The four hundred and fifteenth album: #415 Van Halen - Van Halen

The recognisable meat of Van Halen's debut album is at its start, with tracks like Runnin' With the Devil being as well known as anything you can find. It shows the strengths of the album - a strong metal/hard rock base, aided by some well written music and supported by harmonies that feel rare in the genre - it's more trained than what we see, and especially compared to what we got out of the punk era. The album stays listenable and there's still a lot to enjoy in here.