Van Halen

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 4 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

Record Store Tales #600:  The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review

 

 

 

 

 

For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 46-60 in the Vault box set.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 4 (2018 Rhino)

“Plaster Caster” is one of the most memorable songs from Love Gun.  This Simmons demo features the Demon on all instruments, including drums!  Since he’s not a drummer, he played the kick and snare in one pass and and everything else in a second take.  He seems to take great relish in explaining the story of the real “plaster caster” in the liner notes, but there’s no need for it here.  Just listen to this interesting demo and hear Gene’s reasonable attempts at guitar solos.  Not bad for just one guy.  Love Gun ended up one of the classic Kiss albums that folks bicker about this song or that song being the weakest.   You often see “Plaster Caster” on some of those “weakest” lists.  Lyrically, sure but this song is indeed a master blaster.  4/5

Dynasty‘s “X-Ray Eyes” is another demo with Gene playing everything.  It’s a lot more rock and roll than the final album version with is creepier and more atmospheric.  This is more vintage early Alice Cooper.  Fascinating again to hear how songs evolve.  Also important to note the really good guitar solo work here, all done by Simmons.  Here is a song that eventually made it onto a Kiss album, with Gene writing and recording everything on the demo itself.  And people will still tell you he has no musical talent.  4/5

Another Dynasty track, “Charisma” is way heavier than the final.  Gene plays everything but drums (and doesn’t tell us who plays drums).  Gene says that “Charisma” is based around the chords of the old 1973 Wicked Lester song “Simple Type”.  I’d never have guessed that if he didn’t tell us.  This version of “Charisma” is more metal.  It has a metallic chug, a metal guitar solo, and a heavier beat.  Imagine if Kiss had gone with a different producer and overall direction on Dynasty!  They were already evolving into a heavier band.  5/5

“Rockin’ In the USA” has a more Beach Boys vibe than the final Alive II version.  Gene seems to relish explaining that Bob Kulick played lead guitar on the final version because Ace didn’t show up.  “He could explain to you why,” says Gene with snark, though claiming he doesn’t want to “beat a dead horse”.  OK then.  He says this is him playing everything on this demo.  He even did the very surf-y backing falsettos.  It’s OK enough but it needed to be heavier as on the album.  I will say this: the demo delivers some of the lyrics more clearly, and I was finally able to understand some of the lines for the first time.  3/5 

“Radioactive” is a demo for a great little number that wound up on Gene’s solo album.  Probably a superior demo to the final overproduced version that made it onto the album.  The backing vocals here are way more rock and roll, and infectious.  Sonic defects built into the demo concept aside, a lot of these tracks are actually better than the final versions, and may become my preferred listening experience in the future.  4.5/5

“See You In Your Dreams” is the Rock and Roll Over song that was later re-recorded on Simmons’ solo album.  This demo includes Katey Sagal and other female backing singers, lending the demo a real Motown kind of feel.  You can now understand why Gene wanted to re-record the song since Kiss turned it into a punked-up rocker without that Motown influence at all.  3/5

“Man of 1,000 Faces” is one of Gene’s most dramatic rockers on his solo album.  There are two versions here.  “Man of 1,000 Faces #1” is a heavier, stompier rocker.  There is no hint whatsoever of the orchestration you’d later get.  As a quaint little rocker, it’s not that bad.  In the end, the majestic orchestral song is unique, and it’s hard to believe that it started like this.  3/5

“Man of 1,000 Faces #2” is a demo with Ace Frehley and J.R. Smalling, who played on quite a few Kiss demos including some of Paul’s such as “God of Thunder” and “Detroit Rock City”.  Gene throws shade at Peter Criss for not being available for these demo sessions.  This version is largely the same as the previous but with the Space Ace throwing in some leads.  3/5 

“Calling Dr. Love” has Gene on most instruments except drums (uncredited).  As we all know, the title was inspired by the Three Stooges.  As you’ll learn from the liner notes, song titles are very important to Gene’s writing process.  He says that this version is “re-created” by Kiss on the album and that is pretty close.  The lyrics are not entire the same, but vocally and arrangement-wise, this is a finished song.  4/5

Those who have been collecting Kiss box sets and deluxe editions all these years know that “Bad Bad Lovin'” was an early version of “Dr. Love” before the right title struck.  This demo should be familiar.  It’s good, but the other demo version is where it needed to go.  Gene says this is with Ace and J.R. Smalling.  3/5

“Almost Human” is a demo that Gene says Kiss captured definitively.  This version is pretty close, with the high harmony guitars, all played by Gene.  Some of Ace’s final fills are copied from this demo.  This version could be even slower than the album take, and it really needed Ace’s touch.  3/5

