That old saying about not getting a second chance to make a first impression certainly wasn’t lost on Van Halen. “Runnin’ with the Devil,” the very first song on their very first album, immediately ...

When I was in eighth or ninth grade, there was a young guitar virtuoso in my school who could play the "Eruption" solo. I didn't know anything about this song, not even its original author, but I knew ...

The album may or may not be obsolete, but the fact remains: Listeners have long obsessed over individual songs. The Single File is The A.V. Club’s look at the deep cuts, detours, experiments, and ...