MTV: An Open Letter To Van Halen: Please Do Not Make An Album

[VHscraps]

I share the worries that any new album could be a total letdown.

Yeah, they're thinkin' too much - I don't think any of them are dumb as we might think, and they KNOW that doing what they did 25 years ago, and I mean specifically in the way the whole thing is presented, the vibe, etc., just won't fly.

I seem to recall an interview with Ed VH just after they finished the last tour and he said they were either in the studio, or Dave was coming over and listening to stuff, etc., and he added something along the lines of it doesn't sound anything like people would expect - it isn't balls to the wall kinda stuff.. Now, if that was the case - and assuming this 'not sounding like anyone might expect' doesn't mean that Dave is now doing Hagar-style piano ballads (puke at the thought), then they could do something. Maybe.

They could lose a lot of harcorde fans, but I think the only way for them to emerge from a new album with integrity intact is to do what they FEEL like doing, and not what the fans migth expect - or what is fuckin fashionable.

One thing that distinguished CVH is that they were the real deal - no faking. The worst think they can do is fake that old attitude. I, for one, don't want to see a bunch of old dudes acting young.

Look at Jagger - he looks stupid prancing about like he was 25. But ... Keith Richards maintains an element of cool.

[ELVIS]

Hendrix was not a great vocalist, lol.

You sir, are an idiot...

[Jagermeister]

They are over thinking everything... they have been since they got back together.
Pick a producer, go into a studio for 3-4 weeks tops, and shit out an album.
That's pretty much what KISS did with Sonic Boom... did it stand up to their classic six-pack of albums (KISS, HTH, DTK, Destroyer, RARO & Love Gun)? No... but it's sold almost 500,000 copies in the US alone, which is pretty much considered a success by today's standards and there's already talk of them going into the studio in February to shit out another one.
Just fucking do it.
And as far as Dave's voice goes... the right producer could get Dave's upper register sounding good and strong. 'Black Ice' is no 'For Those About To Rock'... but Brendan O'Brien got Brian Johnson sounding pretty damn good again.

Music is something Van Halen makes when they run out of nothing to do.

I guess they haven't got there yet.

[chefcraig]

Music is something Van Halen makes when they run out of other shit to sell.

I guess they haven't got there yet.

Fixed that for ya, bro.

[kwame k]

[Jagermeister]

Fixed that for ya, bro.

No shit. This makes me recall an interview after the big break up where Dave is saying him and Ted were setting around ready to make a record while the VH brothers were busy playing with there wifes. You just have to wonder what concersations have takin place. They can't decide on a producer, they have to wait for Wolfgang to finish getting straight F's in school, they have to wait for Ed to get laid, they have to SHIT OR GET OFF THE POT!

[Seshmeister]

Other than that, I thought MWM and CGTSNM were not THAT bad ... it's easy to hear the strain with Dave but he was given songs with no input on how they were put together. And they were Van Hagar left overs. I think if Dave was involved in the writing it would be better.

Totally. What's wrong is that they are Van Hagar songs with Roth lyrics and singing.

Is there not a danger though that is what a new Van Halen album would be too?

[Jagermeister]

LMAO!

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[joe d'amato]

... whoever wrote that letter is cocksucking scum. if the author truly believes the two songs from the best of volume one greatest hits cd aren't any good then he's got his head stuffed up his ass. and anyway, we're here to celebrate and rejoice in the fantastic world of vh, not criticize it ...

[Terry]

I share the worries that any new album could be a total letdown.

Yeah, they're thinkin' too much - I don't think any of them are dumb as we might think, and they KNOW that doing what they did 25 years ago, and I mean specifically in the way the whole thing is presented, the vibe, etc., just won't fly.

I seem to recall an interview with Ed VH just after they finished the last tour and he said they were either in the studio, or Dave was coming over and listening to stuff, etc., and he added something along the lines of it doesn't sound anything like people would expect - it isn't balls to the wall kinda stuff.. Now, if that was the case - and assuming this 'not sounding like anyone might expect' doesn't mean that Dave is now doing Hagar-style piano ballads (puke at the thought), then they could do something. Maybe.

They could lose a lot of harcorde fans, but I think the only way for them to emerge from a new album with integrity intact is to do what they FEEL like doing, and not what the fans migth expect - or what is fuckin fashionable.

