RECORD STORE TALES #1170: The Smaller the Better – Christmas 2024
2024 was one of our smallest Christmas gatherings, both in budget and in population, but it was certainly one of my happiest.
Sometimes everything just feels right, and this year’s Christmas Eve was held back at the old family home once again. It was the first Christmas Eve there in over a decade, but that’s my happy place at Christmas. A place I can feel comfortable. After all, it was my home for 29 years. I settled in with my dad and watched Superman the Movie while Jen made cookies. We awaited the arrival of my mom, Dr. Kathryn, and a few dogs.
Jen knit custom gifts for the dogs (shawls, mittens and hats). She also knit custom shawls for the ladies, and toques for the men. I love mine.
As an introvert, I do well in small groups. Dinner was the traditional beef fondue (or chicken or schnitzel), with bonus vegan options. I brought over some special flavoured salts and hot sauces to sample.
We did that Christmas “white elephant” game, or whatever you want to call it. The “$10 gift game” is another name for it. Initially, I won this cool set of chocolate “coffee bombs”. I made it very clear how happy I was with it, and that I intended to make myself a coffee as soon as I got home. I spotted one with little marshmallows and relished the idea of it. Then my mom went next and stole it. I stole it back when I had the chance, and then she stole it again at first opportunity. The funny coda to this story is that after Jen and I got home, we put on a “Best of Saturday Night Live” show and there was a sketch featuring the exact same game. One character was complaining that it was a mean-spirited game, because he had received the perfect gift for himself, and someone stole it. I called my mom to laugh about that. The story doesn’t end there.
Christmas day featured some sleeping in and some Marvel What If? on Disney+. SPOILER this episode featured a Kiss song as an integral part of the story, and even had a line of dialogue from Howard the Duck explaining that the song was written by Kiss in 1979.
I won the $25 Amazon gift card at the “Christmas pickle” game. I wasn’t even going to participate, but after seeing Jen and Dr. Kathryn getting nowhere, I entered the fray. I quickly boxed Dr. Kathryn into a corner, where she was unable to see the front of the tree, where my mom had announced the pickle to be. Once spotted, I used the pickle to order the new Van Halen For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge box set. It’ll be here Saturday.
There were some really cool items in my grab bag this Christmas.
I had hoped someone would get me Brothers by Alex Van Halen, and Dr. Kathryn came to the rescue there. It’s a beautiful looking book, and emotional too from what I have read while skipping through.
Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys has a new album out with standards new and old: Longhauler: The Best of Bubbles and the Shitrockers. If you need to ask, don’t. I was surprised that the album was produced and engineered by Eddie Kramer!
Queen’s A Night at the Odeon (1975) is another album that came highly recommended. I wishlisted it and it magically appeared in my stocking thanks to my parents. It looks like a winner.
Finally, some anniversary editions from Jen: Judas Priest’s Rocka Rolla, and Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry. Rocka Rolla is probably the best album remix I have heard in my life. Tom Allom pretty much just made the album sound like itself, but beefier. As if you had always heard it distant and muffled, and now you can hear it fully for the first time. As if you just got a new stereo and are hearing this music properly for the first time. As for Twisted, I find it funny that I already own the 30th anniversary edition, with a very different set of bonus music.
Of interest: this is probably the 3rd time I have received Rocka Rolla for Christmas. It is my 2nd for Stay Hungry at Christmas time.
As usual, I received some treats and games, including two more editions of Uno to play at the cottage this summer. My mom got me some Trailer Park Boys pickle flavoured chips, and who knew that such a thing existed?
As for my mom, she used to do this thing when we were kids, where she would take a larger box of candy and split it up into smaller gifts that could fit into stockings. She did that for me this year…with her chocolate coffee bombs that she got the night before. She gave me one of each flavour, since I had called about the Saturday Night Live sketch. Thanks mom. You win this time.
VAN HALEN – A Different Kind of Truth (2012 Universal CD/DVD set)
When this album was released in 2012, we all wanted Van Halen to win. Eddie had been through some tough times, but he finally did what the fans demanded: get back together with David Lee Roth, and record a new album. Sure, we all lamented that Michael Anthony was gone, but it was new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen that made it happen. Without Wolf, there would be no final Van Halen album. Just VHIII, and we know how most of you feel about that.
Working with new producer John Shanks in neutral territory, Van Halen managed to crank out a new album in just three years, starting with jams in 2009.
Wolf knew that Van Halen had to get back to a “classic” sound for their first new album with DLR since 1984. In addition to new music, Wolf dug back into Van Halen’s archive of unreleased material, and picked seven songs that rework and re-write. Roth called it a “collaboration with the past”, which is a good way of putting it. No, it does not sound exactly like old Van Halen; that would be impossible. It does, however sound like Van Halen with Roth.
