High, one of the best tracks on the album. Catherdal, Secrets, Intruder, and Pretty Women are the next tracks, and they are are Great. Even though Pretty Women is a cover, it remains my favorite VH song that they covered. So Far that would be Side One if you would be listening to the album on Record, and so far the album is outstanding. Then we hit the second half of the album, where "Diver Down" really falls into the ocean. Dancing in the Streets is a horrid song, and it just doesnt fit here. It pretty much ruins the flow of the album...Then the album picks up steam again with Little Guitars, but then it falls flat on its face with a ragtime song "Big Bad Bill" once again interupting the flow of the album, then goes into the rocker and second best song on this album, The Full Bug. Finally it ends with the foolish Happy Trails...So you can see that the covers just kill this album, and even though I do like "Where Have all the Good Times Gone" and "Pretty Women" They still dont really fit with the original material on Diver Down. There are only six original songs here, with two of them being small (clocking in around a minute and a half each) instrumentals. I would have kept the "Where have all the Good Times Gone" and Pretty Women, but once again if they would have just added two or three more orginal tracks, the album as a whole, I gurantee, would have been outstanding. So that is my opinion of why "Diver Down" gets low ratings (during the Roth Era) |
| |
| "van halen classic" | 2009-01-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A11PIKVAD6G1FD |
| this cd is fantastic, it has so many great songs on it. the whole band was in top form when they recorded this cd. jump was hit,also just about every song on this is a classic. it was and still is rock at its finest. eddie van halen is a class act, he really puts a good effort in the recordings. the whole band is awesome, this one is so well known, they dont even need a review. this cd probably got more airplay on the radio, than any of the original bands music back in the 80's. this is a good cd if its your first van halen cd. |
| |
 "One Sinking Ship" | 2008-12-08 |
| - Reviewed By richardcoreno |
For anyone wondering why David Lee Roth was finally fired, this extremely weak 1982 release is all that needs to heard.
Clocking in at a scant 31 minutes and featuring five covers, this is Van Halen as cash cow with minimal effort that Roth envisioned. And in this incredible era of mega-selling albums, mega-tours and mega-parties that seemingly would last forever, the record company would not balk as long as units could be shipped and sold.
The band had been in the fast lane, touring virtually non-stop since 1977 and quickly progressing from clubs/small halls to become an arena/stadium monster that was propelling the music industry, while recording a wealth of new material. Roth wanted a party-hearty band while Eddie Van Halen had his focus on the craft of making music.
This ship was starting to sink, but Eddie Van Halen was able to patch up the holes in the hull before the band became a parody of itself, with Roth as the drum major. |
| |
Expedited Available
