Song · Van Halen
“Eruption” by Van Halen
From the album Van Halen (1978)
“Eruption” by Van Halen appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 2002 and 2012. It was first released in 1978 on the album Van Halen. Its best result is #21 on the KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,062 hard rock song of all time.
"Eruption" lands second on Van Halen's self-titled 1978 debut, and it's Eddie Van Halen's solo showcase. After a short opening with Alex Van Halen on drums and Michael Anthony on bass, it's just Eddie and the Frankenstrat, tuned down a half-step and run through an MXR Phase 90, an Echoplex and a Univox echo unit into a 1968 Marshall Super Lead, with the reverb room at Sunset Sound adding the space. The centerpiece is two-handed tapping, which the track popularized, and it's widely rated among the greatest guitar solos ever recorded.
It starts in A flat, borrows its intro from Cactus's "Let Me Swim", and tumbles straight into the band's cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me", so radio and concerts usually keep the two together. Later it turned up as the B-side of the second single, "Runnin' with the Devil".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 21 | KISW | KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) | 999 |
| 2012 | 568 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) | 885 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Eruption" by Van Halen.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.