Opener “Tattoo” was the first single and weakest track. It’s also the only one with audible keyboards (by Dave), though just for texture. Roth said the multi-layered chorus was inspired by artists such as Rhianna, but that chorus is actually the annoying part of the song. Eddie’s fills and Dave’s verses are fine and entertaining, as is Wolfie’s fuzzy bass. The chorus is the weak link, perhaps even worse than the lyrics: lines such as “tramp stamp tat” and “mousewife to momshell”. I like tattoos as much as the next guy, but I’ll never use the word “momshell” except when discussing this album.
The real banger is the second single, “She’s the Woman”, a pretty close approximation of the original Van Halen song (pre-debut album). Wolfie’s playing is monstrous, with a catchy circular bassline that proved the kid had the talent to be in this band. His dad must have loved jamming with him. Ed’s solo really brings us back to classic Van Halen, while Alex’s drums have that sound that we all missed. I hate to say it, but this rendition is probably superior to the original lineup’s version.
“You And Your Blues” has that choppy Eddie guitar we love, and those “ahh, ahh” backing vocals that scream Van Halen, even without Mike. Dave’s lower voice works well on the verses, though he is stretched out on the high notes in the chorus. A great Van Halen album-quality song. (If you’re fortunate enough to have a CD/DVD combo set, you’ll be treated to a cool acoustic version of “You And Your Blues” with loads of storytelling from Roth.)
“China Town” has some of the best shredding on album. From Wolfie’s crazy capo bass to the lightning fast tempo, all four members of Van Halen are on fire. If any song can be said to take the classic sound and launch it into orbit, it’s “China Town”, and Wolf is the star. The bass is not overly high in the mix, but when you listen to it and isolate it in your head, you realize that this guy has brought a new side to Van Halen: bass shred. Additionally, it’s a great song in every way.
Going back to 1984 and an instrumental section called “Ripley”, “Blood and Fire” was reworked in 2000 for an aborted reunion with Roth. Interestingly “Blood and Fire” actually sounds more like Hagar era Van Halen. It does contain one of Dave’s favourite concert phrases: “Well look at the all of the people here tonight!” If this track had been on 5150, it would have fit like a glove, though it would have been one of the more rocking tunes. Edward himself is the star on this one, as he rips, shreds, and tears as if it really was 1984 again.
“Bullethead” sounds new, and also goes back to the 2000 sessions. Van Halen speed and Dave “charasma” are held together by the rhythm section of Al and Wolf. It contains the lyric “Got a different kind of truth”, from which the album takes its title. Ed’s effect-laden solo is no less cool, though nobody will list “Bullethead” in their top 20 Van Halen songs. A cool album track it is, but that’s all.
One of the coolest tunes would have to be “As Is”. Opening with some Alex drum intensity, it breaks into a slow heavy riff, before finally accelerating into a powerhouse Van Halen smokeshow. That running riff sounds so classic, you could swear they injected Ed with youth serum. He sounds like a man reborn, both in terms of shred but also in fun. Ed gets to play with many different sounds and tempos on “As Is”, while Dave also gets to enjoy himself with singing and that spoken word stuff he does so well. Most of this is done very fast.
This sounds like a natural side break. “Honeybabysweetiedoll” (another 2000 track) comes across like a side two opener. Ed is experimenting with new sounds, like he used to, and you’ve never heard Ed sound or play like this before. He goes for a middle-eastern vibe, but with the kind of intensity that other bands do not have the mettle to muster. Dave’s lyrics about soccer moms don’t quite hit the spot where the music is concerned, but nobody’s listening to this song for the lyrics. It’s the guitar that makes the biggest impact here. You can imagine the Ed diehard fans just pounding their fists in celebration when they heard what Ed was up to, before they tried to figure out how he got that sound.
“The Trouble With Never” might be the only track that doesn’t seem like it goes anywhere. You also miss Michael Anthony the most on backing vocals here. It’s just a song. Not a great one, not a bad one…but with one hell of a cool bassline.
“Outta Space” originated in the mid-70’s as “Let’s Get Rockin'”. The riff is classic even though it never made an album before. Dave sings in his highest voice, which is actually cool after a lot of lower pitched songs. As you’d expect for a song originally called “Let’s Get Rockin'”, it smokes from start to finish, top speed and loaded with cool Eddie licks. It’s fun to hear the rhythm guitar drop out during his solo, just as it used to in 1978. Ed wasn’t fond of that sound, but it certainly evokes an era and a vibe. It’s like a warm sweater. Maybe Ed would appreciate that sometimes the absence of a guitar can also speak.
Dave plays acoustic guitar on the fun “Stay Frosty”, an old song that certainly recalls “Ice Cream Man” in every way. There’s one lyric that Dave liked to point out: “If you wanna be a monk, you gotta cook a lot of rice.” Hey, it’s not untrue. Let me put it this way: If you imagined a sequel to “Ice Cream Man”, it’s “Stay Frosty”. Not quite as good, but hits all the same beats that you want to hear.
