Van Halen has just premiered "Tattoo", the first video and single from their long-awaited comeback album, "A Different Kind Of Truth".
The black and white clip was filmed at The Roxy, a famed club on Hollywood's Sunset Strip. Van Halen had been using the venue this past November and December to rehearse for their upcoming world tour. The 45-date trek will kick off next month in Louisville, Ky., with tickets set to go on sale today, Jan. 10, at 9:00AM EST.
The deluxe-edition version of Van Halen's new album will contain a bonus DVD featuring four brand new acoustic-performance videos titled "The Downtown Sessions" including the songs "Panama", "You And Your Blues", "You Really Got Me" and "Beautiful Girls".
The complete track listing for the standard edition of "A Different Kind Of Truth" can be seen below:
01. Tattoo 02. She's The Woman 03. You And Your Blues 04. China Town 05. Blood & Fire 06. Bullethead 07. As Is 08. Honeybabysweetiedoll 09. The Trouble With Never 10. Outta Space 11. Stay Frosty 12. Big River 13. Beats Workin'
It ain't no Panama, but it'll do. Decent, but IMO its lacking that VH kick. Maybe the Mike Anthony harmonies. Also I'm not sure about the lyrics. I think Eddie's tone is missing that classic 'snarl' it had that made hes riffs sound tighter, harmonics sharper, yet made the tapped notes really fly out of the speaker.
To me, it's just a teaser for the album, it seems to me that bands lately have been releasing singles that contain mediocre songs, then we buy the album and are blown away.
Way below average for Van Halen standards. :/
Vocals are OK, the lyrics themselves are nothing much, drums sound somewhat low in the mix and I didn't particularly like Eddie's tone. The whole song sounds like a generic AC/DC type rock song.
For me Roth's vocals just aren't as cutting as they used to be, this may be because of the lack of a Michael Anthony harmony but even then, sounds like he's just singing within himself and not trying to push the bar. Same with Eddie's guitar aswell I guess.
Everything sounds very "safe".
Based on this alone I can't see the new VH album replacing Chickenfoot in my CD player (only gonna be a matter of time before people compare), I think Hagar's voice has aged better plus the benefit of Anthony.
Spartan101400 wrote:
To me, it's just a teaser for the album, it seems to me that bands lately have been releasing singles that contain mediocre songs, then we buy the album and are blown away.
That doesn't make sense. Bands release singles in order to get people interested in buying/hearing the album. This song won't do that to the average VH fan.
not too bad. I miss Roth's trademark shrieks from early Van Halen, and Michael Anthony's harmonies. The bass playing actually sounds pretty good. Needs a better mix though. Sounds generic.
I need to listen to this a few times more but all I can say for now is that it's solid. It's not as awesome as older stuff but at least it's not disappointing. I'm looking forward to their album and tour :
The video is boring but the song is decent. I especially like EVH's guitar work. The solo is brilliant. It seems he has changed his tone a bit while still retaining that classic identity, real cool.
This supports my argument that it wasn't Gary Cherone that made Van Halen 3 so bad... Eddie needs someone to stand up to him when his musical ideas aren't good.
Despite the fact that our lovely friend Vevo's player crapper out on me during the first chorus, the song just sounded... For lack of a better term, lifeless. I can't say for sure, because I haven't heard the entire song, but no one really seemed to push at all. I just kinda seemed like a soundcheck jam where everybody's testing levels and don't want to overpower any of the elements to the song. Just lacking.
Really surprised this is coming out so soon, seeing as it was rumoured for so long that the band weren't even making an album, then suddenly here it is.
Don't really like how processed everything sounds, particularly the guitar.
this is sooooo bad!!!!! 30 effin years and those are the best lyrics they can come up with.... scuse me while i visit the restroom!
Haha, troll or f*cking idiot.. Can't decide.. Both?
You realize they put out an album in '98 right?
Superperfex wrote:
Get rid of the kid, and get Michael Anthony. There is the problem.
