Van Halen

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Pandemonium
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Re: Van Halen

#61 Post by Pandemonium » Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:21 pm

CaseyContrarian wrote: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.

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Re: Van Halen

#62 Post by CaseyContrarian » Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:34 pm

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

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thoreau
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Re: Van Halen

#63 Post by thoreau » Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:37 am

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".

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Re: Van Halen

#64 Post by Pandemonium » Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:19 am

thoreau wrote: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.

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Re: Van Halen

#65 Post by Matz » Mon Feb 06, 2012 2:16 pm

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

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Re: Van Halen

#66 Post by Pandemonium » Mon Feb 06, 2012 2:51 pm

Matz wrote: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.
Matz wrote: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.

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Re: Van Halen

#67 Post by Matz » Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:14 pm

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

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

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Re: Van Halen

#68 Post by Pandemonium » Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:12 pm

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

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Re: Van Halen

#69 Post by Deconstruction » Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:19 pm

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.

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Re: Van Halen

#70 Post by Deconstruction » Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:26 pm

jptm wrote: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.

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

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Re: Van Halen

#71 Post by jptm » Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:35 am

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"... :lol:

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Re: Van Halen

#72 Post by jptm » Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:28 pm

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

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Re: Van Halen

#73 Post by Pandemonium » Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:54 pm

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

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Re: Van Halen

#74 Post by Pandemonium » Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:10 pm

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


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Re: Van Halen

#75 Post by jptm » Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:47 pm

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.

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Re: Van Halen

#76 Post by Artemis » Thu Feb 09, 2012 6:52 pm

jptm wrote:
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.
yeah, i was checking for tickets and the lowest price available is $107 in the top section, and $167 for 13 rows back with a rear view. :crazy:

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Re: Van Halen

#77 Post by clickie » Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:05 pm

it's fun to watch how one persons enthusiasm for van halen can get so many of you on the bandwagon.

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Re: Van Halen

#78 Post by Pandemonium » Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:38 pm

clickie wrote:it's fun to watch how one persons enthusiasm for van halen can get so many of you on the bandwagon.
Wait 'til the new Killing Joke album comes out - you'll see me in fuckin' overdrive!

....well, unless it sucks.

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Re: Van Halen

#79 Post by kv » Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:08 pm

still blows me away there are van halen threads on a janes site

Tyler Durden

Re: Van Halen

#80 Post by Tyler Durden » Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:13 pm

kv wrote:still blows me away there are van halen threads on a janes site

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Re: Van Halen

#81 Post by CaseyContrarian » Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:46 am

Tyler Durden wrote:
kv wrote:still blows me away there are van halen threads on a janes site
Why? You've got a flamboyant, slightly nuts frontman, a virtuoso guitarist, bass player controversy... throw in substance abuse, nepotism and the inability to make a proper record for 20+ years, and I'd say it lines up pretty well.

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Re: Van Halen

#82 Post by kv » Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:57 am

because i grew up in la and the strip and all the metal bands was everything i and janes despised

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Re: Van Halen

#83 Post by Jasper » Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:22 am

kv wrote:because i grew up in la and the strip and all the metal bands was everything i and janes despised
I hear ya, this Van Halen stuff is pretty odd to see here, or it was before I got so used to Pandemonium posting about them. We have to accept that Dave and Perk were total metalheads, and they still retain a lot of that - especially Dave. Dave's almost certainly a fan of Eddie's guitar abilities, or at least he was back then. Metal was an ingredient in Jane's, it just got warped and weirded-out and stirred in with dozens of other things.

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Re: Van Halen

#84 Post by SR » Fri Feb 10, 2012 8:40 am

:nod:
kv wrote:because i grew up in la and the strip and all the metal bands was everything i and janes despised

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Re: Van Halen

#85 Post by Hokahey » Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:32 am

When I read Pandemonium's vast concert going history over the decades I can understand the Van Halen interest. He has a lot of information and interest on almost any important rock band from the past 30 years. I find it interesting to read what Van Halen is doing from a trainwreck perspective. I've never owned an album of theirs though and probably never will. But if I had been of age when they first came out I can see how they would have caught my attention. It was the Van Hagar days that they became a pretty lame rock band, even if they had a few decent songs. I can remember as a teenager thinking the "Right Now" video was pretty cool.

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