I can’t tell you how many articles I’ve already read in the first few weeks of 2012 promoting this year’s most anticipated tours. And truth be told, they’ve all pretty much been the same: lists of 10-12 big-name acts with lengthy legacies who are looking to pad their retirement funds through sickeningly high ticket prices (think Madonna and The Rolling Stones). Van Halen is on a great many of these lists. The band fits the above criteria to a T, but the potential for a train wreck at any point in time may be worth the price of admission alone. The Van Halen situation is a little, um, different, shall we say, as their noteworthy reunion took place more than five years ago. That’s when David Lee Roth and Eddie and Alex Van Halen made amends for a North American tour, playing songs exclusively from Van Halen’s six albums between 1978 and 1984. Oh, and there was also the matter of original bassist Michael Anthony being replaced by Eddie Van Halen’s under-aged son, Wolfgang.
Now, for 2012, the same group returns, this time with the twist of a new album,A Different Kind of Truth. Wolfie’s closer to the legal drinking age in the U.S.; it’s as low as 18 years old in some Canadian provinces, which may explain why 7 out of 45 scheduled shows so far are in the Great White North. All joking aside, there is a wealth of material from the “Diamond Dave” era that this current incarnation of Van Halen should consider digging up as they rehearse for the tour opener on February 20th in Louisville, KY. And I apologize in advance for the shoddy quality of some of these videos. It’s a shame YouTube wasn’t around when Van Halen was in its prime.
-Gilles LeBlanc Staff Writer
10. “Girl Gone Bad”
If Van Halen’s 2007-2008 tour with original singer Roth is any indication, fans can expect to hear all the big hits from what everyone believed was their ultimate collaboration together,1984, namely “Jump”, “I’ll Wait”, “Panama”, and “Hot for Teacher”. Maybe it’s because axeman extraordinaire Eddie Van Halen was feeling arthritis-type pain, but one 1984 song that was disappointing not to see on setlists was “Girl Gone Bad”, as it finds the acclaimed guitarist at his blistering best. You’d swear that it’s his tribute to Jimmy Page and all things Led Zeppelin. The abrupt finish on the album is pretty cool, too.
9. “Women in Love…”
No matter when you may have seen them, a Van Halen concert has always been a perpetual party. Even so, it helps to have a healthy balance; it can’t all be about cruising in a top down convertible on a California freeway. I’m not calling Van Halen II’s “Women in Love…” a wussy ballad, but there are moments of sincere tenderness (in addition to awesomeness), especially in Eddie Van Halen’s intro, that warrant its return to the live festivities.
8. “Take Your Whiskey Home”
How could any self-respecting, Van Halen concert-attending fan not want to hear “Take Your Whiskey Home”, the seventh track off of Women and Children First, based on its title alone? Maybe even while smuggling in a mickey of booze of their own for old times’ sake? And for a shirtless, would-be gymnast, David Lee Roth makes quite the bluesman.
7. “Loss of Control”
Van Halen’s 1980 LP Women and Children First, their third in as many years, features quite a few thrash metal teases that would later be honed to perfection by bands like the “Big 4” of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. There’s short instrumental “Tora! Tora!”, as well as the very appropriately named “Loss of Control”. Not that many people will need waking up at Van Halen’s 2012 shows, but this one would definitely do the trick. Just no Walls of Death on the floor, OK guys?
6. “House of Pain”
I’ve always liked how this otherwise pretty generic-sounding Van Halen song fades out to end 1984, a bit of a rarity for them. It’s even more telling when you realize that it was their last one with David Lee Roth in the fold, that is until A Different Kind of Truth is released on February 7th, a little more than 28 years after the fact. It’s just plain crazy; whether the new album will even be worth a tweet is irrelevant.
5. “Light Up the Sky”
I’m not insinuating that Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo in “Light Up the Sky” is the best in their back catalogue, but it’s right up there. I personally know a lot of people who would give anything to hear David Lee Roth shriek “Light ’Em Up” before the shredding begins in earnest. As far as I can ascertain, it hasn’t been played live since Van Halen’s 1980 European tour.
4. “Feel Your Love Tonight”
Given the trend lately of bands much younger than Van Halen playing “classic” albums in their entirety live, from start to finish, it’s kind of surprising that Roth and the Van Halens haven’t at least considered the possibility as it pertains to the heap of rock goodness that is their 1978 debut. Patrick Carney of The Black Keys would no doubt agree that “Feel Your Love Tonight” is infinitely better than anything Nickelback has ever come up with.
3. “Bottoms Up!”
Yeah, there aren’t too many Van Halen songs that don’t follow the hard rock template the band established very early on. “Bottoms Up!” (from Van Halen II) isn’t much different; there’s a quieter part in the song’s bridge that’s actually quite nice before Alex Van Halen’s drums kick into high gear. The fact they haven’t played it live in recent years probably has more to do with David Lee Roth being in his fifties now; no audience should be subjected to someone that old mooning them.
2. “On Fire”
A frequent show opener in Van Halen’s early days, “On Fire” sadly seems to have been something they’ve forgotten. Not only was it an high-energy opportunity for David Lee Roth to get in his calisthenics during concerts, he more or less invents “hair metal vocals” on this track. And whenever Tom Morello does his fretboard thing with Rage Against the Machine, he should really be paying royalties to Edward Lodewijk Van Halen. Guns N’ Roses should probably chip in a few bucks too, as “It’s So Easy” from Appetite for Destruction clearly borrows heavily from it.
1. “Best of Both Worlds”
Gotta throw at least one curveball in here. Van Halen is an interesting group to do this feature on, as they’ve famously had three lead singers in their 40-year history – David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar, and Gary Cherone, although the latter’s “era” tends to be largely forgotten. “Best of Both Worlds” was a minor hit for Van Halen from their first post-Roth endeavor, 5150. It’s even more interesting that Kool & the Gang will be opening for Van Halen on select dates, as “Best of Both Worlds” always struck me as a hard-rocking cover of “Celebration”. If for no other reason, it would be a symbolic song to include as a way of acknowledging their entire canon, not to mention the obvious nod to Miley Cyrus!