“Big River” sounds like an older song. It has a cool curly guitar opening, before laying into this awesome guitar/bass groove. More a groove than a riff. Dave’s lyrics and singing are top notch on this song. Classic Van Halen. The surprise is that halfway through the song, for the solo section, it transforms into a completely different groove. This section has some of Eddie’s best playing too. It reverts back to the original riff for the last third of the song. All the while Wolfie is playing the most incredible bass fills, but never stepping on his dad’s toes. Think about that for a second. In the mix, you have the greatest guitar player in the world playing over this awesome riff, but the bass player still manages to throw a whole bunch of cool fills in there, without getting in the way. That’s a band, and that’s family, and that’s talent. If this song had been on an album like Fair Warning, people would still remember it today.
The closing song “Beat’s Workin'” starts with a cascade of Alex Van Halen drums, gone gonzo. It then breaks into a fun riff and a good time album-ender. A song called “Beats Workin'” should sound like a celebration. I get a bit of a Max Webster vibe, though heavier, along with a hint of Aerosmith. Once again the rhythm guitar drops out when Eddie goes solo, but then Wolf gets a moment in the spotlight too. His fuzz bass tone is very much unlike Michael Anthony’s. There’s a moment here when he and Alex are just playing while Ed does his thing, and it feels beautiful, especially now, knowing the family will never be reunited. But let’s not get too somber. It’s a party, after all.
The bonus DVD also includes acoustic versions of “Panama” and “Beautiful Girls”. They are alright. Valuable to have in your collection. You might not go back to listen to them very often. Another reason to own this physically is the lyric sheet, with cool sketches for each song. This is a Dave touch.
Final thoughts:
The album cover, though a cool picture of a train, just doesn’t feel like classic Van Halen. Then again, what does? They’ve had so many different kinds of covers.
The production on this album slams.
Though Eddie is the star, and we’re all listening to every note he plays, it doesn’t sound like an EVH solo album like VHIII did. It sounds like a real band album.
John Shanks and David Lee Roth did the best they could with what remains of Dave’s voice, and did a fine job of it by doing more of that speak-sing thing.
The flow on this album is excellent. There is hardly any filler, and every song works in its given slot, especially the closing trio of “Stay Frosty”, “Big River” and “Beats Workin'”.
Three discs in, and now we hit the holy grail of Kiss rarities, finally available in the Vault.
GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 3 (2018 Rhino)
In 1977, Kiss were in California and Gene Simmons went into the studio with Eddie and Alex Van Halen to record three new demos. Van Halen were once his proteges of course, and were eager to help. The Van Halen demo of “Christine Sixteen” has a noticeably different vibe on the drums, and Eddie’s solo was the template by which Ace Frehley’s was recorded. There is also a bridge that was later dropped on the final Kiss version. The outro Eddie guitars are overdubbed in a way unlike anything he’d do with Van Halen. 5/5
“Tunnel of Love” has the early embryo of the things Van Halen would later be known for. The technique is all there, but not the tone. These demos are as rough sounding as they come, and there was no effort put into getting Eddie a good guitar sound. But there he is, shredding his way into Kisstory. Alex is also immediately identifiable. Unfortunately, the lacking element here is in the liner notes. Gene spends more time talking about schmoozing than he does the song. He does relay the story of signing Van Halen and tearing up the contract, again! “Tunnel of Love” eventually made it onto Gene’s solo album, but the Van Halen demo is cooler. 5/5
“Got Love For Sale” almost starts like a Van Halen original. Gene’s heavy-handed approach on the bass is a contrast that the VH vibe. Still, this little three piece could have made for an interesting side gig. Of course, Eddie’s solo is the highlight, whammying and doing his thang. Shame his tone is so thin on these demos. It is amazing that these songs spent decades locked in the vault (literally), and we never got to hear them until this box set came out. Pretty cool. 4.5/5
Onto the 1980s and the Crazy Nights era. Bruce Kulick wrote “Hell Or High Water” with Gene, and this demo shows the song was a little tougher sounding in its demo form. Guitars were just a tad more prominent. The song is otherwise more or less intact. Sounds like Eric Carr on drums, but the liner notes rarely say for sure. Gene describes the direction as “meandering”, but with hindsight, a good song is a good song. 4/5
Gene prefers the Revenge era. “Domino” is the demo recorded with Silent Rage. Gene describes it with comparisons to ZZ Top, and you can hear that influence in the verses. The arrangement wasn’t final here, but the idea was a keeper. There are some cool differences, such as the “Kisses like the kiss of death!” line repeating three times at the end. I think Gene has performed it live that way before. 4/5
“Mad Dog” should be familiar to Kiss collectors. The demo was also included in Kiss’ Box Set. The main riff was later used in “Flaming Youth” on Destroyer, a better song. Ace Frehley on guitars, J.R. Smalling on drums. This raises an interesting question. How many of the songs in this box set should be considered Gene Simmons demos, and how many should be considered Kiss? This demo has appeared under both names now. Some songs in this box set have more Kiss members on them than some Kiss songs. It’s a fine line. 3.5/5
