Van Halen - Live Without A Net
Live At The New Haven Coliseum, 1986
Van Halen are:- Eddie Van Halen: Guitar
- Michael Anthony: Bass
- Alex Van Halen: Drum
- Sammy Hagar: Vocal
Track List- There's Only One Way To Rock
- Summer Nights
- Get Up
- Solo Drums By Alex Van Halen
- "5150"
- Best Of Both Worlds
- Solo Bass By Michael Anthony
- Panama
- Love Walks In
- Solo Guitar By Eddie Van Halen
- Good Enough
- I Can't Drive
- Ain't Talking 'Bout Love
- Why Can't This Be Love
- Rock And Roll
These days, Eddie Van Halen is considered one of the best guitarists of all time. His solos are astounding and he introduced new techniques to lead guitar, and he defines the sound of the band. Since Eruption (On the self titled album, released in 1978), every lead guitarist has two handed fret tapping in his arsenal. This concert is amazing. It was what introduced me to Van Halen.
This album was recorded during the '5150' tour and was released in 1986, when Sammy Hagar was vocalist for Van Halen. There was also a video of this concert released.
The great thing about this album is that you can listen to it all the way through and enjoy every song. Van Halen's cover of 'Wild Thing' (played at the concert) was left off this album because Sammy broke three of his strings and threw his guitar away.
This album starts with with the great track 'There's Only One Way To Rock'. It is a great track to start the album. It is catchy and has a good sound.
'Summer Nights' is similar in that it is catchy and memorable and is one of the good songs from the '5150' album. 'Get up' is a great song, but not as good as the first two, and less heavy. Following 'Get Up' is the first of three solos on this album. Alex's drum solo is really complex and shows how great he really is. Best of both worlds is also a good song, but doesn't lived up to the best of Van Halen. The vocals are really good on this track.
Next is the solo bass, which is great because Micheal Anthony is a really underrated bass player. Panama sounds strange becuase it was originally sung by David Lee Roth. Love walks in was one of the first songs the band worked on, as said by Sammy in this track. It sounds similar to Summer Nights, and has a great solo. Next is a track you'll never forget, Eddie's solo. It is so long and complex, but sounds so great. There are several sections to it, and when I first listened to it, the only world that came to my head was 'wow!'. Next is 'Good Enough'. The drums sound great, and the chord progression really suits the vocals. Great chorus. 'I Can't Drive' has a great lead riff and the bass sounds really good on this song. 'I ain't talking about love' is another fantastic song. The mixing on the vocals is not as good on this song for some reason, but the bass stands out on this song. 'Why Can't This Be Love' is next. This is one great song. It sounds great from start to finish, great lyrics and Sammy's vocals are perfectly executed. Rock and Roll is a cover of the classic Led Zepellin song ("written by some old friends of ours") and sounds as good as the original.
Positives- VAN HALEN!
- Great live band
- Eddie Van Halen is a fantastic guitarist
- This whole album is great. There are no weak spots.
Negatives- Didn't play enough of their old classics
Overall
This is a fantastic live album, but you won't like it if you don't like Van Halen already. The mixing is great, and Van Halen are a great live band. Their songs are really heavy and complex but they sound great and are really catchy. After this album you'll just be blown away. You'll think "wow!" because they really are great live.
Rating
I have to give this album a 3.75/5. Any Van Halen fan should own either this album or the Live Without a Net video. Van Halen are fantastic live, and any fan of any rock should give this album a go, if not anything else by Van Halen.
