Metal Underground.com

One of the greatest things Van Halen brought to metal — besides Eddie's insane guitar skills — was an unabashed sense of fun. Where Sabbath moped and wailed about Satan, Zeppelin shrieked about myths and Mordor and AC/DC added a tinge of darkness to its booze and broads tunes, David Lee Roth was all about girls and good times. This was metal with a smile.

The Norwegian rockers in The Wheel recapture that feeling on the band's self-titled debut disc. With vocals reminiscent of Sammy Hagar and Chris Cornell, and guitars that contain echoes of both Eddie Van Halen and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, it's hard to see how you could go wrong here.

"Into The Water," for example, is a prime slice of good-time rock about the simple pleasures of hitting the beach, with the recognition of summer's "sunny days gettin' shorter." It feels like it could've been lifted right off "5150," and that's not a bad thing. Those looking for a little more blues will love the Zeppelin-style slide-guitar-and-scream of "Love." There's even a love ballad, "Sparks" (with shades of "Layla" in the riff) that'll have you singing along with the chorus in spite of (or maybe because of) its corniness.

Sure, there are a couple speed bumps, including the overly serious "Cry On The Night" and the somewhat ponderous "All This Time." Given that they're the last two tracks, it's pretty easy to avoid them.

If you're looking for some happy hard rock in the late-1970s mold, give The Wheel a spin. It's well-played, catchy, fist-pumping fun in the Van Halen mode, and you can't go wrong with that.