Songs I love by bands I hate-#1: Jump

I don’t really hate Van Halen, but I do think they are among the most overrated rock groups of all time. Sure they are fun, and they have a handful interesting songs, but they really don’t deserve the status they have achieved. A reviewer once said that each new Van Halen album is really ten new ways to say “Let’s fuck.” I’ll go even further and say that the cult of Eddie Van Halen needs to remember he didn’t invent all the tricks he uses when playing; he’s just more fun to watch than those who did.

“Jump” has all the excess and goofiness bands in the eighties were guilty of: keyboards where guitars usually go, chords that replace skill with loud and effects, and a video that has features 80’s rock star hair and pretending that the white man’s overbite is cool. But this song about trying to pick up a girl (another tired rock cliché) is really infectious and I have to admit to loving that little keyboard solo (better than most of what Eddie Van Halen ever played on guitar).