Author Topic: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)  (Read 26667 times)

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Online WilliamMunny

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #875 on: May 22, 2022, 06:34:30 PM »
Man, this was so much fun! Thank you to everyone who got involved.

I'm probably gonna skip Maiden (my favorite album being Brave New World should probably disqualify me), but I'm excited to do this again. Honestly, I think Metallica would be a super interesting choice.

Offline pg1067

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #876 on: May 22, 2022, 08:01:06 PM »
Unchained is my favorite VH song.

Had I done this set of rankings, I think Ain't Talkin' wouldn't have made my top 10.

Although I only participated with an occasional comment, thanks again to Kev for doing these!
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Online Stadler

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #877 on: May 23, 2022, 07:40:09 AM »

I put a Fair Warning track in my Top 5 and it didn't even make the Top 50 countdown!!! :lol

Ditto

Not Top 5, but I had TWO in my top 10 (Sinner's Swing at #7, Dirty Movies at #9).

5. Mean Street - I had this at #36
4. Hot for Teacher - I had this at #78   GREAT video, not really a great SONG. It's fun, it's Van Halen, but there are better SONGS.
3. Unchained - I had this at #21.  Just a classic VH song in every way.

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #878 on: May 23, 2022, 07:42:31 AM »
HOF is a good sport, so I am sure he won't mind me sharing this:

He had six songs from Van Halen III in his top 50 that no one else ranked in their top 50.

But hey, we all like what we like.  :tup :tup

He must be f-----' with us.   11 of my BOTTOM 14 songs were from III.   "Without You" is the only song I thought had ANY chance of making the cut.

Online Stadler

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #879 on: May 23, 2022, 07:47:35 AM »
2. Dreams -  I had this at #62.   Good song, but I'm struggling to see how it's overall number 2. 
1. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love - I had it at #16, but I totally get this.  I'm totally fine with this at number 1.


Kev, amazing job, and a shit ton of fun all around.  I'm doing my "Maiden Listening Party" now, so I'll be all ready for that one!

(If you need help developing the song list, let me know; start thinking about the "covers" question, since Maiden has a bunch of b-sides that are technically covers - not written by the band -  but aren't really well-known songs and in fact in some cases were never actually released on others' albums).

Online HOF

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #880 on: May 23, 2022, 08:04:14 AM »
HOF is a good sport, so I am sure he won't mind me sharing this:

He had six songs from Van Halen III in his top 50 that no one else ranked in their top 50.

But hey, we all like what we like.  :tup :tup

He must be f-----' with us.   11 of my BOTTOM 14 songs were from III.   "Without You" is the only song I thought had ANY chance of making the cut.

I've explained this several times in this thread. I love III, and it is probably my favorite VH album. It's at least the one I've listened to most in my lifetime. There are other albums with higher peaks (5150, For Unlawful), and Balance gives it a run in terms of consistency, but III is really strong all the way through. Yes, it's an unusual album from VH, but that's a big part of it's draw for me. I really connected with it from the time it came out, and I still love it.

Online Stadler

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #881 on: May 23, 2022, 08:35:09 AM »
HOF is a good sport, so I am sure he won't mind me sharing this:

He had six songs from Van Halen III in his top 50 that no one else ranked in their top 50.

But hey, we all like what we like.  :tup :tup

He must be f-----' with us.   11 of my BOTTOM 14 songs were from III.   "Without You" is the only song I thought had ANY chance of making the cut.

I've explained this several times in this thread. I love III, and it is probably my favorite VH album. It's at least the one I've listened to most in my lifetime. There are other albums with higher peaks (5150, For Unlawful), and Balance gives it a run in terms of consistency, but III is really strong all the way through. Yes, it's an unusual album from VH, but that's a big part of it's draw for me. I really connected with it from the time it came out, and I still love it.

I know; I'm just bustin' on ya.   That's one of the few albums in my collection where I agree with the notion of "they should have changed the name".  Knowing what I know of VH and Extreme (who I also love), that album is a disappointment.  I wish I could hear it, listen to it, without that baggage of knowing VH and Extreme, but I can't.   It doesn't have - for me - the hallmarks of what makes those bands great (with the exception of "Without You").

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #882 on: May 23, 2022, 09:02:50 AM »
HOF is a good sport, so I am sure he won't mind me sharing this:

He had six songs from Van Halen III in his top 50 that no one else ranked in their top 50.

But hey, we all like what we like.  :tup :tup

He must be f-----' with us.   11 of my BOTTOM 14 songs were from III.   "Without You" is the only song I thought had ANY chance of making the cut.

I've explained this several times in this thread. I love III, and it is probably my favorite VH album. It's at least the one I've listened to most in my lifetime. There are other albums with higher peaks (5150, For Unlawful), and Balance gives it a run in terms of consistency, but III is really strong all the way through. Yes, it's an unusual album from VH, but that's a big part of it's draw for me. I really connected with it from the time it came out, and I still love it.

I know; I'm just bustin' on ya.   That's one of the few albums in my collection where I agree with the notion of "they should have changed the name".  Knowing what I know of VH and Extreme (who I also love), that album is a disappointment.  I wish I could hear it, listen to it, without that baggage of knowing VH and Extreme, but I can't.   It doesn't have - for me - the hallmarks of what makes those bands great (with the exception of "Without You").

