The focus was always on Eddies lead playing , and for good reason , but people forget what a great rhythm player he was. The groove on this song is killer.

This album is definitive. If you’ve never heard Van Halen before, this is the album you wanna listen to.

This is my favorite Van Halen song. That guitar tone is sick! The drum sound is phenomenal as well. Sounds amazing really loud!

Absolutely one of the best songs. In my top ten best songs ever.

Fair warning has always been my favorite Van Halen album. I don’t know why. The whole sound of the album just gets me.

Drop Dead Legs is another great Van Halen song. Bluesy & funky, it really stands out.

VH at their best. Roth's inflections at the right point in this song sets up what is coming next, and the bass line just drives it along: Michael's best bassline, ever, in my opinion. EVH, what do you say that hasn't been said? Alex's drumming is really on point, here. This was a well-oiled machine of a band during this period of their musical careers. I automatically like any reaction to this song just to watch people's faces...plus it gives me reason to listen to the song, again: As if I needed a reason.

This song swings like a hammer and that groove never lets up. Their best album for my money.

I've never heard this song before and I was born in 58!!! Lol Thank you guys for playing this absolutely amazing song. Blues man. It's such a groove.

Michael Anthony on Bass, good musician, great backing vocals, carried them on lot's of songs. Live well.

This is probably their best album, and this is the best tune on the album inmo. Mikey is killing that bass.

The Great Edward Van Halen - we will never see another one like him. All things considered, there is no one like him - The BEST EVER!

"DANCE, BABY!" Man, that section is one of the sickest grooves in all rock, imo! The whole song is stupid good. David Lee Roth is THE Van Halen singer, and, imo, all the albums up until "1984" were Golden Bars of Kickass.

It's understandable, what with EVH's guitar pyrotechnics and DLR's theatrics, that the rhythm section would get overlooked. But AVH's stick work and MA's driving bass line really carried this song. Those two can hang with any rhythm section...anytime, anywhere.

I think this is some of thier best work . Hard

Some other favs if mine "ain't talkin bout love", "light up the sky" "outta love again". But honestly you almost can't miss with their first 4 albums and some good stuff even after those.

IMO their greatest masterpiece ever. 🤘🤘🤘🤘 Heavy in everyway.

This takes me back to 1981, 12 years old and freakin loved this album! Back then my favorite bands were AC DC, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Kiss, Boston, UFO, Styx and the Beatles! This album blew me away! Great reaction and some great memories.

This is from one of my favorite Van Halen albums..the first being my favorite

David Lee Roth, the lead singer, wrote all the lyrics & had a very distinctive vocal style. Yes, he absolutely had a rap cadence/talking style on a lot of songs, really made Van Halen unique in yet another way. It's why so many prefer him to Samy Hagar, their lead singer after Dave. Sammy's voice is technically better, but Dave is just special.

If I was an MMA fighter, this would be my walkout song. One of their very best, IMO. This entire album is AMAZING.

It sure is fun to watch you guys traverse so many rabbit holes at once. Rock on!!

This iteration of Van Halen doesn’t get enough credit for the music they produced. This is top tier

I've been loving this album for over 40 years. So cool to see you guys digging my old shit!!!! The first 4, pure gold!!!!

Excellent choice.

If that don't get your head bobbing, I don't know what will. Rock On guys!! :)

Whew!!! What a way to start an album!! This track and this album have always been my favorite. You guys rock!! 🤘

Can you imagine the crowd seeing you play live this song in 1981... This Song was released in 1981 !... Simply amazing ....... The sound . riffs . changes.. it really has a lot going on and makes you stand up take notice.

Talent up the butt....been playing drums for decades because of this groove. Long live the almighty VH......

That intro is so unique. Nothing else like it anywhere!

This song always had a funk and a drive to it, my favorite.

This album is an artistic masterpiece. Legendary guitar work on this one.

Every new VH release was always met wth excitement, wth good reason. But you could tell Mean Streets was different. I think people stopped fawning over Eddie's solos and realized his true talent. Big boy album. This was also their last true album together and their best

Van Halen are the ultimate party band! You should listen through their self-titled first album, it's one of if not the greatest rock debut album up there with Zeppelin 1. Almost every song was a hit and it was a revolution in guitar playing and sound!

This is one of my favorite songs on one of my favorite VH albums. It is so underrated even though many people love it. Great song with great guitar work. Great bass and drums also.

The thing I like most about you guys is, you are so honest. You really give her full attention to the song and let it affect you. Talking about things that really got to you is so intriguing. You sometimes pick up on stuff I didn't think about, and it makes me appreciate the music even more. Let me tell you, it is much appreciated! 😊

The menacing snarl in this immortal classic is heard in even greater ferocity on House Of Pain, the final track on their 1984 album. Teeth tearing flesh and crushing bone.

The groove is infectious !!!!

So many Van Halen songs and everyone has their favorites but for me, this will always be how I see Van Halen. So fucking raw and polished at the same time.

Whenever I hear Van Halen the thought always crosses my mind ever since I was a kid .. this is man music 💪😤🤘🎸

The GOAT played it on the first go round.

