Presto-digitation Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 (edited) Let's take a stroll down the entire Van Halen lane in a random, day-to-day manner. After all, it's the month of the much anticipated (or loathed, depending on your perspective) DLR-VH reunion, so what better time? http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/411WS0R3DPL._AA240_.jpg Track Listing: 1. The Seventh Seal 2. Can't Stop Lovin' You 3. Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do) 4. Amsterdam 5. Big Fat Money 6. Strung Out 7. Not Enough 8. Aftershock 9. Doin' Time 10. Baluchitherium 11. Take Me Back (Deja Vu) 12. Feelin' Overall BALANCE is an amalgam of some of the best and least interesting (ok...BAD) work from the Sam Halen years, so it's both a sense of "man...look what we're getting as the door is slamming on this relationship" mixed precariously with a fistful of almost painful filler. Let's start with the bad and bring this to a more positive resolve. Van Halen has long been known for their varieties of instrumentals throughout the years....from the iconic Eruption to the nylon pluck of Spanish Fly. From the volume swells of Cathedral to the almost-horror-score-like quality of Sunday Afternoon In The Park. No shortage of oddities, most of them quite good on their own or acting as great segues into the songs that follow. (Intruder and 1984 spring to mind immediately). Balance contains no fewer than three instrumentals and quite frankly, only one of them is worth a shit. Strung Out is a hopelessly annoying mess of sound that's the sonic equivalent of nails on the chalkboard. It tries to capture an old time horror movie flavor but it's simply a cacophany of noise. Poor Doin' Time fares no better. Alex is best when hammering out sexy drum intros or tearing up a solo live, but studio percussion solos are often awkward and unnecessary, and so is this one. Thankfully each clocks in at a merciful sub-two-minute mark. Only Bastardonlithium comes close to resembling something of musical merit, with its Steve Vai-esque qualities. Nothing offensive here, aside from it being pretty repetetive. Two vocal-led songs lead the "doesn't cut the mustard" charge and those would be Amsterdam, with its dreadful chorus...and Big Fat Money, which is probably the most awkward and embarrassing intro to a VH song...ever. More than the music, the lyrics do these two in. In fact, the latter is quite a rousing hyper-active little jam and not unlike something that would snuggle up nicely on a record like 1984. Sammy's weakness as a lyricist is on neon display with these two. Easily these four could've and should've not made the cut. But the good news is that the remaining eight are quite quality. The periphery or fringe here is the Why Can't This Be Love-ish Can't Stop Loving You...a type of rocker ballad that came to typify the Sammy years. Not so offensive as predictable, but likeably so. It's a hummer and somewhat of a forgivably guilty pleasure. The rest of the album rides along with some of Sammy's best-ever VH efforts which seem to reflect some of the tension in the band. Whether intentional or not, there's a dour sort of darkness to some of these tunes. The Seventh Seal is easily a top 5 Van Hagar era tune and a great album opener. Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do) is another solid riff-heavy tune with some soaring vocal emotion from Samward Van Hagar and a zesty solo from EVH. Not Enough takes the ballad route, but with a bit of a heavy edge...and I like this song quite well. The piano chord back ups during the solo give the song an ominous presence. Aftershock is perfectly pleasable as a mid-tempo Sam song, not unlike Runaround from f**k. The CD is rounded off by the sadly forgotten acoustically-driven Take Me Back (Deja Vu), which harkens back to some of the better moments off OU812, like Feels So Good....and the moody closer, Feelin,' which along with the opener, provide perfectly wonderful bookends. Another tune I'd effortlessly rank in my top few Sam/VH tunes. This album was made in the hands of Mike Plotnikoff, Mike Frasier, and Bruce Fairbairn....in other words, Aerosmith mobile. But the result is a lush, fat sound that I happen to love. Best sounding Van Halen record since 1984 or perhaps earlier. Trim this thing down to a more svelt 8 tunes...losing Amsterdam, Big Fat Money, and the two noisy, pointless, and carelessly placed instrumentals....and this thing easily contends for the best Sammy Hagar-era VH record. Even with these duds, it still does because the good-to-great moments are merely distracted from, not distorted by the weaker efforts. I'm not sure this was quite the "balance" they were looking for. Anyway, even as is, it's 4-stars of 5. B (-) * * * * UP NEXT: VAN HALEN II Edited September 22, 2007 by Presto-digitation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCFIELDS Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 Do you have a link to this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto-digitation Posted September 22, 2007 Author Share Posted September 22, 2007 QUOTE (WCFIELDS @ Sep 22 2007, 06:38 PM) Do you have a link to this? No...since I wrote it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto-digitation Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto-digitation Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necromancer Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto-digitation Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I'm not even a Van Halen fan and I'm enjoying reading these reviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Surprised Light Up The Sky wasn't mentioned in the review. That's always been my fav off the album. It shreds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto-digitation Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 Yeah, I'm pretty sure I left some songs out. Depends on the mood I was in when I wrote it. Sometimes I'm focusing more on the album on the whole, then other times each track. Love the song, BTW. Just an oversight. Thanks for the comment on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto-digitation Posted September 24, 2007 Author Share Posted September 24, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakeHaste Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 I love VH. Sorry, just had to share. Can't wait till Fair Warning... It 's hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vital signz Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 I always thought it was pretty stupid of Van Halen to follow David Lee Roth's "Eat 'Em and Smile" release with the album "0U812"...