Van Halen Diver Down Song by Song Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Zoot Marimba, Dec 31, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Happy Trails: Another filler song, in my humble opinion, but very palatable. VH shows off their vocal harmonization abilities. The song serves as a "sign-off" and I love the laughs at the end. They put an explanation point on this being a fun summer-time jam of an album.
     
  2. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia
    not sure if I missed commenting on a song but i'll comment on happy trails

    -happy trails- unlike some of the other covers on this album I actually really enjoy this as a way to end the album. the harmonies are nice
     
    TexasBuck likes this.
  3. Love me some Happy Trails. The genius of this is that they perform it pretty well, but they leave in some laughter (or forced it in). The song burnishes their credentials as the premier party band of the early 80s, but it simultaneously asks them to be taken seriously. This and Big Bad Bill showed they were capable of much wider range than almost any other metal or hard rock band of the era. It was a gauntlet.
     
  4. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    I think it's interesting that it's on the demo. Because it shows that this kind of thing was always a part of what Van Halen were as band.
     
    Jimmy B., redsock, Oliver and 3 others like this.
  5. UncleHalsey

    UncleHalsey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    Great thread. Thanks Musicman1998!

    :D
     
  6. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    No problem whatsoever
     
    UncleHalsey and Matthew Tate like this.
  7. ChrisScooter1

    ChrisScooter1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, GA
    Sorry guys, I know the thread has come to an end, I had a busy weekend....My closing thoughts...

    "The Full Bug" -- Another one of VH's acoustic blues intro, launching into a full throttle hard rock boogie, but probably my favorite (although Ice Cream Man will always be a quintessential VH cut for me). Has some of my fave DLR swagger lyrics and vibe along with some of Alex's tastiest double kick shuffle work. The little breakdown from Ed's solo into the harmonica would re-surface in "Hot For Teacher." I like how this track brings some middle America vibe to the boogie...Ed' pick squeals (and even his looser, more fuzzed out Marshall tone) sounds a lot like Billy Gibbons. Not sure if it was intentional, but this track has some "Tres Hombres" stank on it. And while the harmonica solo is no match for Little Walter, Dave's solo is pretty cool and shows some of VH's Cream influence.

    I did not know the backstory to the slang term the title alludes to. I never quite understood what the title had to do with anything on the song...I just thought it was a cool title. This is one of those influences Dave brought to VH that would be sorely missing from the Hagar VH. Only Dave would pick up on that kinda of stuff and bring it to the band.

    "Happy Trails" -- Silly, but an effective way to end this thrown together hodge podge of an album. Of course, I'd heard it before on the 45 released prior to the album. I could take or leave it these days, but at the time, the humor and novelty of the track was a favorite of mine as a budding adolescent. It can still get a laugh if one throws it into party playlist.

    Lasting impressions -- Like I said in my first post, it was fun to re-visit an album that meant so much to me at the time of release. When you think of it, not counting the Ed guitar pieces and Happy Trails, there are (4) legit originals and (4) cover tunes. Of the 4 originals, 3 of them rank right up there with some of their best work, even though "Full Bug" breaks no new ground. I think "Hang 'Em High" with more work, could have been one of their best and could be viewed as rather groundbreaking in a proto speed metal vein. "Secrets" and "Little Guitars" could have paved the way for some future more interesting work with a unique pop appeal, but (in my mind) nothing on 1984 built on the musical success of these two tunes. 1984 would have its own unique and successful appeal.

    Of the 4 cover tunes, 2 are legitimately inspired ("Intruder/Pretty Woman" and "Dancing...") and another simply fun ("Big Bad Bill"). "Where Have All..." is a bore to me...an uninspired re-hash of the "let's get another hit with a dirt simple Kinks song". The only person who seems to be into it is Dave and to my ears, it smacks of Ted Templeman's "...hey, I got an idea for a hit rekkid..." vibe. I get visions in my head of Templeman looking like Christopher Walken as "Bruce Dickinson" trying to convince the fellas to trust him and Ed's not buying it.

    The guitar pieces are nothing special to me and I wish Ed would have hung on to them to be used for full songs.

    Still love the record, many of the tracks show up in my VH fave playlists, but if I had discovered it in the age of iTunes, I could have purchased half of it and wouldn't have missed out on anything.
     
  8. Mike Reynolds

    Mike Reynolds Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    I'm already on the record saying that Diver Down is better than most think, and here's why:

    There are 12 separate tracks on the album. Two of those tracks ("Cathedral" and "Little Guitars") are uninteresting intros that are better left off the album. So let's do just that, shall we? Ok, now we're getting somewhere. Now we're down to a more familiar ten full songs (total time notwithstanding). From this point on, though, I think the album suffers from "Track Sequence-itis". Everyone has their favorites among the remakes and the new material, but the overall continuity on Diver Down just seems inconsistent and sporadic to me. So (as Tim Allen liked to say), "I rewired it, heh, heh, heh!" And in doing so, here's what I came up with -- followed by "why":

    Side 1
    Where Have All The Good Times Gone?
    Dancing In The Street
    Intruder
    Oh, Pretty Woman
    Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now
    -------------------------
    Total Time (14.01)

    Side 2
    Hang 'Em High
    The Full Bug
    Little Guitars
    Secrets
    Happy Trails
    -------------------------
    Total Time (15.21)

    If you look at this resequenced album now, Side 1 has the three radio-friendly hit songs strung together ("Where Have All The Good Times Gone?", "Dancing In The Street" and "Oh, Pretty Woman") that all flow together nicely, and Side 2 now has the two hard rockers back-to-back ("Hang 'Em High and "The Full Bug") as well as the two mid-tempo songs ("Little Guitars" and "Secrets") back-to-back which I feel makes for better continuity -- especially considering there are no intros to bog down the flow on Side 2.

    Also... the two fun remakes on the album "Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now" and "Happy Trails" (both of which I've always liked) now end both sides 1 and 2, which I think adds a little more balance to the album.

    So, look at the revised track listing above and tell me what's not to like about it? I personally like this much, much better than the album version. Any thoughts or comments from the Van Halen faithful here?
     
    hiterss likes this.
  9. ian christopher

    ian christopher Argentina (in Spirit)

    Location:
    El Centro
    in the minority in that I prefer this album to 1984, and hold it nearly as high as Fair Warning.

    Much to catch up on though - didn't know this thread existed!

    Van Halen never carried such a wide array of emotions across an entire album - before or since.

    Tied with the debut and Women and Children First (and just behind II and Fair Warning) as my 3rd favorite "Diamond Dave" era albums.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine