Van Halen III

[bueno bob]

So I was listening to that oddball p.o.s. the other day (mostly because I wanted to LOL @ Eddie's singing) and I started thinking that, since it's the George Lazenby of Van Halen albums, maybe they should just remaster the damn thing and re-issue it as Eddie's solo album and effectively take it out of the Van Halen discography.

Pros/cons? You discuss. But don't yell at me about it, because that'll make me get different, and nobody has a good time when that happens. Well, other than me, but you get the idea.

[LoungeMachine]

Don't get bob all different.....

:gulp:

I hate it when bob gets different.....

[PETE'S BROTHER]

So I was listening to that oddball p.o.s. the other day (mostly because I wanted to LOL @ Eddie's singing) and I started thinking that, since it's the George Lazenby of Van Halen albums, maybe they should just remaster the damn thing and re-issue it as Eddie's solo album and effectively take it out of the Van Halen discography.

Pros/cons? You discuss. But don't yell at me about it, because that'll make me get different, and nobody has a good time when that happens. Well, other than me, but you get the idea.

*yelling* i thought if we ignored it, like trollish folk, it would just go away...

[bueno bob]

*yelling* i thought if we ignored it, like trollish folk, it would just go away...

I have to laugh at Eddie singing.

Don't you see?

I HAVE TO.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I have to laugh at Eddie singing.

Don't you see?

I HAVE TO.

The really funny part is that song was an ENCORE.....

[bueno bob]

The really funny part is that song was an ENCORE.....

It's actually kind of a good thing I didn't get a chance to meet them that tour (as was the original plan...I had backstage VIP meet 'n' greet crap ready to roll, couldn't do it though). If I'd have learned that, I would have just asked him to noodle Strung Out for 10 minutes and call it good.

[Romeo Delight]

i can't get past the fact there are audible hums and hissing on the cd...wtf? How is that possible in this era?

[bueno bob]

i can't get past the fact there are audible hums and hissing on the cd...wtf? How is that possible in this era?

No doubt the production job was just a butchered up mess...between Mike Post, Ray Danniels and The Ed and Al Show, it's amazing Warner Bros. ever let it see the light of day...

[fraroc]

Well, the only track that I really bonded with on VH3 was Eddie's "Neworld" It almost reminds me of Dee by Randy Rhoads.

[Blaze]

For those that have not heard it. :)
http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Van+Halen+III/172248
I like the first minute, so far, but I enjoy a gentle guitar and a melodic piano.

[Diamondjimi]

The really funny part is that song was an ENCORE.....

:lmao:

[gbranton]

The really funny part is that song was an ENCORE.....

........that nobody cheered for.

Sort of like the answer to the question nobody asked.

[motherchicken]

Never heard a single song off that album. By the sounds of the reviews that's a good thing.

[VAiN]

i can't get past the fact there are audible hums and hissing on the cd...wtf? How is that possible in this era?

To be honest, IMO, that's one of the good things about that album... it's a bit raw. Things in this era sound too air tight. Eddie was playing pretty fucking well on that album, some real nice lead work. The album as a whole is thrown together and not awesome, no doubt. But I can appreciate it on the Eddie solo album level. That's how I see it anyway..

[DONNIEP]

Remove all the vocals - all of them - and I'd probably give it a listen all the way through. Maybe. Or, more than
likely, I'd toss in my DLR solo show CDs from 2003 and just be done with it. :gulp:

[chi-town324]

i also have never heard even one song of the album and plan to keep it that way

[DONNIEP]

For anyone that's still on the fence or who's never heard the record...give this a listen. It's pure shit. Like the kinda shit you take the morning after downing a fifth of Jack and all the beers in the house. Matter of fact, I have to say this: I've never had one piano lesson in my life but I guaran-damn-tee you I could play something better than this. Hell, I bet I could bang out Big Bottom and it would sound better than this crap...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K07gLBVeLR4

[Blaze]

Alright, I listen to it. There are some key clips that would be great for a dubstep!
This is my notes:
Gary sounds a lot like Hargar.
The end of audio track 4 and the begining of audio track 5 should be brought togehter.
Once - the begining is good. Gary could enucate a bit better, I cannot understand what he is singing.
Year to day - like
Audio Track 10 - like
How many I say - I like Eddie's smokey voice. It would have been better if he had not blended it with a stronger voice.

I think the album without most the vocals could be edited into a solid half hour dub.