Having the son play bass is just too gimicky and quite frankly is annoying. This isn't Van Halen anymore =/
Yea... That's the problem.. Lol. You've heard one song that Wolfgang tracked and you're already bagging the dude. Gimmicky this, annoying that. Your threshold for annoying is awfully low, my friend. I understand Anthony would make the original lineup complete but Wolfgang's got more than enough talent. Not to mention he IS a Van Halen. I'd say with Eddie and and David Lee Roth alone the band is more Van Halen than it has been in years.
scawti wrote:
This supports my argument that it wasn't Gary Cherone that made Van Halen 3 so bad... Eddie needs someone to stand up to him when his musical ideas aren't good.
So wait... VH3 was the only album Cherone was on. It was bad (in your opinion) This is bad (in your opinion) Yet having Cherone to stand up to Eddies 'bad' ideas is what is missing from this? Contradiction at its best.
Sorry but these guys have been doing this for almost 40 years, give them more credit instead of judging the album on one song. (A song that was actually left over from VH3, it is most likely going to be one of the weaker ones by default if it wasn't good enough for 3...)
The album should really be a bonus to the fact that they're going to tour anyway. They didn't have to release anything new. They're f*cking Van Halen. They understand they're never going to release another 'Van Halen' or '1984', they're writing music because they love music. They're spoiling us. Have some respect.
Yes, the lyrics don't flow so great in the pre-chorus, yes the production left the drums sounding kinda weak (not entirely the bands fault, Shanks and Hagarth are the real producers..).
As far as I'm concerned, you should reserve judgement until the album drops.
And remember, no matter how 'bad' it could possibly be.. It's no 'Lulu' ...
It's way better than Lulu...
Really though, I like hearing some guitar solo work. I don't know who decided that guitar solo's were dead, but it's nice to hear one that isn't buried in the mix in the background.
Sorry but these guys have been doing this for almost 40 years, give them more credit instead of judging the album on one song. (A song that was actually left over from VH3, it is most likely going to be one of the weaker ones by default if it wasn't good enough for 3...)
The album should really be a bonus to the fact that they're going to tour anyway. They didn't have to release anything new. They're f*cking Van Halen. They understand they're never going to release another 'Van Halen' or '1984', they're writing music because they love music. They're spoiling us. Have some respect.
Yes, the lyrics don't flow so great in the pre-chorus, yes the production left the drums sounding kinda weak (not entirely the bands fault, Shanks and Hagarth are the real producers..).
As far as I'm concerned, you should reserve judgement until the album drops.
And remember, no matter how 'bad' it could possibly be.. It's no 'Lulu' ...
Dude, I understnad that you're trying to be a voice of reason and point out the fault in others comment, so I figured I'd point this one out in yours. "Tattoo" wasn't the song leftover from VH3, it was "She's The Woman." Read the article a little closer next time beofre you start criticizing people for their opinions.
Well... This is really awful. How can any of you "fans" compare this to Panama and honestly say it isn't terrible? Face reality, people, it's obvious to see how the rest of the album is going to go, tone wise. Van Halen are dead, and anyone who doesn't think so is lying to themselves.
Before anyone will post negative comments on this one, please listen to the whole Van Halen catalog. They didn't end up in 1984, they sound evolved much through the years. Check out Balance album, give VH III a shot. They keep evolving!
This is pretty weak. It looks (and sounds) like my grandad and a bunch of his mates from down the pub got together to do a song and accompanying video. Oh dear.
Dude, I understnad that you're trying to be a voice of reason and point out the fault in others comment, so I figured I'd point this one out in yours. "Tattoo" wasn't the song leftover from VH3, it was "She's The Woman." Read the article a little closer next time beofre you start criticizing people for their opinions.
I'm soooo sorry for being an idiot man...
Actually I'm not. If YOU read the article you'd realize 'She's The Woman' was a demo from 1976. NOT the VH3 sessions.