(Oh You Ate One Too....) Always seemed to me immature and tasteless....they were too established and great to have to be so 'tongue-in cheek'.....I liked it better than 5150, but I hated the title. Nice reviews!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vital signz Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 Oh, And I can't wait for Van Halen I and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge reviews................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctangent Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Sep 24 2007, 08:14 PM) Overall this is my least favorite of the DLR era albums its my favourite! there's a diversity on this album that i don't think they ever achieved again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto-digitation Posted September 25, 2007 Author Share Posted September 25, 2007 (edited) Edited September 25, 2007 by Presto-digitation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushman14 Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 holding breath for review of their finest work "Fair Warning". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto-digitation Posted September 26, 2007 Author Share Posted September 26, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney's Alter Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 This is very good stuff - keep them coming. Finally I see a fair, in-depth praise/criticism of the band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test4VitalSigns Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 QUOTE (vital signz @ Sep 24 2007, 11:29 PM) I always thought it was pretty stupid of Van Halen to follow David Lee Roth's "Eat 'Em and Smile" release with the album "0U812"...(Oh You Ate One Too....) Always seemed to me immature and tasteless....they were too established and great to have to be so 'tongue-in cheek'.....I liked it better than 5150, but I hated the title. Nice reviews!!! Then you must hate the"tongue in cheek" title of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vital signz Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Yeah.... I kinda guess I did. Maybe I just hoped for a bit more class from them. I have never missed a concert tour and love the band as a whole. Individually, Alex is an ok rock drummer, Michael was an ok bassist and incredible singer, love both Sammy and Dave, and Edward is a legend....together they are simply incredible. I personally just thought they could have done much better than 0U812 and F.U.C.K..... I hate explaning that one to my kids. I don't find it cool. I do love the songs on the album though. I think it would have been entertaining to be sitting in a room with the guys from Van Halen and they are all completely drunk on tequila and Sammy says to Ed...."Hey Ed, let's name our new album 0U812...that will show that son-of-a-bitch Dave we can one-up him!....or maybe Ed said it to Sammy....and to follow it up...when they are even more strung out on drugs and booze they say to each other..."I know, lets be the first to name our album F.U.C.K.!!! Wouldn't that be great!!!!!!! Disappointing to me and I'll bet lots of other hardcore Van Halen fans. I could never see Geddy and Alex hearing Neil say, I know, lets name our next album S.H.I.T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelcaressed Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 QUOTE (Test4VitalSigns @ Sep 26 2007, 09:09 PM) QUOTE (vital signz @ Sep 24 2007, 11:29 PM) I always thought it was pretty stupid of Van Halen to follow David Lee Roth's "Eat 'Em and Smile" release with the album "0U812"...(Oh You Ate One Too....) Always seemed to me immature and tasteless....they were too established and great to have to be so 'tongue-in cheek'.....I liked it better than 5150, but I hated the title. Nice reviews!!! Then you must hate the"tongue in cheek" title of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge then A lot of people missed that one. I remember another song that brings up a similar memory. I was in the car w/ my Mom and the April Wine song "If you see Kay" came on, and she commented on how it was nicer than most of the music I listened to. PD, keep up the writing. Maybe you can break into RS and instill some sense in a lacklustre and irrelevant musical rag. I really like W&C 1st myself, and still feel it is an incredibly under-rated album. It was them hitting their third album doldrums, like a few other acts I could name. I bought the debut for my son's birthday. He'll be 17 in mid-October. I'll let you know what he thinks. Personally, I think it's easily the most relevant rock album of the 80's. Ain't talkin' 'bout love! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test4VitalSigns Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 QUOTE (steelcaressed @ Sep 26 2007, 11:31 PM) I remember another song that brings up a similar memory. I was in the car w/ my Mom and the April Wine song "If you see Kay" came on, and she commented on how it was nicer than most of the music I listened to. I remember the big controversey over that when it first came out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presto-digitation Posted September 27, 2007 Author Share Posted September 27, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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