The Official Van Halen, "Tattoo" review thread.

[Guitar Shark]

Hard to tell from such a brief clip, but it definitely sounds like a reworked version of "Down in Flames" to me.

[Rikk]

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.

[1971Quarter]

Bingo....

Yep. definitely "Down In Flames".

I, for one, am not at all worried about the album. I am confident it'll ROCK

[Grit]

Agree with most that it's too hard to judge on such a short clip, but sounded pretty cool to me. Can't wait to hear the entire track!

[Zing!]

Kind of surprised at the direction they took for the first single. Not nearly as rocking as what I was expecting (well - hard to say for sure based on only 20 seconds), but definitely seems to be catered to Dave's voice as it stands today. Kind of dig the rockabilly vibe the song has going, but I agree, some harmony - not to beat a dead horse, but Mikey 'ahhhhh' harmony - would have been tasty right before the song cut off. Not sure what to think of the synth in the mix - doesn't seem to fit the vibe, but this is all conjecture without hearing it in its entirety. Digging Al's sound in the sample, and Ed's tone is frustratingly hard to gauge based on what I heard. It sounds clear and strong, but not necessarily 'brown.' I don't hate it - just definitely not what I was expecting. Believe me, no one wants to love this song more than I do! I'll be playing this sample all weekend long!

[DLR Bridge]

You can sing Addicted To Love over it too. In fact, that's the same keyboard sound! Odd, but yeah, I'll take it.

[lesfunk]

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.

[kwame k]

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!

[Carmine]

Ed's guitar sounds heavy as hell here...

[WARF]

It's tough to judge the song on just a sample... I hate to say it... I heard 5150 with Dave singin...

Definately some reworking of "Down in flames"

Whatever the case... they picked the wrong 20 seconds to sample.... they cut off at the bridge...

[nitroDave23]

I fucking love it....Dave sounds good, better than in '96 to me, the Production side seems good too,nice full sound.Not so sure on Ed's tone yet,I do like how full it is, even though it's different than the early sound.

Can't get anymore pumped than I am now!!

Wish it was more, a minute would have been nice.....lol (:

[fryingdutchman]

It took me a few listens to get completely on board...but I wish it had continued. It got stronger for me near the end of the clip...

[if6was9]

WTF is this?
I told you I had a bad feeling...

[fryingdutchman]

I like how they posted "from the album: Tattoo" on Amazon.

Guess they didn't get the "Different Kind of Truth" memo..

[fryingdutchman]

WTF is this?
I told you I had a bad feeling...

Easy there young Jedi....

Judge not from a brief sample. Listen to "Down in Flames".....you'll dig it!