History Music / VanHalen

* SiameseTwinSongs: "Eruption/You Really Got Me", "Intruder/Pretty Woman" and "Sunday Afternoon in the Park/One Foot Out the Door".

* MinisculeRocking: Their first albums with Dave were unusually short, usually in the slightly above 30 minutes mark (''Fair Warning'' is the shortest, at 30:58 total[[note]]bear in mind, though, that this length was within an LP's standards, wherein it could be filled with less songs than a CD, and if one had around 40 minutes, it would start to be considered EpicRocking[[/note]]). This era also gave us their shortest song, "Tora! Tora!" from ''Women and Children First'', barely clocking in at 0:57. Once Dave left and Sammy came onboard, at the same time as vinyls were being overtaken by [=CDs=], their album lengths immediately took a sudden jump (contrast: ''1984'' = 33:17, ''5150'' = 43:02) and actually continued to increase with every album until ''Van Halen III'' peaked at 65:18. Dave's return seems to have brought the songs back to a more "manageable", 2-4 minute length; in fact, the longest song on ''A Different Kind of Truth'' is [[LongestSongGoesLast closer]] "Beats Workin'", at only 5:02 (though, with 13 tracks, the album runs at 49:58, i.e. falling just two seconds short of the 50-minute mark).

A few years after leaving the band, Hagar and Anthony formed Music/{{Chickenfoot}} with Music/JoeSatriani and [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers Chad Smith]]. More recently, Hagar and Anthony have been playing with [[Music/LedZeppelin Jason Bonham]] and Hagar’s longtime guitarist Vic Johnson in a band called Sammy Hagar and The Circle.

* CanaryInACoalMine: As described in SecretTest below, this was the true purpose behind the infamous "No brown [=M&Ms=]" clause in their tour rider. Finding said candies backstage indicated the rider had not been read thoroughly, and was an almost sure sign that other requirements - ones critical to the safety of the band, crew, and fans - had also been overlooked.

* GenreRoulette: Roth-era Van Halen had an interesting tendency to mix and match various genres with it's own style - for some examples, "Jamie's Cryin' " has a Latin dance groove, "I'm the One" is a sped-up jazz swing type deal, "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love" was their attempt at parodying a punk song, "Spanish Fly" is basically an improvised classical piece and "Push Comes To Shove" is a reggae rock/jazz funk hybrid.

* GenreRoulette: Roth-era Van Halen had an interesting tendency to mix and match various genres with it's own style - for some examples, "Jamie's Cryin" has a Latin dance groove, "I'm the One" is a sped-up jazz swing type deal, "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love" was their attempt at parodying a punk song, "Spanish Fly" is basically an improvised classical piece and "Push Comes To Shove" is a reggae rock/jazz funk hybrid.

* EpicRocking: Their albums as a whole began to experience this after Dave left -- see the note below under MinisculeRocking. As for specific examples: the longest Dave-era song was "Fools" from ''Women and Children First'', at 5:55. Their first song to actually break the five-minute mark was "Cabo Wabo" from ''[=OU812=]'', at 7:04. ''Carnal Knowledge'' had "Pleasure Dome" (6:57) and "In 'n' Out" (6:05). ''Balance'' had "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" (5:56) and "Feelin'" (6:36). ''Van Halen III'' has the most, with: "Without You" (6:30), "Once" (7:42), "Year to the Day" (8:34, their longest official song) and "How Many Say I" (6:04).

-->I do not refuse it.\\

* SecretTest: The band's infamous 1982 tour rider request that no brown M&M's be included in their backstage bowl of M&M's or the band would not perform. The request was not intended to be self-indulgent or eccentric, but was instead proof that the promoters had thoroughly read the rest of their rider, which included important information about safety, security, lighting and ticketing. If they found brown M&M's, they had a reason to believe that the promoter was inattentive, because if such a small request had been glossed over, then other more important things also had; as a result, they would have reason to demand that the venue inspect and/or redo the setup, or could just refuse to play altogether if the venue balked. This was [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the band after a number of near-misses caused by promoters [[NoOSHACompliance not adhering to health and safety requirements that resulted in damaged equipment and members of the road crew very nearly being electrocuted on several occasions]], and their concert preparations were so cumbersome they were rather reluctant to tour outside the USA at various points (see the "Mis-Blamed" entry at the YMMV page for one such example).

-->"Music/{{Creedence|ClearwaterRevival}} told me. Music/{{Tina|Turner}} sold me. At first I was unconvinced. Been rollin' on that river ever since."

If Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} had Eddie Van Halen as their guitarist and a hyperactive, insane combination of Music/FreddieMercury and Music/RonnieJamesDio as their frontman (Music/DavidLeeRoth). And Eddie's brother on drums. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And the bassist.]] Probably the most fun HardRock band you'll ever hear. They even got their own VideoGame/GuitarHero game!

* GeniusDitz: According to Noel Monk, the band's manager during the Roth years, Eddie was a godlike guitarist, a skilled songwriter, and a talented gadgeteer (see above), but hopelessly naive in most other areas (such as basic sex ed--at one point he was concerned that a woman who had given him a blow job might have become pregnant as a result).

->''"Nobody rules these streets at night but me! NOBODY!\\
'''THE ATOMIC PUNK!'''"''

* ''For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge'' (1991) ([[FunWithAcronyms geddit?]])