[binnie]

Are there any pros about this album?

Josephine is so terrible it actually makes me laugh every time I hear it (after I've thrown up in my mouth). I didn't think it could get worse than 'Whaaaam Bam, Amsterdam', but I was wrong.

[Yount]

Are there any pros about this album?

Josephine is so terrible it actually makes me laugh every time I hear it (after I've thrown up in my mouth). I didn't think it could get worse than 'Whaaaam Bam, Amsterdam', but I was wrong.

"Josephina" was a last minute inclusion on the album, replacing "That's why I love you" but I do not think it's a poor song. Released under the name Van Halen doesn't do it any favours though.

[VHscraps]

I listened to it once, about two years ago - so more than ten years after it was released. Had never heard a lick of it before. I was slack-jawed at how ill-disciplined it seemed; and how formless the songs were.

Overlong intros to songs that couldn't decide where they were going was one of the things that stuck out to me. I can't be arsed with Cherone either, so I admit I started out wanting it to be bad.

I couldn't bring myself to listen to it twice.

I read Hagar's book last year and one of the things I do tend to believe in it is where he said that he, and before him Roth, turned Eddie's ideas into songs.

VHIII proves that in spades for me. It's a bunch of ideas, where Eddie - probably for first the first time - was telling the singer what to do.

Okay, I only listened to it once, so maybe my opinion is worthless, but there you have it. I don't consider it a Van Halen album.

[Yount]

I've listened to it at least 50 times. Not much at all lately though. You have to dig deep to hear things you like, but in all honesty, it grows on you much more than Sammy's work with the band. You can hear and feel more for these guys as a band, even though the songs were just really a "miss" under the name Van Halen, commercially or otherwise. Sammy had that pop sound, III was like the insert photo, a wacky carnival WTF? They were still finding their feet I guess, but the public was already impatient after the DLR debacle. It was a wrong time, wrong place, wrong name, band.

Without you - one I want - Fire in the hole - once (the scrapped single) - were not really hits were they? This album lacked a genuine WOW hit.
It's still far superior lyrically to Sammy's moon june dribble.

[Yount]

Have always been interested in hearing the follow-up album to III, songs like "Left for dead" "Comfortably dumb" "River wide" "Rock n roll cliche" I wonder what they might have sounded like.

[Seshmeister]

i also have never heard even one song of the album and plan to keep it that way

I don't think I've heard half of it.

Just looked up Strung Out as I had never heard it before.

Holy fuck.

[Seshmeister]

It's still far superior lyrically to Sammy's moon june dribble.

In the same way that testicular cancer is far superior to pancreatic cancer.

[Yount]

Strung out is from Balance - 1995.

Can't stop loving you.
Not enough.
Amsterdam.
Big fat money.
Feelin'.

I don't enjoy them.

Baluchitherium or however you spell it. No vocals.
These guys hated each other and could barely produce an LP of tunes. Blame Eddie & management. Nah blame Sammy too. He's just shit and I hate him more with each listen. His lyrics take me nowhere 'cept maybe some immature sentimental lamenting mindset. Love love love. All so superficial. What I want, big fat money. I'm listening to Balance now. It's horrible. Seventh Seal is good and gives you some hope, but the ending is bad. Feelin' sucks. What happened to the great endings like On fire? Both Balance and III had tragic last tracks.

[Seshmeister]

Well apparently I haven't listened to all of Balance either. :)

These albums are why you can't tell people you are a Van Halen fan without then spending 5 minutes explaining what you mean by that.

[Yount]

you can't tell people you are a Van Halen fan without then spending 5 minutes explaining what you mean by that.

Yeah, agree. :pullinghair:

[ZahZoo]

Leave III just as it is...

Sometimes in life it's best to have a vivid reminder of your worst mistakes sitting around... damn near guarantees you won't do it again!!

[chefcraig]

Matter of fact, I have to say this: I've never had one piano lesson in my life but I guaran-damn-tee you I could play something better than this. Hell, I bet I could bang out Big Bottom and it would sound better than this crap...]

