Van Halen – reCOLLECTION 03 – World Invasion 1980

Merry Christmas everybody! At long last the World Invasion 1980 compilation is complete and just in time for this tour’s 40th anniversary. This has been a difficult year for so many, further compounded by the sad loss of one of the greatest guitarists of all time. I hope this release will help bring a little happiness and joy to the season.
Of note, there are songs sourced on this compilation from 2 previously unreleased shows: April 30, 1980 – Pittsburgh, PA and August 27, 1980 – San Antonio, TX. I’m trying to get my torrent going on DIME but running into issues so in the meantime if anyone would like to download this collection, PM me and I’ll send you a Dropbox link.
Van Halen
Various dates
Various locations
Various sources
Series name/number: reCOLLECTION 03
Compilation title: World Invasion 1980
Compiled and released: December 2020
DISC 1
Total Time: 42:13
1. Romeo Delight (June 23, 1980: London Rainbow Ballroom – London, England) 4:28
2. Bottoms Up!/Drum Solo (August 27, 1980: San Antonio Convention Center – San Antonio, Texas) 6:29
3. Runnin’ With The Devil (June 19, 1980: Apollo Ardwick Theater – Manchester, England) 3:38
4. Tora! Tora! Tora!/Loss Of Control (May 1, 1980: Capital Centre – Largo, Maryland) 4:09
5. Take Your Whiskey Home (July 18, 1980: Maple Leaf Gardens – Toronto, Ontario) 5:38
6. Dance The Night Away (April 30, 1980: Pittsburgh Civic Arena – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 3:07
7. Women In Love (September 10, 1980: University of New Mexico Arena – Albuquerque, New Mexico) 3:52
8. Jamie’s Cryin’ (October 9, 1980: Oakland Coliseum – Oakland, California) 5:31
9. Feel Your Love Tonight (April 14, 1980: Milwaukee Arena – Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 5:21
FINGERPRINTS
b340e15889272e22530a6de1424c72b6 *01 – Romeo Delight.flac
8bcb77f3b7a4355e038545a2523e1d35 *02 – Bottoms Up!_Drum Solo.flac
91bdd7f31709aa721d6d8b3eb8c071d9 *03 – Runnin’ With The Devil.flac
183a5abf215dfc71848a75726c40e0d7 *04 – Tora! Tora! Tora!_Loss Of Control.flac
0f22c8a7352d8bb6c89c1cfe461a0569 *05 – Take Your Whiskey Home.flac
ebbad999784b0d74ac14768702687b3a *06 – Dance The Night Away.flac
9977cf0991dbdac3677ba242bc7844a2 *07 – Women In Love.flac
0a2d246ad92c92a334bd6c819a6640b6 *08 – Jamie’s Cryin’.flac
05bc8fe2d75bc72e3ae90e444e66446a *09 – Feel Your Love Tonight.flac
No errors occurred.