“Only You” is a box set highlight. This pre-Elder version has the lyrics that Doro Pesche would one day record in her cover. This is the best version of “Only You” there is. It is completely different after the first few verses, turning into a bopping groove with a piano lick anchoring it! This is the version Kiss should have recorded, though perhaps for Kiss Killers. In the liner notes, Gene explains that this was based on an earlier song called “Eskimo Sun” that we will eventually get to. Gene says the chords were built from an appreciation for George Harrison. Sounds like Ace Frehley on guitar, though Gene suggests in the liner notes that he recorded it without other members of Kiss. He goes out of his way to say that they rarely accepted his requests to play on his demos. There are sour grapes throughout the liner notes, which is unfortunate. Great song. 5/5
“True Confessions #2” has Katey Sagal among the backup singers. Some of these early demos have elements to them that should have carried over to the final versions. Gene’s more natural singing on this is one such example. It’s better this way than with the “monster” voice. The truth of the matter is Gene’s not a bad singer, OK? The monster voice is a bit much sometimes, and “True Confessions” proves it. Gene’s just more expressive and sounds more like a lead singer than a character with his natural voice. And that says it all. In the end, character was chosen over authenticity. 4/5
“Childhood’s End” is a very rough recording of the song that later ended up on Carnival of Souls. Though the title was lifted from Arthur C. Clarke’s groundbreaking novel, the lyrics are about a friend who committed suicide. This idea was also used in “Legends Never Die” from Disk 1. This particular version of “Childhood’s End” is unfinished and not nearly as compelling. It does include a breakdown that is not in the final version, but sounds similar to “Outromental”. This song needed a lot of work, and this demo is also really hard on the ears. 2.5/5
“Burning Up With Fever #2” is another demo with Ace and J.R. Smalling. It later ended up on Gene’s solo album. This version rocks harder with less funk. The funkiness of Gene’s solo album was sometimes a little off-putting, so this demo may be more your speed. 3.5/5
“Good Girl Gone Bad” later ended up on Crazy Nights, but this early version has Bruce Kulick and what sounds like a drum machine. It’s harder edged. Though the final song is one of the better tunes on the album, this earlier arrangement shows it could have been a more Kiss-like rocker. When they talk about compromises made to make Crazy Nights more commercial, this demo shows what was cut. Guitars! Shame the demo is so rough sonically, but keep in mind, nobody was saving these for eventual release on a box set. 3.5/5
“Trial By Fire” was one of Gene’s songs from the Asylum era, therefore this is one of the earliest things he recorded with Bruce Kulick. This was always one of Gene’s better songs from an era when he wasn’t writing a lot of great songs. This one has a different chorus of “Live fast, die young!” This wasn’t on an old bootleg tape I used to have of Gene’s Asylum demos. I would think this song was actually called “Live Fast Die Young” at this stage of composition. 3.5/5
A little more bass-heavy is the similar demo for “Secretly Cruel”, the other really good song that Gene did for Asylum. This one did need a little more work in the guitar hook department, which it did eventually get. Decent demo inclusion, though in this case the album version is the good one. 3/5
“Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em Yeah”, also known and “Rock and Rolls Royce” is a demo idea written around Destroyer, and eventually released on Rock and Roll Over. It’s different from the 3:02 demo on the Destroyer box set. It’s unclear who is playing on this demo, but there’s an early guitar solo and full drums. 3.5/5
“Am I Losing My Mind” is another stab at the song that would become “Only You”. This demo is more “new wave” sounding, with programmed drums that sound somewhat dance-y. Then it goes into a completely different chorus that is kind of funky, and doesn’t particularly match. It is fascinating to hear how these songs evolve. And we’re not finished yet, because there are more branches on this musical tree to come later on in this box set. 3/5
Average score for this CD: A respectable 3.83/5
Disk 3 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)
1. Christine Sixteen (VH Bros. Demo) (2:39) Simmons
2. Tunnel of Love (VH Bros. Demo) (3:32) Simmons
3. Got Love for Sale (VH Bros. Demo) (3:10) Simmons
4. Hell or High Water (Demo) (3:08) Simmons / Kulick
5. Domino (Demo) (3:46) Simmons
6. Mad Dog (Demo) (2:27) Simmons
7. Only You (Demo) (4:35) Simmons
8. True Confessions #2 (3:33) Simmons
9. Childhood’s End (Demo) (3:30) Simmons / Kulick / Thayer
10. Burning Up With Fever #2 (3:06) Simmons
11. Good Girl Gone Bad (Demo) (4:04) Simmons / Sigerson
12. Trial by Fire (Demo) (3:31) Simmons / Kulick
13. Secretly Cruel (Demo) (3:46) Simmons
14. Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em Yeah (Demo) (2:18) Simmons
15. Am I Losing My Mind (2:52) Simmons
The final episode of the Pepsi Power Hour aired at the end of the summer of 1991. The man with the sad honour of signing off was veteran Michael Williams. Off and on, Williams hosted the Power Hour since 1986 if not earlier. It was filmed at a welding shop in Calgary, Alberta. Because metal? (Bad, bad idea! Audio engineers, your thoughts on this setting?)