Wanna learn how to suck pretty much all of the oxygen out of a barely-filled concert hall? Try pulling this off with a straight face. Any percussive sounds you hear are provided by the feet of people stomping their way toward the exit signs. And hats off to you depraved, more than likely twisted masochists that can endure the entire clip. :yo:

Fuck this piece of crap and the crippled horse it rode in on. Just looking at the album cover (no need to listen to the miserable dreck contained within) is like seeing a girl you once thought of as nothing short of lovely now married to the sweaty fat-ass who never used antiperspirant but loved picking his nose and eating the results in 10th grade hallways.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytGPMfbZcs0

[jasonA]

VH III was the first VH album that I did not buy, but it is interesting to go back and listen to in the context of the whole VH canon - especially since the release of ADKOT. A lot of the songs on VH III seem disjointed, the structure doesn't make sense (Without You). These song structure problems became event more prominent on the 3 new songs from 2004's Best Of, so EVH definitely needs somebody to write with and work his scattered ideas into songs.

One I Want and Dirty Water Dog are decent tunes, though, and in some ways I like Cherone better than Hagar (which isn't saying much). At least Cherone was capable of occasionally writing some clever lyrics and was better at singing the old material on tour than Hagar. But, yeah, like was mentioned above, comparing Van Hagar to VH III is like comparing testicular cancer to pancreatic cancer.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

For anyone that's still on the fence or who's never heard the record...give this a listen. It's pure shit. Like the kinda shit you take the morning after downing a fifth of Jack and all the beers in the house. Matter of fact, I have to say this: I've never had one piano lesson in my life but I guaran-damn-tee you I could play something better than this. Hell, I bet I could bang out Big Bottom and it would sound better than this crap...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K07gLBVeLR4

I oughta ban you for posting that.... ;)

[chefcraig]

I oughta ban you for posting that.... ;)

And I should ban myself for including the live version. http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t292/smiliegirl2007/dope.gif

[Seshmeister]

Has anyone got the clip of Howard Stern playing it to Roth? I haven't heard that for years, I remember much laughter...

[DLR Bridge]

Have always been interested in hearing the follow-up album to III, songs like "Left for dead" "Comfortably dumb" "River wide" "Rock n roll cliche" I wonder what they might have sounded like.

Title and lyrics to Left for Dead appeared on his Tribe of Judah (NIN-ish) project. Comfortably Dumb title and lyrics ended up on last Extreme CD.

[chuckjitsu]

For me, its greatest sin was that it was musically uninteresting (or cringe worthy, in the case of how many say i). I liked without you and fire in the hole, but the other stuff? Forget about it. Not a fan of Gary's vocals either. It was an entire album of "skip" songs, as in songs you would skip to get to a better song somewhere else on the cd, except in this case there were no better songs!

[fourthcoming]

Sounds like an entire cd of a guy (eddie) who has run out of ideas and is forcing it. Never liked Cherone before or after VH. Extreme sucks......I know I know....Nuno....blah blah blah....for my money Vito Bratta was a better Ed rip off than Nuno.

[DLR Bridge]

......I know I know....Nuno....blah blah blah....for my money Vito Bratta was a better Ed rip off than Nuno.

How DARE youuuu!!!! That's cool. We were bound to disagree on something. I've said it before and I'll say it again, sample some of Nuno's post Ex(crement)treme work. It does not disappoint. Vito had some nice things going on Pride, but even that featured way too many Eddie trademark riffs. Nuno rarerly does hammer ons and sounds nothing like Ed, though he's definitely from the school of VH.

[fourthcoming]

Lmao.....this may actually be the very first time we ever disagreed on something my friend. I will take your advice and give Post Extreme Nuno a listen.

[chefcraig]

In the late 1980s, there were about two and a half dozen blink and you'll miss them bands that featured ponderously advised names. To tell ya the truth, I think I mistook Extreme for Nitro, and expected them to sound a shitload heavier with a name like that. Pornograffitti and about 2/3rds of III Sides To Every Story weren't bad albums at all, at least to me. Yet like with viewing most tv series and sporting events, I moved on to other, more interesting things when there was a lull in the action.

[loucap81]

I said this in another thread, but I'll say it here as well. There were some good riffs and ideas on there, notably in "Dirty Water Dog" and "Ballot or the Bullet." But Eddie clearly can't write a coherent song on his own to save his life and the production was horrible. Calling it "Van Halen" instead of an Eddie solo record is what really made it a total joke.

I really believe if it were called an EVH solo record, if it were all instrumentals (or maybe some guest singers sprinkled in), and it were produced better, people wouldn't be so hostile towards it. It still wouldn't be a great record (probably 3 stars out of 5 on AllMusic instead of the 2 stars they gave it), but I think people would have appreciated Eddie's desire to experiment and do something different, which is what all good musicians try to do with each successive record.

[DLR Bridge]

Agree with that all the way. I may have mentioned this before, but George Lynch did a solo album like you described. Handful of singers and some instrumental tracks. Think it was called Sacred Groove.

[Romeo Delight]

To be honest, IMO, that's one of the good things about that album... it's a bit raw. Things in this era sound too air tight. Eddie was playing pretty fucking well on that album, some real nice lead work. The album as a whole is thrown together and not awesome, no doubt. But I can appreciate it on the Eddie solo album level. That's how I see it anyway..

I hear you, but it's like he just plugged in the amp and pushed play...feedback be damned. C'mon now, it was ridiculous.

I think it was a Year to the day where there is the quiet part in the beginning, you can hear the buzz of the amp throughout the intro. rofl...

[DLR Bridge]

Personal preference. The purposeful feedback of, say, any Nirvana song is forced dirtiness in my book. A little bit of speaker hum and fizz here and there on a VH record puts you in the room with him. His guitar breathes! I dig it.

[chefcraig]

I hear you, but it's like he just plugged in the amp and pushed play...feedback be damned. C'mon now, it was ridiculous.

I think it was a Year to the day where there is the quiet part in the beginning, you can hear the buzz of the amp throughout the intro. rofl...

Christ, that was annoying, as it shows up on a couple other tracks as well. It reminded me of the crummy first apartment I shared with my first wife. Every time she turned on the blow dryer, the tv screen would go sideways and that same ponderous buzz would come out of the speaker while I was trying to watch Sportscenter. I always wondered if Al was running the microwave or Ed was standing next to the fish tank when he recorded his guitar parts.

[Romeo Delight]

I think you have something there Chef! Maybe Al was "Baking" some of the old tapes in the microwave, desperatly making the taples playable again and searching for some tasty riffs?

[Romeo Delight]

The Feedback in the Nirvana songs is good feedback...the buzzing on VH III was not...it was just incompetence/laziness or both

[DLR Bridge]

Agree to disagree. Look, I know III was no gem, but the Nirvana feedback is just something any and all people with a guitar in their hands are capable of doing if they drunkenly meander towards and away from their blaring amps. It's pedestrian. Ofcourse, in 1993, it was brilliant because everything was so damn clean and tight in the studio til Mr. Flannelshirtnrippedjeans hit the scene.

[chefcraig]

Ofcourse, in 1993, it was brilliant because everything was so damn clean and tight in the studio til Mr. Flannelshirtnrippedjeans hit the scene.

True, but when you think about, the guy stole his outlook, appearance and sound lock, stock and barrel from Neil Young & Crazy Horse. :biggrin:


http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu185/mcmenace1/220px-Crazy_horse_w_neil_young.jpg

[DLR Bridge]

Ah true indeed! The man MTV Unplugged referred to as the "Godfather of Grunge."

[fourthcoming]

Wanna learn how to suck pretty much all of the oxygen out of a barely-filled concert hall? Try pulling this off with a straight face. Any percussive sounds you hear are provided by the feet of people stomping their way toward the exit signs. And hats off to you depraved, more than likely twisted masochists that can endure the entire clip. :yo:

Fuck this piece of crap and the crippled horse it rode in on. Just looking at the album cover (no need to listen to the miserable dreck contained within) is like seeing a girl you once thought of as nothing short of lovely now married to the sweaty fat-ass who never used antiperspirant but loved picking his nose and eating the results in 10th grade hallways.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytGPMfbZcs0

That was so difficult to watch......I could only make it to the 90 second mark. Who are the delusional, depraved fans cheering this in the background? Did Ed think he was Tom Waits....a really really terrible version of Tom Waits? That was an encore? Wow.....

[TJMKID]

I really believe if it were called an EVH solo record, if it were all instrumentals (or maybe some guest singers sprinkled in), and it were produced better, people wouldn't be so hostile towards it. It still wouldn't be a great record (probably 3 stars out of 5 on AllMusic instead of the 2 stars they gave it), but I think people would have appreciated Eddie's desire to experiment and do something different, which is what all good musicians try to do with each successive record.



I'm glad VH III turned out so shitty ---- it proves the point that Van Halen is a magical mixture of both Dave and Ed ---- not just Ed.

Which is why Ted Templeman sounds retarded when he says on the Japanese TV show ---- "I only signed VH because of Eddie".

Sweaty Teddy needs to listen to VH III to see how his theory holds up.



:amen:

[katina]

I never heard Van Halen III, as I never heard a single song of VH without Dave. That was not Van Halen for me.

[BITEYOASS]

That was so difficult to watch......I could only make it to the 90 second mark. Who are the delusional, depraved fans cheering this in the background? Did Ed think he was Tom Waits....a really really terrible version of Tom Waits? That was an encore? Wow.....

Nah, he sounds more like a drunk Leonard Cohen.

[BITEYOASS]

Has anyone got the clip of Howard Stern playing it to Roth? I haven't heard that for years, I remember much laughter...

I recall Dave saying that Eddie's singing sounded like pouring water over a sick cat. :bigwink:

[DONNIEP]

That was so difficult to watch......I could only make it to the 90 second mark. Who are the delusional, depraved fans cheering this in the background? Did Ed think he was Tom Waits....a really really terrible version of Tom Waits? That was an encore? Wow.....

Makes you feel bad for the road crew. Could you imagine having to sit through that train wreck, night after night, for months?

[BITEYOASS]

Frankly I wish this album was put in a rocket and thrown into the Sun.

[fourthcoming]

Makes you feel bad for the road crew. Could you imagine having to sit through that train wreck, night after night, for months?

I understand Mike and Gary not having a say in anything but Al never had the nerve to speak up and tell his brother it was ludicrous to ever even record that song let alone have it be an encore?

[DLR Bridge]

Man, the crowd does sound like they're genuinely going berzerk during that clip. I saw that tour at MSG. They were heavy on the CVH, 4 Hagar era and 3 III tunes. They didn't dare attempt that piano bit there. They closed with I'm The One. I still remember Ed saying, "not bad for the first time in 20 years." No Ed, but coulda been a whole lot better. Who strives for "not bad" when "fucking amazing" is within reach?

[fourthcoming]

The amazing version of I'm The One didn't reappear until 2007.

[DLR Bridge]

The amazing version of I'm The One didn't reappear until 2007.

Yeah, sadly, they skipped right over the barber shop segment at my '08 show. I remember thinking, "oh what the fuck!?"

[fourthcoming]

Did u see them in '08 in Jersey or MSG? I remember thinking why didn't they play Little Guitars in '08 but they did rip a fantastic couple of minutes of Crossroads.

[DLR Bridge]

The Izod center. That was a ripping Crossroads bit. Yeah, bummed about the no Little Guitars too, but the You Tube clips I've seen of that one really came off as though Ed half-heartedly tried to re-learn that one. I think that recent Esquire interview finally cleared up what cloud Ed was on when they finally reconvened with that tour. He definitely appeared spaced out and very still from my vantage point.

[VanHalenI]

I would have killed Gary and Ed if they dared to play a never-before-played song from CVH... say Dirty Movies.
Fuck the III era, shame on you ED :D

[katina]

I recall Dave saying that Eddie's singing sounded like pouring water over a sick cat. :bigwink:

I didn´t know it :lmao::lmao::lmao:

[TJMKID]

Man, the crowd does sound like they're genuinely going berzerk during that clip.


I think the YouTube poster added in a generic audience roar --- or else just tweaked up the crowd noise in the video editor.

I saw the Van Cherone tour in Pittsburgh and Columbus and the crowd got awfully quiet during shit ballads like "Josephina" and "How Many Says I".

All I can remember is it was a good time to take a long piss and recharge at the beer stand.

:yo:

[loucap81]

Sometimes they did the barbershop part in I'm the One in 07-08, sometimes they didn't. Roth particularly shined in that one, nailing the screams and everything.

[Coyote]

VH III isn't in my collection (anymore).

[BITEYOASS]

I wouldn't even torture terrorists imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay with this album!

[Terry]

Well, I guess one can certainly say that Van Halen III was (for better or worse...mostly worse) Eddie's album. He had control over the lyrical content, the musical content and the production.

In some ways it's very much like all the Van Hagar albums: some interesting musical ideas on an instrumental level are there to be found if one is able to ignore the inane lyrics. I thought the tracks Ballot or The Bullet and One I Want were decent enough tunes far as the guitar and drums went.

The overall sound was kind of dry and shallow; very little depth to the sonics.

