Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth

Dave the Boss wrote:

It's out here as well. Picked it up, sounds effin' awesome. Tattoo is definitely the low point, the other songs are killer - all of them!

Oh, and the backing vocals are fine. Honestly, I don't hear THAT much of a difference with the older stuff...

Dave the Boss wrote:

Oh, and the backing vocals are fine. Honestly, I don't hear THAT much of a difference with the older stuff...

Awesome! Can't wait to hear it!

12 pages and the album isn't even out yet.

This album RULES!!

Getting excited since good reviews have come in. Heard one of the local DJs on the radio saying he's been listening to it since it's leaked onto YouTube and it's great. Staying away until I can pick up a physical copy though.

Metal Misfit wrote:

Getting excited since good reviews have come in. Heard one of the local DJs on the radio saying he's been listening to it since it's leaked onto YouTube and it's great. Staying away until I can pick up a physical copy though.

Same here.

I was totally lukewarm to this idea until I started reading reviews.

tohostudios wrote:

Metal Misfit wrote:

Getting excited since good reviews have come in. Heard one of the local DJs on the radio saying he's been listening to it since it's leaked onto YouTube and it's great. Staying away until I can pick up a physical copy though.

Same here.

I was totally lukewarm to this idea until I started reading reviews.

I'm waiting for the backlash.

Holy crap...listening to "As Is" now and wow...THIS is Van Halen!!! Finally!!!

I think the people hoping for a relatively heavy record are going to be pleasantly surprised.

Eyesore wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Metal Misfit wrote:

Getting excited since good reviews have come in. Heard one of the local DJs on the radio saying he's been listening to it since it's leaked onto YouTube and it's great. Staying away until I can pick up a physical copy though.

Same here.

I was totally lukewarm to this idea until I started reading reviews.

I'm waiting for the backlash.

Oh yeah, there's going to be a lot of that too.

VAN HALEN 2012: A Different Kind Of Boring!

actually it is really heavy boring and weak for me.
there is nothing special on it.
yes album got some typical influences of VH but not catchy arena songs on it.
sound is clear better said pure crystal clear...hmm out of washmachine.
some Ed VH solos are superb.
easily fast forgettable.

S.D. wrote:

I think the people hoping for a relatively heavy record are going to be pleasantly surprised.

Mos def!

I've given the record some more spins now, and I can honestly say that I like this better than any Van Hagar record, even though I absolutely love F.U.C.K. and 5150. To me, this is like a modern version of Fair Warning in terms of heaviness.

Van Halen is still a band? they have lost all relevancy IMO a long time ago

Seems all their stuff sounds the same musically which I find very boring

Good DLR interview with Toronto Sun: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/02/02/unchained-the-david-lee-roth-interview

The reunion:

Quote :

“Everybody values their privilege. And it is indeed a privilege and a gift to be able to have this job as opposed to a lot of the jobs the state offers. Everybody has had at least one or two medical near- misses or at least one or two dental tragedies. Sometimes that’s all it takes — you get your teeth knocked out a couple of times and you start to realize you’re mortal. That illumination alone can rebind a band. Besides that, we’re gonna do it for world peace. I could answer all of of these questions with that. Do you want to do the ‘world peace’ interview?”

Kool and the Gang:

Quote :

“We picked KOOL AND THE GANG to open for us because Kool And The Gang and Van Halen are the sounds of an entire continent at recreation. We’ve come to represent that — although you’re more likely to hear Kool And The Gang at a bar mitzvah than me, even though I’m a brother. You go to a Hasidic Jewish bar mitzvah and they’ll play Ladies’ Night by Kool. Me, they’ll let in — ‘But he doesn’t sing; he runs with the devil!’ ”

The new songs:

Quote :

“I retooled all of the verses and melodies. I retooled all of the lyric. So there is a body of new that meets halfway there, that I think makes very colourful sense. The idea that it was in a vault — well, are you talking about a head of lettuce or fine wine, sir?

Perhaps age has dignified it even further by virtue of its authenticity.”

Dave the Boss wrote:

S.D. wrote:

I think the people hoping for a relatively heavy record are going to be pleasantly surprised.

Mos def!

I've given the record some more spins now, and I can honestly say that I like this better than any Van Hagar record, even though I absolutely love F.U.C.K. and 5150. To me, this is like a modern version of Fair Warning in terms of heaviness.

I have heard it and I would agree. I don;t know why they released the mid-paced rocker as the first single, but that is not the pace of the rest of the album. Yeah, DLR's voice sounds different than 1980, but that happens when you age!!!! The album is really an old school, DLR-era album and I like it.

