[Eternal Guitar Hero] Van Halen’s Classic and Popular Songs

Mean StreetVan Halen

Van Halen Mean Street

The opening track from their fourth album, Martial Law, released in 1981.

Right from the start, a distinctive guitar performance bursts forth, making full use of slap, tapping, and harmonics.

The style of the song could be called classic hard rock, but Dave’s vocals and the band’s playing during this period also carry a certain maturity and gravitas.

5150Van Halen

5150

How many guitarists in the world can generate this much drive with just the intro riff alone? And then comes the rich, full-bodied chord work that unfolds afterward.

Dropping the rhythm for the first verse, then surging back through the pre-chorus and chorus with racing rhythm and melody.

After pushing a synth-forward feel on their previous album, 1984, Van Halen intentionally arranged this track to spotlight the guitar, and Eddie’s guitar work absolutely shines.

It’s also the title track of the album 5150—pronounced “fifty-one fifty”—a name given to the private studio used by the Van Halen brothers.

Little GuitarsVan Halen

Van Halen – Little Guitars

Edward Van Halen is often spotlighted for his dazzling solo work, but his rhythm-guitar backing—grounded in his exceptional sense of time—is also rich with highlights.

In hard rock, an orthodox approach is a riff that weaves chord tones around single-note low-end lines, and Eddie often does this (his timing alone makes it compelling).

However, the backing you hear in this song falls well outside that category, mixed so prominently it nearly rivals the vocal in level.

That’s how fully it has been elevated into a defining element—a “face of the song”—that makes the track irresistibly catchy.

Spanish FlyVan Halen

Spanish Fly (2015 Remaster)

A short piece featuring a solo performance by Edward Van Halen, included on the second album, Van Halen II.

It can be considered a gut-string guitar version of Eruption, the instrumental on the previous album Van Halen that stunned the world.

Blending flamenco-style playing with Eddie’s signature tapping technique, it becomes a uniquely nationality-defying instrumental.

In Van Halen’s live shows, there’s a dedicated guitar solo section for Eddie, and this track is also used as one part of that expansive solo segment.

Pleasure DomeVan Halen

Van Halen – Pleasure Dome

A seven-minute epic track featured on the album “F@U#C%K.” From its striking guitar intro interwoven with harmonics to the explosive heavy groove that follows, the song takes a direction rarely seen from them until now.

In addition to the high-level guitar work, be sure to pay attention to the dramatic vocals that begin with spoken word.

316Van Halen

Van Halen – 316

A guitar piece Eddie wrote for his son, Wolfgang Van Halen, in honor of his birthday.

It’s a gentle composition without flashy playing or techniques, overflowing with the affection of a father toward his son—not as a “super guitar hero” famed worldwide, but as Wolfgang’s one and only dad.

Wolfgang would later join Van Halen as a member, but this track reveals a side of the musician Eddie Van Halen that feels purely like the relationship between parent and child, rather than that of bandmates.

TattooVan Halen

Van Halen – Tattoo

Tattoo, the first track on the album A Different Kind Of Truth, which was released about 14 years after 1998’s Van Halen III.

With a slower tempo, it delivers a hard-hitting sound.

The guitar solo is dramatic and cool!