VAN HALEN - A Different Kind of Truth
First impressions -
The good news: Thankfully, Eddie Van Halen came out of his hole, declared that winter is officially over and elected to show us hes still the big boy on the block when it comes to guitar players and as David used to say, Eddie is the King of 8 fingers and two thumbs. Hows that for a quick summary? Van Halen 2012 delivers a BIG sound, which plays best at high volume. Its better than Van Halen III, better than Balance and better than most of the new tracks with Sammy Hagar, which were released on Best of Both Worlds. Background vocals are weaker without Michael Anthony, but lets not cry over spilt milk, eh? It may not be my favorite VH record to date, but this is a good start and far better than anything else from the Van Halen camp in many years.
The less-than-good news: When you read my review and many others, you will see there are a lot of comparisons to various ghosts of VH past. You'll hear them too. As a creative unit, Id be a little pissed off to see reviews saying this song sounds like that old record, blah blah blah. But the different kind of truth is this: when you dig up old songs that were once demo-ed 35 years ago and dust them off for a new record in 2012, you must be cheating yourself and your fans of something. Oh sure, youll like them, but mostly because of the lack of anything productive coming from the Van Halen camp since Van Halen III - assuming you call that productive. So what I'm saying is this: the tracks are bound to sound like whatever you were doing back then if thats when they were originally written. Thats the way it is.
Hot Tracks:
Tattoo, The Trouble With Never, As Is, Stay Frosty, Outta Space, Big River
Track By Track
Tattoo
Understandably this is the lead single for a mass audience. Big sounding track, reminiscent of vintage Van Halen, circa 1984 with a twist of modern studio magic. It does sound like a new band song. For the record, Dave does not say Swamp Meat Salad or Drenched Down Cat. (Hey, I was relieved, but with Roth, you just never know).
Shes The Woman
This is the 1-2 punch in the track order; another big, vintage sounding track. This is an old VH number, written and recorded back in their club days; recorded by Gene Simmons during the demo sessions he directed. The lyrics and sound are very old school Van Halen, polished up for 2012. You can here the repetitive nature of the lyrics and the over-all riff would have been overlooked if included back in 77 or 78, but works in the bigger scope of sounds and songs here.
You And Your Blues
Disney Radio must have gotten ahold of this one. Its not a terrible track; it just doesnt work. It has guitars that sound Hagar era, like Runaround. This isnt Daves style of song or vocal. Its out of his range. It sounds more like something that was planned for a singer like Hagar or Cherone. Nothing really all that special about the guitar work here.
China Town
Interesting intro, like Phantom of the Opera meets Eddie Van Halen. Does it work? You decide. Sounds a bit gimmicky to me, like looking for the next power drill hook from Pound Cake. However it is a hard driving song with a rapid-fire drum beat and prime time Eddie guitar solos. By the middle of the song, something here reminds me of Shyboy from Eat Em and Smile, anybody else hear that?
Blood And Fire
This is another song that might have been right at home on 1984, so the vintage VH sound continues. Im visualizing a campy Mtv video, featuring prime David Lee Roth antics.
Bullethead
Guitar players familiar with Eddies techniques know about the famous horse-whinny. To kick this song, Eddie employs an update to the whinny and its brief, yet exhilarating. This song seems to fit somewhere in the Van Halen II era. Its a rapid-fire attack, great for driving around on the strip in your little town, cruising for chicks, except we are all too old to do that anymore.
As Is
A top shelf track, full speed ahead! If listening in the car, please watch your speed. If other tracks have a big sound, this track has a HUGE sound. Overall, I think it sounds somewhat like the stuff Roth did with Jason Becker on A Little Aint Enough, which I regard as one of Roths best solo works.
HoneyBabySweetieDoll
Looking over the playlist, you might not expect this to be the hard core, classic Van Halen song that it is. Warm and hard, with hints of middle-eastern flavors, you expect the title to suggest a campy Roth solo classic, but it isnt.
The Trouble With Never
This is Eddie doing whatever he wants to do with the guitar and David trying to find a place to fit in, but it freakin ROCKS. Guitars are all right up front and personal. Vocals push to the back. Then theres this funk, soul groove thing going on. WTF?
Outta Space
Hot track! I guarantee Roth will have a difficult time maintaining his voice if they try this every night on the tour. Its old school Van Halen vocal style and as much as we liked it, it aint for old men.
Stay Frosty
Heres your 2012 Ice Cream Man. When this song switches gears it will KICK YOUR ASS! Nuff said.
Big River
Well, it isnt the Johnny Cash song, but easily one of my favorite tracks on the record. Its the closest thing to the old VH brown sound. Hints of Women and Children and Fair Warning come to mind, yet a tight, modern recording. Theres a good blend of all parts and continuity to the song. It sounds complete. I would have been a little happier if other tracks on the CD were of this quality.
Beats Workin
With a title like Beats Workin, I was expecting something catchier with a lot more signature Diamond Dave attitude and swagger than this. Not that this is bad or horrible song, its just not a song Id say was worth inclusion on the record, much less waiting many years for. It definitely sounds like a demo throw away track. Ive heard many of the early bootlegs and I cant say that Ive actually heard this particular song, but it fits the early mold very well. They had so many songs that some just didnt pass muster. If this never made an album before, youll know immediately why when you hear it.
Packaging
Believe it or not, all previous Van Halen record or CD packaging was superior to this. What you see is what you get. No pictures of the band. No pictures of Eddies guitars. There are two views of the locomotive art (the one you see on the cover and the one you see on the back of the tray).
Locomotive cover art is almost a flat rip off of The Commodores, Movin On LP
The cover unfolds to 14 total panels, including front and back cover. So that leaves 12 panels of art and copy, amounting to hand-written lyrics on scraps of paper with original drawings, presumably by Roth, but uncredited. So if you are on the fence whether to purchase the CD or download, do the download. You get nothing of value from the booklet, unless you want the lyrics.
Observations
Heres a tidbit you probably wont notice without the aid of a magnifying glass: the 2nd Engineer credited on the recording is ironically named Paul David Hagar.
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