The first record with Hagar is unexpected insubstantial FUN above all else, without the showy tension that marked the DLR albums. This would quickly wear thin, but right here right now not only did the band and the fans love it, but the album went straight to #1.
Following the darkest, most serious album in VH's career to date, the release of a cover version of "(Oh) Pretty Woman" as a single in early 1982 prompted the band to throw together Diver Down in the space of two weeks, which became the least substantial record in the band's career, yet much like the single rocketed up the charts. This was the original Attack of the Killer B's, so eat your heart out, Anthrax…except that everyone in Van Halen - minus Dave - thought it was D-level material. But the band was on such a roll that their D-league material was still really entertaining. By no means is it substantial, but it is short run-time wise (a stark 31 minutes), and a real grab bag of cheap tricks, no pun intended.
The VH fan's fan go-to record. It sounds a bit like the preceding efforts, but much darker in mood, and very much dominated by Eddie's mercurial artistic whims. Plus, it's rather brief! But definitely impactful, even though commercially it was buried next to the surrounding albums.
The supreme irony of this wonderfully packaged retelling of the old American Football League's existence throughout the 1960's is just how of much of a debt current day professional football - and even the filmmakers themselves - owe to the grizzled subject matter on-screen. A mesmerizing five-hour odyssey.
