Van Halen

[Pandemonium]

Well, when everyone was wondering what they were doing for the last 2 years, i guess the answer for Eddie was "getting fat and old"

I can't believe he goes onstage dressed like that.

Yeah, he's definitely off drugs 'cause he's got man-boobs now. But the guy is playing solidly again and the new album is easily the best, complete rock album I've heard in years. I'll take a chunky EVH who can play vs a Iggy Pop-lookin' skinny Eddie with half his teeth falling out and playing like shit like he did in '04.

Seriously, after hearing the new album this week, it ranks right up with the best stuff of the original 6 Roth era albums and I think it's just going to big huge when it goes on sale next week and the tour starts later this month.

BTW, here's how you promote a new album, Perry:

[JOEinPHX]

i'll bet it sells worse than Chinese Democracy.

[kv]

i bet they'd say the same thing...chin dem was multi plat no? and a long time ago when people bought cd's

[Juana]

i'll bet it sells worse than Chinese Democracy.

It's funny they only finally put that record out so they can tour.... Axl's band still makes lots of money and I have a feeling VH is putting out the album to play a 2 hour set of older hit songs and make bank

[Pandemonium]

i'll bet it sells worse than Chinese Democracy.

It's funny they only finally put that record out so they can tour.... Axl's band still makes lots of money and I have a feeling VH is putting out the album to play a 2 hour set of older hit songs and make bank

They already did that with Roth in 2007/2008. I like the album so much, I'd be happy if they played at least 8 songs from it and maybe just 6 of the burnout hits and a few deep cuts like The Full Bug, Light Up The Sky, Bottoms Up, House Of Pain, etc that they didn't play the last tour.

[jptm]

yup, I'm really diggin' the new VH myself... too bad they had to throw in the 'tattoo' song; it seems so out of place compared to the rest of the album. nice to hear a band from 28 yrs. ago sound as fresh as they do... eddie is still a brilliant guitar player---you can just tell he's just jammed out w/alex constantly to groove these tunes out. wolfie has improved immensely; perhaps that could've been a factor for waiting--he had to get his chops up to be able to stand up w/eddie & alex--he's done it. dave---while obv. not a youngin' anymore, he still is able to find the right way to make it sound like old school VH. he still can scream, but the barritone overdubs get a bit stale. but, i still think that he's miles ahead of someone; say perry, in the voice capability. which, at 56, is impressive to me.

i could go on; maybe i will later after listening for the 20th time or so... throw out 'tattoo' and you've got a killer old school VH album.

[CaseyContrarian]

yup, I'm really diggin' the new VH myself... too bad they had to throw in the 'tattoo' song; it seems so out of place compared to the rest of the album. nice to hear a band from 28 yrs. ago sound as fresh as they do... eddie is still a brilliant guitar player---you can just tell he's just jammed out w/alex constantly to groove these tunes out. wolfie has improved immensely; perhaps that could've been a factor for waiting--he had to get his chops up to be able to stand up w/eddie & alex--he's done it. dave---while obv. not a youngin' anymore, he still is able to find the right way to make it sound like old school VH. he still can scream, but the barritone overdubs get a bit stale. but, i still think that he's miles ahead of someone; say perry, in the voice capability. which, at 56, is impressive to me.

i could go on; maybe i will later after listening for the 20th time or so... throw out 'tattoo' and you've got a killer old school VH album.

Wolfe is doing a much better job live, for sure. But does anyone really believe he played on this record?

[jptm]

Wolfe is doing a much better job live, for sure. But does anyone really believe he played on this record?

based on his improvement seen playing live; why not? & really, let's be honest---it's not about wolfie; it's about whether or not after 28 yrs. they could come out w/something current & still holding the sound of the roth-era VH. it works, period.

[CaseyContrarian]

Wolfe is doing a much better job live, for sure. But does anyone really believe he played on this record?

based on his improvement seen playing live; why not? & really, let's be honest---it's not about wolfie; it's about whether or not after 28 yrs. they could come out w/something current & still holding the sound of the roth-era VH. it works, period.

This album is really, really fucking good. Just listened. Weakest link is DLR, but he's still cool/hilarious in that inimitable way. Too bad he cant' do the howls anymore, tho.

[jptm]

This album is really, really fucking good.

told ya! :)

[Pandemonium]

Wolfe is doing a much better job live, for sure. But does anyone really believe he played on this record?

I'm sure he played on the album, I would be surprised if Eddie didn't play bass on demos for some of the songs (which he's done for decades when Mike Anthony was in the band) to show his son what he wanted on the finished product. Eddie has a somewhat distinctive style of playing bass as well - some of the songs on the otherwise forgettable "VH3" album with Gary Cherone as well as the 3 horrible Sammy Hagar reunion songs that came out in '04 when Eddie was methed outta his mind Eddie *did* play bass on those finished tunes. The best way I can describe his style is he plays bass like a guitarist.

[CaseyContrarian]

Yeah, after listening to the whole thing I can happily concede that Wolfie is kicking some major ass.

[thoreau]

Considering all of the positive reviews, I guess I'm going to have to actually check this out now.

I'd lost interest after just hearing "Tattoo".

[Pandemonium]

Considering all of the positive reviews, I guess I'm going to have to actually check this out now.

I'd lost interest after just hearing "Tattoo".

Tattoo is by far the weakest song on the album and when you listen to the entire album, that song stands out as almost an oddity compared to the rest of the songs. It also helps it's the first song on the cd so it's easily skipped.

[Matz]

right, it's the worst song on the album so the VH camp chose it as the first single. Makes sense.