Now 'Tattoo', although not mentioned in the article... Was left over from the VH3 sessions..
the song isn't that bad, the lipsynching is garbage, but it's on purpose, just doesn't look right. Also, 85% of that drumset is just for show. Do you hear double bass, gong, or a cymbal that isn't crash or ride?
Not too bad. It has good parts and bad parts. I was never a VH fan, too much crazy soloing,i dont like his tone but his playing has mellowed out some and i like that part of it.
For me Roth's vocals just aren't as cutting as they used to be, this may be because of the lack of a Michael Anthony harmony but even then, sounds like he's just singing within himself and not trying to push the bar. Same with Eddie's guitar aswell I guess.
Everything sounds very "safe".
Based on this alone I can't see the new VH album replacing Chickenfoot in my CD player (only gonna be a matter of time before people compare), I think Hagar's voice has aged better plus the benefit of Anthony.
Hagar's voice may have aged better than David Lee Roth's has, but that doesn't immediately make Chickenfoot a better band with better material.
This song isn't that great, and it's kind of emotionless, but it's no worse than any Chickenfoot song I've heard (and I've heard both of their albums, all the way through).
Having a voice that has aged more gracefully than others doesn't immediately make you a better songwriter (listen to any Chickenfoot song for proof).
I still have hope for this album, and considering the fact that this song is left over from the shitstorm that was VH3 kind of makes it all that much more impressive. She's The Woman sounded promising on that low-quality live clip, though. I've still got hope for the album.
Besides, they didn't even need new material. All they need to do is tour, but now we've got some new music to go along with it as a bonus.
as a fan or sammy and dave, i listened to this with a completely open mind. this sucked big time. it looks like one of wolfgang's friends made the video for a high school video editing class.
Loved it. Can't wait til Feb 7th. Rock and Fu(king Roll. This year is really gonna kick ass... except for the apocalypse. Good luck with that one, God.
that sucked. lyrics, music, everything. where's eddies classic sound; the growl that made him such an iconic guitarist? the guitar sounds closer to theory of a deadman than EVH. than the video, if you have epilepsy i dont recommend watching it. where is the theatrics that most VH videos have? in my opinion, an all around fail
This supports my argument that it wasn't Gary Cherone that made Van Halen 3 so bad... Eddie needs someone to stand up to him when his musical ideas aren't good.
So wait... VH3 was the only album Cherone was on. It was bad (in your opinion) This is bad (in your opinion) Yet having Cherone to stand up to Eddies 'bad' ideas is what is missing from this? Contradiction at its best.
Gotta say I don't get what you're trying to prove/disprove here. He was implying that it wasn't solely Cherone that made VH 3 terrible, but mostly Eddie. He's saying that Cherone didn't challenge Eddie enough (which I can see being true, being a new singer to ****ing Van Halen) musically, and he's arguing no one did here either really, which is why (in his opinion)he doesn't like it. Scawti is calling for someone to challenge Eddie, and say "hey, this sucks, lets work on it to get something better".
As far as Tattoo goes, musically I like it enough, though I think he could have gone a bit "panama-ish" during the verses and it'd be better, rather than just following the bass, and I don't even mind little chubster on bass. The key part that's lacking here is the vocals, they just don't feel right and I feel like Davey could do much better. Sounds pretty lazy, maybe its just me.
Not quite the same without Mikes harmonies, the ones they have aren't really doing it for me. Besides that Dave just can't hit the high notes like he used to.
So wait... VH3 was the only album Cherone was on. It was bad (in your opinion) This is bad (in your opinion) Yet having Cherone to stand up to Eddies 'bad' ideas is what is missing from this? Contradiction at its best.
Gotta say I don't get what you're trying to prove/disprove here.
That's because I wasn't trying to prove/disprove anything... Merely an observation. I'm quite aware what he was implying, thanks.
Is this about "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"? Also, Eddie's tone is washed out on here. Once we get to the solo, things sound closer to Van Halen, but only barely, and it's so short.
ummm.....seriously? its basically an updated version of the video for "Jump", with an older, less nimble DLR, played along with a far inferior song. what a joke.
