Van Halen!

i saw ace frehley in a tiny club. i guess that's as close as i'll come.

i mean, i'm no kiss fanatic, but to hear ace do ace kiss songs ten feet from me was pretty awesome. and he sounded great too. pre-reunion thing.

Burnt Hills was likely the biggest band -- in terms of size and volume -- that I'll ever see in a club.

i don't know, maybe i'm in odd circles, but there was a ton of 'is this even going to work at all' buzz before this show, hence me writing what i did

(hi everybody)

"This is like being abducted by aliens... or, no, Van Haliens."

That was a smart man who reminded you to write that down, maura.

xpost But why was there any doubt this would work? '08 shows were beyond solid.

Not loving the album title (A Different Kind of Truth), but glad they're coming to my burg in April.

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’

hmm...

I hope "Blood and Fire" is a Niney The observer cover.

From what I gather, She's the Woman and Bullethead are tracks that have been around for forever in demo form. I don't know if they're pre-WB (that would a LONG time), but fans seem to already be familiar with them.

If "Outta Space" is the Billy Preston song, I'm on board.

too long

"She's The Woman" is on the WB demos. Don't know about "Bullethead"

OK, I'll post the video for the new, terrible, chorus-less single:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WfQ-hV3WtA

It's actually the verses that are lame imo

Also, I can't remember any album since 5150 having one of its best songs released as the first single (Black and Blue, Poundcake, Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do, Without You—though, to be fair, III had no "best songs").

Man, that song plods. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt but I could barely make it to the solo. Which isn't that great, either.

Oy. That's a dog of a song, though there is almost something good in the riff. Question is, is it the worst DLR Van Halen song? On first listen I say yes. Worse even then some of the Diver Down filler.

So, "Tattoo" isn't a Who cover and "Outta Space" isn't a Billy Preston cover. Pass.

don't they still have a pile of old 1976 demos they can use?

They used one of them on this album ("She's the Woman").

This is better than the song:

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxliemwvXT1qlzduwo1_400.gif

Also, I can't remember any album since 5150 having one of its best songs released as the first single (Black and Blue, Poundcake, Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do, Without You—though, to be fair, III had no "best songs").

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, January 10, 2012 11:07 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

poundcake is a jam

i thought the guitar solo in tattoo was great

it has a chorus, just not a good one

though i like when they say "swap meet sally" cuz it sounds like a song title off of "NWA and the Posse" or an old Toddy Tee or King Tee song

The bridge reminds me of "Walking Down Madison" by Kirsty MacColl.

OK, listened again, kinda dig it. I mean, it's at least as good as "I'll Wait," easily better than any Hagar thing aside from "Finish What Ya Started." It's a verse too long, though.

That's so not OTM.

At the least, "I'll Wait" is great.

Never liked it myself. Relatively downbeat Van Halen doesn't work too well; less so when it's keyboard-dominated.

I'll Wait is a classic track, and a Michael McDonald co-write. It's also way better than Tattoo.

This is just typical latter-day VH plod. I like the "tattooo, tattooo" part and some of the guitar work, but it's really a nothing type of song. Has it dashed all my optimism for the album? Nope. It's at least playful, unlike about 80% of the Hagar material and 100% of the Cherone album. DLR = fun VH.

'poundcake' is a jam. i'd forgotten that was on FUCK.

LOVE i'll wait.

kinda wishing they did more than one take on this video

xxp: read that as "typical latter-day VH1 plod".

It picks up life right around the transition to the solo. I think the solo is kinda boilerplate EVH but doesn't really go anywhere new. Too few "momshells" in the video. Too many wrinkly visages (and the one roly-poly baby).

i'll wait is possibly my favorite VH song ever. i have the 12".

new song is much better if you close your eyes while the video is playing

Rather liked it - the slight sense of melancholy around it, and the creaminess of the backing vocals. I mean, it's no Unchained, but for toes back in the water it's just fine.

new song is much better if you close your eyes while the video is playing

This is actually true. But it also brings to the forefront DLR's limitations in his higher register these days.

for toes back in the water it's just fine.

Yes, because it is absolutely tepid.

I was most bummed by the lack of harmonies.

Kool and the Gang is opening for them at MSG.

yeah I kind of love "Tattoo," to my great surprise - avoided listening to it when it was first posted to this thread because I figured if it sucked why did I wanna hear it. But Roth's gift for turning a phrase has always gone underpraised and this song's full of really clever little moments - the merits of "mousewife to momshell" are questionable (I think it's cute enough) but that it's followed by "in the time it took to get that new tattoo" gets a solid A from me, that's a smart little bit of narrative work imo. + EVH standing in to do (or fake) harmonies when the chorus comes in...I don't know. It's sweet. I always thought the Hagar move was lame & that Roth handily won round 1 of the post-breakup albums but was too nuts for the long game. I think for a "mature" Van Halen, this is really good. It certainly beats the shit out of the Hagar era, that dude is fucking dire.

The solo is a B- for EVH but it's all right, probably suffers from how easy it is to comp solos now.

also "mousewife to momshell in the time it took to get that new tattoo" is basically a Craig Finn lyric

haha otm

Also, Alex' snare sound. I honestly can't think of any other band, in any genre, where the snare drum is so consistently and perfectly recorded over so many decades.

"mousewife to momshell" is not a Roth original.

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/momshell_power_cRT3VL9mngyCmpHRp8UGrK

Also, Alex' snare sound. I honestly can't think of any other band, in any genre, where the snare drum is so consistently and perfectly recorded over so many decades.

― Let A Man Come In And Do The Cop Porn (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, January 13, 2012 11:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is OTM, i was actually just marveling this the other day when a radio station was playing an ad for their upcoming concert here with a little montage of Roth era hits, and "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" and "Panama" sounded so consistent side by side, like they were from the same album and not recorded 6 years apart. rock production changed SO much between 1978 and 1984 that it's hard to imagine that's true of many other bands, especially mainstream ones, if any, and the fact that that sound has been pretty unchanged through the Hagar era up to the present is even more amazing.

man, i had no intent of liking this song and what do you know, it's actually really good

yeah I listened to it late last night and when I woke up it's still running around my head. for DLR VH to have a decent record out in 2012 is about the weirdest fucking thing

I will admit that it easier on the ears when not watching the video.

i'm sure this is covered within the thread but at least a few of the songs are drawing from older VH songs cut as demos? That explains a lot to me

oh yeah, i just watched the video. don't watch the video.