CD Review - Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth

I meant to post a review of Van Halen’s A Different Kind of Truth earlier, but I have been busy at work and as importantly, I have been really soaking up this album, trying to figure out how I really felt about it. It took a few listens to get used to what isn’t there – Michael Anthony vocals, David Lee Roth’s upper end, a little reverb on the vocals, which works so well with Roth’s voice, the ultra-crisp Alex Van Halen snare tone, and super duper catchy songs like Dance The Night Away.

But after I set that baggage aside, I began to see this album for what it really is – a kick ass Van Halen album. Eddie’s guitar is front, center, loud and pummeling. Much how I felt about David Gilmour’s playing on The Division Bell, I think Eddie’s been woodshedding, because well, he is wood SHREDDING on this album. No bones about it, EVH is back, baby, and he is taking names.

Alex Van Halen never lost his touch even on the crappiest of the VH releases, but he is incredibly solid on A Different Kind of Truth. For example, skip up to track four (China Town) and eight (Honeybabysweetiedoll) to get that Hot For Teacher insane Alex Van Halen energy. One talented mo-fo.

The songs are well-written. Not very much dross, which is very refreshing for these boys. I felt on many of their past albums they were shooting for two or three singles (best example is Fair Warning) and the rest is filler. Not here – every song is solid.

And it’s almost like they took songs like Outa Love Again from VH2 as their model. There are no ballads. Only two semi-commercial songs and only one of those has a keyboard part on it that is barely audible. There are two songs where the band slowed down the tape (if they used tape) to get some crazy deep guitar tones. Best example = the album’s final track, Beats Workin’. Eddie also uses an E-Bow (pretty sure) in a couple of places.

I realize that Tattoo was supposed to be the catchy commercial single, but I found myself singing track five (Blood and Fire – no, not a cover of the Indigo Girls) when I woke up in the morning. What a great song. This one also has one of those weird syncopated drums parts that make you wonder where the hell the ‘one’ is.

Stay Frosty is a new classic, in the same vein as Ice Cream Man. The tune starts off with a bluesy acoustic and gruff Roth vox, but soon branches into high octane rock and roll.

I understand a number of these tunes were re-worked from the Roth-era cutting room floor. But I have to say – who the hell cares? Pete Townshend right now is probably figuring out how to re-use the Baba O’Reilly loop for a hockey game. These ‘old’ songs sound fresher than anything from Balance or VH3 (an album I really liked, by the way).

The best ‘old’ songs include track two, She’s The Woman, which was on the original Gene Simmons-produced demo before VH1 (oops, now I owe Gene 25 cents). I first saw this in one of the fan videos for the secret New York club gig last month and immediately thought it was a smoker. The two final songs on the album (Big River and Beats Workin’) deserve to be earlier in the lineup. In fact, I would have led this album with Big River, but after putting some flipping reverb on Roth’s vocals!

And I have to quote from fellow blogger pod who in his review listed some things thankfully NOT on this album.

1) David Lee Roth rapping
2) A-list, hip-hop artists talking over tracks
3) Ugly sounding, auto-tuned vocals
4) Crappy, synthetic noises standing in for the musicians
5) Pretentious, angst ridden lyrics
6) Four guys phoning it in

Amen to that, brother.

The deluxe iTunes version of the album has video of some acoustic performances and they are worth getting just to see Eddie rip it up with no effects or amp.

So overall, a very kick-ass, raw, rocking addition to the Van Halen discography and more than enough new stuff to weave into the live set on the upcoming tour. And best of all, Eddie is back.

New Van Halen Single - Tattoo - Hear It Here

Don't have much time to do more than post this for you to hear. It's Van Halen's new single, Tattoo. First impression is that Eddie's solo rocks, and overall the song sounds like something I could actually hear Sammy Hagar singing! But I don't know - I need to hear it more than once to make a fair assessment. What do you think?

Van Halen Cafe Wha? Gig -- Exclusive Report and Photos

A former housemate in San Francisco from many years ago was able to get into the Van Halen show last week and I spoke to him about it and with his permission am posting some of his photos and observations for you to enjoy.