Awesome sauce all day long, every time you hear old school Van Halen. Do one song at a time. Start with one. Live it!

That is a superb album. One of my favourites from VH.

GREAT TUNE, GREAT ALBUM... As with all the EARLY Recordings from all bands, the first albums are the best ones... When MTV showed up, the Talent Left...! The First Album, everyone knew every word of every song. Going to keep Plugging Early Aerosmith too. REAL HARD ROCK describes the first 4 albums. GET YOUR WINGS and ROCKS are two albums that totally rock...

I was 13 or 14 years old when I heard this album for the first time (back in the early 80s). Up until this time I was listening to banjo music and blue grass because I loved the intricacy of banjo that fueled my hyperactive mind. Eddie Van Halen and the boys of Van Halen came along and it changed my life forever. This album is one of the darker/harder albums for Van Halen. The second song "Dirty Movies" has kind of a funny back story. Alex Van Halen (Drummer and Eddies brother) and David Lee Roth used to do the radio station circuit together, promoting concerts or new releases. David Lee Roth would always tell hilarious stories or jokes. He tells this hilarious joke about how to get rid of the crabs: "You go to a dirty movie (porno) movie theater wearing nothing but a trench coat. You buy two large buckets of popcorn with the entire salt shaker in one bucket and you buy one big root beer. You go into the theater and sit down in the middle row. You eat one of the popcorns and drink the root beer. Open up your trench coat and poor the popcorn with the salt, all over yourself and when the crabs get up to go get a root beer, change seats.... Van Halen was one of the original hard corps party bands and were famous for getting kicked out of hotels or getting arrested. Alex Van Halen told a story, during a radio interview about how he was parting with David Lee Roth at some hotel in California with a bunch of people. Alex woke up the next morning in the hospital, all bruised and bloody and bandaged. He called up David Lee Roth and asked what happened. Dave says, "last night you got so drunk, you bet everyone you could jump off the second floor balcony and fly and you jumped and landed in the bushes hard". Alex asks, "why didn't you stop me?!?" David replies, "Stop you? I bet everyone $100 dollars you could do it!" lol.

Hey guys! Your Zeppelin reactions brought me to your channel and now I’m in it!! This album is my fav by VH, awesome song! Keep on killing it

I remember the first time I heard this song when the album first came out, I thought the opening guitar riff was bad ass. But when David came in with the vocals, the riff was dropped an octave and the bass line came in with Eddie's guitar.....it was like a punch in the face. I couldn't get over how sic that sounded, and yes it felt like a street record. Love this song.

One of the greatest VH songs as far as riffs go. Just nasty. Not to mention the work of Alex and Mike holding it down during the break before the solo. Ed was a genius on so many levels. Always loved how he masterfully played off the lyric “lord strike that poor boy down.” He rode a swell into that and then that pick slide sounded like thunder and lightning. Ridiculous

Start of with their first album! We were all blown away (rock enthusiasts) by their unique sound. All of their albums are a must to hear! You’ll not regret it.

Some of the groovier drumming ever, Alex is a talent.

Awww Hell Yeah! The Mighty Van Halen. They were flawless on the first six albums with David Lee Roth. No Fillers, all Killers!

Excellent...this is a good day. 😛👍

My fave van halen song. Eddie's tone will never be matched. Everyone likes to focus on the tapping and harmonics, but they often forget the pure funk and feeling that he had.

Eddie Van Halen...the rock Maestro

Michael Anthony is killing it

Born 1968, this came out when I was 13 already playing guitar. The intro grabs me to this day. I've tried to play it maybe 50,000 times. I can play it true for maybe 8 seconds then I throw a push rod and parts fall off. IMHO, the Mean Street intro is the hardest thing to master in rock 'n roll guitar. Maybe impossible?

So many great VH songs...some of my favs... " Running With The Devil", "Jamie's Crying", "Everybody Wants Some" ❤❤ ❤

To be very American about this , which I am , this song totally kicks serious .. ass ! Growing up in LA , I use to chuckle because this band came from Pasadena . Pasadena in the 70’s was full of the elderly , cafeterias and Early Bird specials ! Still can’t believe they grew up there! Hilarious! They probably got alot of complaints about the noise ! lol

This is my favorite song of theirs. NICE! ✌️☮️

Just want to say great job guys - I like what you said about listening to guitarist and how EVH is different - he is and he is the best! Great job! You guys ROCK!

It’s so cool you guys are listening to this for what is. It isn’t on the charts like it was but this was the shit back in the day. Still get goosebumps from those guys 👍🏽

Diamond Dave is arguably one of the best front men in Rock.

The main riff is so damn good, I love it. The whole song just kicks ass from beginning to end...

Dat Bass line though. Michael Anthony kills it!

Love VH and this is still may FAVORITE VH album. Nasty from start to finish.

It's like David Lee Roth is RAPPING those verses. Bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Alex Van Halen is an in the pocket, grooving rhythm section. Just perfect.

