Okay that’s more like it. I was underwhelmed by “Tattoo”, the first single from the new Van Halen album A Different Kind Of Truth. But now some additional tracks have leaked out and the shit sounds pretty good. The record comes out Tuesday and now I’m wondering: How in the hell did event organizers miss out on the obvious coup of having Van Halen play tonight’s Super Bowl halftime show???
There’ve been rumors circulating that VH has dusted off and re-worked some old tunes that predate their first album for the new CD. The band performed at the 250-capacity Café Wha? in NYC a few weeks ago and sure enough their 60-minute set included a track called “She’s The Woman” that dates back to VH’s early days on the LA club scene. Hardcore fans recognize tunes and titles like these from bootleg tapes that have circulated for years. I for one am pretty freekin’ stoked that they finally gave “Bullethead” a full studio treatment.
Optimistic observers who shared my doubts about “Tattoo” were quick to point out that the first single released from many records turns out to be the most middle-of-the-road track from the album. This rose-colored speculation is turning out to be largely true, as many of the other tracks from the new record are simply better representations of the charm, chops, energy and humor of VH at their best.
Personally, I just wanna hear them make another record like 1981’s Fair Warning. In my heart I know they will never be able to repeat that recipe. Fair Warning was a very dark record for the band, containing few of their trademark party anthems and no real hit singles of any kind. But ask any fan what their favorite VH album is and 4 out of every 5 will say Fair Warning. I know this is pie-in-the-sky daydreaming for me to think that even one tune on the new record could approach Fair Warning’s dark weirdness. Or so I thought until I heard some of the new tunes. “Beats Workin’” ain’t high art of any kind, and it’s not necessarily even one of my favorites among this new batch of tunes. Still, this one song dives into the depths of de-tuned distortion and noise considerably more than I expected to hear on the whole album. As much as I recognize that this band who I was so fond of back in my high school days is not likely to ever soar to the heights of their heyday ever again, I’m thinking they might just have a few more surprises up their sleeve than even an unabashed dreamer like me expected.
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