Williams played Metallica’s “One”, and “Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog. The shape of things to come.
The episode also features an interview with a new band called The Scream, featuring an up-and-comer named John Corabi. A couple years later, and Corabi would be the new singer in Motley Crue.
The very last band ever played on the Pepsi Power Hour was Van Halen. It was a big interview by Kim Clarke Champniss regarding the new album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. The very last song ever played was “Runaround”.
The Power Hour was supplanted by the inferior Power 30. It was a significant change. I rarely missed a Power Hour. The Power 30 was rarely worth catching. However, look for the ad for a promising new Saturday show called Start Me Up – three hours of rock!
YouTube has forced me to butcher this video to get it up, so there are no music videos. The Van Halen interview is mutilated. There are some ads and all the talking. It’s history!
Speaking of history: 100 VHS Archives! And counting! I started posting these in 2019 and I still have plenty of files left to upload, and a few more tapes to play. I’ve been taking it easy lately because the software is user-unfriendly and my VCR is making odd noises. But we’re not done. Not by a long shot.
On January 10, 2012, Van Halen released their first new single with David Lee Roth on vocals since 1996: “Tattoo”, from the forthcoming album A Different Kind of Truth. An exciting day to be sure.
I had not yet started this site, but if I had, on that day nine years ago I would have written this story.
In 2012, radio station 107.5 Dave FM (now Dave Rocks) was still running the contest that put me on the map locally speaking: The Four O’Clock Four-Play. Afternoon host Craig Fee would play four songs in a row, and listeners had to guess what the common thread between the four songs was. I won more often than anyone else and became a local celebrity named “LeBrain”, and that’s why you’re reading this today. But on January 10, Craig stumped me.
The Four-Play that day was, of course, Van Halen’s “Tattoo”, played four times in a row! Craig, who has since left the radio business, was a massive Van Halen fan. He was the kind of guy who would see “Love Walks In” on that day’s play list, and remove it in favour of “Hear About It Later”. He was unafraid and that combined with a diehard love of Roth-era Van Halen must have been all it took to play “Tattoo” four times in a row on the Four-Play.
Truly it was a glorious time to be listening to the radio. You never knew what Craig was going to play on any given show. He had a penchant for “Rainbow in the Dark” by Dio, and of course Roth-era Van Halen deeper cuts. He played half of Fair Warning on his show once. I don’t know what the real-world consequences were for these musical shenanigans, but Craig’s bravado was inspiring. After the Four-Play contest was discontinued in April of that year, the show’s format became more of a listener call-in program, and the glory days came to an end.
But what was the “common thread” for the purposes of the contest that day? “Tattoo” played four times? Arbitrarily, it was the Elvis tattoo in the lyrics. “I got Elvis, on my elbow…” Of course it could have been anything, but Craig just needed an excuse to play the song over and over and over again and still give away that day’s prize.
This post is dedicated to Craig, who I hope is doing well out there in his post-radio life. I feel very fortunate to have had his show to listen to at work, playing all this stuff that no other radio station would have dared. We Van Halen fans were in our glory that day, getting our fill of the new tune and enjoying every moment. Of course, people who hated the song were in agony for that show. Oh well! So sad, too bad.
Hard to believe David Lee Roth was back and an album was really coming — and now we had the proof in our ears! Almost as hard to believe Craig got away with playing “Tattoo” four times in the space of a 30-minute contest.
A story for the rock n’ roll history books; a memory for the ages.
Thankfully, I didn’t give away all my magazines. Some special ones remain. Most of those are Kiss-related, but a few are not. I was smart enough to hang on to a few that are special, at least to me. Today we’re looking at the only issue I own of The Inside, an excellent Van Halen fan club magazine. This comes from Fall ’96, a brief period where the Van Halen lineup was presumed to be a reunited band with David Lee Roth. That’s only one of the things that makes this issue interesting.
GETTING MORE TALE #864: The Inside
The location that I first managed had been open only about six months. 1996 was an eventful year both for music and for me. Notably, Sammy Hagar left Van Halen, and in a whirlwind of events they were recording new music with David Lee Roth. People wanted to talk about it at the front counter and find out what I knew. I knew no more than anybody else, but one of my early customers had the scoop. He had access to The Inside, an unofficial Van Hagar magazine that would have been the best place to find information on them in the pre-internet-in-everybody’s-living-room age.
