Official "A Different Kind of Truth" Album Review Thread

[DLR'sCock]

The album dropped to 27 this week on the Billboard 200

[nailhead]

Finally managed to get my hands on a copy of the album today, yea yea I know only a month late, already heard Tattoo thrashed to bits but the second track "Shes The Woman" holy shit it full on gave me a hard on, if that doesnt have the vintage Van Halen sound then I dont know what does, Ive just about worn the track off the CD already, Best song on the album for sure, pity its under 3 minutes though, Just getting into it an its all over.

[chuckie lee]

No need to worry...

The album dropped to 27 this week on the Billboard 200

After 5 weeks on the charts its still #27 on the top 200 albums.. And again after 5 weeks, its # 8 on the rock album chart after being # 1 for the previous 4 weeks.. And on the hard rock album charts its # 2 after 5 weeks, being # 1 the previous 4 weeks. Even more good news the new single STW, IS MOVING UP THE ROCK SINGLES CHART BEING ONE OF THE BIGGEST GAINERS AT # 31.. It was 37 last week, and 46 the week before and has only been out for three weeks.. It is the number 1 single on the R.I. rock station 94 hjy's playlist, as well as Mass rock station's waaf 107.3 playlist... It has to be over 300,000 sold by now.. It will go platinum... Just keep puttin out the good singles.. Beats workin (cut out the fist 45 seconds), Big River, YAYB, and Stay Frosty.....

[Bob_R]

On Billboard (all genres) it's #27 right now. It peaked at #2 never hit #1.

On Billboard (Hard Rock) it's #2. Was #1 for 4 weeks as mentioned above.

On the BBC it's not even in the Top 40.

[flappo]

fair warning wasn't a big hit if i recall

nuff said

[Halen High]

After 5 weeks on the charts its still #27 on the top 200 albums.. And again after 5 weeks, its # 8 on the rock album chart after being # 1 for the previous 4 weeks.. And on the hard rock album charts its # 2 after 5 weeks, being # 1 the previous 4 weeks. Even more good news the new single STW, IS MOVING UP THE ROCK SINGLES CHART BEING ONE OF THE BIGGEST GAINERS AT # 31.. It was 37 last week, and 46 the week before and has only been out for three weeks.. It is the number 1 single on the R.I. rock station 94 hjy's playlist, as well as Mass rock station's waaf 107.3 playlist... It has to be over 300,000 sold by now.. It will go platinum... Just keep puttin out the good singles.. Beats workin (cut out the fist 45 seconds), Big River, YAYB, and Stay Frosty.....

I believe US sales are 312,000.

ADKOT will be a 'stayer', due to word-of-mouth that this Van Halen album has seen the band recapture its vintage approach, interviews with other artists talking about how brilliant it is, and with the band touring. Although on the last point, they should be playing at least one more track at each show.

So it will probably drop to 100-150 but stay in the top 200 for some time yet - or re-appear after next year's Grammys.

Do album sales at the shows count? And if so, when are they added to the overall figure?

[Terry]

A month into listening, while I can say there aren't any songs on the album that flat-out stink, there are a few that I'm not connecting with:

1. Stay Frosty - A bit too close to Ice Cream Man, while not being nearly as good. It feels like Dave threw in a few too many lyrics for his own good here, in terms of where his phrasing ends on many of the verses.

2. You and Your Blues - Just doesn't do it for me.

3. As Is - Same as above.

The rest of it I'm still digging. If this will end up being something timeless like the CVH stuff or something I'll only end up popping in once in a blue moon...that verdict is still at least a year away.

[TwoFoolsAMinute]

A month into listening, while I can say there aren't any songs on the album that flat-out stink, there are a few that I'm not connecting with:

1. Stay Frosty - A bit too close to Ice Cream Man, while not being nearly as good. It feels like Dave threw in a few too many lyrics for his own good here, in terms of where his phrasing ends on many of the verses.

2. You and Your Blues - Just doesn't do it for me.

3. As Is - Same as above.

The rest of it I'm still digging. If this will end up being something timeless like the CVH stuff or something I'll only end up popping in once in a blue moon...that verdict is still at least a year away.

Weird. Those are, without a doubt, my three favorites on the cd.

[Terry]

Weird. Those are, without a doubt, my three favorites on the cd.

Yeah...I can't really say why they aren't...I can kinda intellectualize on why Stay Frosty isn't, but the other two...it's just visceral; they just ain't firing me up, and repeated listenings aren't doing the trick.

I like the energy on As Is. Certain parts of it are inventive. You And Your Blues is perhaps a bit too pedestrian for me. Something that might have been stellar within the context of some of the post-YFLM Roth solo albums, but is coming across as very average alongside the rest of the ADKOT tracks.

