Summertime’s almost here babe, and Classic Rock Magazine already has something to keep things cool. They’ve listed the 50 best Van Halen songs that make up the ultimate American party soundtrack.
At the top of the list is the only song we can think of that would want a kid to go to summer school – “Hot For Teacher.” Here’s what they had to say about the song and Eddie Van Halen’s super hot solo:
A quintessential classic Van Halen song must have several crucial elements: thundering drums, rumbling bass that is felt more than heard, an outrageously cocky vocal performance, a killer guitar riff, and an acrobatic guitar solo with more thrills and spills than Evel Knievel jumping 25 explosive-filled cars with a dirt bike and a fifth of Jack Daniel’s.
Hot For Teacher delivers all of these elements and then some, making it the definitive Van Halen song. The song begins with a bang, with Alex Van Halen pummelling a rapid-fire intro that sounds more like a dragster warming up for a race than a drum kit. Eddie kicks the dynamics up a notch, furiously tapping his Flying V’s fretboard before blasting off into power-chord overdrive. The song’s real appeal, however, lies in its infectious nitro-fuelled boogie-blues shuffle, which sounds like ZZ Top juiced on meth and Viagra.
“That song was beyond any boogie I ever heard,” Eddie recalled, “it was pretty powerful.” DLR walks a tightrope between macho metal posturing and tongue-in-cheek humour, making a possibly obscene scenario seem absurd. Eddie’s solo is pure excitement, distinguished by dazzling ascending runs and a loose, flowing feel that makes even his most challenging passages sound effortless and unforced. The boisterous climax, lifted from the band’s 1977 demo of Voodoo Queen, is an aural orgasm that probably left most first-time listeners shouting “Oh my god!” in weak-kneed unison with Roth.
Read the rest of Classic Rock‘s article HERE to Find out which songs make numbers 2 through 50!
NOTE: The above-linked article attributed to Classic Rock magazine at loudersound.com originally appeared in Guitar World magazine’s April 2012 issue and was written by the US-based Guitar World magazine editorial staff.”