Unchained (song)

"Unchained"
Single by Van Halen
from the album Fair Warning
B-side"Push Comes to Shove"
"So This Is Love?" (Japan)[1]
ReleasedJuly 1981[2]
StudioSunset Sound (Hollywood)
GenreHard rock[3]
Length3:29
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriters
ProducerTed Templeman
Van Halen singles chronology
"So This Is Love?"
(1981)		 "Unchained"
(1981)		 "(Oh) Pretty Woman"
(1982)
Music videos
"Unchained" on YouTube

"Unchained" is a song by American rock band Van Halen. It was released as a single from their fourth studio album, Fair Warning (1981).

Writing and composition

Vocalist David Lee Roth's working title for the song was "Hit the Ground Running." The song features prominent use of the MXR M-117 flanger, which became a popular sound and spurred sales of the pedal. A preset for the flanger was also included on the EVH Flanger MXR pedal. It uses a Drop D♭ tuning with suspended fourth chords interspersed. The song is producer Ted Templeman's only vocal contribution to the band, when he says "Come on, Dave, give me a break!" during the interlude of the song.[4]

Reception

A 2011 Rolling Stone reader's poll placed the song at number one on a list of the 10 best Van Halen songs.[5]

Chuck Klosterman of Vulture.com named it the second-best Van Halen song, writing that it "merely feels like insatiable straight-ahead rock, but the lick is freaky, obliquely hovering above the foundation while the drums oscillate between two unrelated performance philosophies."[6]

References

  1. ↑ Munro, Scott (September 16, 2019). "Van Halen: The Japanese Singles vinyl collection revealed". Classic Rock. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Van Halen singles".
  3. ↑ Hann, Michael (January 12, 2012). "Old music: Van Halen – Unchained". The Guardian. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Unchained". Van Halen News Desk. May 23, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ Greene, Andy (November 23, 2011). "Rolling Stone Readers Select Ten Favorite Van Halen Songs". rollingstone.com. PMC. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  6. ↑ Klosterman, Chuck (October 6, 2020). "All 131 Van Halen Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best A look back at the band's formidable legacy". Vulture.com. Retrieved October 9, 2020.

Further reading

  • Van Halen Guitar Anthology. Van Nuys, California: Alfred. 2006. pp. 101–12. ISBN 9780897246729. OCLC 605214049.
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