And wiped the floor with Black Sabbath, t'is true. Everyone was impressed, I remember people who saw them at the time (for some reason - probably money - I couldn't go).
Michael Anthony's vocals are pitch-perfect.
I heard Van Halen for the first time via AFN (American Forces Network, the US Military radio station in Germany). And then a friend bought the debut album and we sat around listening to it, marvelling at the larger than life cover. Two things struck me back then, Eddie's liquid solos (which I wrongly assumed to have been doctored in the studio, I had no idea what tapping was) and the neat high-pitch multi-harmony backing vocals (dito), which reminded me of Sweet. Overall, there was a gloss (without sacrificing power) to the production of that first album that you hadn't heard before back then. Oh, and one other thing I deemed even "brave" back then: Eddie did not dub rhythm guitar or keyboards when he soloed, but relied just on drums and bass. That was rare in the 70ies, but became very much de rigueur in the 80ies with bands that had just one guitarist and I believe VH's arrangements on their debut played a large role in that.
