"Unchained" is a song from Van Halen's fourth album, Fair Warning. The song was released as a single in various countries, including Germany, Spain, and Japan.
| "Unchained" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Van Halen | ||||
| from the album Fair Warning | ||||
| B-side | "Push Comes to Shove" | |||
| Released | July 1981 | |||
| Recorded | March–April 1981 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal[1] | |||
| Length | 3:29 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Ted Templeman | |||
| Van Halen singles chronology | ||||
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Writing and composition
editVocalist David Lee Roth's working title for the song was "Hit the Ground Running". The song features prominent use of the MXR M-117 flanger, which became a popular sound and spurred sales of the pedal. A preset for the flanger was also included on the EVH Flanger MXR pedal. It uses a Drop D♭ tuning with suspended fourth chords interspersed. The song is producer Ted Templeman's only vocal contribution to the band, when he says "Come on, Dave, gimme a break!" during the interlude of the song.[2]
Reception
editA 2011 Rolling Stone reader's poll placed the song at number one on a list of the 10 best Van Halen songs.[3]
Chuck Klosterman of Vulture.com named it the second-best Van Halen song, writing that it "merely feels like insatiable straight-ahead rock, but the lick is freaky, obliquely hovering above the foundation while the drums oscillate between two unrelated performance philosophies."[4]
References
edit- ^ Stocks, Matt (September 4, 2016). "The 10 Best Van Halen Songs according to Steel Panther's Michael Starr". loudersound. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
- ^ "Unchained". Van Halen News Desk. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ^ Greene, Andy. "Rolling Stone Readers Select Ten Favorite Van Halen Songs". rollingstone.com. PMC. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ Klosterman, Chuck (October 6, 2020). "All 131 Van Halen Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best A look back at the band's formidable legacy". Vulture.com. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
Further reading
edit- Van Halen Guitar Anthology. Van Nuys, California: Alfred. 2006. pp. 101–12. ISBN 9780897246729. OCLC 605214049.
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