DISC 2
Total Time: 61:22
1. Bright Lights, Big City (September 10, 1980: University of New Mexico Arena – Albuquerque, New Mexico) 8:42
2. Everybody Wants Some!! (June 23, 1980: London Rainbow Ballroom – London, England) 4:52
3. Atomic Punk (May 1, 1980: Capital Centre – Largo, Maryland) 2:46
4. And The Cradle Will Rock… (August 27, 1980: San Antonio Convention Center – San Antonio, Texas) 5:33
5. Light Up The Sky (May 8, 1980: New Haven Coliseum – New Haven, Connecticut) 5:12
6. On Fire (July 22, 1980: Baltimore Civic Center – Baltimore, Maryland) 3:08
7. Somebody Get Me A Doctor (March 24, 1980: Spokane Coliseum – Spokane, Washington) 5:24
8. Guitar Solo (July 26, 1980: Nassau Coliseum – Uniondale, New York) 7:09
9. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love (April 30, 1980: Pittsburgh Civic Arena – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 5:30
10. Ice Cream Man (June 20, 1980: De Montfort Hall – Leicester, England) 9:14
11. You Really Got Me (June 24, 1980: London Rainbow Ballroom – London, England) 3:52
FINGERPRINTS
72961d1e9b32f7a9a8db16892a3e070a *01 – Bright Lights, Big City.flac
961b8db4ed1d91804d7f6d8e9372d714 *02 – Everybody Wants Some!!.flac
8f6fb3accb4db99d431812f4dfee8093 *03 – Atomic Punk.flac
83afe3c96ec34acc53acd9774253b79e *04 – And The Cradle Will Rock….flac
8ed40e652456accbfa0392f16aba4123 *05 – Light Up The Sky.flac
4b00d77fe264fd4944e30a945bc24de3 *06 – On Fire.flac
1723531128405420df302a2eed34cabf *07 – Somebody Get Me A Doctor.flac
86dfdfad53103d8676e36af431ef9eff *08 – Guitar Solo.flac
7151ddd2be9ef8f72b0164ced0444c45 *09 – Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love.flac
9be6e06658cdb4965fba3dd1cc1901cf *10 – Ice Cream Man.flac
781574d6d34a5314c9d7de85209184ef *11 – You Really Got Me.flac
No errors occurred.
LINEAGE
DISC 1
1. Romeo Delight (June 23, 1980: London Rainbow Ballroom – London, England)
EAC > WAV > FLAC Frontend > FLAC @ Level 4 > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
2. Bottoms Up!/Drum Solo (August 27, 1980: San Original Analog Audience Recording > AIF (original lineage not available) > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
3. Runnin’ With The Devil (June 19, 1980: Apollo Ardwick Theater – Manchester, England) Analog Audience Recording (unknown gen) > CD-R copy (rec’d from trade) > dBpoweramp CD Ripper > FLAC(level > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
4. Tora! Tora! Tora!/Loss Of Control (May 1, 1980: Capital Centre – Largo, Maryland)
Tora! Tora! Tora! Aces High (AH CD 021) [Silver] > EAC [secure] > WAV > Trader’s Little Helper [FLAC - level8] > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
5. Take Your Whiskey Home (July 18, 1980: Maple Leaf Gardens – Toronto, Ontario)
Trade CDR > EAC (secure, no C2)>WAV(no errors > Traders Little Helper > FLAC level 6 > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
6. Dance The Night Away (April 30, 1980: Pittsburgh Civic Arena – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Original Analog Audience Recording > WMA (original lineage not available) > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
7. Women In Love (September 10, 1980: University of New Mexico Arena – Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Analog Audience Recording (unknown gen) > CD-R copy (rec’d from trade) > dBpoweramp CD Ripper > FLAC(level > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
8. Jamie’s Cryin’ (October 9, 1980: Oakland Coliseum – Oakland, California)
aud > unknown.gen.cassette > cd-r > FLAC > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
9. Feel Your Love Tonight (April 14, 1980: Milwaukee Arena – Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Analog Audience Recording (low gen, re-mastered) > CD-R copy (rec’d from trade) > dBpoweramp CD Ripper > FLAC(level > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
DISC 2
1. Bright Lights, Big City (September 10, 1980: University of New Mexico Arena – Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Analog Audience Recording (unknown gen) > CD-R copy (rec’d from trade) > dBpoweramp CD Ripper > FLAC(level > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
2. Everybody Wants Some!! (June 23, 1980: London Rainbow Ballroom – London, England)
EAC > WAV > FLAC Frontend > FLAC @ Level 4 > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
3. Atomic Punk (May 1, 1980: Capital Centre – Largo, Maryland)
Tora! Tora! Tora! Aces High (AH CD 021) [Silver] > EAC [secure] > WAV > Trader’s Little Helper [FLAC - level8] > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
4. And The Cradle Will Rock… (August 27, 1980: San Antonio Convention Center – San Antonio, Texas)
Original Analog Audience Recording > AIF (original lineage not available) > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