Van Halen DLR years Best Band of All Time! No one could touch them. This is the Van Halen album.

another album where Ed sets himself apart. at the time there were a ton of gun slingers, then Ed drops that intro and we all go back to the shed to practice. Al's groove and pocket are overlooked because he has a generational talent with him. Monster band

No one played like Eddie ❤❤❤❤😢😢, RIP Eddie we miss you so much

Dave was so right for these records. His rasp and attitude compliment Edwards tone and attack so well. They were great together. =VH= Cool vid, guys.

Their best album, every song was great. The songs flowed so well too, you could pop the tape in and let it run out that side, then flip it over and doing the same to side 2

I got to see these bad boys in concert in Birmingham Alabama back in 1983 and they freaking rocked the place

@0:54 > This is the pinnacle of the "Brown Sound," particularly that sustained power chord in the beginning right after the tapping riff. It just rings out in nasty glory. Never gets old.

Nothing like David Lee Roth era Van Halen 🎸✌️

These guy's actually listened to the whole song and played it completely out !!!!! Fantastic man !!!!!😊

Love your reactions when I get time to watch.

The greatest fade out in music history. Van Halen rules.

We listened to Van Halen a lot back in the day 👍

I remember when this album came out. We went to see Twisted Sister ( in those days half of their set was cover songs) and they played this song. Minus the guitar solo of course. Lol. Michael Anthony the bass player is the unsung hero in this album. Check out So This Is Love.

Mean Street. Its always relevant to the around us especially in 2023.

Greatest band of all time.

Love those Oakland A’s hats ❤

Van Halen at the height of their powers! Great choice.

Oh man, when this came out, I had a 76’ Camero with a Pioneer Super Tuner II in dash, amp, and speakers! I would kill to have that car and the system back and blast this one once again!!

Great album, great song. Back in the day I covered this song. The intro you hear is actually Eddie Van Halen on guitar and it's very hard to do. He slaps with both hands, one for muting while the other hits the low E string and the two high B and E strings on the 12th fret. From a song writing perspective this song is absolutely flawless, every track is perfectly done - Drums, bass, vocals and of course the guitars, even the tempo sets the mood. Although this song doesn't have a pre-chorus, it's filled with different ideas which is a sign of good song writing skills. The outro is also excellent with the 2-3 guitar parts that match the mood of the song. As you listen more to the song, the various parts stick in your mind and you can't get them out and you crave for more. From a guitar standpoint, Eddie does a beautiful job mixing the various techniques that really drives the song. The harmonics right before the band comes in, the ending to the chorus with varying chord inversions, the pick slides, the harmonics, the tremolo, very well thought out from beginning to end. And of course, the EVH soloing is flawless.

That has to be one of the best Rock guitar sounds ever recorded.

Straight up all-Time banger. Bringing back My Nova & Pumping it out with my Crew 🤘

What a great song! Love old VH!

In Belgium, or at least within the circle of friends and acquaintances I frequented, Van Halen wasn't too well received because of their cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me". Most people I connected with when I was a teen were much older than me and a lot grew up with typical sixties British Rock like Kinks, The Who, Faces and Small Faces, Rolling Stones and touching any song from those days was as good as blasphemy. I never cared too much. Bought Van Halen's first album in 1978 when it was released and I liked what I heard. Saw the lads in 1980 at the Geleen Pink Pop Festival (26th of May) and despite David Lee Roth having gotten in an accident on an Italian TV stage a few days prior to the show all was well and the gig was more than okay. "Mean Streets" is one of those songs that have a groove that is infectuous. Thanks for the reaction lads.

Little Dreamer is a great under rated track

I saw them live in 1981 I was 15 years old and it was my first concert

I rocked the tracks off this album. Great selection!

this is my 12th vid, I'm a fan of your channel. Music for me is important for my well being and I'm so happy that we all have that in common. Rock on Airplay Beats #12

You know what's been just as fun as watching your chanel blow up? Watching your Patreon do the same, I'm so glad this came out first rather than their later stuff. You've got a great group on Patreon. But lets take a second to recognize how kickass of a drummer Alex Van Halen is.

"Fair Warning" and "Women and Children First" were the pinnacle albums of the David Lee Roth era, IMO. Sure VH's debut was incredible but these two albums cemented their place in Rock history! Eddie at his fiery best!!!!

Alex Lifeson and Eddie Van Halen are my favorite guitarists, in a crowd with SRV, Paige, Beck, Jimmy, and 20 others. They are so different from each other, but both knew how to use distortion in the proper amounts like cooking a recipe. Okay, that was corny, but you know what I mean. That gritty distortion they both used was just perfect.

The best hip hop song I've ever heard! This album and Woman And Children First, (their 3rd album), ruled my teen years. They are def worth doing entire albums if you guys are down. No concepts, just pure rock, with lots of rhythm and of course some blues. First 4 albums are excellent imo. After that, the drama with David appeared to begin as it showed in their work. I think they did 2 more albums with Dave before Sammy came in. They have a lot of good stuff from that era as well. Thanks for playing this one guys. I think you would love every song on Fair Warning! ✌🏼❤

Van Halen is a whole other rabbit hole for you two! We were all blown away when their first album came out. I would start there.

This song gives you a glimpse of the rough and tough 80's los angeles scene where they from..

my favorite album by them