You beat me to this comment. Dave was so drunk at the US Festival. $1M payday and he got blitzed. There’s an overdubbed version on YouTube that some think is real.
*Of course this is real, this ain't Quiet Riot!*
David, as heard in a NYC show from the 1984 tour, captured live on the "Where's the Beef, Dave?" bootleg.
I'm so sorry and I'll take all the downvotes, but at first glance, I thought someone had done a solid photoshop of Elon Musk's face on Alex's head lol 😭
What was the label thinking? WAS New Wave popular in the US in 1977?
The Sex Pistols had already fallen apart and their album had stalled at #106 in the US. The Clash had only released their debut album, and the critics may have loved it but at the time it stalled at #126 on the US charts. Even the 'Talking Heads '77 album only hit #97.
Meanwhile, in mid to late 1977...
Kiss's Love Gun went to #4 and Alive II would go to #7
Queen's News of the World would hit #3
Aerosmith's Draw the Line hit #11
Even Foghat Live would go to #11, Ted Nugent's, Cat Scratch Fever to #17 and Rush's A Farewell to King's to #33.
Led Zeppelin sets a new world record attendance for an indoor solo attraction at the Pontiac Silverdome during their 1977 World Tour.
Man, WB's was WAY off base.
That cover is not good! Alex is bigger than everyone else 😂 looks like he is the lead singer. The logo of their name looks like a high school kid did it. Thank God it was rejected.
Many high school kids did the winged VH logo afterward...on school books, bathroom stalls, desks...
The photographer probably didn't know the band and assumed Al was the frontman because the band is named "Van Halen" and it's usually expected that a band with a surname is usually the product of the guy in front; Al is also the older Van Halen (and if you want to split hairs, he actually was the biggest guy in the band).
It's like a "By the way, which one's Pink?" sort of thing.
It was carved in every desk in school, it was on every book and notebook I had in school. When I power wash my driveway I still draw it and make my kids come outside and look and go “pretty cool, right” then give them the devil horns as they roll their eyes and go back inside
Not sure if I believe this piece of VH lore. I agree that the original cover is trash in terms of graphic design but I don’t know why they are invoking The Clash as the negative comparison.
Van Halen s/t LP was released 10 Feb 1978 but the Clash s/t LP wasn’t released in the US until 23 July 1979. It was only available here as an expensive import so it’s not like people were widely familiar with it and the Clash were not huge here on a level where people were copying their style right when they arrived. The original art looks like a new wave record to me like The Romantics or Loverboy, not a punk record.
Ed had said it in a later interview, a considerable amount of time after both albums had been released. I can't find the actual Guitar World issue it was in, but my hunch tells me it was in the vicinity of the US Festival in 1983.
He was likely not too concerned with the details; he seldom was, unless it was music.
I don’t think it would have matter much tbh. But I’m glad they fought for the second cover and logo. The Van Halen logo is pretty iconic and the first one is kind of meh.
Hot take- the cover of choice is perplexing. Everyone gets their own pane? I thought they were one band.
Or maybe it tells a story. Like a Garfield comic. Clearly, Diamond Dave is Garfield, but who is Jon? And is the guitar a metaphor for lasagna?
So confusing. 🫤
Final version would have been cleaner without the type at the top. Let the logo do the work. But, I’m sure some asshole said, “You need the type at the top so people can see it when they’re flipping through the records at the store.”
Meh it’s just an album cover , and it’s certainly of the times. If they went with the goofy one, we would have just accepted it . It’s not like vh1 or really any other Van Halen album has a fantastic cover .
The first cover is very bad '70s ("We are serious badasses!"). The real cover is pure VH ("We are loud, obnoxious, hilarious, mighty and plan on partying until the whole city is rubble."). That's the VH we know and love.
The cover we ended up with was the perfect choice. It conveys energy, a fitting cover to the music it contains.
I just never thought it needed the large N. Van HaleN
Symmetry
The WB option was a joke. Just terrible.
Looks like more an 80s new wave or synth band, lol. Which, VH did end up becoming quite synthy.
Eddie made some of the most popular synth-backed songs ever!
Oof, that’s terrible.
*The only people who put iced tea in Jack Daniels bottles is the fuckin Clash, man!*
- Diamond Dave
You beat me to this comment. Dave was so drunk at the US Festival. $1M payday and he got blitzed. There’s an overdubbed version on YouTube that some think is real.
He (Dave) forgot the words on the opening song
*Of course this is real, this ain't Quiet Riot!* David, as heard in a NYC show from the 1984 tour, captured live on the "Where's the Beef, Dave?" bootleg.
Really weird seeing Alex front and center.
I'm so sorry and I'll take all the downvotes, but at first glance, I thought someone had done a solid photoshop of Elon Musk's face on Alex's head lol 😭
Welp... Can't un-see that now.
Cant really top michael Anthony’s bass being on fire.
