1984: the 40th Anniversary

The Blind Eternities forum

Posted on Jan. 21, 2024, 4:35 p.m. by DemonDragonJ

This year is the 40th anniversary of 1984, Van Halen's sixth album. After the disappointment of their previous album, Diver Down, Van Halen struck back with a vengeance, delivering one of the best albums of their career.

This album prominently featured the usage of keyboards, a new element for the band, and several of the songs on the album, including I'll Wait, Jump, and the title track were somewhat softer and more radio-friendly than previous songs by the band had been, but long-time fans of the band did not need to worry, as 1984 still featured plenty of hard rocking anthems, such as Drop Dead Legs, Panama, House of Pain, and Hot for Teacher, which is one of the band's best-known songs.

Unfortunately, despite the album being a smashing success, vocalist David Lee Roth departed from the band due to rising tensions with the other members to pursue a solo career shortly after the album was released, making 1984 the band's final album to feature him on vocals until A Different Kind of Truth in 2012 and the band's final album overall to feature the original lineup of the band.

Although Van Halen is no longer an active band, I hope that the surviving members shall commemorate the anniversary of this album, in some way, since I feel that it deserves to be honored.

How does everyone else feel about this? Are you excited about this year being the 40th anniversary of 1984 by Van Halen?

Jimmithee says... #2

I'm more excited about the 40th anniversery from the date where we thought we would be living in a hopeless dystopia run by a totalitarian government.

January 23, 2024 6:45 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #3

Jimmithee, George Orwell's prediction has not come true, thus far, but we need to be very vigilant regarding the upcoming presidential election, which I imagine is a subject that the staff would prefer us to not discuss, here.

January 23, 2024 8:28 p.m.