No, not Eddie and not Wolfgang (though if you average their ages you’d end up with roughly 30), but the album, Van Halen’s 1978 eponymous debut that literally took the rock world and turned it upside down, changing the way the guitar is played forever. The indomitable Cosmo Lee of Invisible Oranges (and Decibel) has written a well-crafted and thorough retrospective on just what made this album so captivating and, as history would prove, incredibly important.

Give Lee’s retrospective a read, and when you get home from work today give the album a spin. It’s still so damn good, every single time. Happy 30th birthday Van Halen.

-VN