08.07.11 Review

OU812 is an above average record due in large part to being extremely uneven with regard to pacing and song structure. What I had a problem with back when it was released as I do now is the track order. I'm so used to a certain formulaic order of songs. Usually for a band with the caliber of Van Halen and hard rock bands in general, you have 3-4 hard rocking songs to kick off an album and then bring it down with a ballad. But with this one, they open up with Mine All Mine and then immediately follow it with When It's Love. Whatever momentum has been built up from the previous song comes to a screeching halt. It's not that I don't like When It's Love. I actually like it a lot. I just think somebody f*cked up when constructing the track list and it doesn't serve the album well at all IMO.

As for the rest of the album, there are more misses than hits on this one. I can listen to Feels So Good a couple of times before it starts to grate on me, only because it's too drenched in "pop" music. Where they failed on that song, they succeed with Finish What Ya Started. What a great finger-picking song. A Apolitical Blues is interesting, but so far removed from what you would expect from VH that it sounds out of place.

Fave Songs: Mine All Mine, Cabo Wabo, When It's Love, Finish What Ya Started, Black And Blue

08.08.11 Review

Well, this is the first time I have listened to Balance in 15 years. So I was hoping that time would give me a new perspective on it and not be as bad as I remembered it to be. The best song of the entire album is The Seventh Seal without question. Honestly I can do away with the first 2 of Eddie's instrumental songs on Balance. There is absolute nothing memorable about either one of them. Baluchitherium on the other hand is what I would expect to get from him if he ever released a full-on instrumental album ala Satch, Vai, etc... And that's a good thing. Not Enough. Ugh. I hated it then and I hate it now. It's just...saturated with so much sugar that I'm getting cavities just listening to it. Take Me Back (Deja Vu) is only slightly better.

Is Balance better than what I remember it to be? Yes. But it's still my least favorite of the Van Hagar era, putting OU812 ahead of it. Overall, Balance is well...unbalanced IMO.

Fave Songs: The Seventh Seal, Can't Stop Loving You, Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do) and Baluchitherium.

08.08.11 Review

By far, The Best Of Both Worlds is a much better GH package than that of The Best Of Van Halen, Vol. I, due in large part to a double disc set that includes more gems. Is it still the definitive release? I doubt it. I'm sure within 5 years we will get an anthology type release that will have even more of the good stuff. Like everyone else, I picked this up for the 3 new songs with Sammy reuniting with Eddie, Alex and Michael (even though he technically didn't play one note on the new songs).

The new songs are It's About Time, Up For Breakfast and Learning To See. I really dig It's About Time. Up For Breakfast marginally so. Learning To See is meh.

I'm nitpicking a bit here, but did they really have to just throw all the songs up there with a makeshift track list? None of the songs are in chronological order at all, which I just find very bizarre. Oh well...

SAMMY HAGAR SLAMS NEW VAN HALEN SINGLE

Ex-Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar has slammed "Tattoo," the first single from Van Halen's upcoming album with original frontman David Lee Roth, A Different Kind Of Truth. Speaking with Cack Blabbath while on tour in Europe with Chickenfoot, Hagar said about the track, "I personally don't think that what they have just released, what I have seen and heard, is great at all. It should be better than it is but hey, it is what it is and at least they got together and at least they came out with something, that's all I can say, you know. God bless them but I was expecting a lot more."

Hagar was also asked if he thought the Van Halen reunion with Roth was motivated by money. He replied, "I'll tell you what, they waited so long and they're so not fan friendly, and as big as Van Halen was in the past . . . Why they're doing it now I have no idea, but I think it's about time."

Hagar told us that he thinks the Van Halen brothers aren't very good at connecting with the world: "They're so out of it. They sit and they hide in their little closets, you know. They never get out. They never go around to other people. They never listen to the radio. They don't do anything to stay current or to just keep their hand on the pulse, you know."

Chickenfoot, which also features former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, is out on the road behind its second album, Chickenfoot III.

Van Halen's A Different Kind Of Truth will be out on February 7th, with the band kicking off a North American tour on the 18th in Louisville, Kentucky.

I don't think a problem from Sammy. Michael, does he really speak up at all?

