Unknown Soldier

Album
By the time of their third album Van Halen were certainly due some kind of variation on the flamboyant party feel and pop inspired metal, that had been the highlight of their first two albums. Almost from the word go they had become the premier metal act stateside and were selling by the million there, so in effect they were able to do more or less what they wanted in the recording studio! Their third album Women and Children First would be a sort of departure from the first two albums and see the band go in for a sonically heavier sound and now put out an album that was more designed for a metal audience. Again the album would be produced by Ted Templemen and also contain more studio overdubs than their previous two albums. Also of note is that Women and Children First, would be the first Van Halen effort to totally consist of original material, which now showed the band’s confidence when it came to issuing original cuts and not relying on covers to boost up the overall quality of the product. The dominant factor on Women and Children First are the big pounding riffs of the Eddie Van Halen, that now have a darker vibe than what Van Halen were previously known for and this can be detected from the word go on the almost party-opening pair of the rolling “And the Cradle Will Rock” and the jungle chanting of “Everybody Wants Some!!” both typical VH material. Diversity can be heard on the boogie inspired “Fools” which has that often disjointed Van Halen sound, which could often be found on their albums and this one has a thumping bass added for good measure. Then there is the almost speed metal of “Romeo Delight” which is later followed by the harder edged proto-thrash of “Loss of Control” and finally there is the acoustic surprise of “Could This Be Magic?” an almost unofficial low-key title track for the album. The best overall composition on the album is probably the album closer “In a Simple Rhyme” with the hidden 19 secs of “Growth”. Quality wise Women and Children First sits on the same level as the previous Van Halen II and like Van Halen II its strength is its consistency, rather than the topsy-turvy approach of the classic Van Halen debut! Personally I’ve always seen Women and Children First as a strong metal record but not an outstanding one, but in contrast to my opinion the album is often lauded as a ‘metal classic’ within metal circles by both fans and critics alike and the album also makes Kerrang’s “100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time” list. This is an album that's always worth checking out as I’m sure it can divide opinion.

__________________
Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History