1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is the sixth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on January 9, 1984. It was the last Van Halen studio album until A Different Kind of Truth (2012) to feature lead singer David Lee Roth, who left the band in 1985 following creative differences. This is the final full-length album to feature all four original members (the Van Halen brothers Eddie and Alex, Roth, and Michael Anthony), although they reunited briefly in 2000 to start work on what would much later become 2012's A Different Kind of Truth. Roth returned in 2007, but Eddie's son Wolfgang replaced Anthony in 2006. 1984 and Van Halen's self-titled debut abum are the band's best-selling albums, each having sold more than 10 million copies in the United States.

1984 was well received by music critics. Rolling Stone ranked the album number 81 on its list of the "100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s". It reached number two on the Billboard 200 and remained there for five weeks, kept off the top spot by Michael Jackson's Thriller, on which guitarist Eddie Van Halen made a guest performance. 1984 produced four singles, including "Jump", Van Halen's only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100; the top-20 hits "Panama" and "I'll Wait"; and the MTV favorite "Hot for Teacher". The album was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1999 for ten million shipped copies in the U.S.

Background and recording:
Following the tour in support of their fourth studio album, Fair Warning, the band initially wanted to slow down and take a break. They released just one single, "(Oh) Pretty Woman"/"Happy Trails", intended to be a stand-alone release. However, the band's label asked for another album due to the A-side's success and the band recorded their fifth studio album, Diver Down, very quickly. Following the recording of the album, guitarist Eddie Van Halen was dissatisfied by the concessions he had made to Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and Warner Bros. producer Ted Templeman. Both discouraged Eddie from making keyboards a prominent instrument in the band's music.

By 1983, Eddie was in the process of building his own studio, naming it 5150 after the California law code for the temporary, involuntary psychiatric commitment of individuals (who present a danger to themselves or others due to signs of mental illness), with Donn Landee, the band's longtime engineer (and later, producer on the 5150 and OU812 recordings). While boards and tape machines were being installed, Eddie began working on synthesizers to pass the time. "There were no presets," said Templeman. "He would just twist off until it sounded right." There, he composed Van Halen's follow-up to Diver Down without as much perceived "interference" from Roth or Templeman. The result was a compromise between the two creative factions in the band: a mixture of keyboard-heavy songs, and the guitar-driven hard rock for which the band was known. 1984 was the longest-in-the-making album of the band's career to date, taking about three months to record, compared to most of their previous LPs taking less than two weeks, and their first LP taking only five days, all at Sunset Studios.

Release:
1984 peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 (behind Michael Jackson's Thriller, which featured an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo on "Beat It"), and remained in that spot for 5 consecutive weeks. It contained the anthems "Jump", "Panama", "I'll Wait", and "Hot for Teacher". "Jump" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. 1984 is the second of two Van Halen albums to have achieved RIAA Diamond status, selling over ten million copies in the United States. Their debut Van Halen was the first. "Jump" went on to be certified Gold in April 1984, only months after the album's release.

The album's follow-up singles – the synth-driven "I'll Wait", and "Panama", each peaked at Billboard number 13 on the Pop charts, respectively, in March and June. "Hot for Teacher" was a moderate Billboard Hot 100 success, reaching number 56; the MTV video for "Hot for Teacher" became even more popular. The "Hot for Teacher" video, which was directed by Roth, stars preteen lookalikes of the four Van Halen band members; a stereotypical nerd named "Waldo"; David Lee Roth as Waldo's bus driver; and numerous teachers stripping.

Songwriting credits:
The UK single release for "I'll Wait" credited Michael McDonald as a co-writer, but he was not credited on the US version. The ASCAP entry for "I'll Wait" lists Michael McDonald as co-writer with Roth and the Van Halen members.

Released: January 9, 1984
Recorded: June–October 1983
Studio: 5150 Studios in Studio City, California
Genre: Hard rock, glam metal, heavy metal, synth rock, pop rock
Length: 33:22
Label: Warner Bros.
Producer: Ted Templeman

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