Bill Wyman Is Next Bass Player To Be Erased

There was a lot of controversy a few years ago when Van Halen reunited without bass player Michael Anthony and the band erased Anthony's image from thumbnails of the band's original albums on its Web site, going so far as replacing him with photos of Van Halen's son Wolfgang who took his place.

Now the Stones have pulled a VH. On the band's Rarities CD (which was released a few years ago truth be told), the band abused Photoshop to make Bill Wyman disappear from the cover, despite the fact that he was in the band during most of the period the CD music was recorded (1971-2003).

It took five years for anyone to notice but according to this story people are enraged this week.

Check out the side by side below. The story notes that they did a crappy job of deleting Wyman, leaving his bass cable in the shot!

Why on the hell do bands do this kind of stuff? The worst offense is Ozzy Obsourne (Sharon, really) being so angry at original bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake that she had the masters of the classic Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of A Madman replaced with newer musicians. I am so glad I have those on vinyl because all the CDs I have ever seen have the new guys on it and the magic is gone. Talk about the Original Sin. Ugh.

Van Halen Guitar Hero Discludes Michael Anthony

They say that in war, the winners write history. In rock and roll, the most recent example of this is certainly Eddie Van Halen, who not only is trying to get his version of Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony's departures from the band set in stone. He is now trying to delete their very existence in the band's history.

When Van Halen's son Wolfgang took over bass duties from Anthony on the recent reunion tour, some of the band's artwork was altered on the VH Web site - Anthony was actually airbrushed out of the covers from some of VH's first releases.

Now, Hagar and Anthony won't be represented in the VH Guitar Hero video game. According to Rolling Stone, the trailer was previewed at the recent E3 Expo, and follow up reports confirmed that Wolfgang will be your VH bass player if you want to play the game.

No reports yet if any Hagar-era songs will even be IN the game. But I doubt it.

Which would be a shame. The band has a great history, being hugely successful TWICE, with the different singers. I don't think they would (or should) put out a Guitar Hero - The Hagar Years. But come on, Ed, own up to your history and do it right.

Some folks may want to jam out to Summer Nights as much as to Jamie's Crying. Wait...

CD Review - Chickenfoot

I bought the new Chickenfoot CD partly because I liked the sound clips found in the YouTube montage fellow blogger Dr John posted. And partly because I wanted to check out the neato disappearing black ink packaging (it is very cool).

But I have been surprised at how strong an album this is, if you like guitar-based rock and roll (and who doesn't?). Right out of the gate, the first song Avenida Revolucion sets the stage for what you get on this CD. Namely, lots of shredding guitar and screamy Sammy Hagar vocals to a super solid backbeat.

But despite my initial impression, this is not a Van Halen soundalike band.

Some of Hagar's vocal approach leans on the Van Halen years but for the most part his work is standing on its own. And he mostly avoids the VH cliche vocal breakdowns "Come on fellas..." Instead, he goes into Jim Morrison-esque spoken word passages a couple of times.

Hagar is also kind of restrained with the 'party and hump chicks' lyrics, but let's be honest - it's a "good time" album, lyric-wise. As usual, Hagar's voice is in fine form and he delivers like you'd expect.

And yeah Satriani owes a lot to EVH, but he has taken the style into different areas. Truthfully, he is pretty restrained on this release. Oh yeah, it's shredaliscious, but only where it needs to be. The rest of the time, he plays some great tasty licks. I hear some Stevie Ray in there, and even his peers Neal Schon and Eric Johnson too. Overall his guitar tones are punchy and present. 

I don't have a lot of Satriani's stuff, because I stayed away from the shredding thing back in the 80s. But he really shines in a group context and is this band's secret weapon. Very impressive.

The songs are mostly based around interesting, sometimes heavy rock riffs. In fact, I hear almost as much Tony Iommi and Jimmy Page on this CD as I do EVH. You just know that Satriani brought in kick ass riffs, to which Hagar laid down catchy rock and roll vocals and everyone said 'Yeah!" 

