"Unchained"
Single by Van Halen
from the album Fair Warning
B-side"Push Comes to Shove"
ReleasedJuly 1981 (1981-07)
RecordedMarch–April 1981
GenreHeavy metal[1]
Length3:29
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Ted Templeman
Van Halen singles chronology
"So This Is Love?"
(1981)		 "Unchained"
(1981)		 "(Oh) Pretty Woman"
(1982)

"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.

Writing and composition

Vocalist 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 notable for being 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

A 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

  1. ↑ Stocks, Matt (September 4, 2016). "The 10 Best Van Halen Songs according to Steel Panther's Michael Starr". loudersound. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Unchained". Van Halen News Desk. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  3. ↑ Greene, Andy. "Rolling Stone Readers Select Ten Favorite Van Halen Songs". rollingstone.com. PMC. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  4. ↑ 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

  • Van Halen Guitar Anthology. Van Nuys, California: Alfred. 2006. pp. 101–12. ISBN 9780897246729. OCLC 605214049.


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