I think it's the best song of the new ones and I understand their choice. A lot of the others sound weak especially if you compare them to what's on Fair Warning and VH 1 etc

[Pandemonium]

right, it's the worst song on the album so the VH camp chose it as the first single. Makes sense.

It's certainly the most likely song to get widespread airplay so yeah, I can see why it was released as the first single. IMO, "Jump" and "Dancing In The Streets" were arguably the weakest songs on their respective albums but they too were the lead singles.

I think it's the best song of the new ones and I understand their choice. A lot of the others sound weak especially if you compare them to what's on Fair Warning and VH 1 etc

Well, that's like comparing songs off of "Presence" or "In Through The Out Door" to Led Zeps' 2nd or 4th albums.

IMO, this album is like what if Pink Floyd broke up after "Animals," waited almost 30 years and came back with "The Wall." Or Queen did the same thing after "Night at the Opera" and came back with "News Of The World." OK, maybe I'm pushing it, but you get the idea. It's what we wished Janes had put together when they came back w/Strays or TGEA. It's what we thought the revamped Kettle Whistle was going to lead towards.

When you think about so many bands that reunited or returned after long layoffs and wound up releasing crummy new albums (Bauhaus, Guns n' Roses, Boston, Queen w/Paul Rogers, etc) and all the shit stacked up against this band that made it almost a certainty that Eddie and Dave would never work together again, much less record a studio album that would actually hold up to much of their original stuff that's about 3 decades old, that's pretty amazing.

[Matz]

I think you're definitely pushing it with your The Wall comparison Otherwise I see what you're saying, good points

And I'm sure the new songs will grow on me too

[Pandemonium]

BTW, apparently they're doing a invitation-only full production rehearsal Wednesday night at the LA Forum.

[Deconstruction]

Been listening to the album nonstop the last few days, it's amazing. One of my favorite rock records to come out in the last few years, and probably the best comeback album ever made. "As Is" is a fucking beast of a song. The whole album is just great. While I like Tattoo fine, it's not among my favorites on the album and in NO WAY does it represent the sound of the album. The album is incredibly mean and heavy. I can't even list my favorites because basically I love every song, but like I said As Is really stands out.

[Deconstruction]

yup, I'm really diggin' the new VH myself... too bad they had to throw in the 'tattoo' song; it seems so out of place compared to the rest of the album. nice to hear a band from 28 yrs. ago sound as fresh as they do... eddie is still a brilliant guitar player---you can just tell he's just jammed out w/alex constantly to groove these tunes out. wolfie has improved immensely; perhaps that could've been a factor for waiting--he had to get his chops up to be able to stand up w/eddie & alex--he's done it. dave---while obv. not a youngin' anymore, he still is able to find the right way to make it sound like old school VH. he still can scream, but the barritone overdubs get a bit stale. but, i still think that he's miles ahead of someone; say perry, in the voice capability. which, at 56, is impressive to me.

i could go on; maybe i will later after listening for the 20th time or so... throw out 'tattoo' and you've got a killer old school VH album.

I think Roth is simply more creative than Perry is at this point.

[jptm]

just wanna point out, that VH SHOULD have gone after the superbowl halftime gig... would've been perfect timing for the new album... def. would've been better than madonna-----(funny tweet i saw RT'ed from 67: "madonna: i'm sixty & i know it"...

[jptm]

Here is The Whole Truth – The Van Halen Special played on Stern's channel today: enjoy!

Rock and roll mega giants, Van Halen return with the release of their new album A Different Kind of Truth on Tuesday, February 7th. To coincide with the bands triumphant return, we are digging deep into The Howard Stern Show vault and presenting a tribute to the band’s history. The special will include the good, the bad and the ugly as it played out on the world’s greatest radio stage. From Roth to Hagar to Roth to Cherone to Hagar back to Roth. Almost all the original band members are back together in 2012 plus the addition of Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang.

part 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?bh1f21wz6u2ooer

part 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?shgcbvi5628pvsq

[Pandemonium]

Here is The Whole Truth – The Van Halen Special played on Stern's channel today: enjoy!

Rock and roll mega giants, Van Halen return with the release of their new album A Different Kind of Truth on Tuesday, February 7th. To coincide with the bands triumphant return, we are digging deep into The Howard Stern Show vault and presenting a tribute to the band’s history. The special will include the good, the bad and the ugly as it played out on the world’s greatest radio stage. From Roth to Hagar to Roth to Cherone to Hagar back to Roth. Almost all the original band members are back together in 2012 plus the addition of Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang.

part 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?bh1f21wz6u2ooer

part 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?shgcbvi5628pvsq

There's one interview the band did in '98 when they had Gary Cherone in the band that's probably in this compilation where Eddie's off in his own world trying to get his guitar rig set up in the studio to play some shit while Stern's trying to interview him and the other guys that's pretty out there. I think at the end of the interview he winds up giving Howard the guitar.

[Pandemonium]

They played a production dress rehearsal at the LA Forum in front of about 3 thousand invited "friends" last night. Here's a clip:

[jptm]

so DLR is using a head mic now... hmmm. seems he can sing a little better w/it; it allows him to be a little more 'free-form', i guess. eddie got a haircut; & wolfie is def. holding his own. not too impressed w/the stage--the video backdrop is distracting & doesn't seem to do much than show live shots and stills from the 'tattoo' video shoot...?

but, at $80 for the cheapest ticket, i have to pass---although the early mar. 15 show in montreal would be a good one to catch; being so early on in the tour.