I can’t precisely remember how he got this issue. Passed down from a brother-in-law, I believe. Issue #6. The front cover broke the news: David Lee Roth was back?! With a question mark, of course. It already had some water damage when I received it third-hand. We had been discussing all the latest Van Halen happenings in-store, and this particular guy already read the most in-depth coverage you could find. He told me he’d pass the magazine down onto me, and true to his word, he did. The news was so fresh that the letters column only contained correspondence from readers pre-split.
“These are strange times indeed,” reads in the first line on the first page, “Letter from the Editor”. On page 10 is a detailed timeline of the breakup/reunion, monitoring early internet mailing list chatter and official statements. It’s fascinating and many of the details turned out to be true, including the title of a new song, “Me Wise Magic“. On the 14th page is an update on Eddie’s upcoming hip surgery, and the news that the Toronto pay-per-view concert was not scheduled for home video release. Page 15 reveals that Dimebag Darrell recorded covers of “Everybody Wants Some!!” and “Outta Love Again” for B-side use, and that Pat Boone was covering “Jump” and possibly also “Panama” for the album that became In A Metal Mood. (Only “Panama” made the final cut.)
Most of the issue is dominated by David Lee Roth, both coverage and speculation, but with big photos splashed over the pages. There’s an interesting interview about the Balance tour with the lighting tech, but due to circumstances beyond their control, this was old news by comparison.
For music geeks that crave the obscure, there is a two page article on Brian May’s Star Fleet Project featuring Eddie Van Halen. This article details the two day session that brought the three track mini-album to life. How it came together, details and trivia. There’s even an ad for a rare CD release of the album, complete with bonus tracks, as part of Brian May’s & Cozy Powell’s Resurrection release.
The back page has information on an album called Fatherless Child by Rich Wyman, featuring a guest appearance by none other than King Edward himself. (If you have been watching The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano, on our Van Halen tribute episode, a viewer from Norway mentioned this release. I claimed to have never heard of it, but apparently I had just forgotten!) Eddie caught Wyman live and was impressed enough to produce four songs on Fatherless Child (Wyman’s second CD). Better than that, he even played guitar on three. This article details the songs and playing, and concludes with an interview with Wyman.
Generous customers like this, who treated people like me at the Record Store like an actual “Humans Being”, helped “Balance” out all the real assholes we got in that first year. Shirtless dudes, shoeless dudes, (no pantsless dudes thankfully), construction workers tracking in dirt, thieves, troublemakers…and the odd real gem like this now-forgotten Van Halen fan. All we did was talk a little Van Halen. He had this magazine that he finished reading, and wanted to pass it on to a fellow fan. He returned with the book in hand, and it’s been in my collection ever since.
In a way, it’s kind of wrong that I still have this issue. The original owner passed it on to someone else, who passed it on to me. In the spirit of the way I acquired it, I really should have passed it on again when I gave away the bulk of my collection. But I do still have it, in the same condition as I received it. The inner page is loose as they often come to be, but it’s perfectly readable and enjoyable.
Instead of giving it away, I’ll live up to the spirit of the gift with this story and the pictures above. Thanks, mystery Van Halen fan. If you’re out there anywhere, let’s raise a toast to King Edward.
VAN HALEN – Live Without a Net (1987 Warner Reprise VHS/DVD)
I set the VCR to record. MuchMusic were showing the full concert: Van Halen, Live Without a Net! Though they beeped the naughty words, I had to make sure I didn’t miss this special. I’d never heard Van Halen doing Roth tunes with Hagar before! Folks, there was a lot of beeping.
Live Without a Net is undoubtedly goofy, and that is part of its charm. It’s kind of annoying every time Sammy proclaims that they are in “New Halen” instead of New Haven, but I guess he had to. I still don’t understand why Sammy painted that lady’s shoes red. The fact that a roadie had red spray paint on standby was kind of cool though. The band were obviously wasted, but put on a completely epic show nonetheless. It was light on the Roth stuff that Sammy didn’t want to do, like “Jump”, but they also played virtually all of their new album 5150.
The new stuff was heavier on keyboards and for many of the songs, Eddie was playing the keys while Sammy actually played the solos. Unusual for this band; absolutely. Sammy’s solo in “Love Walks In” ain’t half bad. While I enjoyed this change of pace, Bob Schipper did not. “A guy like Eddie Van Halen shouldn’t be stuck on keyboards,” he said. I’ll be honest here. I prefer Eddie playing keyboards live, even if it means Sammy’s on lead guitar.
The friendship between Sammy and Eddie here is obvious. The chemistry is clear. The tension that used to fuel Van Halen is gone here, and in it’s place is simple male comradery. It’s audible in the music, and Eddie can’t stop grinning…except when he’s busy dragging on that cigarette!
