Everybody Wants Some!!

After two pure party albums, the inevitable had to happen: it was time for Van Halen to mature, or at least get a little serious. And so, Women and Children First, a record where the group started to get heavier, both sonically and, to a lesser extent, thematically, changing the feel of the band ever so slightly…

Just like any musical movement, when such glam metal pretty boys as Poison and Ratt hit the big time in the late '80s, numerous copycat acts followed in their path; one being Danger Danger. Like the aforementioned bands, the quintet – Ted Poley (vocals), Andy Timmons (guitar), Bruno Ravel (bass), Steve West (drums), and Kasey Smith (keyboards) – mixed pop hooks and good looks with hard-edged guitar riffs, landing a deal with Epic in 1989. The same year saw the release of the group's self-titled debut, spawning the single/video "Naughty Naughty," which enjoyed a few airings on MTV's Headbanger's Ball program. The album failed to break the group through to the big time, but the group stuck to their guns and issued further albums: 1992's Screw It, 1995's Dawn, 1998's Four the Hard Way, and 2000's Return of the Great.

With their 1978 eponymous debut, Van Halen simultaneously rewrote the rules of rock guitar and hard rock in general. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen redefined what the electric guitar could do, developing a blindingly fast technique with a variety of self-taught two-handed tapping, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and effects that mimicked the sounds of machines and animals.

The fifth full-length from singer Inara George and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin, Interpreting the Masters, Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen both sheds new light on the glory of classic VH and further proves the playful brilliance of the bird and the bee. The album follows Interpreting the Masters, Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates, a 2010 release hailed as “wink-free pop bliss” by Entertainment Weekly. This time around, George and Kurstin find common ground with their source material in a shared affinity for fantastically intricate rhythms, unforgettable melodies, and—most essentially—a certain ecstatic spirit imbued into every song.

From A Live FM Radio Broadcast Recorded At The Capital Centre, Landover, MD, 11th October 1982.