''Women and Children First'' is the third studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on March 26, 1980, on Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Ted Templeman and engineered by

Donn Landee Donn Landee is an American record producer and recording engineer. Much of his work as an engineer has been done with producer Ted Templeman at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, Cal. The pair worked with a wide variety of artists for Warner ...

, it was the first Van Halen album not to feature any cover songs, and is described by critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine as " herecord where the group started to get heavier, both sonically and, to a lesser extent, thematically."

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 The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is concept ...

played through Eddie Van Halen's 1960s model 100-watt

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

''Plexi'' amplifier. Like the two preceding albums, ''Women and Children First'' was recorded in Hollywood at Sunset Studios, in about two weeks' time. The album is a progression, though, in that it features more studio

overdubs Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

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 Cherokee Studios is a recording studio facility in Hollywood founded in 1972 by members of 1960s pop band The Robbs. Cherokee has been the location of many notable recordings by such artists as Steely Dan, David Bowie, Journey, The Cars, Foreign ...

demo, before Michael Anthony had joined them, albeit both with some differences lyrically and musically. Two other songs were also played live earlier, "Loss of Control" at shows in 1977 and "Fools" was played as early as 1975. "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. 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 "You Really Got Me" is a song written by Ray Davies for English rock band the Kinks. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two versions of the song were ...

", 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. 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" was also the source of a riff used for the song "House of Pain", released on ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

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

Critical reception

Reviews for ''Women and Children First'' were generally favorable.

David Fricke David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...

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". Both Fricke and Robert Christgau compare Eddie's guitar work to Jimi Hendrix. Christgau gives the album a B rating, stating, " ddieearns 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". ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' magazine listed the album at number 30 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time", and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' listed the album at number 36 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".

Track listing

All songs by Van Halen.

Personnel

Van Halen * David Lee Roth – lead vocals, acoustic guitar on "Could This Be Magic?" * Eddie Van Halen – guitars, electric piano, backing vocals * Michael Anthony – bass guitar, backing vocals *

Alex Van Halen Alexander Arthur Van Halen (; born May 8, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1972 by Alex Van Halen, his younger brother Eddie, David Lee Roth, and Mark S ...

– drums Additional musicians * Nicolette Larson – backing vocals on "Could This Be Magic?" Production * Pete Angelus – creative consultant *Chris Bellman – remastering *

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

*Gene Meros – engineer *Jo Motta – project coordinator * Helmut Newton – poster photo * Norman Seeff – cover photo *Richard Seireeni – art direction * Ted Templeman –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Background and recording

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly Charts

Year-end Charts

Charting Singles

Certifications

References

Further reading