With the new tunes dominating the set, there were only two Roth-era numbers. “Panama” was the only big Roth hit, with “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” representing the first LP. Balancing the Roth songs are two Hagar solo tunes, “There’s Only One Way to Rock” and “I Can’t Drive 55”. These are great and you won’t find too many live versions that are better. There were also the usual guitar, drum and bass solos, but Michael Anthony’s is mostly tuneless. A Zeppelin cover, “Rock and Roll”, closes the set.
As kids, Bob and I didn’t care about the Zeppelin song. What we watched the video for was Eddie himself. When it was time for his solo, we studied it. There was no way we could have understood what he was doing on a musical level, but we watched his actual technique. We wondered if he ever burned his hand on that cigarette dangling from the headstock. Eddie’s solo was like opening a science textbook for the first time. Except this was a textbook that looked and sounded absolutely badass!
This always should have been a live album. Edited, of course. You don’t need the shoe painting episode to fully enjoy Van Halen Live Without a Net.*
4/5 stars
* The painting of the shoes happened during “Best of Both Worlds” and was edited out when released as a single B-side.
We carried two magazines at the Record Store: Spin, and Rolling Stone. I cannot remember which printed the following comment in 1996, when Van Halen announced their new lead singer. After a tumultuous few months with Sammy Hagar quitting and David Lee Roth briefly re-joining, the Van Halens decided on Extreme frontman Gary Cherone to carry the VH torch.
Spin or Stone, in a brief paragraph, commented: “Roth, Hagar, Cherone…the downward spiral continues.”
Bullshit!
I called bullshit then and I call bullshit now. That is crap journalism, and so typical of the anti-rock attitudes of the 1990s.
First of all, we hadn’t heard one note of Gary Cherone’s new music with Van Halen, so how could they make that judgement? Second, it severely short-sells Sammy Hagar, who took Van Halen to their first #1 and scored some seriously massive followup hits with the band. Critically acclaimed ones too, like “Right Now”. So: bullshit! They were absolutely out of line to print that, and we had many reasons to be optimistic about Gary Cherone.
Some of the thoughts that crossed our minds when the Van Halen news hit:
Will Van Halen play “More Than Words” live, like they use to give Sammy a solo song or two? Eddie would sound amazing on that, wouldn’t he? He’d put his own spin on it, surely.
With Cherone, Van Halen would be able to play a wider variety of Roth tunes again.
Gary’s natural charisma, as witnessed at the 1992 Freddie Mercury tribute concert, was bound to bring new life to Van Halen.
His lyrics, usually more serious than Hagar’s, would allow Van Halen to adapt to the 1990s.
The only drawback I saw was that Gary didn’t play guitar, bringing Van Halen back to just one guitar, live. The tiniest of issues.
I was not only optimistic, but I was excited. It’s natural, when two bands you like merge in such a way. One of my favourite singers working with one of my favourite bands? Yeah, I was overly excited. At that time, coming off three amazing Extreme albums in a row, I was a bigger Gary fan than Sammy. However, when Van Halen III finally came out in 1998 after an agonising wait, I was not immediately impressed. Nor were a lot of people. But I gave it more than a fair shake, cranking it as much as I could get away with at the Record Store. And it grew on me. It was my favourite album to play in the car during the spring of ’98.
I bought the album in the limited edition tin. I got it from Al King at Sam the Record Man. I had a lot invested it in emotionally and monetarily. T-Rev will remember me praising the record, but also telling him, “Something about it doesn’t sound like Van Halen.” What I sensed then was the lack of Michael Anthony who only appeared on three tracks. His lack of vocals was very obvious.
When Eddie first decided upon Gary Cherone as singer, one of the things he commented was that Gary had the “voice of an angel”. I found that encouraging, but when they made Van Halen III, Gary bellowed almost every single song at the top of his lungs. His blown-out voice carried none of the nuance it did on the same-titled Extreme album III. It was a disappointing choice, making Cherone sounding overly similar to Sammy Hagar.
“Why bother changing singers if the new guy is trying to sound like the old guy?” I wondered to myself.
Van Halen did not play “More Than Words” or any other Extreme songs live. One could argue that Extreme didn’t have the pedigree of Sammy Hagar and didn’t deserve to take up any time in a setlist when you could play another Roth song instead. Many of them returned to the live setting after an absence: “I’m the One”, “Unchained”, “Mean Street”, “Romeo Delight”, “Dance the Night Away”, “Feel Your Love Tonight”, and even “Somebody Get Me a Doctor”, albeit now sung by Michael Anthony. The new Cherone album took up a generous chunk of the set, and the Hagar tracks were reduced to a few key hits: “Why Can’t This Be Love”, “When It’s Love”, “Humans Being” and “Right Now”.
