Women and Children First (1980)
1. And the Cradle Will Rock...
2. Everybody Wants Some!!
3. Fools
4. Romeo Delight
5. Tora! Tora!
6. Loss of Control
7. Take Your Whiskey Home
8.Could This Be Magic?
9. In a Simply Rhyme
Van Halen’s third album was, in many respects, the perfect experiment for where the band found themselves. After two LPs of unfiltered, straight-ahead rock — simple in construction, explosive in execution — they seemed to grasp that if they wanted to keep the notoriously fickle public’s attention, they would have to broaden the palette just slightly. The sound here is tighter, the arrangements more deliberate, the production a touch more polished. Yet crucially, the group’s irreverent, high-octane party spirit is never diluted; every track reminds you unmistakably that this is Van Halen.
The opener, And the Cradle Will Rock..., was a bold choice for the first single, and a telling signpost of the band’s slight stylistic shift. Eddie’s opening riff is an avalanche — heavy, grinding, but unlike anything he’d committed to tape before. On first hearing, you might not even recognize it as Van Halen at all. But the familiar swagger soon takes over, with David Lee Roth delivering his tongue-in-cheek salute to juvenile delinquency. It is, quite simply, the album’s crowning moment. Close behind comes Everybody Wants Some!!, a gleeful, booze-soaked anthem perfectly tailored for the swelling ranks of their rowdiest fans.
Elsewhere, Romeo Delight, Fools, and the frenetic Loss of Control (which sounds as though it were broadcast direct from an airport control tower) are vintage VH — all attack, all spectacle. By this point, their live show was fast becoming legendary, rewriting the rulebook on how theatrical rock could be staged. And yet, amid the fireworks, they found room for a sly change of pace. Near the album’s close, the bluesy strut of Take Your Whiskey Home and the cheeky acoustic shuffle Could This Be Magic? show a band capable of more subtle shades — if “subtle” is even a word one should apply to Van Halen.
The only real misstep comes with In a Simple Rhyme, a curious closer that can’t decide if it’s aiming for power balladry or something else entirely. Halfway through, the band seem to abandon one idea for another, and the result is more perplexing than satisfying. But such slips are forgivable. By now, Van Halen were well on their way to becoming a household name — and this album was proof they could evolve without losing the reckless energy that got them there.
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