The other great element is the rhythm section of Michael Anthony and Chad Smith. I have never liked the Red Hot Chili Peppers and always thought they were amazingly overrated (still do). But I have to admit that I am now a very big fan of Chad Smith, who lays down behind-the-beat grooves with just the right amount of Bonham fills. And Michael Anthony is right there doubling the complex licks (unless Satriani did the bass lines too).

I always hated how the Van Hagar era production always buried Anthony's bass. But it's very present on this CD, which helps it kick along.

Of course when Anthony sings back-up, we get that Van Hagar vocal sound, which is great. But I rarely thought the band sounded anything like Van Halen. To me, they are a kick ass hard rock band made up of very skilled musicians who are clearly clicking. I'd give this an 8.5 out of 10 and would recommend getting it if you dig any of these guys' former bands.

Chickenfoot Montage

So, I didn't even know it was out but the new Chickenfoot album is apparently available. Fellow blogger Dr John reviewed it and gave it 7 out of 10 stars. He posted the below montage video of songs. Some good moments. I may pick it up.

The one thing that strikes me is that the Hagar-Anthony vocals are so "Van Halen." Michael Anthony's sky high harmonies are as big a part of the band as Eddie's guitar work. Well, maybe not, but they are pretty damn important. You really do have half of Van Halen here - pretty cool.

Satriani and drummer Chad Smith sound great. Looks like a cool band. What do you think?

Oh, and if you go buy the actual CD, the packaging is something very different - it's heat sensitive. According to the band's site:

The ink reacts to heat and changes it’s appearance above and below 84ºF /29ºC. For example; If the package is at a general room temperature (around 73ºF) and is touched by a warm body part (above 84ºF) the ink will appear transparent at the point of contact. Once the surface of the ink returns to a cooler temperature (below 84ºF) it will return to it’s original opaque black color.

(Techie Fact) When you touch the thermo ink, you are literally moving millions of protons. This patented technology works by mastering the movement of a proton – essentially disconnecting and reattaching protons to turn colors “on” and “off."

Chickenfoot Posts Audio Clip on New Site

There were a few rumors last year about this new 'supergroup' with Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and drummer Chad Smith, called "Chickenfoot."

Hagar went as far as to say they would rival Zeppelin in greatness, whatever that means.

But the band has a Web destination and today posted a brief audio clip that sounds like a VH outtake for the most part. Satriani is no slouch, though, so this could be a good group.

Check out the clip here while it's still up.

Open Letter to Michael Anthony

This one has been sitting in the vault for a while. And since I haven't made a Van Halen post in a long while, I thought I would dig it out.

It's a very funny "open letter to Michael Anthony" from the editors of SPIN Magazine. Read the whole thing here. But here is a teaser:

Look, there's something undeniably poignant about watching a chubby-cheeked teenager get to share the stage with his pops and his uncle and that weird guy everyone's bitched about at the dinner table his whole life, but how is it that a 16-year-old novice is the most ambivalent -- and sure, I'll say it, most out-of-shape -- guy on a stage full of fiftysomething jillionaires? This kid just won the rock 'n' roll lottery, shouldn't he be doing...something? Mike, you would have been all over that catwalk, stomping, mugging, punishing that Jack Daniels bass. Wolfgang mostly just stood there in his hoodie, nodding his head, barely even deigning to smile. During "Romeo Delight" from Women and Children First -- I'm not afraid to say I had to look it up, it's been a while -- the enormotron showed Wolfgang finger-tapping the fretboard of his bass. Where do you think he learned that? (Hint: Not from you.) And come to think of it, shouldn't he be in school or something? Did he just hand a note to his principal?

To Whom It May Concern,
My son Wolfgang won't be attending school this year because he's in fucking Van Halen now.
Suck it,
Eddie Van Halen

True dat - double true!