OU812

OU812 is a work on which VAN HALEN developed Eddie Van Halen’s inventive guitar and keyboards and Sammy Hagar’s soaring singing into a wide range of song styles. The strength of the riffs and the accessibility of the melody coexist naturally. In the wake of the previous album 5150’s success, the band builds an even fuller set of songs. From the openness of “When It's Love” to the weight of “Black and Blue,” the band’s many sides appear in each song. Songs like “Finish What Ya Started,” “Cabo Wabo” and “Mine All Mine” breathe the band’s full playing too. A constructive skill that does not lose the songs’ drive even while foregrounding technique shines. This too reached No. 1 on the US chart — a full record that made the momentum of the Van Hagar era firm.