Even as little as six months ago, the prospect of a new Van Halen record seemed like it might be best left as a "what if" idea. Amidst rumors of unrest with singer David Lee Roth, slams on the band from former lead singer Sammy Hagar and with the usual secrecy that surrounds the Van Halen camp, VH fans were left to wonder if the "new" lineup (featuring Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang on bass guitar, replacing Michael Anthony) had anything left in the tank.
The first look of the new Van Halen record came in January, when "Tattoo" was released as the first single. It was met with some trepidation; some fans liked it, but hoped the album had stronger songs. Other fans disliked it, believing that it signified their worst fears of the band's comeback attempt.
A Different Kind of Van Halen
The new album, A Different Kind of Truth, opens with the "Tattoo" single, but then proceeds to veer far away from the accessible, poppy sound. The rest of the record is mostly made up of heavy, clean, energetic rock, spurred on by Eddie Van Halen's explosive and creative guitar playing.
"Blood and Fire", "Big River", "She's the Woman" and "As Is" are great big examples of the band's prowess at the peak of their powers. Arguably, Edward has never played better on record than he does at times on this album, spouting off blistering, melodic solos such as the super clean mid-section of "China Town", where he tosses off a stunningly clean example of his rejuvenated prowess. It's a startling performance by a virtuoso guitarist who many thought was past his prime. Nothing answers the critics more than a return to form, and for Eddie, this is nothing if not a direct answer.
What About Dave?
How about the other guy, the dude that everyone assumed was washed up and little more than a shell of his former swagger? David Lee Roth is loaded with conviction throughout the album, bringing his signature vocal jabs and jives, and even going for (and nailing) a couple of those hair raising shrieks that peppered "Atomic Punk" and the best of the aggressive Van Halen stuff of yesteryear.
Lyrically, Roth is armed with some of his greatest gems. On the majestically melodic "Blood and Fire", he instructs haters to "Come back when you're younger", delighting in a breathy, spoken word passage that "I told you I'd be back". His best writing moment might be a clever laugh out loud line, "How many roads must a man walk down before he admits he's lost". Roth's overall performance is high on effort and injected with the fun that VH fans have come to expect from him.
Alex and The Kid
The bottom end of the album is huge. Drummer Alex Van Halen and Ed's son Wolfgang (bass) are locked in and sound gigantic together. While longtime fans may miss former bassist Michael Anthony's signature VH background vocals, there's no question that Wolfgang's bass playing is featured much more prominently than Anthony's was back in the original Roth/Van Halen run.
The Bottom Line
A Different Kind of Truth is likely to surprise quite a few people, especially those who judged the comeback on the record's first single That said, this is not a perfect record by any stretch. Some of the songs are a bit too long, and a few of them sound a bit clunky (that is, until they reach the solo sections). The album is much longer than the records of their heyday, where VH would roar through an average set of a half hour or so.
Many of the songs are reworked versions of some old VH tunes that weren't recorded back in the day, so there is a definite seventies/eighties spirit running through the material. Still, they're resurrected with skill and a very high level of musicianship, as well as noteworthy production from Van Halen and John Shanks. It's a very impressive collection of sonic sounds.
A Different Kind of Truth should have at least something to make Roth-era VH fans happy. At the very least, we get some of Eddie Van Halen's best playing in decades, blazing deftly through a mostly solid album with impressive panache. And we come away with the feeling that Roth, the "ringmaster general of the immoral majority", is loving every minute of it.
Paul Counelis - I have written for many years on many subjects, my favorite being the horror culture genre. Some of the publications that I've written ...
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