Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth
Interscope Records
www.van-halen.com

Rating: A-

On February 7, 2012, Van Halen will release their first album with David Lee Roth as lead vocalist in 28 years. While there have been some changes, including Ed’s son, Wolfgang, replacing founding member Michael Anthony as the bass player in the band, there is still much that has remained the same. The original Van Halen magic is back, awakened like Rip Van Winkle after a long nap.

A Different Kind of Truth will be scrutinized and picked apart by every rock critic around the globe. Van Hagar fans will refuse to like the album because Sammy is not a part of the band while the Negative Nellie’s of the world will hate it just because they love to hate things. The ongoing world of controversy will follow Van Halen just as it has throughout their career.

All of that aside, however, fans of the original six classic albums will rejoice as this is a collection of hard rocking tunes born from the bubbling creative concoction that occurs only when you conjure up two parts Van Halen and one part Roth in that elusive, mystical rock and roll cauldron.

The elephant in the room is the absence of Michael Anthony and, as you will see in the song by song breakdown below; his high part harmony parts are missed. Wolfgang, though, is not to blame. He does a great job on the bass and the musical synchronicity between the men with the same DNA is obvious.

Diamond Dave is now sporting overhauls and a cap instead of spandex and flowing long blond hair. His vocals, at times, are strained but, for the most part, he holds his own. He sounds like Dave – just a Dave who has had an AARP card in his wallet for a few years. He will likely be the scapegoat for Roth era haters but he does not deserve the derogatory comments the naysayer will throw at him. The production team deserves kudos for not using pitch control on the vocals and creating background tracks that could not be reproduced live. This album was made to sound amazing in arenas around the world.

The star of A Different Kind of Truth is Edward Van Halen. The guitarist has a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde personality within the band that sports his last name. With Sammy, Ed just does not play this way. With Dave, the tension between the two create some sort of voodoo that brings out Edward’s Mr. Hyde, resulting in guitar playing that is as technically proficient as it is fast and furious.

There has been talk of recycled riffs and old songs that never appeared on albums showing up on this collection of tunes. The bottom line is there is some truth to that claim but it does not really matter at the end of the day as great music is great music no matter when it was created and it deserves to be heard. If nothing else; and I am cutting it to the bone here, if nothing else, new life has been breathed into older song ideas. The truth is that the songs, young or old, deserve to be cranked up to 11 with fists pumping in the air.

It should be noted that there is not a standout pop hit on this album, as there are on each of the six classic albums recorded with Roth. On VH1 there was “Running with the Devil,” on II there was “Dance the Night Away.” Woman and Children First had “And the Cradle Will Rock” while Fair Warning had “Unchained” Diver Down had “Pretty Woman” and 1984 contained “Jump.” A Different Kind of Truth has “Tattoo” which is the closest thing this album has to a hit but it is not as strong as the aforementioned tunes. Instead, this album would be more akin to “I’m the One,” “Outta Love Again,” “Take Your Whiskey Home,” “Sinner’s Swing,” “The Full Bug” and “Top Jimmy.”

Song By Song Breakdown

Tattoo
This is the first single off the album and while it is the closest thing to a 1980’s style radio rock hit, it falls short of the mark. In retrospect, the controversy surrounding this album’s release could have been culled with the release of any number of songs other than this one. While the lyrics are cool and the art of tattooing is a current fad, the annoying chorus grates on the listener’s nerves. This song sounds like Van Halen trying too hard to sound like Van Halen. That said, it does grow on you with each listen.

She's the Woman
This song was born in on a demo in 1977 but it has been reworked into a classic Van Halen sounding tune. There are many tempo changes that help to build tension in the song and set the table for one of Edward’s blistering guitar solos. This is one of the best songs on the album.

You and Your Blues
The song is choppy and Dave has some attitude on it but at the end of the day that it is not enough o save it. It is not one of the strongest songs on the album. Ed tries to save the song with a ballsy guitar solo. Dave struggles on the high notes.

China Town
“China Town” is one of the best classic Van Halen sounding tunes on the album. This is Fair Warning heavy with dark overtones. After Edward’s opening guitar run, Alex and Wolfgang jump in with the classic VH bass/drum style that VH has been perfecting for decades. The guitar solo is a furious rip roaring run of notes, reminiscent of “Hot for Teacher.” After the solo, there is a great guitar run in the middle of the tune that runs right into a moment of silence before Dave kicks the song back into overdrive.