Hi name is Vince Muraco, and he is Executive Chef at Andaz 5th Avenue in New York City. In fact, when I knew Vince in the mid 90s, he was attending California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, where at age 17 he was its youngest student ever.

He has a long, prestigious resume as a chef in California, Miami and New York, including Park Hyatts in SF and LA, Vix in Miami, Grove Isle Resort in Coconut Grove, Florida and as Executive Chef at Zimzala in Huntington Beach. Now in New York and soon to be married and a father to boot, Vince is making a name for himself at Andaz 5th Avenue.

He has always been a Van Halen fanatic, even back in the day when we shared a house with a bunch of other guys in the city. We needed to have seven or eight people in that house to make rent, and Vince was one of those guys. I was in a touring band and wasn't around much but when I was we'd sometimes talk Halen, and I'd borrow his red Strat, the only axe in the house with a whammy bar. Vince also had one of the first 5150 heads, which he still has!

So anyway, he was able to get into the show at literally the last second from a classic 'friend of a friend of a colleague' situation and was ushered into Cafe Wha? during the first song. He stood off to the side of the stage on Wolfgang's side. You can see that from some of the photos he has shared.

Vince told me the vibe in the venue was electric and even though it was mostly industry folks in attendance, people went totally nuts.

He said that while Dave couldn't really hit the high highs, he sounded great and was the same old Dave, telling stories and going on and on. He said the band was mugging behind him and Eddie looked at his watch a couple of times during the longer Dave intros but all in fun.

Wolfgang was solid but as with most people, Vince missed Michael Anthony's voice. Wolfgang and Eddie did sing backups, though. Alex was rock solid on the kit, playing the smallest drum set Vince had ever seen him play -- probably due to the tiny stage more than anything. And the happiest surprise was that Eddie seemed sober and was having fun and was on fire.

Vince told me he had been able to sit in on some Van Hagar sound checks a few years ago and Eddie would be tight and killer but by show time he'd be wasted and couldn't play. Not the case in New York.

As you'd expect (and with an only 45-minute set), it was over in a blur. As noted in other reports, despite Beautiful Girls and Unchained being on the setlist for the encore, the band only did one song, Ain't Talkin Bout Love

Vince hung out after the show, bumped knuckles with Wolfgang, who gave him a pick, and then made his way to Eddie's side and was able to grab a setlist (pictured) and one of Eddie's picks too. Gearheads will appreciate the photos of Eddie's rig.

Speaking of Eddie, Eddie Trunk (NYC DJ and host of VH1 That Metal Show) was there and Vince was able to shoot the bull for a second and give him his card. Jimmy Fallon and John McEnroe were also in attendance.

Enjoy Vince's photos, and for sure hit the Andaz 5th Avenue if you make it to NYC. Thanks Vince for your insights and photos! Next step - let's see how good the new album is.

Also, according to Eddie Trunk's website, the track listing for Van Halen's new studio album, A Different Kind Of Truth has been revealed via The Van Halen News Desk.

A Different Kind Of Truth's Track listing:

1. Tattoo
2. She’s The Woman
3. You and Your Blues
4. China Town
5. Blood and Fire
6. Bullethead
7. As Is
8. Honeybabysweetiedoll
9. The Trouble With Never
10. Outta Space
11. Stay Frosty
12. Big River
13. Beats Workin’

In other Van Halen news, MelodicRock.com is reporting that the Deluxe Edition CD will feature a bonus DVD featuring four brand new acoustic performance videos titled The Downtown Sessions.

Van Halen's A Different Kind Of Truth is due to be released on February 7th through Interscope Records.

Introducing the Running With The Devil Soundboard!

OK, this is too funny. Someone carved up the audio-only track of David Lee Roth singing Running With the Devil and made a soundboard out of it. Go to this site and click around. I think the photo they chose it perfect too. Claaaasic!

