The sophomore effort from the Van Hagar era, OU812 is a strong follow up that has a more laid back sound than from the pulsing power of 5150, but it still has some very strong moments and is a worthy successor. OU812 features some of VH's best songs like the lyrically deep "Mine All Mine", the radio friendly "When It's Love", the white hot "A.F.U. (Naturally Wired), and also the fun acoustic number "Finish What Ya Started." It also contains some questionable tunes like "Feels So Good" - not a bad song, but is very keyboard heavy and not particularly memorable compared to the rest. There are a few more keyboards present than in other VH albums, but Eddie still shreds as always - no worries there! In a nutshell, this record likely the weakest effort of the Van Hagar era, but with that said, this is still an awesome listen...it is Van Halen after all.

     Don't underestimate OU812's ability to be a strong rock album. It has a great, layered sound. Numerous tracks, especially like that of the aforementioned "Mine All Mine", feature some amazing lyrics penned by Hagar. That song has a much more serious tone than the rest of the songs, but it doesn't sound out of place - if anything, it sets the table for a pretty well balanced record; one that features plenty of fun partyish songs, with some more of the more serious toned, or those of balladry.

     I highly recommend OU812.

TRACK HIGHLIGHTS:

"Mine All Mine"

"When It's Love"

"Finish What Ya Started"

"A.F.U. (Naturally Wired)"

"Cabo Wabo"

-Kurt L.

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