“Burning Up With Fever #1” features Gene on all instruments, and is much rougher than “#2” on the prior CD.  This is a pretty good skeleton of the song.  It’s just more rock and roll than what we got on Gene’s solo album.  It just goes to show you how the same song can go through many metamorphoses.  3/5

Katey Sagal and the Group With No Name (actual name!) are back on “True Confessions #1”, a rough demo of a song that wound up Gene’s solo album.  The “#2” demo on the previous CD is the one to go with.  This is interesting as are all the demos, but the good listening experience is the “#2” which had a better vocal by Gene.  This one verges too much into the monster voice with an echo effect.  2.5

“Goin’ Blind/Little Lady” is a song I have waited years to hear.  I always wanted to know why Gene sang that line in the Unplugged version, “Little lady from the land beneath the sea.”  Then I remembered, “Goin’ Blind” used to be called “Little Lady”.  I have been wanting to hear this demo since 1996.  This demo dates back to Wicked Lester and has Gene with Brooke Ostrander.  It is vastly different.  A weird organ backs Gene up, and the chorus is a little different, though the guitar hook is intact.  It is such an odd experience to hear this song, one of my favourite songs of all time, in this form.  Hearing the quaint backing vocals, the very rough guitar solo, and just a very different direction overall…and then confessing that the early version just wasn’t very good.  The final version may be a 5/5, but it took some doing (and heavy-ing up) to get there.  Let’s be fair here.  This is like Gene trying to re-write The Book of Taliesyn by Deep Purple, without Blackmore, Lord, or Paice.  2/5

“Larger Than Life” was re-recorded for Kiss Alive II and is one of the better songs of a batch that some fans find sub-standard.  Others wish there were more songs in that direction.  Gene’s demo has him playing everything but drums (uncredited).  The final version is better, being heavier with a catchier bassline.  This demo is more nocturnal and creepy.  To use an analogy, since we all know what Gene is referring to here when he says “larger than life”…bear with me here.  The final Kiss version is like Gene hitting you in the face with it, while here on the demo he’s just waving it around.  I’m sorry.  I do apologise.  Back to this demo, it’s cool to hear Gene overdubbed on the backing vocals, but the final version needed Peter Criss and Bob Kulick to get where it had to be.  2.5/5 

Finally we get to “It’s My Life”, an ancient Kiss song (Simmons/Stanley) that was released by Wendy O. Williams before Kiss finally re-recorded it and threw it on their Box Set.  This has been a song that fans wanted for many years, though now you can get it on the Creatures of the Night box set.  But how is it a Simmons/Stanley composition?  Gene and Paul were not writing together very much at that time.  Gene stole the chords from a Paul Stanley song called “Every Little Bit Of My Heart” that was rejected for The Elder!  Paul didn’t like what Gene did with it.  “It’s My Life” always should have been a Kiss song.  It’s great that Gene released this version.  It’s hard to tell who is playing the lead solo, but it’s great!  5/5

Average score by song:  3.43/5 stars

 

Disk 4 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. Plaster Caster (3:39) Simmons
2. X-Ray Eyes (3:44) Simmons
3. Charisma (3:18) Simmons / Marks
4. Rockin’ in the USA (2:57) Simmons
5. Radioactive (3:08) Simmons
6. See You in Your Dreams Tonight (2:20) Simmons
7. Man of 1000 Faces #1 (3:09) Simmons
8. Man of 1000 Faces #2 (3:32) Simmons
9. Calling Dr. Love (2:56) Simmons
10. Bad Bad Lovin’ (3:09) Simmons
11. Almost Human (3:26) Simmons
12. Burning Up With Fever #1 (3:08) Simmons
13. True Confessions #1 (3:34) Simmons
14. Goin’ Blind/Little Lady (3:06) Simmons / Coronel
15. Larger Than Life (4:06) Simmons
16. It’s My Life (3:51) Simmons / Stanley

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 3 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

Record Store Tales #600:  The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review

 

 

 

 

 

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

#1099: “Can you play it a little louder?” – An Uncle Paul Story, aka “Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now”

#1099: “Can you play it a little louder?” – An Uncle Paul Story
(aka “Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now”)

 

In the late 80s, I was starting to fill in my Van Halen collection thanks to the generosity of family, and the Columbia House Music Club.  Diver Down turned out to be a favourite because of the cover songs:  this was an album that parents and family would let me play in the car, because they knew the songs and they were not too too heavy!

Any time I found a Van Halen song that I thought the older generation would swing to, I would proclaim:  “I found another one!”

“Why is the band called Van Halen when the singer is named David Lee Roth?” my mom asked.

