Van Halen-A different kind of truth

Interscope

2012

So one of the most anticipated and most hyped hard rock albums in some time is finally released. I loved the Roth-era of Van Halen and still do because I listen to those first six albums regularly. The Hagar-era never impressed me and that was more because of the writing than just because of Hagar's voice or the fact that he wasn't Diamond Dave. So a few years ago the band reforms with Eddie's kid in for Michael Anthony and Dave comes back in the fold. They tour and talk about a new album coming and we wait a couple of years and finally here it is. About a year ago I was listening to Van Halen's 1976 demo (AKA the Gene Simmons demo). Some tracks on it like "Runnin' with devil" would soon be on an album and others like "House of pain" would take years before being on an album. I wondered why tracks on that demo like "Big Trouble" and "Let's get rockin" never got put onto vinyl because they were certainly good enough. Well now over 35 years later these songs and several others from this demo get the re-worked treatment. "She's the woman" is the only track from this demo where they kept the original title for the new album although "Bullethead" appeared under the same name on another early Van Halen recording as well. So almost of this album is reworked material. Okay, that means it's not totally original, but it does help towards it having that classic Van Halen sound. So let's break it down and see what we have. We all heard "Tattoo" before this album hit the shelves and the reactions were mixed which is understandable. It's alright song, but rather repetitive. Next up is "She's the woman" which captures the early vibe of this band pretty well. "You and your blues" is a steady track with a strong opening and a very tight pace. "China Town" opens with Eddie noodling around and then lets loose into the kind of speed this band hasn't touched on decades and Dave keeps up well enough. "Blood and fire" definitely reaches back to the early 80's Van Halen sound. It's nothing new but maintains a nice flow and has a fun vibe too. "Bullethead" is a rather primitive song that plunges ahead pretty well, but it has some clunky moments. "As is" opens up the with an offbeat thudding sound before making way for a powerful attackthat may have been at home on "Women and children first" or "Fair warning". "Honey babiesweetiedoll" goes from static and noise to an odd pace and Dave talking a bunch of nonsense in a deeper than usual tone. Despite a longer than normal solo from Eddie this track still comes through as filler. "The trouble with never" comes on with some swirling guitar work from Eddie and Dave does more talking than singing, but the backing vocals and the totally tight pace keeps this one going. "Outta space" flat out rocks even though it's one of the borrowed tracks I mentioned earlier. However the lyrics and theme are changed around and this is one of the most impresive songs on the album. "Stay frosty" is vein much in the style of "Ice Cream Man" from the debut. Nothing special or surprising but above average. "Big River" revolves around another familiar riff and this song was"Big Trouble" on the band's 1976 demo. This track really works because it's so smooth and unlike a lot of other songs on this album Dave sounds very comfortable and they really take their time with this one. "Beats workin" is a simple song that drags in place. Not bad at all, but I may have liked it a little better if this song had been second to last and "Big River" was the closer. So overall this is a good album with enough high points to make it worthwhile. Is it perfect or one of their best? No, but no one should have expected that. There are not many new ideas on this one and Dave's voice isn't what it used to be. However it's a good effort and they manage to capture a fair amount of the spirit that this line-up once had.

Clash of the album covers

Here you go. It is...


Motley Crue-Dr. Feelgood

vs.


Van Halen-5150

***Which cover do you prefer?

Heavy Metal Thunderdome

Another match-up of two hard rock giants. Remember you are picking based on the music in this contest. If you were a teenager or older around 1983-84 then these two albums were likely staples for you. Or at least I am assuming you have good taste based on the fact that you are here reading this. Anyways here is the match-up....



Def Leppard-Pyromania

vs.



Van halen-1984

***So which album do you prefer?

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.


Accept-Russian Roulette

vs.


Van Halen-Woman and children first

***Which cover do you prefer?

Battle of the bands

Here you go.



Motley Crue


vs.



Van Halen

**Which band do you prefer?

Battle of the bands

Another battle is at hand. It is....



Def Leppard

vs.



Van Halen


****Which band do you prefer?

Replacements

Nowadays pretty much any hard rock/metal band has gone through a number of line-up changes. Some more than others as bands like LA guns and Krokus have gone through more than their share of changes. However there have been times when a replacement comes in and there is perhaps a time of uncertainty. It depends on the musician and sometimes how big the shoes they have to fill are. Music critics are always quick to point to Van Halen and AC/DC changing front man and selling more albums with the replacement, but I always prefered Diamond Dave and Bon Scott. Whenever I think of replacements I also focus in on Iron Maiden. Here is a band that in 1981 were on the rise, the replace Dianno with a much different vocalist in Bruce Dickinson and to say it worked out would be a massive understatement. Years later when Bruce decided to leave Maiden and they were faced with filling the singer spot again. This time they of course the expectations from fans were higher because they were now a major player although in a somewhat turbulent time in the not so metal friendly 1990's. Rumors swirled about who they would get and again they went for a singer different from the predecessor in the form of Wolfsbane vocalist Blayze Bayley. Only this time the results were not as favorable. It wasn't all Bayley's fault as the writing suffered too. Still looking back it doesn't seem that he was the right guy for the job. Maybe that's just hindsight. Then again Maiden are back on top in recent years and Bayley's recent solo efforts have been solid. Another replacement I come to is Ripper Owens in Judas Priest. These were some huge shoes to fill. Halford was the metal vocal god. We knew Maiden without Bruce, but Priest without Rob. Priest went the opposite route of Maiden. Instead of getting a different style they went for a guy who had been in a Priest cover band. The head scratcher for me was they get a guy with the same vocal style, but then change the music to a sound that doesn't really compliment the vocals. The result was two bad albums. Then when Halford came back they came out with two more bad albums with the writing still suffering. Owens has found steady work since, but bounced around as more of a journeyman vocalist. That's the downside. On the upside a surprising one for me was Brian Robertson in Motorhead. Okay he was in Thin Lizzy and he was a solid hard rock guitarist, but a very different style and image from Motorhead. We have all heard the stories of Lemmy complaining about him taking too long in the studio and Robertson still only lasted one album. However "Another perfect day" was a real gem and too often overlooked in their long catalog. So he was a surprise in how well he worked out in the end product.

***Any replacements that you hated or loved in hard rock/metal bands?

Number four

My top 25 hard rock/metal guitarist countdown is down to number four. It is...


Eddie Van Halen

Van Halen the band revived rock music and Eddie Van Halen was a huge part of that. People were in awe of that debut and I think most of that feeling stayed through to 1984. Okay, he hasn't done a lot since, but he did far more in those six albums than most players do in a whole career. Those albums still hold up well. He could play cool rhythms, stunning solos and make it look fun.

***I'll have the final three out next week.