"And the Cradle Will Rock" by Van Halen

Song#:  0184
Date:  05/24/1980
Debut:  84
Peak:  55
Weeks:  7
Genre:  Rock, Hard Rock



Pop Bits:  Van Halen's third album, "Women and Children First," is where their maturity as a band began to break through. All songs on the album were written by the band and the sound was heavier than their previous platters. The album was well-received and hit the Top 10, but there was little in the way of singles to promote. This lead track was the only one lifted from the album to be a single. It may have been a little too much for pop radio to handle at the time so it lingered mid-chart. But they would soon end up with much bigger hits in the David Lee Roth-era of the band.

ReduxReview:  Now we are talkin' some rock. Probably like most folks I liked some of the songs from later iterations of VH (aka Van Hagar, etc.), but the Roth period is da bomb. I don't connect with all songs of theirs, but when one hits me, it hits pretty big. This song is chunky, groovy, nutty, and delicious.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  This album was the first VH release to feature a keyboard. In fact, the opening lick on "And the Cradle" is often mistaken for a guitar when it really is a phaser'd-amp'd-up keyboard which chugs throughout the song. Also, as a refresher from an earlier post, this album also features the only female vocal on a VH album. Nicolette Larson appears on "Could This Be Magic."

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