You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: Van Halen Discussion
Me Wise and Can't Get weren't what I was expecting either and I ended up loving those so I'm giving this some time.
I revisited these tracks again today after not listening for a while, and they have to be THE strongest *bonus new songs* I've ever heard on a Greatest Hits compilation.
Let's face it, usually new tracks on a Greatest Hits are put there by the record company to entice old fans to buy it, and usually songs like that aren't very good.
But Me Wise Magic and Can't Get This Stuff No More are both really strong tracks, that hold up against the DLR era back catalog, at least in my opinion they do.
As for the new single Tattoo, it's not too bad for a mid-paced groover. I'm hoping we get some Hot For Teacher pr Panama type fast rockers on the new album though.
Biggest complaint is that Wolf shouldn't be there and Michael Anthony should!
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: Van Halen Discussion
VH has always been an odd band for me.
I SHOULD like them - cos like EVH is a bad ass guitarist.. but something about it just never jells for me.
It's really wierd...as I like maybe 2 or 3 of the DLR songs, and probably about the same from the SH era - even though I really like SH in chickenfoot...
Doesn't make any sense and I respect why others love them as an all time great but I just can't seem to make myself feel it. This song is typical of my reaction - respect the guitar solo - there's nothing wrong with the song - but it's also not something that will stick in my mind I think.
Dunno if you've had a chance to check out For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (F.U.C.K.) and Balance yet. Sammy's last two albums with the band, and in my opinion, both rock solid albums. Especially if you dig Chickenfoot like you do.
Had a listen to both albums again this week on my iPod and they still sound killer.
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: Van Halen Discussion
In a perfect world, a VH album would feature Dave rockers and Sammy ballads.
Sammy put some good rockers too.
I think the main difference between eras is that DLR era is party rock Van Halen, whereas Sammy era is more mature and serious Van Halen.
I think both eras had their merits, and that Balance (the last official album with Sammy) was some of their very best work as a band.
Re: Van Halen Discussion
Really? I thought I heard some Eddie guitar tone, that sounded not only Van Halen, but Van Hagar-ish.
Then again they had to basically drag Eddie out of his house to even work. So maybe this album is more driven by Dave.
After listening to this track for nearly 24 hours straight I think it reminds me of a DLR Band track because the backing vocals from VH aren't there. Also the pace is very similar to many Roth solo efforts. Eddie's guitar work is fantastic to hear though, and there is no mistaking who creates that sound.
Overall, after listening so many times, I really like the song. Think they did a great job. Lyrics leave a bit to be desired, but this is music to be enjoyed not contemplated.
The video is pretty cool, reminds me of "Jump" in many aspects. There is something bizarre seeing them together, looking older, especially in the end of the video, almost surreal ya know? Again, didn't care for the balloons though, lol, are they playing a bar mitzvah? 
Re: Van Halen Discussion
You're right about the backing vocals. I also think the mix sounds more like later DLR albums: Eddie's lead tracks aren't as "up front" and crisp as we'd usually get, and Dave's vocals don't have a lot of reverb on them to my ear.
I keep listening too, and it's growing on me a lot. I'm definitely looking forward to more.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Van Halen Discussion
Dunno if you've had a chance to check out For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (F.U.C.K.) and Balance yet.
Actually, most of the VH songs I'm starting to finally "get" are from Balance (thanks for the original recommendation - I think it was you!) I really love "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" - Sammy sounds killer on that...but there's a few cool tracks on that album actually.
In other news, despite me saying it's not catchy - I heard Tattoo blasted the other day somewhere and it's starting to grow on me. Definitely does miss Mike...but I think I'll check out the new album anyway as it does sound like there could be something I'll like on it.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Van Halen Discussion
Industry Figure Bob Lefsetz commented on Tattoo
Now if that doesn’t make you want to log on to Ticketmaster and buy a ticket you probably don’t have a tattoo and never contemplated getting one, you probably graduated from college and are a winner, you never drove a mini-truck, drank a case of beer and wished you were something more but decided that for now, who you are is enough.
Now this is not the unexpected sonic explosion of "Why Can’t This Be Love", when Van Halen truly had something to prove with Dave off on a solo career and new singer Sammy Hager in place. Still, if you were ever a fan it satisfies.
Top Forty radio ain’t gonna play it, doesn’t matter what the reviewers say, they hated the band until everyone suddenly agreed Eddie was one of the greats, this is just for you. Who’ve waited, who’ve still believed, that despite your pot belly and thinning hair, despite the sand running through the hourglass, your prayers could still be answered, that deep inside you’re still eighteen and it’s so fucking great to be alive.
You’re sitting there hoping it doesn’t suck. And the repetition of the lyric in the chorus is a bit disappointing, Dave never took the easy way out, but then suddenly your butt is squirming in your seat, your arms are in the air, you’re dancing, you’ve wearing a shiteating grin and you’re saying to yourself THIS IS FUCKING GREAT!
Now you’ve got to start with the video, on the band’s homepage:
Van Halen home page
Sure, you miss Michael Anthony, but you get over that pretty quick since Wolfie’s aged, but what gets you is the swagger, the essence of what the band always was is still there. Dave knows we’re watching and he’s doing his best to be the coolest dude on the planet. Still, as always, it’s about Eddie. This is what made us all want to pick up the guitar and play. He just looks so fucking COOL! His axe is part of him, the way he bends his knee, how the fuck does he do this?Meanwhile, they appear to be having fun. You remember fun, right? Sure, the money and the chicks were good, but it meant nothing if that amplified sound didn’t make you feel like the most powerful person on earth!
