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Van Halen released four singles from 1984. The first was “Jump” which hit #1 and remains their most successful single ever. MTV had it on super-heavy rotation and I still love it. David Lee Roth’s gymnastics are impressive and hysterical and Eddie Van Halen looks high as hell while noodling away during his keyboard and guitar solos. The video was nominated for three MTV VMAs and it won the “Best Stage Performance” category. “I’ll Wait” was the next single and it went to #13. I don’t remember this one as well as “Jump” but that’s probably because Van Halen didn’t make a video for it. It’s so 80′s over-the-top with big keyboards and even bigger production. The third single was “Panama,” which is my favorite track on 1984. I suggest putting it on really really really loud and dusting off your head-banging moves while cruising the avenue (a popular pastime in the 80′s). “Panama” went to #13 on the US charts. The last single from 1984 was “Hot For Teacher,” which only went to #56 which I find hard to believe as it also got extremely heavy airplay on MTV. The newly formed PMRC protested the song and video for content (probably making it even more popular when in 1985 Senator Paula Hawkins used the video as an example in Senate testimony saying “Much has changed since Elvis’ seemingly innocent times. Subtleties, suggestions, and innuendo have given way to overt expressions and descriptions of often violent sexual acts, drug taking, and flirtations with the occult”) but I thought it was hilarious; my favorite line is “I don’t feel tardy.”

Allmusic says about 1984,  “It’s the best showcase of Van Halen’s instrumental prowess as a band, the best showcase for Diamond Dave’s glorious shtick, the best showcase for their songwriting, just their flat-out best album overall.”

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I don’t think I’ve listened to this album in its entirety since 1983 but I really am enjoying it, mostly for nostalgia I suppose (I’m not a glam metal fan, at all). The singles are all still really great! “Photograph” was the first single released from Pyromania. It hit #12 on the US Hot 100 chart (#1 on the Mainstream Rock chart) and #66 in the UK. The next single Def Leppard released was “Rock of Ages,” anthemic in title and sound, which made it to #16 on the US Hot 100 chart (and agin #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart). “Foolin” was always a favorite (Fa-fa-fa-foolin!) of mine, it did well on the charts but did not have quite as strong a showing as the first two, making it to #28 on the Hot 100 and #9 on the Mainstream chart. I’m not crazy about the final official single from Pyromania, the power ballad “Too Late For Love” (I’m fairly anti-power ballad in general) which didn’t crack the Hot 100 but did go to #9 on the Mainstream chart.

The success of Pyromania was massive and influential through the entire decade, setting the stage for a multitude of popular glam metal bands seeking widespread appeal (I ignored pretty much all of them). Allmusic writes about Pyromania: “While Def Leppard had obviously wanted to write big-sounding anthems on their previous records, Pyromania was where the band’s vision coalesced and gelled into something more. More than ever before, the band’s songs on Pyromania are driven by catchy, shiny melodic hooks instead of heavy guitar riffs, although the latter do pop up once in a while. But it wasn’t just this newly intensified focus on melody and consistent songwriting (and heavy MTV exposure) that made Pyromania a massive success – and the catalyst for the ‘80s pop-metal movement. Robert John “Mutt” Lange’s buffed-to-a-sheen production – polished drum and guitar sounds, multi-tracked layers of vocal harmonies, a general sanding of any and all musical rough edges, and a perfectionistic attention to detail – set the style for much of the melodic hard rock that followed. It wasn’t a raw or spontaneous sound, but the performances were still energetic and committed. Leppard’s quest for huge, transcendent hard rock perfection on Pyromania was surprisingly successful; their reach never exceeded their grasp, which makes the album an enduring (and massively influential) classic.”

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