5150 Van Halen.

After the departure or loss of front man and lead vocalist David Lee Roth....how does a band survive...well if you have Eddie Van Halen at the wheel of the guitar/ drivers seat...you've got a great start./.  ok so now I will get into personal feelings really quick just to preface this review...and then back to pure objectivity (and my thoughts on this record today)  I was never a fan of Sammy solo.  I didn't like his music, I didn't like his clothes, I didn't like his hair, head bands, or bleach white teeth....hearing he was joining Van Halen was NOT good news for this 17 year old Van Halen life long fan (well since 1977) so 9 year fan (since 5150 hit the shelves in 1986.)  I have to say that back when it came out I liked it.  Not only did I like, I really liked it.  Hey no grudges right Sammy?...the guy can sing his ass off, writes amazing rock lyrics, and has an energy that fit amazingly well with the mighty Van Halen...ok enough on Sammy...lets talk the songs and Eddie.  Eddie plays GREAT on this record...there are so many great riffs piled into this album and it's songs....It's a CD filled to the BRIM (literally) with great things.  I think back when the disc came out...a CD could hold 73 minutes worth of music...and VH 5150 was 72:58...it was insane/  The did not screw around./

I am reviewing the vinyl....so lets go.

track 1 side 1.  Good Enough.....Hello...Babaaaaaay.  I mean...the song rocks.  It's got the lyrics, the punch, the riffs...the song is a perfect VH song and a GREAT, GREAT  intro to this new version of an already hugely successful band....big shoes to fill...**** yeah...and this track was them jumping in head first. 

track 2 side 1.  Why Can't This Be Love.  Even writing the title I cringe a tiny bit....it would be way too easy to write off a song like this....but it is SO good...why would you.  The verses are so f*cking good....and I mean again...this is a 5 star track.  perfect song.

track 3 side 1.  Get Up......"you say that love has got you down well that's BULL****.  **** Sammy where have you been all my life...was your solo work this good...did I totally blow ever giving you a chance...I still don't really know to this day.  I did listen to Montrose...and it just wasn't really as good as Sammy thought it was.  he says they were the American Led Zeppelin.  I'd disagree.  But we're talking about VH and this album 3 tracks in will not quit....it's amazing.

track 4 side 1.  Dreams. Blue Angels anyone?  Just kidding...really solid track and a nice change of pace....I mean something a song from the heart about wanting more in life can actually work....and this one does.

track 5 side 1.  Summer Nights.   I can't really listen to this track without thinking about the summer this record came out.....it's honestly a track I wouldn't normally like...I generally like much much much darker music...and a song about how great my summer nights are is not generally my thing....but it's a great track.


End of side 1.  I will say this since we can take a little break and talk about the packaging....I think the cover although a spotlight shot of a near naked buff guy is not my thing. (Atlas for the 1980's) the color and lightning effects do look cool...ok pet peeve time (why do you always DO this Van Halen I will NOT understand!!)...Liner notes (inner sleeve) and Back of the Album.  No track listing on back of the record jacket...and inside the lyrics are ALL out of ORDER.  It's SO annoying.  end of rant.

track 1 side 2.  Best of Both Worlds....starting to get a tiny bit poppy for my tastes....good song.....not the best.....I can forgive though great guitar playing on it.

track 2 side 2.  Love Comes Walking In.   "some kind of alien comes walking in?" / WTF?? hahahaha....again....I'd say good song, probably means more to some other people than it does for me....a nice song none the less....my favorite part of the song is definitely the final verses (after the solo) some great stuff in there lyrically....good job Sammy.. 

track 3 side 2.  5150.  Fantastic track....I love how there's this amazing shift from the now classic Van Hagar upbeat tempo of the first minute into the main riffs and verses...just an incredible shift into the down and dirty classic Van Halen old school sound.  I love this song...some very intricate parts in this song....and it's done flawlessly and you just enjoy the tune and don't even need to be a musician to appreciate how complex this probably is to play.

track 4 side 2.  Inside.  I could really take or leave this track....I guess in a perfect world it would have gone from the joking quality of it into more a song like "Sinner's Swing"  the multiple layers of vocals I don't like....and there's like a talking track that goes through the whole song that is annoying.....would have been nice to at least duck into the song and not have all the ambient noise running through all the verses...(it's more buried during the verses which is nice)  Kind of a bummer way to end the record...but I get the feeling the goal was to fill the entire CD...so they pushed the tracks as far as they could.


all in all...I think 5150 is amazing...I still think it's the best Sammy solo record...but over the next few months I'll work through all the albums after (on vinyl) and see what I think then.  I'd give it 5/5....the minor criticisms I have really can't pull a come back or new re-birth record like this down....the chips and odds were SO stacked against them....and they landed on their feet jumping, kicking and screaming...and it sounded damn good.  Saw the band on this tour....it was GREAT as well.