And just when you think it’s Dave’s monopolizing the track, two and a half minutes into it, Eddie starts to WAIL! His guitar is firing bullets and you’re writhing in ecstasy with the pain of being shot.
And it’s all so fucking EFFORTLESS!
But it gets better, hang on until the end, just when you think the song is over…. At 4:20, when the track quiets down and Eddie wrings this writhing sound from his guitar, like in "Finish What Ya Started", but this is mellower and so simple yet so utterly perfect.
And the second time through you notice a bit more texture under the track, Eddie was always a keyboard wizard too, never forget "Jump", and you’re contemplating whether the track is really that great and then you say, FUCK IT, I LOVE THIS!
I almost bought it, I couldn’t take the time to steal it.
Then I wondered, how hip was this band, how of the moment. The Vimeo clip on the homepage stuttered a ton the first time through, could "Tattoo" be on Spotify? OF COURSE!
And I played "5150" until the grooves were gray. Even though I believe the Dave era was better. When they remastered the greatest hits the first time through, back in ‘96, I couldn’t stop playing "And The Cradle Will Rock…"
And it positively will. Any young ‘un who sees this video is gonna have to go to the show. This ain’t nostalgia, this is as new as an iPhone, but it’s positively ALIVE!
Nerds have inherited the world, with their software and gadgets. But in one fell swoop Van Halen has taken it back.
THAT’S THE POWER OF ROCK AND ROLL!
and although it's mostly a rant about audio technology, I kind of agreed with this post more...so here goes:
Somebody e-mailed me an MP3 of "Tattoo" and it sounded positively AWFUL! All compressed, with the vocal right up front, and if I was a self-satisfied smugster I would have said it sucked.
But when I listened to a higher res version via my $250 Sennheiser headphones, when I listened on my $1500 AUX speakers, it came alive.
Now despite the advocates of the vinyl revolution, I've got to ask, how many people purchasing those discs have the systems to play them back on? I'm not talking about those Restoration Hardware record players we gave up in the mid-sixties, but amps with watts of power and speakers that could blow the doors off their hinges?
You see fifteen years ago, when cheap all-in-one systems replaced stereos, you got a lot of bang for your buck. It's just that the bucks involved were about $150. Which is like being amazed that a Honda Fit drives so well when you've never been behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz or BMW, never mind a Ferrari.
Yup, that's what we all aspired to. Instead of unloading our dough on electronic gadgets from phones to tablets, everybody saved up for a stereo, there were chains developed just to cater to this market. And there still are stereo shops, but if you've ever been to one your jaw will drop at the price. You've got to be rich to afford stereo today, never mind the fact that these high end shops are really video oriented, you end up getting a 5.1 system that's good for DVDs but just ain't right for music.
And that's what's replaced the stereo, TV sound systems. Home Theatre In A Box. Or a soundbar. Felice has got the best soundbar Yamaha makes, and for music it's positively awful, it hasn't got that power, that punch.
And then you've got the musicians. Cranking up the tracks they do produce so they sound good on radio, eliminating all dynamic range.
And what you end up with is music produced to sound good on the shitty listening devices people employ today. You're gonna have a hard time making it as an acoustic act in this day and age, because there's not one playback system that evidences that warmth, certainly not the CD whose sampling rate is too low to deliver quality.
So, we've got clowns to the left of us and jokers to the right and the end result is we get the music we deserve.
In other words, if you're listening to hard rock or acoustic music on earbuds, anything but Top Forty dreck, you're gonna be predisposed to think it sucks. Because you've got to feel the music. And almost nobody has enough power to generate that kind of oomph, only distortion.
And just like the rest of the problems in our nation, no one wants to take responsibility. The acts and the industry just want to blame the public.
First and foremost we need a better broadband system. So we can deliver hi-res sound over the Internet. But instead of looking to the dividends to be paid, the entertainment companies want to put on the brakes, they want SOPA, they want to jet us back to the past. If people could hear what great music sounds like, don't you think they'd be excited and want more?
And just like HDTV was sold by word of mouth, people insisting their friends come over to see it, if we had hi-res audio playable on hi-res units, the scene would burgeon.
But even if you use good headphones on an iPod, it's still gonna sound like shit, because there's just not enough power to boost the highs and lows, to avoid clipping.
So stereo continues to live in darkness. (And let's stick with stereo, we've learned two channels are enough, the public has shrugged its shoulders at more twice.) And it's our own damn fault. But the problem is if you make arena rock, your potential audience is gonna hear it like a tinny radio playing in the background while you're taking a shower. And an acoustic guitar will resemble something made of plastic. And instead of soul, we've got two-dimensional garbage.
I guarantee you if I packed all the Van Halen naysayers into a studio control room and blasted "Tattoo" with hundreds of watts of power via high end speakers they'd be floored.
But trying to listen to the song on earbuds is like making love wrapped in a shower curtain, with glasses made of steel wool so it's almost impossible to see your partner.
Sex would take a hit.
And music's taken a hit.
And nobody's doing anything about it. Because they're just not shooting high enough. They want better laptop sound. Higher resolution MP3s. No, what we want is uncompressed audio played through high end systems. This will sell, if someone would just lead the way.
But instead all we know is the public is stupid and won't spend for this even though iPhones and iPads are being scarfed up by the millions and cable bills are stratospheric. People will pay if you give them a high quality offering, isn't that what Steve Jobs taught us?
And if you're listening to "Tattoo" on fifty nine dollar speakers, or the ones that came free with your computer, YOUR OPINION DOESN'T COUNT!