“Because there are two Van Halens in the band and only one Lee Roth,” I answered simply.

“Van Halen?  Sounds like some kind of tropical disease,” deadpanned my dad once upon a time.

But my family and especially my uncle liked enough of the songs:

  • “Pretty Woman”
  • “Dancing in the Streets”
  • “Happy Trails”
  • “Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)”

They really, really liked “Big Bad Bill”.  Especially the sweet, smooth clarinet melodies of Jan Van Halen.  The tone!  So full.  I don’t think they ever heard the clarinet played with the speed of Jan Van Halen before.  Diver Down was my pathway to having my music played in the car stereo.  Uncle really liked the upbeat sounds of these Van Halen covers.  Everybody seemed to like Roth.  I couldn’t get them into Hagar, even with ballads like “Give To Live”.  Uncle wasn’t into ballads.  (I should have tried “I Can’t Drive 55”.)  He always wanted something with a good tempo.  I have more stories about this, but today’s is about the mighty VH.

“Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)” was the one song everyone universally agreed on.  It was so different from anything in the mainstream.  It had a vintage country shuffle born from the 1920s, and of course that clarinet.  David Lee Roth hammed up the vocals, at his Vaudeville best, and Uncle Paul ate it up.  And then he said the magic words:  “Can you play it a little louder?”  The one phrase that no adult ever uttered:  “Can you play it a little louder?”  Uncle Paul was the only one.

What kid wouldn’t dive for the volume knob when an adult asked them to?

“If it’s too loud, you’re too old,” goes the saying.  Uncle Paul was never too old.

We loved Uncle Paul.  It was he that bridged the two generations.  He was an adult, but he was welcome to hang with the kids.  He was part of both groups.  Not very families has a member who fills that role.  We did — and I am so happy we had that.  Our childhoods were so much richer for it.

Miss you Uncle Paul.

From Wikipedia:

“Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)” is a song with music by Milton Ager and lyrics by Jack Yellen, written in 1924. The song became a vocal hit for Margaret Young accompanied by Rube Bloom, and an instrumental hit for the Don Clark Orchestra.

The song has also been recorded by Ernest Hare (1924), Billy Murray (1924), Clementine Smith (1924), Emmett Miller (1929), Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra (1940), Peggy Lee (1962), Merle Haggard (1973), Ry Cooder (1978), Leon Redbone (1978), Van Halen (1982) and others[4] and has been a popular song in barbershop quartet and chorus competitions.

The lyrics describe a man “in the town of Louisville…” who was once a fearsome and rough character known for getting into fights, who, after getting married, becomes a peaceable person who devotes his time to domestic activities such as washing dishes and mopping the floor. He was “Stronger than Samson I declare, til the brown skinned woman, bobbed his hair.”

Get Up and make it work! Top Five Van Halen Bangers, our dream Best Of All Worlds setlist, and much more!

And the cradle DID rock, for tonight, four rock music fans revealed their Top Five Van Halen bangers.  ‘Twas brilliant to see.  Harrison Kopp was in classic Kontrarian mode as you will see with his list.  The first disqualification in the history of the show!  Harrison redeemed himself later, and his #1 pick was one I was onside with.

The new guy PLA brought with him a love of music that goes back to the teen years.  Jex’s good friend was a blast on the show, and he is welcome back any time.  The wonderful thing here is that years ago, Jex had the foresight to record PLA’s reaction to the Van Halen banger “Get Up” on video.  We ran that video tonight, and it really captured the spirit of what a Van Halen banger does.

We dug deep with deep cuts and hits.  We showed off rare CDs, vinyl, and even a cassette.  I presented my dream Best Of All Worlds setlist.  We discussed the tour, pros and cons, and our panel was mostly pro.  The comments were divided.  Peter Kerr was anti-tour, while Chris P was very pro.

Van Halen praise, love, and appreciation were in plentiful supply on this episode.  Take a glimpse at our collections and please enjoy our lists.  There were a number of duplicate songs, and some brilliant picks.  If you are interested in Van Halen but don’t know where to start…grab a coffee and listen to us blather on all night about a band we really love.

See ya next week.

Tonight: Top Five VAN HALEN BANGERS + Sammy Hagar “Best Of All Worlds Tour” with Jex & PLA!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Episode 41:  BEST OF ALL WORLDS!  Top Five VAN HALEN BANGERS with Jex & PLA

 

We’re back!  Harrison and I took a couple weeks off to recharge and work on some other creative projects, but here we are, back in business again with Jex Russell and PLA!  But who is PLA?

