Did Van Halen follow-up their 1981 masterpiece "Fair Warning" with another classic in the same vein? No. Although "Fair Warning" remains Van Halen's masterpiece and is a fan favorite, upon its release, it was a commercial disappointment, stalling at platinum status (it has sold over two million copies to date).

Van Halen made a far more radio-friendly, commercial album with 1982s "Diver Down." Of the twelve tracks, three are instrumentals, and five are cover songs. That leaves only four Van Halen originals. The reason? As producer Ted Templeman stated, once you record a song that's a hit, you're already halfway there. A lot of fans have complained with the format of this CD. And while it would have been nice to have a full-length album of VH originals as a follow-up to "Fair Warning," "Diver Down" is still a classic Van Halen recording. The original recordings, "Hang `em High," "Secrets," "Little Guitars" and "The Full Bug," are four of Van Halen's all-time best songs. All of the covers on this disc are better than the originals, and the instrumentals are cool and help with the flow of the album. Eddie's playing, which goes with out saying, is spectacular. Dave shines of course, and Alex Van Halen (drums) and Michael Anthony (bass) provide a stellar rhythm section.

"Diver Down opens with the Kinks "Where Have All the Good Times Gone," a mid-tempo, upbeat rocker. "Hang `Em High," an ode to Clint Eastwood, is fast and furious. It features one of Eddie's all-time best solos. "Cathedral" is a haunting, offbeat guitar instrumental, which adds a bit of spice to the album. The highly underrated "Secrets" is, without doubt, one of Van Halen's greatest songs. It simply shows the Van Halen/Roth chemistry at its absolute best. This low-key, tuneful song is wonderfully written. David Lee Roth's finest lyrics can be found right here:

"She ain't waiting 'til she gets older
Her feet are makin' tracks in the winter snows
She got a rainbow that touches her shoulder
She be headed where the thunder rolls"

The pace picks up for the fast-paced instrumental jam "Intruder," which leads perfectly into the Roy Orbison classic "Pretty Woman," one of Van Halen's most popular songs. Van Halen made a dance-pop smash with the mowtown classic "Dancing in the Streets." The melodic instrumental "Little Guitars (intro)" leads perfectly into the gorgeous "Little Guitars," one of Van Halen's greatest love songs. Much like "Secrets," with "Little Guitars," Van Halen manages to create a love song that is both sincere and has power. Unlike the schlock that Van Halen would be releasing a few years later with Sammy Hagar. "Big Bad Bill (is Sweet William Now)" is pure Dave kitsch and adds a great sense of humor to the CD. "The Full Bug" is a great, underrated, fast-paced, classic VH rocker. "Happy Trails" is a light-hearted vocal instrumental and is a great way to close the CD. While some fans might complain at its inclusion, along with "Big Bad Bill (is Sweet William Now), and call it filler, I actually am quite fond of them both. "Diver Down" wouldn't be the same without them.

Some fans might consider "Diver Down" to be one of the bands weaker albums, especially when compared to their first four albums. I would have to disagree with this assessment. Van Halen didn't set out to make a kick-ass hard rock album with "Diver Down." They set out to make a more commercial, light-hearted album, and they succeeded brilliantly. It may not rock as hard as "Van Halen" or "Fair Warning," but "Diver Down" is a gem in it's own right. If you are a fan of classic rock, the first six Van Halen albums are essential to own for any great collection. "Diver Down" is no exception.

This is a great album dont get me wrong, but the point of releasing an album is to show off your material, not someone elses. For that reason I give this album only 3 and 1/2 stars, even though I like it just as much as any other Roth era Van Halen album and even more so than the hagar albums. Just too let you know the band only included so many covers because they needed too finish the album before a release date and they didnt have enough time too make up more of there own. But even still the covers are enjoyable and the original material is great as usual. Heres what I think of the songs.

1.Where Have All The Good Times Gone (8.5/10)- Good Opener, Originally by The Kinks
2.Hang Em High (9/10)- Great Riff
3.Cathedral (9/10)- Great Instrumental, very original and impressive guitar work
4.Secrets (9/10)- Should Have been a hit, very nice melody, daves best singing performance
5.Intruders (8.5/10)- Very dark intro song too Pretty Woman
6.Pretty Woman (9/10)- This is one song I could never see Van Halen Covering, but they do a good job
7.Dancing In The Street (8.5/10)- Gets really old, its so cliche to cover this song I dont no why Van Halen decided too
8.Little Guitars (intro) (9/10)- Great Acoustic instrumental intro to Little Guitars, remeniscent of Spanish Fly from Van Halen II
9.Little Guitars (10/10)- Best song on the album, great guitar
10. Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now) (4/10)- stupid and pointless cover song, I think they put it on as a joke, Eddies Dad Jan Van Halen appears in it playing the clarinet
11.The Full Bug (9/10)- Sweet riff, a great song
12.Happy Trails (2/10)- Another pointless cover they put in as a joke

Definitely listen to this one before buying, not that its bad but some people may not like it as much as I do.

To most Van halen fans this is the least liked album from the band. The criticism? Too many covers! For some bands that could be a bad thing, but for a talented outfit like VH it is a good thing.
Van Halen does something with cover songs that very few bands do; they make them their own songs. If you listen to every tune the band has covered and compare it to the original VH's version is always better. And that's exactly what the band does on Diver Down.
From (Oh) Pretty Woman to Where Have All The Good Times Gone to Dancing in the Street, these tunes have all been "Van Halenized". Just listen to the originals and then listen to these remakes and tell me VH's versions aren't better!
Aside from the cover tunes VH offers up some of its best and unique originals with tunes like Little Guitars, Hang 'Em High and Secrets. A real "sleeper" on this disc is the song Full Bug. It rocks!
Over the years Eddie Van Halen has been very critical of this album because of the cover tunes. Eddie is so good that he tends to forget when VH does cover a song they breath new life into it, and it becomes a whole new tune!

Well, after reading these poor excuses for reviews I have decided to write my own. Firstly this album is fantastic IMO. I love it. Anyone who doesn't..........don't listen to it!!

Yeah, there are a lot of covers on here but I like them, Halen do a great job when they cover songs. My personal Favourite on here is Secrets. It's simple yet effective and brilliant while it's at it. Little Guitars is another fantastic track featuring one of the greatest guitar intos I have ever heard. Especially when you seem him do it live. Cathedral is simply amazing when you listen to it and think "This is a guitar??".

Okay, it's not their best album but it's still pretty damn good. If you are a true Van Halen fan then you'll like it, if you're just pretending then you wont.

This is the worst VH album of all time (including the ones with Sammy The Seal). Don't even argue with me, you know I'm right. "Fair Warning" was their last amazing set of hard-rocking original tunes and VH obviously tried to keep that gravy train rolling by quickly releasing a follow-up. Their poor unsuspecting fans (me included) bought it immediately in the hope that it was 1/10th what "Fair Warning" was. Boy, were we all wrong! Eddie's guitar work is wimpy throughout, Dave sounds completely unfocused (can you say "sex, drugs, rock-n-roll" MINUS the "sex" and "rock-n-roll?"), and the only hit-worthy tunes were covers. They didn't even pick cool songs to cover (except for "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" by the Kinks, which, by the way, was a lame and obvious attempt at recapturing the magic of "You Really Got Me," from the first album. So sad). "Dancing In The Street"(?!?!?) Are you kidding me?! CRAP!!! Yeah, that really rocks, guys! Good job!! This is the only VH album I did not buy on CD and I have no plans of ever doing so. If you gave it to me plus $5, I might put in in my collection, but I doubt it. I'd probably just stomp on it...in the street, of course!