One thing that distinguished CVH is that they were the real deal - no faking. The worst think they can do is fake that old attitude. I, for one, don't want to see a bunch of old dudes acting young.

Look at Jagger - he looks stupid prancing about like he was 25. But ... Keith Richards maintains an element of cool.

Well, the CVH legacy is bulletproof. Even a substandard (by comparison) new album from the current incarnation of 'Van Halen' won't tarnish that. I mean, Walking Into Clarksdale was no great shakes, but it hardly did Zeppelin's legacy any harm: people still scooped up the 2003 dvd/cd live Zep releases.

Who knows how many units a new Van Halen album will sell? Could be a boon or a bust. Fuck, Ed got his kid in the band and that apparently didn't stop people from wanting to see Roth and the Van Halens try to reconjure the old magic onstage. The question is how many people who attended those shows were diehard fans of the band vs. casual fans who went because it was an 'event' tour that season.

I'd agree totally that even at their most indulgent and hucksterish, CVH still paradoxically reeked of honesty with every release. Even if the two BOV1 tracks were as much as gimmick to sell a few more units of a greatest hits album and one thinks neither of the tunes quite stacked up to what the band did when they were kings, there was an energy and tension in the music that is seemingly inevitable whenever the Van Halens and Roth play together.

Would they sell a million copies/downloads/whatever with a new album? Maybe. Whatever they end up doing, I'd also agree it should be what they want to do and what comes naturally to them, rather than try and calibrate the songwriting process in terms of what they think people want to hear. It'd just be cool to hear them make an honest effort, regardless of if the results stack up or not. I mean, if people raise their expectations and plan on getting an album on the same level as the first four CVH albums, that's probably not realistic. However, since their original output can't be diminished, they really DO have nothing to lose assuming they could keep filling arenas flogging the oldies anyway. The Stones haven't exactly set sales records with their last 3 studio releases, but every tour sells out. In America, the name Van Halen is in that same category.

[joe d'amato]

... without van halen the glory days of mtv wouldn't have been what they were. how dare mtv criticize a group that was so important to the cable channel in its earlier days. they were basically financial partners who did quite well by each other ...

... obviously van halen isn't the right band for the author of the mtv letter. accordingly, the author should shut up and find the religion that best suits him and give up badmouthing van halen ...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

... whoever wrote that letter is cocksucking scum. if the author truly believes the two songs from the best of volume one greatest hits cd aren't any good then he's got his head stuffed up his ass. and anyway, we're here to celebrate and rejoice in the fantastic world of vh, not criticize it ...

I agree with him for the most part, those songs were obviously rushed through, the key was way too high for Dave.....

I know I've pasted this analogy here about five times before, but it really fits....

I'll let Eddie Murphy explain it....

If you're starving and somebody throw you a cracker, you gonna be like this: "Goddamn, that's the best cracker I ever ate in my life! That ain't no regular cracker, was it? What was that, a Saltine? Goddamn, that was delicious. That wasn't no Saltine. That was... That was a Ritz. That wasn't a Ritz? God, that was the best cracker I ever ate in my life. Can I have another one, please? Please, one more."


For those who don't comprende, us fans were the starving ones in 1996, the crackers were MWM and CGSTNM.....

[joe d'amato]

I agree with him for the most part, those songs were obviously rushed through, the key was way too high for Dave.....

I know I've pasted this analogy here about five times before, but it really fits....

I'll let Eddie Murphy explain it....

If you're starving and somebody throw you a cracker, you gonna be like this: "Goddamn, that's the best cracker I ever ate in my life! That ain't no regular cracker, was it? What was that, a Saltine? Goddamn, that was delicious. That wasn't no Saltine. That was... That was a Ritz. That wasn't a Ritz? God, that was the best cracker I ever ate in my life. Can I have another one, please? Please, one more."


For those who don't comprende, us fans were the starving ones in 1996, the crackers were MWM and CGSTNM.....

... crackers? what the fuck is this?

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Never mind....

[Anonymous]

... crackers? what the fuck is this?

Well, aren't you the quick one.

I bet nothing flies by you.

Well, nothing really obvious. Maybe.

Does it hurt, when you try to think?

Cheers! :bottle: