The Official Van Halen, "Tattoo" review thread.

[qikgts]

Whatever the case... they picked the wrong 20 seconds to sample....

Yessssssiiiirrrrrrreeebbbboooobbbbb.

[if6was9]

Easy there young Jedi....

Thank you! But I'm afraid "young" is not exactly the right word

What can I say more? Nothing to see here, move along...

[fryingdutchman]

Thank you! But I'm afraid "young" is not exactly the right word

I hear ya...none of us are quite what we used to be.

But new music from VH brings me right back to those days.

This is going to kick ass when the wraps come off of the whole package.

[Big Fat Sammy]

Totally imagine this is going to have some deep Zen-like lyrics like CGTSNM.

[jhale667]

One thing a lot of people are overlooking when it comes to reworking old songs...

The band always did that. No matter what that shitstick Sambo is whining about, they pulled out old tunes from the demo days throughout their career:

VAN HALEN II was full of leftovers from the demo days that didn't make it to VH I.
WACF has IN A SIMPLE RHYME, the bridge on ROMEO DELIGHT, etc.
FAIR WARNING has bits and pieces, including the bridge on the old SHE'S THE WOMAN.
DIVER DOWN is mostly leftover tracks with a few covers. Hell, HANG 'EM HIGH was LAST NIGHT originally, etc.
1984 has HOUSE OF PAIN, totally reworked.

Even with Cheesehead...
There's one track on BALANCE that's a total rewrite of an acoustic song from the demo days.

There's simply doing what they've done throughout their career. I love when they finish off old tunes. It's like unfinished business finally being finished.

If they do another album with Dave (and I hope they do), there'll be a lot of unfinished business done with so they can look even more into the future. Plus, doing these old tunes probably inspired the new material.

I think a lot of what the non-musicians are missing is...that's what old demos are for (imagine a few others here will back me up on this)....hello? Every band/artist does it... and usually when it comes time to write new material, you find you may want to re-visit something that you didn't get around to finishing the first time, even years later.

[if6was9]

Man, but this shit is a sample of the single. Which means it's supposed to be the best part of the most catchy track from the album.

[Matt White]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

I'll wait & see.............

Dave sounds good....as good as he gets these days

Al is in the mix.....sounds like REAL drums.....

Bass good....after last night I've got high hopes.............

EVH sounds kinda plodding to me....not the usual gymnastics in the RYTHYM.....the verse seems kinda blah....I'm expexting that kinda of DIVER DOWN era riff which just snakes thru the tunes....too early to tell....but HELL...its HIS music so who am I to "piss and moan"....I'm just glad it actually HAPPENED AT LAST!

[Halen High]

Just listend to the clip for the 20th time and I love it! I think radio will lap it up as it's catchy with a very cool groove. It's exactly what I hoped they would sound like with the new material - old school but with a contemporary twist.

[mewisemagic]

Thanks for the link and like what I hear so far,Dave sounds great and the song has a nice trance to it...

[ToraToraTora]

All together now " I got hula girls, on the back of my leg, And she huullla's when i walk"

[Roth & Roll]

Man, but this shit is a sample of the single. Which means it's supposed to be the best part of the most catchy track from the album.

How on earth do you justify passing judgement on an entire song or album based on a 20 second clip?

Name me any great album or song, and I can find you 20 seconds which don't even begin to tell the story...are you serious, man?

[Halen High]

From the 30 seconds....I agree, it does have a Down in Flames vibe to it.

I fucking like it.......this is what I was kinda hoping they'd do. A mature sound with a nod to the past but not to the point of being a caricature of their past self.

Keyboards....meh! Al's drums, clear and placed right in the mix......Dave vocals, lower but good.......Ed's guitar, not really enough of it to make a judgement.....Wolfie/Ed's bass, while not completely buried like in the past is decent sounding and placed pretty good in the mix.

Man, I can't remember being this excited about my band and their new album!

You summed up my feelings perfectly. Can't wait to crank out the whole song!

[BruinJer]

This whole affair so far has Dave written all over it. From the NY Club Date to the reworking of Old Material to the Train Logo to the opening band.

YOu know Sammy (as much as all find him annoying) was right on the money... The VH brothers are freakin' clueless and have no direction. It's starting to look like they handed over the keys to Dave and are letting him drive this bus. This is a smart move... He is the mouthpiece, the promoter and face of the band! Ed is loaded half the time... Al is a big kid... and Wolfie is just getting his feet wet. I like the new tune so far and VH is moving in a new direction... a little of the old mixed with a new hip sound! Brilliant!

[chi-town324]

dont hate it but not that excited...of course i want to hear the whole track thing before judging. Its new VH...that kicks ass!!!!!!

[jhale667]

Yeah, think it's safe to say anyone willing to dimiss the tune (much less the entire release) outright based on a 30-second snippet... is a little too quick to judge.