The Return of Van Halen

Shark Attack Golf had a chance to preview the full release of the new Van Halen album. Here are some brief thoughts on "A Different Kind of Truth".

You'll find no bigger fan of the original Van Halen lineup than me. In my opinion, they are perhaps the greatest true hard rock band prior to the double bass drum style. The Van Halen prior to 1984 had a rock vibe and a reality in their music and didn't care about ratings or being popular to a larger audience. 1984 was a turning point and although the original members were present, it was a sell out to have popular music and a #1 hit and #1 album. The Van Hagar years were not kind to the band and could never duplicate the sound or attitude that was once a trademark. Many excuses were offered along the way as well as reported hard feelings between the remaining members and the greatest front man of all time David Lee Roth. The haters always said that DLR could no longer hit the notes and was a joke but I had a sneaky feeling that he still had the chops. In a world of average singers and lip syncing, an 80% effort would still be strong. The newest release from the boys proves without a doubt that Roth has more than enough voice for the job. My biggest concern was that the album would reach back for the popular roots and ignore the foundation of the band but nothing could be further from the truth and that's a good thing. The new album features 13 tracks with the lead off track being Tattoo. The early release of the song Tattoo was a brilliant move because it is purely Van Halen of old and allows instant time travel for even the purest fans. As with every album, there is a bit of a slack off and this is no exception and takes place around track 9 but even the slacker track isn't horrible. Many of the tunes reach back toward specific songs and sounds such as the Women and Children First album with the songs She's the Woman and China Town or Stay Frosty which brings Happy Trails and Ice Cream Man to mind. I know that I may be biased but this is no crappy return or attempt to tour on the old famous stuff. Many older groups get together and do tiny appearances or even world tours without even attempting to write new or relevant material but Van Halen has just broken that trend and have created a new and awesome magical music experience that true fans of the original creations just won't be able to avoid or ignore. On a Shark Attack scale of 5 fins, I would give this release a solid 4.5 fins. It might even achieve a full 5 fins but I want to see a true live concert setting first. The least you can do is purchase the album and if you get a chance or can afford to do so, catch the live version because it may be your last great chance to see living rock history. Every VH fan knows that the sounds of Eddie erupting on the drive lines and solos, The drums and bass filling in every crack in the riffs and the vocal harmonies are hard to duplicate anywhere else.