PLA is from the YouTube channel PLA Addiction.  He’s a music nut and close friend of Jex.  These guys have been a creative force on YouTube for years and I’ve been wanting to get them together live on Grab A Stack of Rock for a while now.  Tonight we run through our “Top Five Van Halen Bangers”!  Why?  You’ll have to see for yourself tonight, but I’ll drop you a teaser.

The real reason I wanted to get PLA on the show is that a few years back, Jex made a “reaction video” of PLA hearing the Van Halen song “Get Up” for the first time.  After seeing that video, I knew I wanted to get these two guys together on my show to talk Van Halen.  It was a priceless video, and we’ll run it tonight on the show.

We absolutely have to discuss the Sammy Hagar Best of All Worlds Tour with Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Jason Bonham!  I will be revealing my dream (buyt realistic) setlist tonight on the show.

Get up and make it work, because tonight it’s Top Five Van Halen Bangers with Jex and PLA!

LIVE Friday Nov 17 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Van Halen, books, rarities, soundtracks and new things! Mike, Harrison, John, Rob, & Tim present Stacks of Rock!

Three years ago, we lost Edward Van Halen, and we are still mourning him today.

Fortunately, on this same day comes the new Van Halen – Hagar years remastered box set.  John T. Snow has a copy and showed it on the show.  I also brought out all my Van Halen CD rarities.  My cassettes and vinyl were seen on prior shows of Grab A Stack of Rock and LeBrain Train respectively.

John also presented a recent singles box set by Ace Frehley, A Candlebox box (ha-ha),  some Rock Candy Night Ranger reissues, and the new Darkness Permission to Land set!

Harrison the Mad Metal Man showed us a Maiden / Blaze Bayley bootleg CD, some books, some Deep Purple, and…José Feliciano!?  Breaking new ground on Grab A Stack of Rock!

Rob (Visions in Sound) had some interesting soundtracks from theme parks, and an obscure Humphrey Bogart film.  He also had a stunning 2 CD reissue of John Williams’ Superman score.

The mighty Tim Durling (Unspooled: An Adventure in 8 Tracks) had some picture sleeve 7″ singles that were quite lovely.  He also had some books to show, and some Ritchie Blackmore-related CDs that he says are for an upcoming project he’s working on.  Hmmm…

A super fun show.  Be sure to tune in next week when we do our Top 5 Songs About Monsters!  See ya!

Grabbing a Stack of Van Halen 4-LP LIVE: Right Here, Right Now vinyl RSD reissue

A spontaneous Grab A Stack of Rock on a chilly Wednesday afternoon!

Thanks to Dave Lizmi for watching me unbox this awesome new Van Halen – LIVE: Right here, right now vinyl RSD reissue. It’s gorgeous. Bonus track!!

Youtubin’: Van Halen – “Ripley” (1984 instrumental)

I’ve always liked the final Van Halen album, A Different Kind of Truth, and I have found it still stands up after a decade of digestion.  As you are probably aware, most of the album is reworked demos.  One such demo is “Ripley” from 1984, which later became “Blood and Fire” on the album.  The music made it into the score for a movie called The Wild Life which has never seen a proper audio release.  Eddie called the song “Ripley” because he played it on a Ripley guitar.

It’s impossible to listen to it without hearing David’s final lyrics and vocals in your head.  But is the instrumental version better than the final?  That’s a tough call.  It definitely would have been interesting to hear what Sammy Hagar could have done with “Ripley”, but if the idea to rework it with Hagar ever came up, it obviously didn’t bear fruit.

Enjoy “Ripley” by Edward Van Halen!

Youtubin’: Van Halen – “Without You” Live in Australia 1998

While I will admit that Van Halen 3 didn’t live up to the potential of the collaboration between Cherone and VH, it ain’t bad.  Many people said, “They should have changed their name and called it something else.”  That’s one perspective, but I don’t think Van Halen ever needed to go by any name other than Van Halen so long as Eddie and Alex were there.  Just my opinion.

“Without You” was arguably the best song (with the outtake “That’s Why I Love You” also a contender).  This live version from Australia helps illustrate what was working and what wasn’t.  The truth is, while Gary Cherone is a unique frontman, his gangly-geeky stretches and contortions didn’t suit Van Halen’s live show.  Vocally though?  No issues with Gary Cherone in Van Halen.  When they go into “We Can Work It Out” by the Beatles at the end, I’m sold.

Sunday Screening: Thursday Night Record Club – Fair Warning, Diver Down, 1984

Brent Jensen and Alex Huard have been, for several weeks now, discussing classic rock albums from the perspective of the veteran and the newcomer. It has been a fascinating series to follow and listen to albums with. This week they tackled an unprecedented three: Van Halen’s Fair Warning, Diver Down, and 1984. Have a look!