For those unaware, Van Halen gets loose on Diver Down; a diverse effort that includes: “(Oh) Pretty Woman,” “Dancing in the Street,” and “Where Have All the Good Times Gone!”

The definitive version of the 1982 album, and strictly limited to 7,500 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP Box Set plays with extraordinary openness [1/4” / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe].

Van Halen’s winning track record with cover songs can be traced back to its 1978 diamond-platinum debut. The ambitious approach, which shows off the band’s diversity, creativity, flair, and fun, takes precedence like never before on Diver Down.

Featuring five covers, three of which became radio staples, the album sprung from the band’s desire to remain relevant while taking a breather after four massively successful records and their respective tours. More than four million copies later, suffice it to say Diver Down achieved its goal.

Sourced from the original analog tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and strictly limited to 7,500 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the 1982 album in definitive sound. All the traits you associate with hallmark Van Halen — dynamic energy, distinctive tonalities, vivid detail, sensory-invigorating immediacy, rhythmic attack, tongue-in-cheek playfulness, midrange punch, throttling intensity — emerge with involving presence and uncanny realism.

Recorded with producer Ted Templeman in just 12 days in California, Diver Down can here be experienced with unparalleled transparency, balance, definition, and, if you so choose with your volume settings, concert-like solidity, scope, and decibel levels.

Provided your system is up to the challenge, you can crank this version as high as you want without risking noise-floor interference or shrillness. Even if you listen at lower levels, the advanced degrees of separation, imaging, soundstaging, and fullness will grant you a fresh perspective on a record that began under the auspices of a one-off single.

The premium packaging of this UD1S pressing befits its collectible status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording.

Aurally and visually, this UD1S reissue is made for discerning listeners who desire to immerse themselves in everything involved with the album, from the naval-inspired cover art to the interior photos, which range from a spirited collage to a panoramic shot of Van Halen thrilling a crowd of tens of thousands in Florida.

Side One:
1. Where Have All the Good Times Gone!
2. Hang ‘Em High
3. Cathedral

Side Two:
4. Secrets
5. Intruder
6. (Oh) Pretty Woman

Side Three:
7. Dancing in the Street
8. Little Guitars (Intro)
9. Little Guitars

Side Four:
10. Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
11. The Full Bug
12. Happy Trails

Van Halen’s success grew with each record, but somewhat stalled with 1981’s Fair Warning, the slowest selling record of the DLR era. The band had continued its heavier sound (and cover-tune-less music) from Women and Children First, and Dave and Ted made a push on the next record to add some remakes, much to Ed (and then naturally Al’s) dismay.

Track for track, IMHO, Fair Warning was a much sturdier rock album than Diver Down - at least partially, as it somewhat stalled out towards the end. If FW had been released as their final album (and thus in a much more accepting 1986 MTV chart world), had Unchained as a single and had a In a Simple Mind-type tune at the end, it’d probably would be considered their masterpiece.

But that didn’t happen, as we all well known now.

Instead, they followed that up with Diver Down, the most telling example of the division of the band’s influences from Eddie vs Dave. Fueled by the unexpected single and video they had to put together (Pretty Woman), it probably is the defining moment in the bands history that not only showed that a hard rock band (or at least THIS one) could produce a commercially successful hit (#12 - and #3 for the album), but it also put a spike in the relationship with Ed and Dave that would eventually split the band.

Now, it should be obviously noted that they had been at odds previously - that went back all the way to before he was even in the band, but this was a ragged touring group that needed a break - and they didn’t get one, and it would lead to exhausted infighting from here on out.

But I digress, for overall, Diver Down is a solid album with some crafty covers that put VH back in the charts. So what’s not to love? It starts out with a decent cover of The Kinks’ Where Have all the Good Times Gone and then erupts into Hang ‘Em High; which, to me, is one of the greatest achievements Ed and Al Van Halen ever created. It’s a track where both Dave and Michael play a big part in this - the former with his growling intro over acoustic guitar and his harmonica on the solo, the latter with his background vocals on the chorus reminding us of what makes this band so special in the first place.

They follow that up with a sharp left turn instrumental in the form of Cathedral which leads into Secrets, a highly underrated DLR era gem that is completely different than anything the band had done previously. It could’ve been a hit single from 1984, trust me.

After Intruder we get (Oh) Pretty Woman, a track that is played to this very day on various genre-related radio stations across the globe, before we are gifted the brilliantly pop-tastic Dancing In The Streets. They back that up with another instrumental, this one a worthy entry in Ed’s instrumental career, the cool riffs that accompany Little Guitars.

Big Bad (Is Sweet William Now) almost doesn’t belong here, just because of the type of circus this record already is, but hey, they do it anyway and it’s such a great song that, well, how can you NOT like it. The molten hot a rock track Full Bug is then backed by the set closer, a one minute countrified harmonizing session by the guys, Happy Trails.

Having peaked at No. 3 and spent more than a year on the charts, Diver Down also includes atomic-punk fury (“Hang ‘Em High”), gentle tranquility (“Secrets”), and a stripped-down jaunt through the old jazz ditty “Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)” complete with a guest contribution from the Van Halens’ father, Jan, on clarinet.

With the album title and artwork aptly hinted that something was happening underneath the plain visibility of the surface — while simultaneously serving as a sexual double entendre — Diver Down remains the band’s most overlooked and surprise-filled platter. One that the original marketing campaign saliently noted finds the band’s “temperature up.” Happy trails, indeed.

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Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called “converts”) are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity’s UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor.

The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

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