I didnt like it at first but it has grown on me. Its no "Panama" or "Aint talkin bout love" but it does have that classic VH filler feel. keep in mind Eddie has changed his tone. he isn't recording with the Frankinstrat. so its not the same sound. personally i think its a decent start for VH since it is the band's first record in over 20 years. And as long as Michael Anthony is bffs with Hagar, you can count on no MA ever again. lol
This is the kind of song you listen to about 2 times, then on the third time, ****in BLAST it through the speakers! You will find yourself getting into it!
To me it gets better each time I hear it! It's awesome, and Van Halen fails to disappoint. The second song, She's The Woman, which they played live a few days ago, sounds KILLER! Like I said, Van Halen fails to disappoint
One thing though, it's their first record in 14 years, VH3 was released in 98. Unless you meant with DLR..
Been too long either way!
Yes I meant over 20 years since a record with DLR, even though they had 2 songs when they did there greatest hits, not the "Best of Both worlds" the first lol
Everyone that says this song sucks, just wait until like the third or fourth time you hear it....you will regret saying such hateful shit about THE REAL VAN HALEN
Everyone that says this song sucks, just wait until like the third or fourth time you hear it....you will regret saying such hateful shit about THE REAL VAN HALEN
clearly you're going to like the song, your username is axlvanhalen. not everyone likes van halen as much as you do. i came listening to this with an open mind, and quite frankly this sucks
it's ok, definetly not anything amazing like House of Pain, but it's better than most of Gary Cherone VHIII bullshit. and also way better than that really really bad messup live of the keyboards of jump during their 2007 tour.
Everyone that says this song sucks, just wait until like the third or fourth time you hear it....you will regret saying such hateful shit about THE REAL VAN HALEN
clearly you're going to like the song, your username is axlvanhalen. not everyone likes van halen as much as you do. i came listening to this with an open mind, and quite frankly this sucks
Give it two more listens, Mike.... report back with your findings!
I think DLR still has some awesome stage presence... that being said, this isn't the REAL van halen without Anthony. The song itself, to me, sounds like van halen creating what people now expect VH to sound like. Nothing new here. You'd think after such a long hiatus that they'd at least try to break some new ground... oh well.
song was kind of aalllrrriiiiiggghtt I guess, but the video was absolutely horrible, you could see what they were trying to do, but the off-time syncing for vocals, guitar, percussion all took a lot away from it
Zeppoholic wrote on 01/10/2012 - 043 pm / quote |
Not too bad. It has good parts and bad parts. I was never a VH fan, too much crazy soloing,i dont like his tone but his playing has mellowed out some and i like that part of it.
isn't this statement a little strange coming from a Zepplin fan? Didn't Jimmy Page play some crazy solos in his day?
I really miss hearing Michael Anthony singing in the back, but I remind myself that this isn't really a reunion tour. It would be nice to hear DLR hit some of his classic high notes, too.
It doesn't sound as good as it could be, I agree with everyone saying there's something missing from Eddies tone. Although I gotta say Wolfgang isn't too bad... There's a few videos on Youtube of them live at the "say wha?" cub and he's really F***ing sharp on those man.
Well Vevo crapped out at the end of the second chorus. My Impressions:
- Roth needs a mic stand, seems lost. His voice has mellowed a lot (to be fair he's a tad older, happens to the best of em!)
- The song was a bit generic and the chorus felt like a low point, instead of a massive hook
- Mix and tone weren't the sound we come to love, certainly not EVH's well talked about "brown sound"
- Wolfgang seemed alright (From what I could hear)
- Clip was shite, end of story
- Would give the album a go, but I'm not hopeful TBH.
Hope the die hard fans get a kick out of it, but me personally, I'm not getting any wood over it.
