Official "A Different Kind of Truth" Album Review Thread

[flappo]

I loved it , got an iTunes copy and the special cd's coming from Amazon in the next few days.

So loud and powerful I may have to try it out on my brothers OTT surround system to get the full effect.

[ZahZoo]

I don't expect every journalist to be falling over themselves to praise ADKOT, but the Hitfix review can be instantly dismissed as a load of nonsense. The songs are "largely hookless"? The album is full of hooks - heavy yet catchy tracks - all with a clear direction of where the band wants them to go.

What we have here is a writer with no understanding of the Classic Van Halen approach, probably due to no research or prior interest in the band, resulting in a lazily written review lacking any real substance.

Not going to make excuses for the clueless journalists... fuck em. But you would have to consider if these people made a living reviewing new rock releases the last 15 years their comparative basis is pretty damn thin. Look at the state of popular rock today... majority is shit, wouldn't know a guitar solo if it kicked em... I chalk it up to the poor fools just don't know any better because they were raised on weak crap to begin with...

[DLR Bridge]

You know what I'm enjoying most about the reviews I've read so far? Reading reviews from those who fully intended to rip the album to shreds and end up sounding, for the most part, complimentary. Impossible to write an all out bad review for this. Can't and won't be done. Worst I've seen was somebody gave it a B-. If the worst grade one of my kids brings home from school is a B-, I'd say they're A-OK in my book.

Chicken what?

[ELVIS]

Given that it's like thirty four years since the first album, ADKOT is really great, but it's not 100% killer. No way...

Some of you just listen with your DLRose colored glasses...

Things I like:

It's HEAVY! It's loud. It sounds like real Van Halen. It's better than both 1984 and Diver Down overall...

Things I don't like:

The vocals in Beats Workin' rub me totally the wrong way just like the crappy filler songs from ALAE and YFLM...

There seems to be total lack of communication between Dave and the Van Halens on Honrybabysweetiedoll...

That song is good but it could have been a hard rock/metal anthem. The low harmony part is neat, but Dave sounds like he didn't really know what to do with that song...

Some of the remakes are questionable...

Outta Space rocks hard and Dave keeps up and makes the song way better than the stupid Let's Get Rockin', but the words like Counter blast and facebook make me cringe. And the riff is way basic compared to anything on classic VH. There's a reason that song never got farther than a demo...But I do like it!!

Bullethead has some seriously silly lyrics going on as well, but overall it's a jam and Dave sounds good...

The keyboards in Tattoo are horribly bad and sound so out of date for a single it's enbarrassing. Who's idea was that ?? They should have re-worked the music with more oomph...

Other than those little discrepancies, the new album is great...

Blood and Fire is a #1 hit as far as I'm concerned and the rest is heavy as hell VAN FUCKIN' HALEN !!

[Vinnie Velvet]

Given that it's like thirty four years since the first album, ADKOT is really great, but it's not 100% killer. No way...

Some of you just listen with your DLRose colored glasses...

Things I like:

It's HEAVY! It's loud. It sounds like real Van Halen. It's better than both 1984 and Diver Down overall...

Things I don't like:

The vocals in Beats Workin' rub me totally the wrong way just like the crappy filler songs from ALAE and YFLM...

There seems to be total lack of communication between Dave and the Van Halens on Honrybabysweetiedoll...

That song is good but it could have been a hard rock/metal anthem. The low harmony part is neat, but Dave sounds like he didn't really know what to do with that song...

Some of the remakes are questionable...

Outta Space rocks hard and Dave keeps up and makes the song way better than the stupid Let's Get Rockin', but the words like Counter blast and facebook make me cringe. And the riff is way basic compared to anything on classic VH. There's a reason that song never got farther than a demo...But I do like it!!

Bullethead has some seriously silly lyrics going on as well, but overall it's a jam and Dave sounds good...

The keyboards in Tattoo are horribly bad and sound so out of date for a single it's enbarrassing. Who's idea was that ?? They should have re-worked the music with more oomph...

Other than those little discrepancies, the new album is great...

Blood and Fire is a #1 hit as far as I'm concerned and the rest is heavy as hell VAN FUCKIN' HALEN !!

That review sucked ass.

[DLR Bridge]

Discrepancies can and will be found, but so friggin' what. "I'll fax you into the atom age" and "there goes my beeper" didn't keep me from loving DLR band. Small little turds here and there are to be expected and compensated for.

[Luke D]

You know what I'm enjoying most about the reviews I've read so far? Reading reviews from those who fully intended to rip the album to shreds and end up sounding, for the most part, complimentary. Impossible to write an all out bad review for this. Can't and won't be done. Worst I've seen was somebody gave it a B-. If the worst grade one of my kids brings home from school is a B-, I'd say they're A-OK in my book.

