Van Halen

An often overlooked classic in Van Halen's catalogue, Women & Children First is their third record and finds the band solidifying their pristine sound even as they grow beyond the party-band image of their first two albums. A strong set of songs and the usual stellar performances marked by "And the Cradle Will Rock…" and "Everybody Wants Some!!!"

Fans insist that it never went away. Critics wish it would. But heavy metal, that belligerent
bastard son of American blues and macho English rock-star attitudes, is back. It's also
bigger, louder and–hard as this may be to believe–better than ever, rising to punk-rock's
challenge by adding some new risks to the old riffs. With an average age of eighteen, the
five members of Def Leppard are barely old enough to remember the first Neand... More >

Eddie VH's quicksilver whomp earns the Hendrix comparisons, and he's no clone--he's faster, colder, more structural. David Lee Roth adds a wild-ass sophistication to the usual macho--no mortal arena singer would even think of the goofy country blues takeoff that provides the title. But the message of the music isn't the exuberance of untrammeled skill, it's the arrogance of unchallenged mastery. Without being pompous about it, which is a plus, these guys show as little feeling for their zonked, hopelessly adoring fans as Queen. They're kings of the hill and we're not. (Grade - B)