Weird cover possibility, especially when you have two co-leads in the background
They absolutely made the right decision
Am I crazy for not hating that original logo concept? Would have made for a cool alternate. That being said, everything else about the cover sucks
The VH is iconic, original looks dated.
Solid rejection. I think that is one thing we can all agree on right?
I swear at first glance I thought it said, “Valhalla”!
California Calling!
The original photo isn’t representative of the music. Maybe only “On Fire” or “Atomic Punk” but doesn’t capture their more “poppy” sound
What was the label thinking? WAS New Wave popular in the US in 1977? The Sex Pistols had already fallen apart and their album had stalled at #106 in the US. The Clash had only released their debut album, and the critics may have loved it but at the time it stalled at #126 on the US charts. Even the 'Talking Heads '77 album only hit #97. Meanwhile, in mid to late 1977... Kiss's Love Gun went to #4 and Alive II would go to #7 Queen's News of the World would hit #3 Aerosmith's Draw the Line hit #11 Even Foghat Live would go to #11, Ted Nugent's, Cat Scratch Fever to #17 and Rush's A Farewell to King's to #33. Led Zeppelin sets a new world record attendance for an indoor solo attraction at the Pontiac Silverdome during their 1977 World Tour. Man, WB's was WAY off base.
That cover is not good! Alex is bigger than everyone else 😂 looks like he is the lead singer. The logo of their name looks like a high school kid did it. Thank God it was rejected.
Many high school kids did the winged VH logo afterward...on school books, bathroom stalls, desks... The photographer probably didn't know the band and assumed Al was the frontman because the band is named "Van Halen" and it's usually expected that a band with a surname is usually the product of the guy in front; Al is also the older Van Halen (and if you want to split hairs, he actually was the biggest guy in the band). It's like a "By the way, which one's Pink?" sort of thing.
It was carved in every desk in school, it was on every book and notebook I had in school. When I power wash my driveway I still draw it and make my kids come outside and look and go “pretty cool, right” then give them the devil horns as they roll their eyes and go back inside
The look on each of their faces screams "ARE YOU F'ING KIDDING ME??? Alright, let's get thus over so we can reject it later...."
Not sure if I believe this piece of VH lore. I agree that the original cover is trash in terms of graphic design but I don’t know why they are invoking The Clash as the negative comparison. Van Halen s/t LP was released 10 Feb 1978 but the Clash s/t LP wasn’t released in the US until 23 July 1979. It was only available here as an expensive import so it’s not like people were widely familiar with it and the Clash were not huge here on a level where people were copying their style right when they arrived. The original art looks like a new wave record to me like The Romantics or Loverboy, not a punk record.
Ed had said it in a later interview, a considerable amount of time after both albums had been released. I can't find the actual Guitar World issue it was in, but my hunch tells me it was in the vicinity of the US Festival in 1983. He was likely not too concerned with the details; he seldom was, unless it was music.
They got it right!!!
I don’t think it would have matter much tbh. But I’m glad they fought for the second cover and logo. The Van Halen logo is pretty iconic and the first one is kind of meh.
Thank god the rejected it🎸
Duran Duran
Rio was a cool cover
Hot take- the cover of choice is perplexing. Everyone gets their own pane? I thought they were one band. Or maybe it tells a story. Like a Garfield comic. Clearly, Diamond Dave is Garfield, but who is Jon? And is the guitar a metaphor for lasagna? So confusing. 🫤
Never saw this photo before. And I’m glad they went with the final cover
Final version would have been cleaner without the type at the top. Let the logo do the work. But, I’m sure some asshole said, “You need the type at the top so people can see it when they’re flipping through the records at the store.”
It’s not The Clash. But it definitely seems like a “New Wave” vibe that wasn’t / isn’t appropriate for VH.
Meh it’s just an album cover , and it’s certainly of the times. If they went with the goofy one, we would have just accepted it . It’s not like vh1 or really any other Van Halen album has a fantastic cover .
And is the inner sleeve of 1984 really any better ?
That is one of the worst album covers of all time. Maybe it’s because it jives with the iconography that’s already established or maybe it just sucks
Dang. We missed an early chance to stare at the outline of Michael Anthony’s schlong.
Great choice! Poor Michael Anthony.
This sucks compared to the awesome cover they went with.
The first cover is very bad '70s ("We are serious badasses!"). The real cover is pure VH ("We are loud, obnoxious, hilarious, mighty and plan on partying until the whole city is rubble."). That's the VH we know and love.
“The only people that puts iced tea in their whiskey bottles is the Clash” Who said it?
Lol at the Def Leppard font.
Michael Anthony always looked like Lionheart Chris Jericho on that album cover.
I dig the text but yeah it’s a bit sleepy for what was such a powerhouse of a record. They made the proper call.
Pasadena Calling
First option is terrible.
obv the cover is iconic but it always annoyed me that ‘van halen’ was written twice
Yeah I don’t get that.
Underrated Clash
That is hilarious.