Van Halen -1984 (written as MCMLXXXIV on the front cover) is the sixth album by American hard rock band Van Halen. One of the band's more popular albums (in terms of both record sales and chart performance), 1984 is the final album featuring singer David Lee Roth, who later left the band in the spring of the following year over escalating tensions between him and guitarist Eddie Van Halen, as well as Roth's desire to pursue a solo career.

1984 peaked at #2 on the Billboard Magazine album charts (#1 at the time was Thriller, which featured an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo on "Beat It," which Roth had criticized [1]) and contained future hits "Jump," "Panama", "I'll Wait", and "Hot for Teacher." "Jump" reached #1 on the magazine's singles chart...

A different version of "House of Pain" appears on the band's Gene Simmons financed 1976 demo (along with "Runnin' With The Devil"). Although the signature guitar riff of the chorus remained unchanged, the 1984 version is significantly different, featuring a new introduction, different music and vocal melody for the verse, and an extended solo section. Also, the lyrics are about a relationship gone bad (and possibly S&M sex) whereas the 1976 seems more horror-oriented (featuring an early "death grunt" vocal by Roth).



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_%28Van_Halen_album%29