I've listened to Diver Down 3 times in the last 2 days. I have almost 2 opinions of the record although they are some 25 years apart. I remember first getting this album back in the 80's....probably a few months after it first came out. It was different. Even as a kid I knew something was unique about this album. I was strangely drawn to it...and it created somewhat of a landscape in my mind I always enjoyed going to. I think all albums end up having a personality or attitude we perceive and are drawn to as we go back to it again and again...Diver Down at face value as a kid, was musically diverse with some stuff I probably didn't totally get...but I did love the record for those same exact characteristics. As I reflect on their albums I've always thought of Women and Children first as kind of a drunk sailor album it's very rebellious and I related to it quite well as a kid. Van Halen I is
the sound of the 70's hands down...that and Led Zeppelin IV. Fair Warning is a weekend in the Bowery where you might get your ass kicked. Van Halen II to me was always a love song album or like your first crush, it's sweet, light, and leaves a great feeling in your heart....and 1984 was the "my friends have changed" album..(not all change is bad) but 1984 to me (well beyond the introduction of keyboards) had a noticeable shift....if Van Halen was mom and dad...they weren't quite gelling like they were before....and I could feel the change....the strong structure had gotten more complex and clearly so had their relationship....again not all change is bad...and I'll write more about 1984 in a later post/
anyway....back to diver down now in 2012....I am older, wiser, been around the block not only as a person but a musician and artist. Diver Down is such a fantastic moment for Van Halen. It's the cream on the top of a fantastic 4 album run....this was such a natural and easy record or so it sounds. From Where Have All the Good Times Gone to Hang Em High, Dancing in the Streets to Little Guitars, Cathedral, Secrets, Big Bad Bill, The Full Bug, and on and on.
just listing the tracks my mind goes to happy places (or happy trails?) seriously....this album is like mind candy and it's like the best backyard barbeque, or wedding reception you've ever been too....just the house band happens to be Van Halen, and even their father at one point jumps on stage to join the boys on the record with Big Bad Bill...and finally as if we hadn't had the best evening of our lives already, we all end with a sing along. Happy Trails indeed./
It's a moment of magic, it's effortless, it sound so spontaneous and fun....it was the peak (and an unusual one at that) but really it encapsulates everything I think Van Halen was or would be....and that is high praise because it would be very easy to say VHI or really any of the previous records were stronger or had better songs....but this was a moment. a GREAT moment for one of the greatest party bands there ever will be.
and that's why I give Diver Down 5 stars.
my only criticism and it bugged me as a kid and still bugs me some 30 years later....why are the songs out of order on the back of the record?!! It seems the careless playful attitude of the record overflowed even onto the back cover, with the song titles just placed there in a random order...for some odd reason I never liked that.
the album although fun....deserved a proper track listing....it's just perplexing why the track order would be any different and it leaves a little question hanging in the air with that decision.
small nit pick...but it's there for me.
great packaging too...lots of pics, some great live shots on the back...and that stinking and so CALIFORNIA inspired cover with Diving being such a HUGE trend in the early 80's here on the west coast.
and with that...I think I will put it back on for a 4th spin and get back to the party.
!