Guitar riffs and Solos sounded like a recharged, young blistering-fast Eddie that we used to know but DLR's vocals were rather forgetful, those hooks are quite hard to grasp . Better than I expected overall but in no way a great album me thinks. If anything that lets me keep coming back for more its just the Guitarwork.

6/10

I'm not buying any of the lap-dog fan-boy comments here! I listened to all the 90-second samples, and not once did I think it sounded like it could be better than every Van Hagar CD. This isn't a prog album, so 90 seconds should give any listener a good idea of what's coming. I think nostalgia is playing tricks on some of you. Haha.

I'll give it this: it sounded better than Van Cherone.

I'm not a lap-dog fanboy, in fact the last Van Halen album I enjoyed thoroughly was 1984. (I used to own 5150 but I haven't listened to it since the 80's). To me Van Halen ceased to exist when Dave left.

I was also fully prepared to loathe this new album...but I can't. I could sit here and list numerous flaws with the album but in the grand scheme of things it still doesn't matter.

This album should be cynic proof, it's a kick ass party ROCK N ROLL record.

Van Halen has reminded me that ROCK N ROLL doesn't have to be significant, it just has to be FUN. The album delivers in spades.

S.D. wrote:

I'm not a lap-dog fanboy, in fact the last Van Halen album I enjoyed thoroughly was 1984. (I used to own 5150 but I haven't listened to it since the 80's). To me Van Halen ceased to exist when Dave left.

I was also fully prepared to loathe this new album...but I can't. I could sit here and list numerous flaws with the album but in the grand scheme of things it still doesn't matter.

This album should be cynic proof, it's a kick ass party ROCK N ROLL record.

Van Halen has reminded me that ROCK N ROLL doesn't have to be significant, it just has to be FUN. The album delivers in spades.

Oh, it might be a very good album. It didn't sound bad to me. I've just never been able to get on board with the Van Hagar criticisms. They put out some fantastic albums together. From what I heard of the new album, I just don't hear it being better than all of them, you know.

But I'll make final judgment when I buy it next week. Comes out Tuesday, right?

Yes, Tuesday. I completely didn't expect to say this, but I will be at Amoeba first thing on Tuesday to buy myself a copy!

btw: I don't discredit the Hagar albums, I just personally can't get into them.

Eyesore wrote:

S.D. wrote:

I'm not a lap-dog fanboy, in fact the last Van Halen album I enjoyed thoroughly was 1984. (I used to own 5150 but I haven't listened to it since the 80's). To me Van Halen ceased to exist when Dave left.

I was also fully prepared to loathe this new album...but I can't. I could sit here and list numerous flaws with the album but in the grand scheme of things it still doesn't matter.

This album should be cynic proof, it's a kick ass party ROCK N ROLL record.

Van Halen has reminded me that ROCK N ROLL doesn't have to be significant, it just has to be FUN. The album delivers in spades.

Oh, it might be a very good album. It didn't sound bad to me. I've just never been able to get on board with the Van Hagar criticisms. They put out some fantastic albums together. From what I heard of the new album, I just don't hear it being better than all of them, you know.

But I'll make final judgment when I buy it next week. Comes out Tuesday, right?

It's worth picking up - my copy will be delivered from amazon on Tuesday. SD is right - it's just fun rock n roll.

BTW - I am a fan of the Van Hager era - they only Van Hager I don't listen to much is OU812 - the rest are great with F.U.C.K. being my fav.

Eyesore wrote:

I'm not buying any of the lap-dog fan-boy comments here!

My first real exposure to the band was just a few months ago. So when I say I think it's a great album (maybe even their best), I really mean it. I'm not a "lap-dog fan-boy" blinded by nostalgia.

MEGATRON wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

I'm not buying any of the lap-dog fan-boy comments here!

My first real exposure to the band was just a few months ago. So when I say I think it's a great album (maybe even their best), I really mean it. I'm not a "lap-dog fan-boy" blinded by nostalgia.

Yeah, but in the same respect, you also haven't had decades to digest the band's earlier work. There are people on here, who started listening to the band when they first broke out on the scene, or someone like myself who remembers hearing them around '82 for the first time. Nostalgia doesn't even have to enter the picture, as Van Halen was never a band that I considered to be "My band". They rarely were a band where I made connections between their songs and powerful moments in my life. For others, I'm sure nostalgia might come big time into play.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm probably going to place more credence on someone's opinion of this record who has listened to the band for decades over that of someone who has only digested a band's work for the better part of a few months. That doesn't mean you're wrong about the quality of the album....