CD Review: Van Halen's A Different Kind of Truth

Besides going to see Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3-D last week, I also picked up Van Halen’s new CD A Different Kind of Truth, planning to familiarize myself with their first new music in almost fifteen years before going to their concert in St. Paul this May.

The new CD starts off with the first single “Tattoo.” While the “tattoo, tattoo” chorus seems a little corny, Eddie Van Halen’s signature guitar licks save this song. I’m starting to enjoy this song the more I listen to it. The next song “She’s The One” I took a liking to much quicker, because it’s a fast-tempo song  that’s similar in pace to most of their classic songs from the late Seventies and early Eighties.

While Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang can’t quite replace original bass guitarist Michael Anthony’s sound, his bass playing meshes well with the thirteen songs on this disc. In fact, when I close my eyes and listen to this CD, a few songs sound just like they could’ve come off one of their classic albums from over three decades ago!

This CD is chock full of a lot of energy and enthusiasm from everyone in the band, and I enjoyed reading the lyrics from each song. A few lyrics by original frontman “Diamond” David Lee Roth even had me laughing out loud. One particular noteworthy track, the speedy number called “Bullethead”  , a song I would assume addresses road rage, has the following lyrics:

My karma just ran over your dogma

I can feel your pain….

How many roads must a man walk down

Before he admits he’s lost -

Do you really drive this way

Just to piss me off?

I’ve only listened to this CD 3 or 4 times so far, but it’s growing on me with each listen. Songs like “Blood and Fire” and “Stay Frosty” remind me of classic Van Halen tracks (I’ve heard that they often use early samples and demos when starting new songs, so I’m not surprised. "Stay Frosty" sounds like it could be the long lost twin or B-side of the classic acoustic-based "Ice Cream Man" from their debut album ), and it sets a good foundation for hopefully even more new music down the road.  I’m also looking forward to hearing many of these songs smattered among their classics live in concert in three short months!

That’s all for now, so until later, have a great day!