To me, Cherone wasn't much worse of a fit for Van Halen than Hagar was (inasmuch as neither of them were a good fit to begin with). Honestly, listening to Van Halen III didn't make me think that the Van Hagar stuff was much better by way of comparison. I think Eddie wanted to take on a Pete Townshend role circa late-1970s/early-1980s Who in Van Halen by the point Cherone joined, in that Eddie was gonna be the primary creative force.

What Van Halen III really demonstrated is that as phenominal a talent as Eddie is, it's his guitar work that is the strength of that talent. Without a great frontman to bounce ideas off of (and the only one that has demonstrated the ability to get the best out of Eddie is Roth) and a producer who can do likewise, Ed left to his own devices is less than compelling.

[hambon4lif]

I'm thankful that to this day that I've never even heard this album. I heard the single "Without You" on the radio, and my first impression was "if they wanted Cherone to sing like Hagar so badly, why didn't they just keep Hagar?". I dug Gary and his work with Extreme, but I was immediately turned off by Ed and Al trying to turn him into Fatass Mach 2.
I'm especially thankful that "Slam Dunk" and the DLR Band hit the airwaves a few weeks later. By following the real heart and soul of that band, I was able to dodge that whole VHIII monstrosity entirely.

Other than "Without You" and the 10 seconds of "Fire In The AssHole" they played during a quick scene in 'Lethal Weapon 4', I still haven't heard that piece of shit.

Howard Stern tried to play "How Many Say I" for Roth during an interview, and 8 seconds into it Roth said that it sounded like someone was pouring hot water on a cat.
That's my gauge.
If VHIII had even half the heart that DLR Band did, it probably would've been O.K., but it didn't.

It was Ed in the midst of his meth hell, and it fucking sucked!

[FORD]

True, but when you think about, the guy stole his outlook, appearance and sound lock, stock and barrel from Neil Young & Crazy Horse. :biggrin:


http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu185/mcmenace1/220px-Crazy_horse_w_neil_young.jpg

Yeah, I can see where it might appear that way, but if you asked Kurt what he and Nirvana were trying to sound like, he would have answered either " Beatles meets Black Sabbath" or "REM with a fuzzbox". (Probably a little Black Flag, The Wipers, and The Pixies in there too.)

[ThatArtGuy]

Why is this in main?

How quickly people fall into the old ways when the tour stops.

[loucap81]

In some ways it's very much like all the Van Hagar albums: some interesting musical ideas on an instrumental level are there to be found if one is able to ignore the inane lyrics. I thought the tracks Ballot or The Bullet and One I Want were decent enough tunes far as the guitar and drums went.

Yes and no, in my opinion. Yes, in that you run into some cool grooves on Van Hagar songs like Judgment Day, Pleasure Dome and AFU, of course promptly ruined by Sambo's screeching and horrible lyrics (also bear in mind that some of those licks were written in the Roth years). But the divergence is that other than a couple of token songs clearly written for radio airplay, VHIII was hardly commercial friendly. Very, very few Hagar songs, even the non-singles, didn't have a safe, formula-following commercial feel to them. Horrible as it was, VHIII took risks, I'll give it that much.

I almost wonder if Eddie was trying to do a full-out prog rock album, especially with the guitar tone. "Dirty Water Dog" and "Once" clearly are going for those kind of sounds. Fair Warning is the only other VH album that I think has some prog influence in it.

[fryingdutchman]

"Josephina" was a last minute inclusion on the album, replacing "That's why I love you" but I do not think it's a poor song. Released under the name Van Halen doesn't do it any favours though.

If memory serves, "Josephina" is a tribute to Ed's mom...so you have to leave the song alone purely on that basis.

"That's Why I Love You" actually had potential, and should have been included over that steaming pile of shite called "How Many Say I?"

[fryingdutchman]

VH III is a total train wreck on almost every level, but in some strange way it has a purity and honesty about it because it mirrors Eddie's life at the time.

His marriage was crashing down around him, he was kidding himself that he was clean and sober and that Gary Cherone was "a brother" and the final cure to everything that had been ailing Van Halen as a band, and he was firmly convinced that all of the music was good and needed to be heard.

That record is a tangible representation of Ed's universe at the time, and none of it was good.

Eddie needed to vent his spleen, and he did it with that record. If it were any other band the record company would have laughed at them and the music would have never gone public. But he's Eddie fucking Van Halen and that will always mean something to the music industry.

