A Different Kind of Blog Post

The mighty Van Halen returns.....but was it worth the wait?

If you know even a little bit about me, you know that I love Van Halen. So, you can imagine the anticipation I felt knowing that after 14 years, three lead singers, and dozens of false starts, the band I consider to be the greatest rock band of all time was actually putting out new music.  For those of you who don’t follow such things, the new album dropped last Tuesday and I’ve spent a measureable portion of time listening and dissecting every track. And, now that it’s had a chance to marinate in my Van Halen brain for over a week, I’m now ready to give you, dear reader of this blog, my unbiased and unfiltered review of A Different Kind of Truth.  However, before I do, I want to get a few things out of the way regarding Van Halen:

1.       Van Halen is NOT a hair band – when people refer to the mighty Van Halen as a hair band I immediately question every speck of intelligence they claim to have - and question it harshly.  The fact is, Van Halen is not and never was a hair metal band. If you want hair metal, please see the Poison blog a few doors down. You can’t miss it as it’s wedged between the White Lion and the Warrant blogs.

2.       Sam vs. Dave – it seems almost every discussion involving Van Halen results in some sort of Sam vs. Dave confrontation. I like both of them and I like both of them in Van Halen. Sure, Van Halen was a different band with Sam but it was still Van Halen. Ed’s playing evolved to be sure, but had Dave remained in the band I guarantee you that the keyboards would have been just as prevalent. After all, it was the 80’s. Therefore, there will be no Sam vs. Dave shenanigans or tomfoolery on this blog. From my perspective, they were both great for Van Halen and I thank them for their service.

3.       The fact that Ed’s son, Wolfgang, has replaced the original bass player, Michael Anthony – I don’t like the fact that Michael isn’t in the band any more than you do.  However, since neither of our last names are Van Halen, I think we should all relax a bit and realize it's not our toy to play with. It's Ed and Alex's (and now Wolfgang's) band so we can whine and moan until you finish a bottle of Cabo Wabo but it won't change a thing. And, Mikey seems pretty happy in Chickenfoot so let's just move on.

4.       Van Halen is recycling old material for this album – yes, they are. In fact, Van Halen has a very long and rich history of stealing from themselves. Don’t believe me?  Listen to the guitar at the end of “Jump” off of 1984 then listen to “Top of the World” off of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge – it’s the same guitar riff, note for note. So who cares if they are repurposing old songs they wrote but never released in the 70’s? Do any of us really want, need or expect Van Halen to break new ground? If you do, go ahead and give Van Halen III another spin and let me know how much you liked it. We Van Halen fans want loud, aggressive guitar driven music and not some sort of artistic statement.

Now, on with the full review of A Different Kind of Truth – tread with caution.

Van Halen's new album - A Different Kind of Truth

1.       Tattoo – this was released as the first single and it continues to underscore the fact that the band’s management has no clue how to market them as this is the second weakest song on the album. If you’re really into Van Halen then you probably know this is one of the songs that is based on an unreleased track from the band’s past – in this case, “Down in Flames”. This weak track (which, thankfully, sounds MUCH better live) is no way to announce the comeback of Van Halen.  I think it’s best if we just use the handy skip button and move on. Grade: D-

2.       She’s the Woman – Speaking of songs that are based on old, unreleased Van Halen tracks, we have “She’s the Woman”. The music is exactly the same as the original but, like many of the other songs, the lyrics are completely different. The band is really tight on this song (as well as throughout the album) and the engineering is great. Dave’s vocals are stretched to the limit which isn’t very far these days.  During the opening you can hear Dave screech and strain some sounds which just ends up making me feel old. Even so, this song is what we want as Van Halen fans: loud, aggressive guitar and a blistering solo. Grade: B+

3.       You and Your Blues – Finally, a “new”, new song. This is one of the few songs on the album where we really hear the trademark background vocals that help define Van Halen. Wolfgang, to his credit, does a fantastic job filling in for Michael Anthony. I have to give Dave a red mark for rhyming “breakdown” with “breakdown”. That’s lazy even for Dave. Once again, the solo is blistering and Ed plays with a passion that hasn’t been heard in years.  Grade: B+

4.       China Town – Another “new” new song that starts off with a blistering guitar opening that quickly moves into a guitar/bass/drum jam session that smokes. Maybe it’s me, but Dave’s singing and melodies are very distracting on this song. I can almost hear the fact that the band (Ed, Alex, Wolf) wrote and recorded the music months before and miles away from where Dave sang it. Even so, this is a solid track that showcases Ed’s brilliance.  Grade: B

5.       Blood and Fire – This is one of my personal favorites on the new album. The lyrics are clearly about Van Halen and how they are (sort of) back together with Dave. I really like how Dave worked in his famous “Look at all the people here tonight!”  But some of the other lyrics are a little too boastful even for Dave. For example, I really could have done without “I told ya I’d be back”.  Really, Dave? As much as I love the fact that Van Halen is putting out new music, I really don’t think you’re back because the Van Halen family loves you so much. The fact is that you need Van Halen and at this stage of their career Van Halen needs you.  Grade:  A-