I'm not one of those people who says a band has to constantly be reinventing themselves or exploring new styles, but I do admire when musicians are willing to branch out and try new things. I love that Eddie made a different album at this stage in his career. I just hate that it was basically the last new thing he ever made. I was 15 when this album came out and really getting into music for the first time, so I know that's one reason it had a bigger impact on me than most fans. I definitely knew lots of VH stuff at that point between the radio and my brother being a big fan, but this was something really interesting and different and exciting to me. And I think it holds up almost 25 years later (yikes, has it been that long?). I get not liking it because it doesn't sound like classic VH. I don't quite get not liking it on its own merits, because there is some really cool stuff there. 

Offline Dream Team

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #883 on: May 23, 2022, 12:07:09 PM »
Eh, it's just one of those things - different times, different perspectives. We can't understand why you don't like the Roth stuff more, but certainly no need to keep beating on this horse I guess.

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #884 on: May 23, 2022, 12:19:39 PM »
Eh, it's just one of those things - different times, different perspectives. We can't understand why you don't like the Roth stuff more, but certainly no need to keep beating on this horse I guess.

Yeah, I realize I’m outside of the norm here. I can understand people who are Roth era fans first and foremost. I’m the same way with DT. I love their stuff through FII, a little bit less with SFAM and SDOIT, and then after that I just don’t really bother much. So I understand what it’s like being in on a band near the start and not feeling it once things start to drift in another direction. VH’s aesthetic did shift somewhat with Hagar, and then it’s even more different once you get to III. I’ve just always been more fond of the direction from Hagar on.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #885 on: May 23, 2022, 05:29:34 PM »
Eh, it's just one of those things - different times, different perspectives. We can't understand why you don't like the Roth stuff more, but certainly no need to keep beating on this horse I guess.

Yeah, I realize I’m outside of the norm here. I can understand people who are Roth era fans first and foremost. I’m the same way with DT. I love their stuff through FII, a little bit less with SFAM and SDOIT, and then after that I just don’t really bother much. So I understand what it’s like being in on a band near the start and not feeling it once things start to drift in another direction. VH’s aesthetic did shift somewhat with Hagar, and then it’s even more different once you get to III. I’ve just always been more fond of the direction from Hagar on.

All good by me. I loved III when it came out and was convinced it was one of their best albums ever (the new car smell was strong with me at first :lol), but I wised up sooner rather than later.  I still don't think it's the disaster that many do, but I do think every VH album not named Diver Down is better than it.

Online HOF

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #886 on: May 23, 2022, 06:46:18 PM »
Eh, it's just one of those things - different times, different perspectives. We can't understand why you don't like the Roth stuff more, but certainly no need to keep beating on this horse I guess.

Yeah, I realize I’m outside of the norm here. I can understand people who are Roth era fans first and foremost. I’m the same way with DT. I love their stuff through FII, a little bit less with SFAM and SDOIT, and then after that I just don’t really bother much. So I understand what it’s like being in on a band near the start and not feeling it once things start to drift in another direction. VH’s aesthetic did shift somewhat with Hagar, and then it’s even more different once you get to III. I’ve just always been more fond of the direction from Hagar on.

All good by me. I loved III when it came out and was convinced it was one of their best albums ever (the new car smell was strong with me at first :lol), but I wised up sooner rather than later.  I still don't think it's the disaster that many do, but I do think every VH album not named Diver Down is better than it.

I mentioned this before, but the album that I gained the most new appreciation for doing this exercise is Diver Down.

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #887 on: May 23, 2022, 06:55:33 PM »
This exercise further solidified how sucky Diver Down is. :lol
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline bl5150

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #888 on: May 23, 2022, 07:05:11 PM »
This exercise further solidified how sucky Diver Down is. :lol

In context - an album that was reluctantly slapped together by the band over a few weeks to meet demands from Warner Bros for an album to support the unexpectedly successful Pretty Woman single - I think it was pretty damn good.  To be honest I was surprised songs like The Full Bug , Secrets and Hang Em High didn't do better.   All were well within my Top 50.

Anyway............thanks Kev for running the show.
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Offline WardySI

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #889 on: May 24, 2022, 05:10:42 AM »
131 points for Outta Space??  :lol

I know, right? It should have had twice as many!

+1

Best song off ADKOT and absolutely should've made this 50  ;) otherwise chuffed with the final 2 results had Ain't Talkin at #11 and Dreams at #4 so no complaints here.

And completely on board regards III, even though after the lead single expected more was still a solid album just for long time fans it paled in comparison to both eras that came before it...

A most enjoyable run thanks Kev much appreciated \m/

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #890 on: May 24, 2022, 06:34:04 AM »
This exercise further solidified how sucky Diver Down is. :lol
Diver Down is good.  A bit lazy, for sure, given the number of covers, but if you didn't know they were covers, it's mostly an album full of solid music. 
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Offline Cool Chris

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Re: Official top 50 Van Halen songs thread!! (Countdown has begun!!)
« Reply #891 on: May 24, 2022, 08:39:49 PM »
I had no idea what #1 would be, but am happy with the outcome, Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love is in my Top 5. Never would have pegged Dreams so high, easily the biggest shock for me in the Top 20.

Did any of our resident stat geeks calculate the points based on album?
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