Van Halen II

Recording of the album started at Sunset Studio on December 10, 1978, one week after completing their first world tour, and was complete within a week.^[2] The band used a Putnam 610 console to record the album, similar to the console Eddie would later install in his home studio in 1983.^[2] Many of the songs on Van Halen II are known to have existed prior to the release of the first album, and are present on the demos recorded in 1976 by Gene Simmons, and in 1977 by Ted Templeman, including an early version of "Beautiful Girls" (then known as "Bring On the Girls") and "Somebody Get Me a Doctor."^[3]

The black-and-yellow guitar on the back of the album known as "Bumblebee" is buried with Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who was killed December 8, 2004. Eddie Van Halen placed it in his Kiss Kasket at his funeral because Darrell had said it was his favorite.^[4] Eddie himself stated in an interview conducted in December 1979 by Jas Obrecht and published in the April 1980 edition of Guitar Player Magazine, that the guitar itself was not actually used on the tracking of Van Halen II, as it had only been completed just in time for the photo shoots for the album.^[5]

David Lee Roth is shown in a cast in the inner liner notes, as he allegedly broke his heel on the third try of the spread-eagle jump used on the back cover photo.^[6]

In the liner notes, The Sheraton Inn of Madison, Wisconsin, is thanked. On Van Halen's first tour, they stayed at the hotel and destroyed the seventh floor, having fire extinguisher fights in the hallways and throwing televisions out windows. They blamed the incidents on their tour-mates at the time, Journey.^[7]

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Christgau's Record Guide	C+[9]
Classic Rock	[10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[11]
The Great Rock Discography	7/10[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[13]

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In a 1979 Rolling Stone review, Timothy White writes, "Scattered throughout Van Halen's second album are various Vanilla Fudge bumps and grinds, an Aerosmith-derived pseudobravado, a bit of Bad Company basement funk and even a few Humble Pie miniraveups," adding that the "LP retains a numbing live feel."^[14] The New York Times deemed the album "screaming macho rock howlings and power-driven electric guitar attacks."^[15]

In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic noted that the album is "virtually a carbon copy of their 1978 debut," though goes on to say it is "lighter and funnier" and "some of the grandest hard rock ever made." Erlewine praises Eddie's "phenomenal gift" and Roth's "knowing shuck and jive."^[16] In 1991, Chuck Eddy ranked Van Halen II at number 128 in his list of the best heavy metal albums, calling it a pub-friendly pop-metal album that anticipated 1980s music. Eddy described the "Latin lilt" of "Dance the Night Away" as merengue and praised the punk rock-esque tempos and attitudes of "Light Up the Sky" and "D.O.A.", comparing the latter to the Stooges, but dismissed most of the songs with female characters as "tripe".^[17]

It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart^[18] and No. 23 on the UK Albums Chart.^[19] Van Halen II was certified 5× Platinum in 2004.^[20] About 5.087 million records have been sold in the United States as of 2004.^[21] In 2000, Van Halen II was remastered and re-released.^[7]