Van Halen II

How do you follow up one of the most groundbreaking albums ever made? For Van Halen, the answer was obvious. Treading the same path the band took to stardom on its debut, and upping the fun factor and musicianship, Van Halen II extinguished any possibilities of a sophomore slump. Leveraging years of experience as a tight-knit live group, drawing on material initially recorded for its professional demos with Kiss leader Gene Simmons, and hitting the studio just days after completing a 10-month tour, the quartet completed the 1979 LP in under a month while inviting fans to "dance the night away." Boy, did they ever.

Mastered from the original analogue tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, and limited to 7,500 copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Van Halen II lets it all hang out. Never before has the five-times-platinum record sounded as close to Van Halen's original intent — that of music recorded live in one big room, Marshall amplifiers turned all the way up, and resonating with the purity, excitement, and interaction of three instruments and voices. Since MoFi's unique SuperVinyl compound allows you to crank the decibels to your wildest desires without risking noise-floor interference, prepare to not only hear but feel Van Halen II in your chest. Every aspect of this 2LP edition veritably takes you to Sunset Sound Recorders and lets you watch Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, and David Lee Roth as they rip through the songs in just a few takes. Created with minimal overdubs and afforded massive dynamics, air-moving energy, and palpable solidity on this audiophile edition, Van Halen II is rock 'n' roll at its most direct, straightforward, taut, and electric. Every track pulses with what Eddie Van Halen once referred to as a "vibe, feeling, and pocket" that only these four individuals could establish and maintain.