Women and Children First

Women and Children First is the third studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released on March 26, 1980, on Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Ted Templeman and engineered by Donn Landee, it was the first to feature only compositions written by the band, and is described by critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "[the] record where the group started to get heavier, both sonically and, to a lesser extent, thematically."[1]

For other uses, see Women and children first (disambiguation).

Women and Children First
Studio album by
Van Halen
ReleasedMarch 26, 1980 (1980-03-26)
RecordedDecember 1979 – February 1980
StudioSunset Sound, Los Angeles
Genre
Length33:35
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerTed Templeman
Van Halen chronology
Van Halen II
(1979)		 Women and Children First
(1980)		 Fair Warning
(1981)
Singles from Women and Children First

Background and recording

The opening track, "And the Cradle Will Rock..." begins with what sounds like a guitar, but is, in fact, a phase shifter-effected Wurlitzer electric piano played through Van Halen's 1960s model 100-watt Marshall Plexi amplifier.[2]

Like its 2 predecessors, Women and Children First was recorded in Hollywood at Sunset Studios, within 2 weeks time. Yet, the album is somewhat different from the band's first two albums in the way that it features more studio overdubs and less emphasis on backing vocals, partly because two of the songs, In A Simple Rhyme and Take Your Whiskey Home had already been written and recorded in a 1974 Cherokee Studios demo, before Michael Anthony had joined them, albeit both with some differences lyrically and musically. "Could This Be Magic?" contains the only female backing vocal ever recorded for a Van Halen song; Nicolette Larson sings during some of the choruses. The rain sound in the background is not an effect; it was raining outside, and the band decided to record the sound in stereo using two Neumann KM84 microphones, and added it to the track.[3]

The first single from the album was the keyboard-driven "And the Cradle Will Rock..." Although it was not a success like previous singles "Dance the Night Away" or the cover of "You Really Got Me", the album itself was well-received, went platinum within a year and further entrenched the band as a popular concert draw. The song "Everybody Wants Some!!" was also a concert staple through the 1984 tour, and continued to be played by David Lee Roth after he left Van Halen.[3]

The album contains a track at the end of "In a Simple Rhyme", a brief instrumental piece entitled "Growth", which begins at 4:19. While "Growth" faded out on the original vinyl LP and cassette, it was given a cold ending at full volume on the compact disc. At the time the band was toying with the idea of starting what would become their next album, Fair Warning, with a continuation of "Growth", but this did not occur. "Growth" was a staple of the band's live shows with Roth and often used as the start of their encores. Several outtakes from these sessions exist, including an unreleased instrumental often referred to as "Act Like It Hurts", which was the title Eddie Van Halen originally wanted for "Tora! Tora!" "Act Like It Hurts" also provided a riff for "House of Pain", released on 1984.

The vinyl LP version included a poster of a photograph by Helmut Newton featuring Roth chained to a fence.[4]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record Guide: The '80sB[5]
Rolling StoneFavorable[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]

Reviews for Women and Children First were generally favorable. David Fricke for Rolling Stone highlights the songs, "Romeo Delight", "Everybody Wants Some!!", and "Loss of Control", calling them "works of high-volume art". Fricke praises the band, calling them "exceptionally good players".[6] Both Fricke and Robert Christgau compare Eddie's guitar work to Jimi Hendrix. Christgau gives the album a B rating, stating, "[Eddie] earns the Hendrix comparisons, and he's no clone--he's faster, colder, more structural." In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album 4.5 stars out of 5. Erlewine calls the album, "mature, or at least...a little serious", noting "there's a bit of a dark heart beating on this record".[1]

Kerrang! magazine listed the album at #30 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time",[8] and Rolling Stone listed the album at #36 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".[9]

"Everybody Wants Some!!" was used in the 1985 comedy Better Off Dead, during a sequence featuring a singing, guitar-playing claymation hamburger. A nod is given to Eddie in the animation, as the hamburger's guitar sports the Frankenstrat design made famous by him. "Everybody Wants Some!!" is also featured in the 2009 film Zombieland and the 2016 film Everybody Wants Some!![10] which took its title from the song, according to director Richard Linklater.[11]

In the band's licensed game, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, four of the nine tracks of this album are available for play: "And the Cradle Will Rock...", "Everybody Wants Some!!", "Romeo Delight" and "Loss of Control".[12]

Track listing

All songs by Edward Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."And the Cradle Will Rock..."3:31
2."Everybody Wants Some!!"5:05
3."Fools"5:55
4."Romeo Delight"4:19
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Tora! Tora!"0:57
6."Loss of Control"2:36
7."Take Your Whiskey Home"3:09
8."Could This Be Magic?"3:08
9."In a Simple Rhyme"4:18

Personnel

Van Halen

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Weekly Charts
Chart (1980) Peak

position

Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] 19
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[15] 34
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16] 15
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[17] 23
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 19
UK Albums (OCC)[19] 15
US Billboard 200[20] 6

Charting Singles
Song Chart Position
"And the Cradle Will Rock..." Billboard Hot 100 55
Canada (RPM) Singles 81

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[21] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[22] Gold 100,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[23] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[24] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Women and Children First - Van Halen". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  2. "And The Cradle Will Rock..." Van Halen News Desk. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  3. "Women And Children First". Van Halen News Desk. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  4. Renoff, Greg. "The Private Photo Shoot that Sparked a War Inside Van Halen". Cuepoint. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  5. Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Reviews: Women and Children First". Robert Christgau. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  6. Fricke, David (June 26, 1980). "Van Halen – Women and Children First". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  7. "Van Halen: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 10, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  8. Galbraith, David (January 21, 1989). "Van Halen 'Women and Children First'". Kerrang!. 222. London, UK: Spotlight Publications Ltd.
  9. "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  10. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2937696/soundtrack
  11. https://www.hypable.com/everybody-wants-some-richard-linklater-interview/
  12. Brudvig, Erik (August 5, 2009). "Guitar Hero Van Halen Song List". IGN. IGN. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Van Halen – {{{album}}}" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  14. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  15. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2021. 3. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  16. "Charts.nz – Van Halen – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  17. "Norwegiancharts.com – Van Halen – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  18. "Swedishcharts.com – Van Halen – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  19. "Van Halen | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  20. "Van Halen Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  21. "Canadian album certifications – Van Halen – Women and Children First". Music Canada.
  22. "French album certifications – Van Halen – Women and Children First" (in French). InfoDisc. Select VAN HALEN and click OK. 
  23. "Dutch album certifications – Van Halen – Women and Children First" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved February 26, 2020. Enter Women and Children First in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  24. "American album certifications – Van Halen – Women & Children First". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 

Further reading

Templeman, Ted; Renoff, Greg (2020). Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life In Music. Toronto: ECW Press. pp. 306–10. ISBN 9781770414839. OCLC 1121143123.

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