Van Halen

[Slim]

I listened to Van Halen III this afternoon. I was interested to see the negativity that it provoked in the Horrible Albums by Brilliant Artists thread (and others), so I was intrigued to have a listen for myself.

I made notes as each tune came up, and here they are, for what they're worth.


Neworld - feels like a bit of a throwaway instrumental - nothing wrong with it

Without You - snappy little hard rock tune. Definite AIC influence in the vocal harmonies, although overall the tune is more generic hard rock - it's sharp though, and there are some lovely perky guitar fills. But nothing special.

One I Want - this is actually an OK tune but the vocals spoil it a bit - just a bit too hackneyed. There's none of the charisma or personality that DLR would have imbued in this. On balance though, I like it in a lukewarm sort of way.

From Afar - strongly reminiscent of Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love in the guitar intro. Pretty standard (moderately) dark & moody rock tune, again though I wished DLR was singing it. I don't know that Sammy Hagar would have improved it. Very average.

Dirty Water Dog - this is really nice, I like it. Clever tune, really nice understated, precise guitar part. Reminds me slightly of Math Rock. Best tune so far though (again) the vocal doesn't do it any favours. But it doesn't detract too much either.

Once - something a bit different again, but yet again the vocal spoils it for me. It's not bad otherwise. At least it's not formula Van Halen. I quite like the metronomic beat. It's definitely overlong. I don't think that the simple idea of the tune really merits being sustained for over seven minutes.

Fire In The Hole - this feels a bit more like classic Van Halen, but it's a bit of a plodder. Doesn't really bite. It's OK.

Josephina - quite a pretty 12 string guitar intro. And a sweet tune, as well until the bass and vocals kick in. It outstays its welcome.

Year To The Day - actually a decently powerful performance with a bit of brooding, dark energy, but it's overwrought and the tune itself is boring.

Primary - As far as I can tell this is just Eddie playing with a guitar effects processor that does octave doubling and a sitar sound. But he does noodle away pretty inventively and tastefully, as you'd expect. Just checked and apparently he plays an electric sitar. It's short, it's a bit of fun.

Ballot or the Bullet - Quite an engaging little tune. I liked it; it has an energy that's mostly lacking elsewhere on this album. And the vocal style, annoying on some of the other tunes, does complement it. Super guitar solo as well. The lyrics are super dumb, though.

How Many Say I - WOW, I loved this. Harmonically a pretty clever composition and the last thing you'd expect to hear on a Van Halen album. No-one could argue that Eddie was a great singer but there's a sort of couldn't-care-less Leonard Cohen vibe that really appealed to me. For me though it would have been better to leave the strings off and keep it stripped to the bare bones, but even so this was great. Of course this sort of thing isn't why people buy Van Halen records.


So - overall, yep it's not terrible, it's not really very good. I can't see myself revisiting it except for the last two tunes and Dirty Water Dog.

[Matt2112]

Fair summation.

Fortunately, this wasn't the album they went out on.

[Thenop]

Cherone fit Van Halen like Wilson did Genesis. Not.