I consider it a collector's item and hopefully Eddie uses VH III as a lodestar to ground himself whenever he starts getting too far out on the fringe....

[fryingdutchman]

Makes you feel bad for the road crew. Could you imagine having to sit through that train wreck, night after night, for months?

Meh....as long as the checks cleared I doubt they cared....

[fryingdutchman]

I try to view the Cherone era as the beginning of Eddie's true awakening that the CVH tunes were the only ones that ever really mattered.

He clearly got off on playing them again on tour with Cherone singing, and Gary liked singing them. Gary clearly had some sort of reverence for DLR and the CVH era.

Then Wolfgang stepped in and reinforced it, and here we are today with a killer new record in ADKOT and a huge tour.

So I take VH III with the perspective that "it's always darkest just before the dawn."

[Yount]

Other than "Without You" and the 10 seconds of "Fire In The AssHole" they played during a quick scene in 'Lethal Weapon 4', I still haven't heard that piece of shit.


If you haven't listened to that piece of shit, how do you know it is so?

[Yount]

Van Halen had some degree of success in Australia in 1998. They'd never toured before, so they were still going to sell even with Cherone. The album and single charted well enough early (Without you was the "most requested rock song of all time" or something like that.) There was some hype on channel 9 in particular.
But it was because of the release of Best Of Vol. 1; can't get this stuff no more and Me wise Magic, that got the fans back. I was there in the moment, 1998, and there was confusion, cos the internet was still not yet pop, when Cherone played instead of Roth. I've still got an interview on VHS with Ed so PC it's silly. But I was young then, I half believed it. All that brother angel voice elephant balls stuff. I reckon if he was sober since '95 like he said maybe he was on prescription meds instead, feelin' a little too much love for Gary, oblivious to the FACT that the last two releases with Roth pretty much hammered it home that Roth-VH was it and there's nothing more. I know, I figured, fuck it.

[DLR Bridge]

If memory serves, "Josephina" is a tribute to Ed's mom

And Gary's mom, too. I believe her name was Josephina. Contrary to Binnie's scathing review of this tune, I actually dig it from start to finish, save the time or too when Gary does a bad Freddie Mercury impersonation. I like the structure and the blend of guitar sounds is pretty damn creative, especially when the dark solo intro hits. There is actually a You Tube clip of Ed and Gary doing this song for Japanese TV. Just the two of them on stools. You get a much better Ed vocal here than his horrific HMSI.

[TJMKID]

I reckon if he was sober since '95 like he said maybe he was on prescription meds instead, feelin' a little too much love for Gary, oblivious to the FACT that the last two releases with Roth pretty much hammered it home that Roth-VH was it and there's nothing more. I know, I figured, fuck it.


Watch that MTV interview with Ed and Al right after the '96 Awards debacle ---- Ed spouting off about "Getting Roth in the band is going backwards --- that's not growth". I practically puked in my Cheerios he was so full of malarkey.

Ed was heavily baked into his own delusions from 1996 to 1999 ---- he thought that VH could sell millions of albums no matter who was fronting the band.

He learned his lesson the hard way ---- it's Dave or the grave ---- sometimes you gotta kick an old dog in the nuts over and over until he gets the point because he's a really stupid mutt.


:yo:

[clarathecarrot]

THIS IS THE DAVID LEE ROTH ARMY!!!!!

Everything Ed touches turns to gold, we all know that, if you are a guitarist and you want to listen to VHII, so you can find a new sound, no issue here , if you doit for medicinal purposes, you pays your money you takes your chances.

If anyone else, not a guitarist listens to this they are sheep! Why waste your time, fools.

If you didn't listen to it and some cunt says, you thus can't talk about it, FUCK HIM!!!

I can hear the -SUCK- from a mile away .

and again who the fuck is this BANJO BOB!!!

Haggis thread in main .....Dump this SHIT!!!!! :019: :picknose::puke:

ROTHARMY!!!!! < Read it and weep!

[Va Beach VH Fan]

THIS IS THE DAVID LEE ROTH ARMY!!!!!

Everything Ed touches turns to gold, we all know that, if you are a guitarist and you want to listen to VHII, so you can find a new sound, no issue here , if you doit for medicinal purposes, you pays your money you takes your chances.

If anyone else, not a guitarist listens to this they are sheep! Why waste your time, fools.