The high points of ADKOT to me are:

Chinatown
Honeybabysweetiedoll
Outta Space
Big River
Beats Working

[DLR Bridge]

Yeah...I can't really say why they aren't...I can kinda intellectualize on why Stay Frosty isn't, but the other two...it's just visceral; they just ain't firing me up, and repeated listenings aren't doing the trick.

I like the energy on As Is. Certain parts of it are inventive. You And Your Blues is perhaps a bit too pedestrian for me. Something that might have been stellar within the context of some of the post-YFLM Roth solo albums, but is coming across as very average alongside the rest of the ADKOT tracks.

The high points of ADKOT to me are:

Chinatown
Honeybabysweetiedoll
Outta Space
Big River
Beats Working

I agree with your take on You & Your Blues. My favorite part of the cd is the 1-2 punch of As Is and Honeybabysweetiedoll. I noticed you put Outta Space and Beats Workin' in your top 5. What is your take on the higher register Dave reaches for? I cant help but wish he did those songs a bit more in his vocal comfort range. Not a chance in hell that he can pull those off live.

[BumBahDeeDah]

A month into listening, while I can say there aren't any songs on the album that flat-out stink, there are a few that I'm not connecting with:

1. Stay Frosty - A bit too close to Ice Cream Man, while not being nearly as good. It feels like Dave threw in a few too many lyrics for his own good here, in terms of where his phrasing ends on many of the verses.

2. You and Your Blues - Just doesn't do it for me.

3. As Is - Same as above.

The rest of it I'm still digging. If this will end up being something timeless like the CVH stuff or something I'll only end up popping in once in a blue moon...that verdict is still at least a year away.

If you don't love every track on ADKOT, you're WRONG. I only skip Tattoo sometimes because I played it all day every day for a month before the fill album came out, but after a month of listening to ADKOT, I actually thought to myself that some of the songs are too short, seems like the album runs through faster and faster now, just keeps getting better and better.

[Halen High]

If you don't love every track on ADKOT, you're WRONG. I only skip Tattoo sometimes because I played it all day every day for a month before the fill album came out, but after a month of listening to ADKOT, I actually thought to myself that some of the songs are too short, seems like the album runs through faster and faster now, just keeps getting better and better.

As Is took a while to grow on me - now I love it. I'm skipping Tattoo a lot - but like you - that's because I played it about 200 times before the album came out. Love the heavier live version though.

[chuckie lee]

I believe US sales are 312,000.

ADKOT will be a 'stayer', due to word-of-mouth that this Van Halen album has seen the band recapture its vintage approach, interviews with other artists talking about how brilliant it is, and with the band touring. Although on the last point, they should be playing at least one more track at each show.

So it will probably drop to 100-150 but stay in the top 200 for some time yet - or re-appear after next year's Grammys.

Do album sales at the shows count? And if so, when are they added to the overall figure?

Thats a good question bud... I would think that the sales of the album get counted as soon as they are sold. But I dont know.... My faves are STW, YAYB, AS IS, STAY FROSTY, BIG RIVER, BEATS WORKIN.. Love all those. I seriously cant pick a fave, I love em equally. The only 1 I skip over is HBSD, not all the time, but if I skip 1 thats the one.. Tattoo takes a beating, but I like it. I really thought that this would sell multi platinum at first, maybe it will over time. But I thought it was gonna be HUGE. I still think platinum by years end..

[Halen High]

Thats a good question bud... I would think that the sales of the album get counted as soon as they are sold. But I dont know.... My faves are STW, YAYB, AS IS, STAY FROSTY, BIG RIVER, BEATS WORKIN.. Love all those. I seriously cant pick a fave, I love em equally. The only 1 I skip over is HBSD, not all the time, but if I skip 1 thats the one.. Tattoo takes a beating, but I like it. I really thought that this would sell multi platinum at first, maybe it will over time. But I thought it was gonna be HUGE. I still think platinum by years end..

I keep hitting repeat for Beats Workin - LOVE that song!

[Terry]

I agree with your take on You & Your Blues. My favorite part of the cd is the 1-2 punch of As Is and Honeybabysweetiedoll. I noticed you put Outta Space and Beats Workin' in your top 5. What is your take on the higher register Dave reaches for? I cant help but wish he did those songs a bit more in his vocal comfort range. Not a chance in hell that he can pull those off live.

Beats Workin' is kinda odd in that Roth is singing the verses using two tracks, one for a higher register and one for a spoken-voice register. Theoretically, he could alternate between the spoken voice and higher registers throughout the song and still pull it off live, mostly because the tempo is moderate.

I dunno if he could pull off Outta Space live in a manner that would closely resemble the recording, least far as the verses go, because the song is too fast for him to sing those verses in his high range without pausing for a breath.

I mean, it's good that he's still making the effort to sing in those higher registers...it doesn't always sound flawless...then again, Dave's vocals aren't really about flawlessness, right?