Not the biggest fan of the song, but hell whatever. It's still a decent enough track. Let it work its way into your brain. I heard a live recording of "She's the Woman
" on youtube. That's one I'm excited to hear. (Keep in mind I could really only make out the rhythm section with very little guitar).
Seems like having 3 Van Halens in the band makes the band less Van Halen... guitar-wise you can kind of tell it's Eddie playing but the tone is just lacking that bite!
This song is AWEFUL!! We waited all this time for this? I didn't think it was possible to write a song worse than " Me Wise Magic" but they did. Congrats!!
I wasn't crazy about it at all the first time I heard it but on 2nd listen I really like it. Great hook, and riff. Lyrics are iffy, but that's Van Halen isn't it? Excited to hear more.
this is sooooo bad!!!!! 30 effin years and those are the best lyrics they can come up with.... scuse me while i visit the restroom!
Haha, troll or f*cking idiot.. Can't decide.. Both?
You realize they put out an album in '98 right?
Superperfex wrote:
Get rid of the kid, and get Michael Anthony. There is the problem.
Having the son play bass is just too gimicky and quite frankly is annoying. This isn't Van Halen anymore =/
Yea... That's the problem.. Lol. You've heard one song that Wolfgang tracked and you're already bagging the dude. Gimmicky this, annoying that. Your threshold for annoying is awfully low, my friend. I understand Anthony would make the original lineup complete but Wolfgang's got more than enough talent. Not to mention he IS a Van Halen. I'd say with Eddie and and David Lee Roth alone the band is more Van Halen than it has been in years.
scawti wrote:
This supports my argument that it wasn't Gary Cherone that made Van Halen 3 so bad... Eddie needs someone to stand up to him when his musical ideas aren't good.
So wait... VH3 was the only album Cherone was on. It was bad (in your opinion) This is bad (in your opinion) Yet having Cherone to stand up to Eddies 'bad' ideas is what is missing from this? Contradiction at its best.
Zeppelin Addict
If you're going to criticize, don't be ignorant.
Speaking of criticizing with ignorance.....the guy said given that THIS album sucks too (his words, not mine, I think this song sucks but won't judge the album as a whole until I HEAR it), then it obviously wasn't Cherone that made VH3 so bad (because everyone blamed him) since he isn't here on this one.
centermass wrote: i usually dont respond to dipshits like you but since you decided to call me a f-----g idiot or better yet a troll. i figured what the hell. first off your comments and opinions are all over this thread. which by definition kinda makes you a troll. i merely stated my opinion on the song. i guess i need to get your stamp of approval next time so sorry . wont happen again. second i am very aware of the "record" that came out in 98 but and forgive me for saying this it also sucked and was not with roth.although they did a couple of songs in 96 for a best of it never materialized and they went forward with cherone, which was a pretty weak effort.so in closing why can't dicks like you just let people have their opinion without resorting to jr. high level name calling. like i said i don't usually respond to people like you but your comments to me were pretty lame, much like i suppose you are in real life....do us all a favor and jerk the wheel into oncoming traffic while your listning to tattoo!
this is sooooo bad!!!!! 30 effin years and those are the best lyrics they can come up with.... scuse me while i visit the restroom!
Haha, troll or f*cking idiot.. Can't decide.. Both?
You realize they put out an album in '98 right?
Superperfex wrote:
Get rid of the kid, and get Michael Anthony. There is the problem.
Having the son play bass is just too gimicky and quite frankly is annoying. This isn't Van Halen anymore =/
Yea... That's the problem.. Lol. You've heard one song that Wolfgang tracked and you're already bagging the dude. Gimmicky this, annoying that. Your threshold for annoying is awfully low, my friend. I understand Anthony would make the original lineup complete but Wolfgang's got more than enough talent. Not to mention he IS a Van Halen. I'd say with Eddie and and David Lee Roth alone the band is more Van Halen than it has been in years.
scawti wrote:
This supports my argument that it wasn't Gary Cherone that made Van Halen 3 so bad... Eddie needs someone to stand up to him when his musical ideas aren't good.