6.       Bullethead – Another retread from 1975 but I really like this song. I heard it a long time ago and always wondered why they didn’t put it out and I still don’t know the answer as it’s a kick-ass Van Halen tune. This song absolutely smokes both musically and lyrically and would have made a much better choice as a single over the very mediocre and yawn-inducing “Tattoo”.  Grade: A

7.       As Is – This song starts off with Panama-esque drumming from Alex before Ed lays down some of the heaviest guitar work ever heard on a Van Halen song. I don’t know how much more he can tune down his guitar but the song sounds HUGE and amazing. The solo is a finger-tapping shred fest that is jaw dropping.  Dave’s singing, talking (he does it a LOT throughout the album – maybe to give his remaining vocal cord a rest), and melody are very distracting and really detract from the song. Grade: B

8.       Honeybabysweetiedoll – When I saw this cluster of a song title, I just knew the song was going to be absolutely horrible. The song begins with a bunch of noise undoubtedly pulled from the “mountains of tape” Ed has claimed to be lying around the Van Halen compound for decades. Once the silly noises stop, something very interesting happens – easily the best Van Halen song in 20 years. Everything clicks on this track – the thumping bass of Wolf, the ever-steady drumming of Alex, the tone and riffs Ed throws down and the lyrics, melody and singing of Dave. Van Halen rarely, if ever, gets better than this. Grade: A+

9.       The Trouble with Never – And, after every peak, there must be a valley and here it is. I really don’t care for this song at all. Ed relies WAY too heavily on the wah, Dave throws down lyrics like “Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumber”, and, again, the melody doesn’t match the song which seems to happen quite a bit on the new tunes. As is consistent on this album, Ed’s solo is the only saving grace but even that can’t rescue this from mediocrity. Grade: C-

10.   Outta Space – This is another oldie.  Some of you older people might remember – it’s from 1976 and used be called, “Let’s Get Rockin’”. Again, the musicianship on this from the band is incredible and the singing is on target. I will say that this is one of the songs where Dave’s vocal limitations are evident as it sounds like he’s straining to hit notes on a very consistent basis. Let’s face it, Dave was never a great singer but he does a decent job with what he has left.  Grade: B

11.   Stay Frosty – I liked this song a lot better when it was on Van Halen’s debut record and was called, “Ice Cream Man”. I know the band is taking a lot of flak for taking old demos from the 70’s and reworking them into “new” songs but I’d rather have them do that than write something that’s so obviously derivative of an already released song and pass it off as brand-spanking new.  Grade: F

12.   Big River – Another old song that has found new life in 2012. Originally called “Big Trouble” the music is almost a note for note copy of the original – and that’s a good thing. Like most of the older songs that have been repurposed, the melody Dave sings is a fairly good match for the music. And, as is very typical on this album, Ed’s solo is staggeringly good. Grade:  B+

13.   Beats Workin’ – Yet another updated version of an already existing song which, in this case, is “Put Out the Lights”. I’ve tried to get into this song but I honestly feel Dave is trying so hard to actually sing that it ends up as off-key caterwauling. The solo is tastefully restrained and the rhythm is solid throughout but, for whatever reason, this song just feels like album filler. Grade:  C+

Other aspects of the album that should be graded include:

·         Production/Engineering – the sound is HUGE which was really missing from Van Halen III.  Grade: A

·         Cover Art – I don’t get the train metaphor on the cover but maybe I’m not supposed to. The overall coloring is bland to me.  Grade: C

·         Liner Notes – Nonexistent save for the artwork by Dave surrounding they lyrics to every song. No photos which isn’t surprising. Grade: C-

·         DVD/Extras – the “deluxe” package contains a DVD three acoustic performances (“Panama”, “You and Your Blues” and “Beautiful Girls” filmed in black and white. The performances are pretty good and we finally get an idea what an MTV Unplugged with Van Halen might have looked like. It’s interesting to note that in the approximately 15 minutes contained in the DVD they show Wolfgang less than 26 seconds.  Grade: B

Van Halen in 1984 - the last time Roth fronted the band.

Van Halen in 2012 - what is old is new again.

So, where does this leave us? What we have here is a really solid album that I was expecting to be both terrible and disappointing. Is it as great as Fair Warning? No, but it’s much better than Van Halen III and far more than any of us could have reasonably expected from Van Halen given the silliness of the past 20 years or so. Ed is playing as well as he ever has.  Alex is still a monster on the drums. Wolfgang is very solid on the bass and backing vocals. Dave is, well, Dave – you get the good and the bad. As for how long this “reunion” will last, I’m skeptical. It really appears that Van Halen is Ed, Alex and Wolfgang and any other member, including the singer, is merely a hired gun. The songs are noted as written by, “Van Halen and David Lee Roth” and that really says it all. Maybe this little marriage will last longer than just the upcoming tour and I, for one, hope it does.  Final grade: B+