Van Halen: Women and Children First (1980) Song by Song

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by GodShifter, Nov 30, 2017.

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  1. ian christopher

    ian christopher Argentina (in Spirit)

    Location:
    El Centro
    Their album art and pastel colour themes lead many to believe that E/Z is more glam/image conscious than musically conscious - they're a bit above the average hair metal band at least vocally and in songwriting if not in guitar chops.
     
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  2. Cooks420

    Cooks420 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    ... Power ballads? Skid Row’s “Slave” features three, and they ALL reign supreme?
     
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  3. ian christopher

    ian christopher Argentina (in Spirit)

    Location:
    El Centro
    Great album, it was nice to hear 3-4 songs from Slave when Skid Row opened for Van Halen on the Balance (1995) tour.
     
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  4. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Simple Rhyme may be Van Halen's most musically ambitious song with the tempo changes and complex harmonies. It's a bit of a curve ball from the band. I can't really think of a VH song that is similar. (Little Guitars perhaps?) Simple Rhyme works especially well as a closer. Great finish to a great album.
     
  5. I vote for FW. It's apparently the overall fan favourite (after the first album), it's the closest they came to a concept album, it stands out from the rest of the catalog as a relatively dark album, it's the album that most clearly demonstrates sonically the attention DLR was paying to the punk scene. All of these being good points for discussion/argument!
     
  6. dadonred

    dadonred Life’s done you wrong so I wrote you all this song

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    I’d go Fair Warning, mix it up with great and not so great :hide:
    VHII would be another great one “too soon.”
    It’s been decades since I revisited FW. Wow!
     
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  7. dadonred

    dadonred Life’s done you wrong so I wrote you all this song

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    I stopped at Fair Warning but should have stopped at Diver Down.
     
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  8. npgchris

    npgchris Forum Resident

    With your avatar, I would have guessed you'd have gone farther than I did! :laugh:

    :cheers:

    On a completely different note, why in the heck is there a "plankton" smilie on this message board??? :-plnktn-:

    (Is it supposed to be a Spongebob Squarepants reference?)

    We now return you to the Van Halen WACF thread!
     
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  9. dadonred

    dadonred Life’s done you wrong so I wrote you all this song

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Everything you’ve said on this thread I think I’ve agreed with in triplicate!
     
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  10. dadonred

    dadonred Life’s done you wrong so I wrote you all this song

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Yeah, I was wondering if someone would point that out. FW was too different, dark for me. Although I did see them on that tour too. For me, the best part of that tour was that he added Cathedral during his solo. I don’t know if you can imagine the shear joy of hearing that before it was released, the magical 360 degree sound in the auditorium and just watching him work that volume knob. I was awe-struck. But I moved on to Rush, Journey, The Police heavy in 82-83. I have no regrets. And I really didn’t like the Sammy thing.
     
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  11. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I really like Could This Be Magic? Great little tune. Any time Eddie plays an acoustic it's a treat. I also think the band's underrated for this kind of song.
     
  12. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    Okay, we’re going to do Fair Warning. I’ll start it tomorrow. Kewl?
     
  13. dadonred

    dadonred Life’s done you wrong so I wrote you all this song

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Tres kewl
     
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  14. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia

    thank you. thas my favorite VH album
     
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  15. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia

    agreed. they were more like a cross between the beatles, cheap trick and a hint of poison
     
  16. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia
    -in a simple rhyme- guess its just me but compared to the closing tracks on the bands first 2 albums this one left me a bit cold. I like the song. I just don't think its a closer but then again side b is so wacky I guess it fits
     
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  17. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    I'm not a huge Van Halen fan, but I enjoyed reading and following this thread...I haven't actually heard Women And Children First since high school, took me back a bit...all I really remember about the LP is "Everybody Wants Some!!"
    Fair Warning! It's always been my favourite of theirs...
    Hell, it's the only VH album I actually own nowadays (on vinyl, no less)
    Very kewl!:righton:
     
  18. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia

    fair warning seems to be a favorite for a lot of people
     
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  19. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Don't ask me why. I mean I've heard everything except for the dreaded Van Halen III, but Fair Warning is the only album of theirs that's stuck with me all these years.
     
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  20. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    For me, In a Simple Rhyme is the best song on the album, and one of the best Van Halen songs ever. The band is incredible on this. Just a tour de force. All four guys tear it up. Dave rips the vocals, Mike rips the bass, and Alex rips the drums. Eddie's solo is one of my favorites, and the rhythm guitar right after the solo is just smokin'. As Dave would say, "It's a stellar production." I love the ending, as well. Very cool heavy riff. Just a great, great song.
     
  21. pool_of_tears

    pool_of_tears Searching For Simplicity

    Location:
    Midwest
    Si
     
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  22. pool_of_tears

    pool_of_tears Searching For Simplicity

    Location:
    Midwest
    And such an underrated song, too.
     
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  23. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia

    VHIII is not that bad. its actually pretty good. first off to me the main issue is the production is garbage compared to any other VH album. very thin sounding. next up the closing track with EVH singing the lead is terrible and needs to be dropped. also "from afar" should be dropped and replaced with "that's why I love you" which was a song dropped at the last second from the album for a different song. finally several of the others songs like "once", "year to the day" and "Josephina" are way too long. actually almost every song could have at least 1 minute chopped but the 3 I mentioned just drag on. the album is about 65 minutes long and I'd say it needed to be closer to 50 minutes. dropping the final song , replacing "from afar" with "thats why i love you" and chopping another 6-7 minutes worth of music from the remaining songs would have made a huge difference.
     
  24. RelayerNJ

    RelayerNJ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Whippany, NJ
    What?? I didn't know this got started! I've worked on some of the solos over the years, if any gunslingers here want to share their experiences.

    ...AND THE CRADLE WILL ROCK

    A fun one, and one of Ed's more accessible tunes to play (not that it's easy, just in relation to some of the other VH gems). As always, very tasty playing and very imaginative rhythm work.

     
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  25. Good2BAnywhere

    Good2BAnywhere Forum Resident

    Is that you Eddie Trunk?
     
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