Nuts Almost Kill David Lee Roth

Canadian police officers pulled over David Lee Roth last month in Oakland, Ontario and when they approached his car, they realized he was in anaphylactic shock - in layman's terms, having an allergic reaction to nuts.

The officers have been credited with saving Roth's life after he suffered the severe allergic reaction.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that:

The officers called an ambulance and kept Roth calm until paramedics arrived on the scene. Constable Chris Thompson admits he didn't realize that he was dealing with a famous rock star when he attended to the crisis.

He says, "At the time I wasn't star struck, I was just trying to help him. The guy stuck out like a sore thumb. He was wearing a little silk scarf and flashy clothing -- it's not something you see in Oakland too often."

Oakland, Ontario they mean.

So I guess the Van Halen rider should say no PEANUT M&Ms...

Stellar Roth Isolated Vocal

For anyone who has spent time in a recording studio, you know how jarring it is to isolate one track of a full band recording - to hear just the lead guitar for example. Or just the drums. But isolating the vocals is always the most dodgy.

No one wants to hear themselves singing full voice without any other instrument. It would be like popping your drunken karaoke vocal from last Friday night onto a CD so you could hear yourself singing full bore without the backing music. Talk about warts and all.

Even a great vocal performance needs the context of the music to be fully appreciated. Part of the magic of a recorded song is how the instruments lay together and how the vocals fit within the context of the mix. Add a bit of delay or reverb to a vocal and it sounds even better.

Which brings us to this post. Thanks to Guitarman5150 for this one. It's the isolated vocal track of David Lee Roth singing Running With the Devil from Van Halen's first album. No idea how someone got their mitts on this but it's pretty stunning to hear.

But contrary to everything I said above, it's stunning in a good way. My opinion of Roth's vocal abilities just shot up about 200 percent. There are some funny moments, like hearing him scream and howl without the backing music, but overall he delivers the hell out of this song. Not like we didn't know it already but hearing his voice isolated gives me a new appreciation for how talented of a vocalist he is.

Check it out here.

Van Halen Reunion Set List

Just do a Google on "Van Halen" and "Charlotte" and you'll get a smattering of mostly glowing reviews of the kick off night of Van Halen's reunion tour with Roth.

I kind of want to see this tour. I'm just held back by what assholes these guys are!

But sheeeeit, dig this crazy assed set list. On paper, this looks so good. If I can get a last minute cheap ticket, I will probably go.

1. You Really Got Me
2. I'm the One
3. Runnin' With the Devil
4. Romeo Delight
5. Somebody Get Me a Doctor
6. Beautiful Girls
7. Dance the Night Away
8. Atomic Punk
9. Everybody Wants Some
10. So This Is Love?
11. Mean Street
12. Pretty Woman
13. Drum Solo
14. Unchained
15. I'll Wait
16. And the Cradle Will Rock
17. Hot for Teacher
18. Little Dreamer
19. Little Guitars
20. Jamie's Cryin'
21. Ice Cream Man
22. Panama
23. Guitar Solo (incl. "Women in Love" intro, "Cathedral", "Eruption")
24. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

encore:
25. 1984
26. Jump

Van Halen Reunion Rehearsal

Eddie Trunk's site re-posted an entry from a fan who was able to attend a recent Van Halen rehearsal for the upcoming reunion tour. The entry contains a number of spoliers, including what songs they rehearsed and link to a number of photos, one of which I copied for this posting.

But I did not want to wreck it for anyone who doesn't want to know ahead of time, so if you want more info, hit this link.

I wonder if I ought to try and go to this? The list of songs is astounding and it sounds like spirits are high in the camp.

Van Halen Roth Reunion A Go

Minutes ago, Van Halen announced they will reunite with David Lee Roth and hit the road in September, coming to Portland in early December. Will I go? That's a definite maybe.

Eddie's son Wolfgang is confirmed to be the bass player (if he could grow a beard he would look a bit like Michael Anthony). Roth spouted off that they will also record a new album and keep the band going, meaning it's not a one off reunion tour. Well, let's see if they can even make it to the Portland gig without imploding before we start talking about a new album!

Go here for the list of tour stops...