If you didn't listen to it and some cunt says, you thus can't talk about it, FUCK HIM!!!

I can hear the -SUCK- from a mile away .

and again who the fuck is this BANJO BOB!!!

Haggis thread in main .....Dump this SHIT!!!!! :019: :picknose::puke:

ROTHARMY!!!!! < Read it and weep!

Lighten up, Francis.....

[clarathecarrot]

Lighten up, Francis.....

I just wanted to take a hardline approach to this thread .

...and I am always looking for a excuse to write, Who the fuck is Banjo Bob.

This thread has no purpose......:yo:

[Va Beach VH Fan]

This thread has no purpose......:yo:

Like there aren't about 5,000 more of those around here....

[clarathecarrot]

Like there aren't about 5,000 more of those around here....


All the rock stuff and all the general music and general knowlege stuff I have learned here is immeasurable.

Throw in a few thousand threads of complete psychobabble and then you can see, why we all haven't been found in a clock tower, plinking away at wierdos from outerspace.

Is it,.. Site Owner, Webbie and Mod appreciation week...?

Damn, I woke up swinging and now I am all loaded with Feelings....:yo:

[PETE'S BROTHER]

All the rock stuff and all the general music and general knowlege stuff I have learned here is immeasurable.

Throw in a few thousand threads of complete psychobabble and then you can see, why we all haven't been found in a clock tower, plinking away at wierdos from outerspace.

Is it,.. Site Owner, Webbie and Mod appreciation week...?

Damn, I woke up swinging and now I am all loaded with Feelings....:yo:

:wanker: that outta clear your mind

[clarathecarrot]

:wanker: that outta clear your mind

Feeeeeeelinnngssssss woh woh woh feeeeeeelingsssss.....just don't feel it too much
or the lady in 5-B will be knocking on the door again wanting me to show her,.. her sugar,.. cup,.. borrow (.hmmmm?)..or was it deliver her pizza..?


Feeelinngggsss woh woh woh....

[VAiN]

I revisited this album.. It's been years. I forwarded to the solos of the songs and, yep, they're great - then gary kicks in and I feel a little sick. I had forgotten just how bad that part of it is. gary is trying to sound like fat fucking clown.

[gbranton]

stool............horrific.......

My two word review.

[Yount]

Anybody replacing Hagar was a move in the right direction for me. That's why I lay off the III bashing.

[ashstralia]

Like there aren't about 5,000 more of those around here....

and if i may, kind sir, this is part of the attraction. :yo:

[Yount]

I remember in '98 going into a used record/cd store and seeing a heap of VHIII and I got one. I didn't give the band my money I guess. But I paid $16AUS. I should have waited. You know they're sunk when you see all those albums lined up like Hanson - Middle of nowhere, Metallica - St. Anger, etc.
Trying to think of the stupidest price I paid for a CD. I dunno, in Australia they could be real cunts with the price in the days when Brashes was open for business. I think it was a greatest hits, $39.95 Cheap Trick or maybe Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. But you think that's bad, I got a used cassette tape in the 00's for a buck of Cinderella - Long Cold Winter and some shmuck had paid $39.99 in, what? 1990? I dunno. But the cassette still had the original price tag. Cool!!

[loucap81]

Anybody replacing Hagar was a move in the right direction for me. That's why I lay off the III bashing.

It is kind of funny how VHIII gets some points with Roth fans solely for being a breath of fresh air from Hagar.

[binnie]

And Gary's mom, too. I believe her name was Josephina. Contrary to Binnie's scathing review of this tune, I actually dig it from start to finish, save the time or too when Gary does a bad Freddie Mercury impersonation. I like the structure and the blend of guitar sounds is pretty damn creative, especially when the dark solo intro hits. There is actually a You Tube clip of Ed and Gary doing this song for Japanese TV. Just the two of them on stools. You get a much better Ed vocal here than his horrific HMSI.

Well, each to their own.

I just can't stand it - Cherone's voice on softer material has always grated on me, however, so I guess it was always going to be a struggle for my ears.

As for VHIII more generally, it sounds like a band who don't know who/what they are: there's certainly plenty of creativity/ideas, but they're not all pulling in the same direction. That's my 2 cents anyway.....

[fourthcoming]

Lighten up, Francis.....

HAAAAAAA.........Any of you guys call ME Francis, and I'll kill ya.