So wait... VH3 was the only album Cherone was on. It was bad (in your opinion) This is bad (in your opinion) Yet having Cherone to stand up to Eddies 'bad' ideas is what is missing from this? Contradiction at its best.
Zeppelin Addict
If you're going to criticize, don't be ignorant.
Speaking of criticizing with ignorance.....the guy said given that THIS album sucks too (his words, not mine, I think this song sucks but won't judge the album as a whole until I HEAR it), then it obviously wasn't Cherone that made VH3 so bad (because everyone blamed him) since he isn't here on this one.
centermass wrote: i usually dont respond to dipshits like you but since you decided to call me a f-----g idiot or better yet a troll. i figured what the hell. first off your comments and opinions are all over this thread. which by definition kinda makes you a troll. i merely stated my opinion on the song. i guess i need to get your stamp of approval next time so sorry . wont happen again. second i am very aware of the "record" that came out in 98 but and forgive me for saying this it also sucked and was not with roth.although they did a couple of songs in 96 for a best of it never materialized and they went forward with cherone, which was a pretty weak effort.so in closing why can't dicks like you just let people have their opinion without resorting to jr. high level name calling. like i said i don't usually respond to people like you but your comments to me were pretty lame, much like i suppose you are in real life....do us all a favor and jerk the wheel into oncoming traffic while your listning to tattoo!
Zeppelin Addict wrote:
centermass wrote:
this is sooooo bad!!!!! 30 effin years and those are the best lyrics they can come up with.... scuse me while i visit the restroom!
Haha, troll or f*cking idiot.. Can't decide.. Both?
You realize they put out an album in '98 right?
Superperfex wrote:
Get rid of the kid, and get Michael Anthony. There is the problem.
Having the son play bass is just too gimicky and quite frankly is annoying. This isn't Van Halen anymore =/
Yea... That's the problem.. Lol. You've heard one song that Wolfgang tracked and you're already bagging the dude. Gimmicky this, annoying that. Your threshold for annoying is awfully low, my friend. I understand Anthony would make the original lineup complete but Wolfgang's got more than enough talent. Not to mention he IS a Van Halen. I'd say with Eddie and and David Lee Roth alone the band is more Van Halen than it has been in years.
scawti wrote:
This supports my argument that it wasn't Gary Cherone that made Van Halen 3 so bad... Eddie needs someone to stand up to him when his musical ideas aren't good.
So wait... VH3 was the only album Cherone was on. It was bad (in your opinion) This is bad (in your opinion) Yet having Cherone to stand up to Eddies 'bad' ideas is what is missing from this? Contradiction at its best.
Sorry but these guys have been doing this for almost 40 years, give them more credit instead of judging the album on one song. (A song that was actually left over from VH3, it is most likely going to be one of the weaker ones by default if it wasn't good enough for 3...)
The album should really be a bonus to the fact that they're going to tour anyway. They didn't have to release anything new. They're f*cking Van Halen. They understand they're never going to release another 'Van Halen' or '1984', they're writing music because they love music. They're spoiling us. Have some respect.
Yes, the lyrics don't flow so great in the pre-chorus, yes the production left the drums sounding kinda weak (not entirely the bands fault, Shanks and Hagarth are the real producers..).
As far as I'm concerned, you should reserve judgement until the album drops.
And remember, no matter how 'bad' it could possibly be.. It's no 'Lulu' ...
clearly you're going to like the song, your username is axlvanhalen. not everyone likes van halen as much as you do. i came listening to this with an open mind, and quite frankly this sucks
Well your opinion isnt valid if you arent a van halen fan cuz i dont know what your standards of music are, hell you could be a ****ing bieber fan.
It seems a bit... try hard.
They can (And will, I hope) do so much better, but the song is still kind of good and tolerable. Even if the rest of the album does end up not very good, I'll still go see them when they come to my area. I can sit through a few meh songs as long as I get to hear some early DLR stuff.
3 pm / quote |