Chicken what?

Yeah, I'd say at least 90% of the reviews I've read have been positive, which for a comeback album is incredible.

[ELVIS]

That review sucked ass.

Yeah, I forgot to mention the other "small little turd" which is the over use of Dave's low talking voice...

There, that's better, eh VV ??

[Luke D]

Boston Globe gave a great review. Except now they've put most of the review behind a paywall.

http://bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/02/06/with-truth-van-halen-returns-surprisingly-rejuvenated/ZQX4aHDVR7CbUZOIRsTe2N/story.html

With ‘Truth,’ Van Halen returns, surprisingly rejuvenated

Reunions of classic rock bands are, often justifiably, met with skepticism and very low expectations. That pre-release pessimism sometimes means positive reactions are overblown when the results aren’t a complete travesty, retroactively diminishing the group’s glory days. But the initial surprise of how enjoyable Van Halen’s reunion effort “A Different Kind of Truth’’ is, vis a vis expectations, gives way to a simple appreciation of how enjoyable it is period. “A Different Kind of Truth’’ is out tomorrow.

[DiverDowninKy]

With ‘Truth,’ Van Halen returns, surprisingly rejuvenated
By Sarah Rodman | Globe Staff February 06, 2012

Save Reunions of classic rock bands are, often justifiably, met with skepticism and very low expectations.

That pre-release pessimism sometimes means positive reactions are overblown when the results aren’t a complete travesty, retroactively diminishing the group’s glory days.

But the initial surprise of how enjoyable Van Halen’s reunion effort “A Different Kind of Truth’’ is, vis-a-vis expectations, gives way to a simple appreciation of how enjoyable it is, period.

Out tomorrow, “Truth’’ is the group’s first full-length album with original frontman David Lee Roth since “1984’’ and features namesake guitarist Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang on bass. (Van Halen: now with even more Van Halen!) It isn’t perfect, but it’s far better than it needed to be to satisfy the requirements of a round of nostalgic cash-grabbing. And it’s shockingly cohesive for a group of clashing personalities lugging a tour bus worth of baggage.

Full of Eddie’s muscular riffage and eruptive solos and Roth’s smarmy charm, “Truth’’ doesn’t try to reinvent the band’s signature sound. It didn’t need to, as Roth and the Van Halens - including drummer Alex - have openly stated that its 13 tracks were partially composed from bits and bobs of unreleased material from the ’70s.

Although the album begins limply with the plodding first single, “Tattoo,’’ it picks up steam and real brawn quickly with the spiraling rhythms and locomotive heft of “She’s the Woman,’’ the swaggering “You and Your Blues’’ (featuring Van Halen’s irresistibly serrated licks), and the furious double-timer “China Town.’’

Roth, one of the crown princes of rock ’n’ roll jibber-jabber, is in mostly good form, spewing forth his nonsense, propaganda, and jive talk with a mischievous vigor. “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor/ Rich is better, totally better’’ he yelps on the restless “As Is.’’

“Truth’’ isn’t a completely clean getaway, however. Producer John Shanks - who has worked with everyone from Miley Cyrus to Keith Urban to Bon Jovi - sometimes mixes Eddie’s guitar curiously low, and there’s a vacuum-sealed tightness to the sound. Several songs want for the high harmony parts of founding bassist Michael Anthony. And Roth’s corny-Catskills-comic-meets-slithery-leather-pant-encased-rock-god shtick can definitely wander into irritating territory that will likely turn off the casually curious, not to mention fans who preferred second VH singer Sammy Hagar.

At one point, Roth winks at all involved and the band’s own past when he growls, “Told you I was coming back/ Say you missed me, say it like you mean it.’’ As shocked as we are, we did, and we do; if this is Van Halen’s “Truth,’’ there’s no reason they shouldn’t stick to it.

[ThrillsNSpills]

Generally speaking, reviews are from desperate people trying to justify their own mediocrity.


especially the petty ones from ignorant people

[DLR Bridge]

Yeah, I forgot to mention the other "small little turd" which is the over use of Dave's low talking voice...

There, that's better, eh VV ??

I can tolerate the spoken parts that are not so low that you can't understand him. The one in Trouble starts out a bit unintelligible. Hey, just so long he's not speaking like Christian Bale's Batman. Now that's rough.

[SNIPER]

Looks like my dvd/cd copy just fell off a truck too. Was not expecting that to happen. Gonna go get it now!

[Vinnie Velvet]

Yeah, I forgot to mention the other "small little turd" which is the over use of Dave's low talking voice...

There, that's better, eh VV ??

Well, at least you didn't mention how much you missed Mike's 'testicals in a vise grip' background vocals.

:D

[Angel]

Just consider the talking parts "a little one for the ladies". We quite enjoy it.