Going around my school wearing a Van Halen shirt, I received many puzzled looks as to who this band was. I was astounded! The most popular band in the 1980's is now unheard of! Van Halen's album "1984" is their most popular album with record sales of over 16,000,000 albums. It is a diamond status album as of February 8, 1999. According to the U.S Census Bureau of 2001, there were 161,320 musicians in America. There are only 105 albums with diamond status; that is less than .5% of all musicians who get a diamond album!
The song "Jump" reached the #1 hit in three different billboards and is still regarded as one of the most influential songs today. “Panama” was number 3 on the Mainstream Rock Hits billboard and number 13 on the Billboard hot 100. “I’ll Wait” became number 7 on the Billboard hot 100 and number 13 on the Mainstream Rock Hits. “Hot for Teacher” became number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 43 on the Mainstream Rock Hits. This album was already topping the charts the same year it was released!
All of the songs on this album are considered classics and have been recreated hundreds of times. The heavy rock with a pop twist made this album one of a kind. Even the album artwork is a legend with the infamous smoking cherub. With the vocal expertise of David Lee Roth and the legendary guitar of Eddie Van Halen, this album is their best. Whether you have only heard of this band when your dad talks about it or you haven't heard of it at all, this album will put a smile of your face. The mix of hard rock and 80's pop has made this album loveable by all. So, any time you are feeling down or just want to hear good music, look on your dad's record shelf; chances are he is one of the 16,000,000 who bought this amazing record.