4 Standout Album-Openers From David Lee Roth-Era Van Halen

We’re not here to debate which era of Van Halen was better. But we are going to make a case that the band excelled in memorable album-opening songs while David Lee Roth was in the fold. The band released six albums during Roth’s first stint. Four of those LPs started off with original songs by the band. And all four of those tracks were bangers.

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“Runnin’ With The Devil” from ‘Van Halen’ (1978)

When you’re starting off not just an album but your entire recording career, you’d like to make sure you make a serious impact. That’s especially true in the hard rock genre, where a weak first impression might damage a band’s long-term potential right off the bat. Van Halen went out and delivered one of the most iconic career-opening tracks in “Runnin’ With The Devil”. From the car-horn open through those thudding deep notes to the crunching groove and David Lee Roth’s screaming ad-libs, we are all absolutely on board in a hurry. The song then cashes in on those promises and then some. Eddie Van Halen rips off his first mesmerizing solo to seal the deal on this instant classic.

“And The Cradle Will Rock…” from ‘Women And Children First’ (1980)

In 1979, Van Halen chose the feel-good “Dance The Night Away” as the first single from Van Halen II. The gambit worked, as they landed in the Top 20 on the pop charts. But it also presented them as more of a pop band than they likely preferred. Perhaps that’s why, when they returned with Women And Children First a year later, they chose the unsparing “And The Cradle Will Rock…” as lead single. Even though it failed in that respect, coming up short of the Top 40, the song reestablished the bruising side of the band. That sound that you hear at the start is actually an effects-laden keyboard and not one of Eddie Van Halen’s guitars, although he finds plenty of room for them later in the song.

“Mean Street” from ‘Fair Warning’ (1981)

Van Halen never reached the point where they released an album focused on one prevailing sound throughout the entirety. That made their LPs somewhat of a rollercoaster, if only because their more lighthearted songs didn’t hold a candle to the ones with a harder edge. Fair Warning arguably comes closest to delivering their unrelenting side for an entire record. And it starts off with a doozy in “Mean Street”. Give some credit to the rhythm section of Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen for perpetuating a killer funk groove. David Lee Roth is also at his finest here with some sharp lyrics about learning to love the wrong side of the tracks.

“1985”/”Jump” from – ‘1984’ (1984)

We admit we’re cheating a little bit here. Technically, “1984” is the opener for the album of the same name and a separate song from “Jump”. But the two are mostly separated by only a brief pause, and “1984” is only a brief instrumental consisting of spaced-out synth chords. It serves as the perfect lead-in to the unforgettable synth riff that starts off “Jump”. Roth, of course, would leave after this album to go solo. It’s an interesting hypothetical what might have happened had the band continued the path forged by “Jump”, one in which they could sustain their hard rock credibility while still occasionally crossing over. As it turned out, “Jump” simply provided a glimpse of what that unit might have pursued going forward.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns