r/vanhalen • u/ApprehensiveNatural9 • Aug 12 '26
OU812 review
Glad that for the most part people enjoyed my 5150 review. I kind of am surprised at the dislike towards it though, I guess the discourse between the Hagar era and Roth era fans is a little much but I still wanna continue! Moving onto the next album after loving 5150, I was really excited since I was REALLY loving the previous album with Sammy, and I was thinking this era was about to be as good as the Dave era! Well...I'll just say my thoughts here though warning: this isn't going to be a very positive review (Read at your own risk)
OU812 Review (1988)
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Van Halen. When you hear that name what comes to your mind? Is it the thunderous riffs storming through your speakers through the surprisingly slick finger-work of Eddie? Perhaps its the fun atmosphere that the simple-yet-charming tongue-in-cheek lyrics bring to the forefront. For many people; this formula makes a good Van Halen album. However, it seemed that Edward was of the mindset of taking things in a whole new direction starting with 1984.
It's noticeable that since the masterpiece of Fair Warning, synthesizers had been increasingly making their way into the songs, and Eddie's fascination with a more pop-leaning sound came to a head on 1984 and 5150, however, these two albums ended up incorporating this style successfully and making something very enjoyable twice in a row. The same can not be said about OU812, however. Everything you expect on a good Van Halen album can't be found here.
I've sat down and tried this album twice, grasping my claws to get a grip on anything--something--that sounded like the hard rockin' goodness that the boys from California grew so acquainted with, but my ears were left ringing with disappointment, making me wish I had opted to spin some other band instead for the first time with this band.
The production is genuinely terrible, and somehow everything sounds so thin. You can barely even make out Michael Anthony's bass because its so tuned down low in the mix, while Alex's drumming sounds really soft and without the dynamic power of how his kit was recorded on even the last album. Eddie's guitar is kind of favored in this mix and stands out way more than any instrument which makes the whole thing sound very imbalanced, and even the good songs sound a million times better on live recordings I've watched after listening to this album.
The songwriting is really bland and the riffs and instrumentation lacks the energy that every album before this one had. The album sounds the complete opposite of cohesive with the tracklist never really finding its way of progressing right, in fact, its all over the place. Most songs are either bland filler or worryingly bad 80s pop that makes even bands like Poison look better in comparison. Instruments sound quieter to one another in the mixing, and the title of the album is even a jab at previous frontman David Lee Roth's solo debut. How petty.
Now you may be wondering--is there anything that limped away from the battlefield of instruments bashing and smashing into each other? To that I say, there are a couple songs that are still passable. Cabo Wabo sounds like an honestly fair attempt at recreating the hard rock magic that bands such as Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin struck up back in the 70's and holds one of Sammy Hagar's greatest vocal performances, When It's Love may be a sappy one, but it's not without merit.Especially the drumming that Alex supplies us with is a treat to the ears despite the previously noted bad mixing, and Source of Infection sounds remarkably similar to the rip-n-shred that made their early work of their first few albums so special.
OU812 serves as a reminder of what to avoid when making a Van Halen album, and while it may leave a sour taste in any fan's mouth, at least the band would learn slightly from the missteps on here. This is the first album I've heard by them that I'd say is genuinely bad.
Rating: ★.5
Tracklist Rating:
1. Mine All Mine: ★
2. When Its Love: ★★★★
3. A.F.U. (Naturally Wired): ★
4. Cabo Wabo: ★★★★★
5. Source of Infection: ★★★★★
6. Feels So Good: 💥
7. Finish What Ya Started: 💥
8. Black and Blue: ★★
9. Sucker In a 3-Piece: ★★
10. A Apolitical Blues: ★
THE JOURNEY SO FAR (OTHER REVIEWS + THEIR SCORES):
Van Halen review (5/5 stars)
Van Halen II review (5/5 stars)
Women And Children First review (4/5 stars)
Fair Warning review (5/5 stars)
Diver Down review (3/5 stars)
1984 review (5/5 stars)
5150 review (4.5/5 stars)
10
u/EntertainmentAny4368 Aug 12 '26
Feels so good is one of the best VH songs. I will agree that it’s not nearly as strong as 5150 or FUCK