Blood and Fire
Any fan of Diver Down will dig “Blood and Fire.” The song starts off slowly until Dave comes in with the verse and then the band jumps in behind him. This is an example of a song that would have benefited from Michael Anthony’s background vocal skills. The song ebbs and flows and is very musical in that respect. The melody and the vocal lines swoop into each other, building up and letting go and then all of a sudden the music slows down as Ed picks a rhythm and David states, “I told you I was coming back. Say you missed us…say it like you mean it.”

Bullethead
A hard rocking song, this one somehow misses the mark. While it gets up and goes from the start, it is one of the weaker tunes on the album. The lyrics are beyond silly and the vocal performance is not one of Roth’s crowing jewels. This is as close to filler as anything on the album.

As Is
This one builds slowly until Ed brings in a melodic solo for Dave to sing over. Roth sounds strained during the bridge but by the time the chorus comes around he sound like classic Roth again. Roth brings his one of kind attitude back into the song when he says, “This next part should really confuse things. Everybody stay focused.” Ed plays a two hand pull off solo before going into a ZZ Top “La Grange” type clean guitar part where Roth talks in a low register over the music. This is a hard rocker with a basic riff that would have been very at home on Fair Warning.

Honeybabysweetiedoll
Starting out with a batch off odd guitar effects, the song eventually slams into a heavy riff before Dave brings in the vocals. The verses on this song are reminiscent of Woman and Children First. The song has an odd step meter to it, like much of Woman and Children First, which keep the song from flowing yet creates a certain intensity. There are plenty of guitar squeals, harmonics and octave runs to keep the guitar aficionados in the audience happy.

The Trouble with Never
Young Wolfie gets to show his chops with his Poppa as the song beings with a complex instrumental run played in tandem by the father and son. The verses and the solos to this song are heavy music at its best but the chorus is too poppy and does not really fit into the rest of the song. Anthony’s background vocals are missed on this song.

Outta Space
The song begins with a “Somebody Get Me a Doctor” style riff before kicking into overdrive. Dave blasts out a great vocal on this one. The song changes tempo and Edward is all over the fret board, both rhythmically and when he solos. This is an example of the wise magic that occurs when things go right between the guitarist and the lead singer of Van Halen. This one has that classic Van Halen sound from start to finish.

Stay Frosty
Think “Ice Cream Man 2012” and you get the gist of “Stay Frosty,” at least in the beginning. This song is a mix of the classic VH styles found on the VH1 and Diver Down’s original songs. The start of this song is some of the best foot stomping and hand clapping music that the band has ever played. A little more than a minute into the song the band kicks in and turns this into a full fledged rocker. The rhythm starts and stops and Ed delivers a classic solo while the band backs him up, giving him plenty of room to strut his stuff. The song then jumps back to acoustic and Dave comes back onboard. “Stay Frosty” is one of the best songs on the album.

Big River
A pop tune with a kick describes this one. The best musical part of the song occurs when the rhythm section changes gears and allows Ed the freedom to open up and provide a huge guitar solo. The chorus is large and the song is a great representation of where Van Halen is at the present day as this one does not neatly fit into any of the six albums the classic lineup produced yet it is still obviously a DLR era Van Halen tune.

Beats Working
In retrospect this song would have been much more welcomed by the hard rock community that “Tattoo.” Alex and Wolf jam behind Ed as the song opens with huge chords before dive-bombing into oblivion. The song starts out with a Van Halen 1 vibe before Roth comes in with a “Top Jimmy” style vocal. The song speeds up then slows down and then speeds up again. This is a summertime party song with multiple guitar solos. Roth strains to hit the high register on this one but when he stays in his comfort zone he sounds fine.

At the end of the day Van Halen has returned with another classic David Lee Roth era album. We live in a different musical era than we did when VH released the classic six albums of their career. The result of that will be that this one does not have the powerful elixir of nostalgia attached to it. What it does have is great rock songs, tons of guitar solos and that original Van Halen personality that the band left behind in 1984. Now, in 2012, it is back, a little rougher around some of the edges, a little lacking in the background vocal department and without an obvious hit single. It is, however, more mature, very focused and reeks of passion. The music on the album is stellar proving that the once slumbering Edward Van Halen has woken up from his hibernation feeling refreshed, still possessing his arsenal of guitar heroics and is ready to rock.

By Jeb Wright