The new Van Halen underperformed to say the least. I was shocked when we received 50 copies at the Record Store. There was no way I was going to be able to sell 50 copies, and I tried. Lord did I try! I have been very critical of our regional manager in the past, because she was absolutely merciless in pointing out every one of my failures. Now that she can’t hurt me anymore, I feel freer to talk about some of it. She definitely can’t blame me for us getting stuck with a huge pule of Van Halen III. I never would have ordered 50 copies. 20 was what I had in mind. But she didn’t ask me. Hand on the bible, this one was not on me.
YouTuber Todd in the Shadows tackled Van Halen III in one of his “Trainwreckords” episodes, and he goes into great detail about every single thing that went wrong with the album. This excellent and funny analysis is well worth the 18 minutes of your time.
“We’re Van Halen, for those who just walked in.” – David Lee Roth
VAN HALEN – Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo (1975 radio broadcast, Laser Media)
Not all Van Halen was great and not all radio broadcasts worth buying. Some are quite shoddy, but important for historical reasons. Welcome to the 1975 KSWM broadcast CD!
“We’re playing dance music for people who like to party tonight!” says Dave. The first track to dance to is the Stones’ “If You Can’t Rock Me”: Sloppy, ragged, barely holding together, and then the shitty disc fades the song out! This might have been an act of mercy, as it sounds absolutely rubbish. Listen – if there’s no complete song, then list it as such on the back!
“We came unprepared for this, as usual!” says Dave, but my patience with the CD is already wearing thin. “Jean Genie” is a full song (more talking than singing) and it’s pretty terrible. On one hand, at least Van Halen did it in their own still-forming style, but it’s barely listenable, except for Eddie’s free sololing. An original “Women In Love” is actually better than the Bowie cover, but warbling tape makes it difficult to enjoy. Too bad, since this older version is different from the final Van Halen II arrangement.
Dave says wants to get funky on “Rock Steady”, while Michael Anthony acts as cheerleader on stage left. It’s not really funky but it does groove. Like all the songs, it’s a vehicle for Eddie to solo, and that’s always a good thing. A long rendition of “Rock ‘N Roll Hoochie Koo” follows (yes, they spelled the song title differently from the CD title). This one’s a good jam, with Eddie predictably blowing ’em all away. Dave’s with him with the odd “Ow!” and “Woo!” but this is the Eddie Show, from rhythms to leads.
A track called “The Fool and Me” from Bridge of Sighs by Robin Trower is a brilliant inclusion. This allows Eddie to show off that side of him that was inspired by Eric Clapton. It’s also Dave’s first chance to really sing, when his voice was raw and wild. Same with “Keep Playing that Rock ‘N’ Roll” (Edgar Winter). This one is just fun, and the band play it tight. Judging by the change in audio at this point, this is probably the end of the actual radio broadcast.
A couple minutes of rambling chatter with no value is laughingly listed as “Eddie & Dave Talk About Recording”. There is no such talk. It sounds like hitting on a woman.
“Eddie Warming Up” is what it sounds like. It’s cool. He plays several licks, some of which ended up in well known Van Halen songs later on. You can hear the telltale scratch of vinyl, which indicates this one was a vinyl bootleg at one point before being digitized.
Finally “I’m the One (Show Your Love)” is live once more, maybe from the same show as the broadcast, maybe not, who knows. This ‘Halen original is already fully formed, though the flimsy equipment they were playing through can’t communicate the full fury of original Van Halen.
This broadcast is pretty hard to recommend. The centrepiece is Eddie warming up, and that’s not even from the show. It’s pretty hard to play the whole thing through, but at least most of the problems are up front at the start.
VAN HALEN – Selections from LIVE: Right here, right now.(1993 Warner promo EP) “Van Halen turns 15!”
Stuff like this is in my collection not because it’s valuable to me, but because at one point in time I got it for free. We ran across promos like these all the time, and couldn’t sell them, so they were free to take. Because it was Van Halen, I hung onto it even though all five tracks are taken from the live album Right here, right now. It disappears in your CD collection due to the jewel case without a back cover or spine. For the sake of simplicity (and a shorter title), we’ll just refer to this EP as “Van Halen turns 15”.
It actually plays really well. Without any filler or solos, it’s a tight CD packed with some of the best songs. “Dreams” serves as a connection to the earlier pop rock sounds of 5150. Live, it rocks with higher octane than the studio version. “Judgement Day” was one of the better representations of the then-new For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge material. Its modern groove was predictive of the kind of music people would want to hear in the 90s: heavier with more edge. “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” is the one token DLR track, and then seemingly to balance things out, it’s Sammy’s “One Way to Rock”. Whatever — the listening experience is perfect.
Because “Right Now” was the biggest thing since Crystal Pepsi, it’s inevitable that the live version was included on this CD. If you find “Right Now” to be vomit-inducing, you can just hit stop.
Since this is a promo and should only be sought as a freebie, appointing it a score out of 5 stars is meaningless. Radio stations are always ditching boxes of old CDs so it’s bound to turn up somewhere.
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