5. Light Up The Sky (May 8, 1980: New Haven Coliseum – New Haven, Connecticut)
aud > unknown.gen.cassette > SonyTCWE435 > PioneerPDR- O4 > CDR > EAC > WAV > Trader’sLittleHelper > FLAC > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
6. On Fire (July 22, 1980: Baltimore Civic Center – Baltimore, Maryland)
Unknown Generation CD-R > EAC > wav > TLH > (Test Lossless, Test For SBEs, Align On Sector Boundaries) > Flac (Level > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
7. Somebody Get Me A Doctor (March 24, 1980: Spokane Coliseum – Spokane, Washington)
unknown gen audience cassette recording > Technics RS-B505 Cassette Deck > MAGIX Cleaning Lab > WAV > TLH > FLAC > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
8. Guitar Solo (July 26, 1980: Nassau Coliseum – Uniondale, New York)
AUD > unknown gen cass > Sony TC-WE635 tape deck > Sony RCD-W500C standalone burner > CDR(M) > EAC(secure/offset) > WAV > CDWave > FLAC(level 5) > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
9. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love (April 30, 1980: Pittsburgh Civic Arena – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Original Analog Audience Recording > WMA (original lineage not available) > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
10. Ice Cream Man (June 20, 1980: De Montfort Hall – Leicester, England)
Audience Recording – FLAC (lineage Unknown) > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
11. You Really Got Me (June 24, 1980: London Rainbow Ballroom – London, England)
Analog Audience Recording (low, unknown gen) > CD-R copy (rec’d from trade) > dBpoweramp CD Ripper > FLAC(level > Audacity 1.3 Beta (crossfading) > FLAC8
NOTES
Upon first listen of the “Reunion” compilation from Mean Street Studios, I immediately fell in love with the concept of coordinating a variety of diversely-sourced live material into a themed anthology with imperceptible song transitions. Van Halen has always been my favorite band and I wanted to pay homage by similarly assembling a series of collected live recordings I could share with fellow fans and listeners.
The theme of this particular compilation is Van Halen’s 1980 World Invasion (infamously dubbed by the band as the “Party ‘til You Die Tour”). The purpose is to honor and uniquely capture the very essence of the live Van Halen experience during this historic time in the band’s history. To provide the most expansive possible representation and historical perspective, I have included every available song Van Halen performed on tour, sourced them from as many diverse dates and venues as possible, and sequentially positioned them in the same order they were played on location with as indiscernible song transitions as I could achieve. As a special added bonus, this collection also contains previously unreleased audio from performances in Pittsburgh and San Antonio!
My desired outcome is for the listener to feel as though they are a member of the audience witnessing the band’s musicianship, personality, and nuance further develop during the entire tour in one all-encompassing show. At conclusion of the last song, I want the listener to feel exhausted, fulfilled, inspired, and excited to take the trip all over again as if they had just spent seven glorious months following the band around the world.
Happy touring and bottoms up!
*NOTE: This is the original first release of the compilation titled “World Invasion 1980″ that is part of a series of compilations branded as “reCOLLECTION xx” (“xx” referring to the number in the series). With respect to lineage, I have done my best to disclose my limited alterations by adding their descriptions directly after the sources’ original lineage(s) (when available).
The well-documented lack of quality recordings available from this tour necessitated some manual audio improvement of certain songs to strengthen clarity. Most of the audio changes involved a degree of EQ work to minimize distortion, amplification adjustments to avoid noticeable volume fluxuations and, of course, crossfading was used at the beginning and end of each track to achieve smooth transitions between songs from different sources.
Having the aforementioned being said, I invite all listeners to offer ideas for improvement. If you have a suggestion for improving the audio of any of the tracks or even have a different source for a song that you think is stronger than what is represented on this collection, I welcome any and all comments.
Also of note, some have expressed difficulty getting the printed booklet to fit into a jewel case due to its thickness. Because of this, I recommend printing the booklet on HP Brochure Paper (180g). It will still be a snug fit but should work.