After being seen by two Creator/WarnerBrosRecords executives at a concert, the band got a contract with WB and started working on its debut album. [[RecordProducer Produced]] by Ted Templeman (who stayed with the band for its first six albums), ''Van Halen'' became a smash success thanks to the combination of Eddie's hyperactive, lightning-fast fretwork and Dave's flamboyant, {{Large Ham}}my [[TheAce Ace]] persona. It contained a few classic songs, such as the band's headbanging cover of "You Really Got Me" by Music/TheKinks, the ImageSong "Runnin' with the Devil" and Eddie's mindblowing solo "Eruption". They toured nearly a year in support of the album, notably opening for Music/BlackSabbath and completely blowing them out of the water in a time when Sabbath was going through their first DorkAge. While rock music itself was in a DorkAge at a time when disco was still dominant (if you believe the old narrative), Van Halen is seen as one of the bands that stopped it from collapsing under its own weight (along with, you guessed it, PunkRock, natch)[[note]]you could even say they co-opted Punk Rock, thus preventing the genre from taking over the mainstream (at least for a time)[[/note]].

* LicensedGame: ''VideoGame/GuitarHero: Van Halen''

* MundaneMadeAwesome: The extended tapping leads that made Eddie a legend and revolutionized lead guitar playing are really just simple arpeggios, a very basic and conventional technique usually reserved for mellow rhythm playing. By playing them entirely on one string instead of three or four and pumping them up with heavy overdrive and phase shifting a very mundane sound was transformed into something that barely sounded like guitar.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Eddie named his son Wolfgang after Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart; Eddie's middle name, Lodewijk, is a Dutch language translation of Ludwig, coming from Music/LudwigVanBeethoven.
* NobodyLovesTheBassist: By the Nineties, this was hitting Mike pretty hard -- most of the bass in ''III'' was done by Eddie. Later, Mike only joined the Van Hagar reunion in 2004 because Sammy insisted and despite Eddie not wanting him there, and then on the new tracks of ''Best of Both Worlds'' he only did backing vocals (Eddie had already played bass).

Describe Van Halen here.

Describe Van Halen here. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4Czx8EWXb0 (Guitar Solo)]]

(Drum Solo)

(Guitar Solo)

----

([[TheStinger Guitar Solo]])

* TheEighties: Though they rose to prominence in 1978, Van Halen set the tone for the final UsefulNotes/ColdWar decade possibly better than anyone else.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Eddie named his son Wolfgang after Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart; Eddie's middle name, Lodewijk, is a Dutch language translation of Ludwig, coming from Music/LudwigVonBeethoven.

-->Told you I was coming back
-->Say you missed me
-->Say it like you mean it.

* SecretTest: The band's infamous 1982 tour rider request that no brown [=M&Ms=] be included in their backstage bowl of M&M's or the band would not perform. The request was not intended to be self-indulgent or eccentric, but was instead proof that the promoters had thoroughly read the rest of their rider, which included important information about safety, security, lighting and ticketing. If they found brown [=M&Ms=], they had a reason to believe that the promoter was inattentive, because if such a small request had been glossed over, then other more important things also had; as a result, they would have reason to demand that the venue inspect and/or redo the setup, or could just refuse to play altogether if the venue balked. This was [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the band after a number of near-misses caused by promoters [[NoOSHACompliance not adhering to health and safety requirements that resulted in damaged equipment and members of the road crew very nearly being electrocuted on several occasions]], and their concert preparations were so cumbersome they were rather reluctant to tour outside the USA at various points (see the "Mis-Blamed" entry at the YMMV page for one such example).

--> And I know what I got to do
--> Hey, Ray, what you said is true, ooh
--> I can't stop lovin' you

** Diamond Dave sounds like a mix of a 60's soul singer and a classic rock singer - only the latter of which shows in his appearance.

(Guitar Solo)

-->-- "'''Atomic Punk'''"

If Music/TheRollingStonesBand had Eddie Van Halen as their guitarist and a hyperactive, insane combination of Music/FreddieMercury and Music/RonnieJamesDio as their frontman (Music/DavidLeeRoth). And Eddie's brother on drums. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And the bassist.]] Probably the most fun HardRock band you'll ever hear. They even got their own VideoGame/GuitarHero game!

On October 6, 2020, Eddie Van Halen died after a long battle with cancer; Wolfgang confirmed a month later the band, for the time being, called it quits. The following year, Mammoth WVH, Wolf's side project, released their self-titled debut album to critical and commercial acclaim, keeping the Van Halen name alive in the media as well as with rock fans.

* UrExample: For HairMetal. The songs "Eruption" and "Spanish Fly" are the UrExample of Neo Classical Metal.

* IconicLogo: The winged VH, that only got slightly redesigned as years went by.

A few years after leaving the band, Hagar and Anthony formed Music/{{Chickenfoot}} with Music/JoeSatriani and [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers Chad Smith]].

* RearrangeTheSong: Their covers.

* ReallyGetsAround: The entire band really, but Diamond Dave ''really'' got around, to the extent that he ''insured'' his... ehm, "Little Dave" like Eddie did with his guitars and Alex with his drumming equipment.

* TeacherStudentRomance: "Hot For Teacher".

* HeavyMetal: Though it's debatable whether or not they are this, Heavy metal wouldn't have been the same without Eddie being the TropeCodifier for lightning-speed tapping[[note]]though it should be noted that Eddie credits prog guitar legend Music/SteveHackett with originating the technique; Eddie just turned it UpToEleven[[/note]].
** Additionally, [[Music/{{Slayer}} Kerry King]] once described HairMetal as "Van Halen, turned UpToEleven in all the wrong directions."