Review Summary: An overlooked Van Halen album that has its ups and downs, but it is definitely worth multiple listens and holds its place well among their other albums.
The year is 1980, Van Halen isn't on top of the world (pun intended) JUST YET. They're still gaining momentum on the rock solid sales of their first two albums, "Van Halen" and "Van Halen II". Both of these albums have a hard rock feel but are still very radio friendly, spawning hits like "You Really Got Me", "Beautiful Girls", and "Dance the Night Away". Although, once the 70s became the 80s, Van Halen went a bit more experimental with this album and 1981's "Fair Warning". While they do go back to their radio friendly niche, they have a couple years of music that doesn't appear to be meant to be massive radio hits, but it still definitely rocks. As far as "Women and Children First" goes, there are some truly awesome Van Halen classics on here. Despite this, there are also a few "meh" tracks, but the pros highly outweigh the cons resulting in a great album. The band at this time consists of David Lee Roth (Vocals), Eddie Van Halen (Guitar/Keyboard/Backing Vocals), Alex Van Halen (Drums), and Michael Anthony (Bass/Backing Vocals). Here's the track by track:
1. And the Cradle Will Rock... - With a sliding guitar intro, this song that starts the album off with a bang. This is a very hard rocking track along the lines of "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" or "Unchained", if you're familiar with Van Halen's other albums. The chorus is very catchy and the song itself is just very fun to listen to. The solo starts at blistering speed (as expected, since it's Eddie Van Halen), but fades out suddenly, which leaves the listener confused on first listen. Then it starts up again with Dave saying "Have you seen junior's grades?" and the solo continues even stronger than it was in the beginning. A truly brilliant opener. 5/5
2. Everybody Wants Some!! - I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but I don't find this song to be that good. The beginning is pretty cool, with Dave howling, Eddie playing sporadic guitar riffs, and Alex playing a unique drum beat, but then the song kicks in with weird lyrics and an okay chorus. The solo is surprisingly not even that good either, since it's just Eddie playing different chords over and over again. Now, I'm not saying this song is bad, it just doesn't really do it for me. 3/5
3. Fools - This is another song that I personally am not a big fan of that a lot of other people like. It's more of a bluesy song than anything else and is very experimental as far as Van Halen goes. The beginning is very slow and the song drags on for a very long time, 5 minutes and 54 seconds to be exact. It does have some good guitar work and decent lyrics (especially compared to the previous track), but it would be a lot better if it was a lot shorter, at least in my opinion. Again, not a bad song, I just think it could've been a lot better. 3/5
4. Romeo Delight - This is one of Van Halen's heaviest songs ever. With its fast tempo and crunching riff, it almost seems like a metal song, but it softens up for the verses, which are short but by no means bad. After each verse, the chorus abruptly comes in and the song gets heavy again, being surprisingly catchy. The solo is phenomenal and the song softens up shortly after, with Dave quietly singing for roughly 30 seconds, and then the song becomes heavy again, even heavier than before. The extremely aggressive final chorus concludes the song amazingly and the song itself is truly a highlight of the entire album. 5/5
5. Tora! Tora! - A brief instrumental, it's surprisingly underwhelming compared to their usual instrumentals, but it isn't too bad. It sounds with some weird noises that remind me of a spaceship landing, followed by what sounds like a motorcycle revving, then comes in the guitar and Dave screaming. It leads into the next track well, but as a whole it's not as good as it could've been. 2.5/5
6. Loss of Control - This is probably the most experimental song on the album, but one of the best. It is even faster than "Romeo Delight" and the riff is one of the coolest Van Halen has. The song then proceeds into the band members yelling into walkie-talkies, which is sort of weird but fun at the same time. Then the verse comes in with the lyrics coming almost too fast to understand. The chorus isn't that great but the rest of the song makes up for it. The solo is top notch but a little short, and again, like "Romeo Delight", it reaches its peak of aggression at the end of the song, which ends it strongly. The only downside to this song is that it's very short, being only just over 2 and a half minutes. 4.5/5
7. Take Your Whiskey Home - Starting with some acoustic guitar playing, it seems like it's going to be a mellow song but then it kicks into the electric guitar riff, which is quite heavy and fun. The solo is very good too, with some very fast playing by Eddie, despite being a little bit short. Aside from that, the song isn't very unique, but it's your standard rocking song that is still far above average and deserves to be recognized over some of the other songs on the album. It is truly very underrated.
4.5/5
8. Could This Be Magic? - Unlike "Take Your Whiskey Home", this song starts acoustic and stays acoustic. This is one of the few Van Halen songs to do so. The lyrics are a but sub-par and the guitar isn't anything to write home about, but for whatever reason it actually works well. This song isn't really a highlight of the album, but it isn't as bad as some of the other songs on the album. I feel like if Van Halen put an acoustic song on every album, it would add a nice variety, as it showcases here. 3.5/5
9. In a Simple Rhyme - A brilliant closer, this song starts with a clean guitar riff, and then the drums begin and the song gets rather heavy. This is one of the few real love songs on the album, and the chorus is about as catchy as the one in "And the Cradle Will Rock...", which is another plus. The song mellows out after the second chorus and after the third chorus which adds good diversity, and the solo sandwiched in between is rock solid. Another cool thing about this song is that the song stops, and then picks up again after a second with a much heavier guitar riff that lasts for about 15 seconds and closes the song and album. It appears to be a "sneak peak" of what's to come on their next, heavier album "Fair Warning". 5/5
"Women and Children First" is truly a great album, with the highlights being "And the Cradle Will Rock...", "Romeo Delight", "Loss of Control", "Take Your Whiskey Home", and "In a Simple Rhyme". It is definitely more experimental that most Van Halen records, but it is good nonetheless. But on that topic, I wouldn't recommend this to absolutely anyone who likes rock music necessarily, but it's great for an 80s hard rock fan and obviously a Van Halen fan. While some songs cause the album to be hard to listen to as a whole, it packs a strong punch and deserves its rating of a 4.
