Friday videos: Mitch Malloy auditions for Van Halen

After the demise of Van Hagar in the mid-90s, Eddie and Alex had to find a replacement lead singer. Mitch Malloy, frequently reviewed on Now This ROCKS (click here), auditioned for the gig, which ultimately went to Gary Cherone (Extreme). Below is a rare demo that captures what Van Halen would have sounded like in a parallel universe where Malloy took the job as their new lead vocalist. The song they did was "Panama", so let's first refresh our memory of the original with David Lee Roth.



Now here is the Mitch Malloy version:



But the job went to Gary Cherone:



And lest we forget, and to round out the comparisons, the Sammy Hagar version:



So there you have it - which version do you think is the best?

Melodic rock CD of the week: Van Halen

By Stephen Kasenda

VAN HALEN “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” (1991)

"Standin' on the top of the world, let's give it all we got!" Definitely not an empty chants as Van Halen seized the top of the Billboard charts with "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" in 1991. This record marked the return of Van Halen to their guitar-driven roots and abolished synth sound in their previous albums.

The collaboration with DLR-era producer, Ted Templeman, was a big success, spawning many hits such as the electric-drill enhanced "Poundcake", the glaring piano-rocker "Right Now", and the punchy anthem "Top of The World". Not to forget the explosive "Judgment Day" and the groovy "Runaround" that added lots of value to this album.

While I enjoy many of Van Halen great songs from their Hagar-era albums, in my opinion, “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” is their best moment with Sammy and he's still one of the best singers around to this day. An essential album you should have!

Read more of Stephen’s features at MetalMusicArchives.

Review: Van Halen “A Different Kind of Truth”

Rock
“There will come a day when youth will pass away...”

How many of you actually thought you’d see the day come when the Van Halen brothers (I guess we can say Van Halen family now that Eddie’s son Wolfgang replaced Michael Anthony on bass) would release a new record with former front man David Lee Roth? Diamond Dave always thought it was inevitable, but I am still taking in the moment that has finally arrived. You could feel the energy of anticipation in the air for months now…most of which was instantly deflated with the debut of their new video, “Tattoo”. I was apparently in the minority in liking this song from the get go.

No lie - “A Different Kind of Truth” is very good. The band has taken heat for revisiting some ideas that dated all the way back to the 70s, but what better way to get their feet back in the water with Roth? Longtime fans will be able to spot these elements in the tunes without hesitation. So how are the boys holding up after all these years? Eddie and Alex sound like they are on fire – the record is ambitious, ferocious, and bursting with energy – you can tell they’ve been holed up in studios for far too long and the band is playing like they have something to prove. Dave still brings that certain charm to the fore and while his voice is going a bit and he talks too much during the songs, his lyrical wit remains as sharp as a tack. Wolfgang proves he is a capable bass player, but there are many spots on this record where I can hear the ghost of Michael Anthony chiming in with his trademark backing vocals. Still, the band makes attempts to compensate by crafting excellent harmony vocals on tracks like “The Trouble With Never”.

The first three tunes are an excellent announcement that the boys are back and taking no prisoners. Eddie brings back the guitar solo with a vengeance and Alex is jaw-droppingly good on his drums. “She’s the Woman” sounds like Roth-era Van Halen v2.0. The ultra-catchy “You and Your Blues” is the kind of song that made Van Halen a radio staple back in the day. “China Town” starts off with blistering thunder that recalls “Get Up”, but Roth soon chimes in to make it his own. My favorite tune in the batch is the dynamic yet wonderfully melodic “Blood and Fire” – a record full of songs like this would be a new classic. But then tunes like “Bullethead” and “Honeybabysweetiedoll” seriously take away the melodic momentum – on the plus side, they highlight the greatness of the explosive “As Is” and “The Trouble With Never”. “Stay Frosty” provides a pretty cool acoustic-based break on this otherwise heavy record, but in isolation it isn’t all that memorable. The record ends strong with a double punch of powerful cuts in “Big River” and “Beats Workin’”.

The new record strives to show that the boys are older and wiser, but youth has not yet passed away. It succeeds far more than it falls flat, and I feel younger just listening to it.

Van Halen – Official site.

Check out the video for “Tattoo”, if you are one of the 5 people who haven’t done so yet:

Odds and Ends

Each week I use this space to post some mini-reviews, cool tracks, random thoughts, neat news, or whatever else I damn well please.

MiniReview
The Brigadier “Holiday Special” [EP] - Our old friend Matt Williams, aka The Brigadier is back with another EP in his seasonal series. This one celebrates summer and is called “Holiday Special”. Things couldn’t start off better than with the beautiful sunny side up spirit of “When The Sun Comes Out”, which contains just enough crunch in the guitar to give the brilliant harmonies a nice little kick. Not only my favorite off this EP, but one of my favorite Brigadier songs. “Swansong” is a pleasantly melancholy goodbye tune while “A Holiday Romance” is a cute island-flavored song. “Ogmore-by-Sea” is an interesting mix of surf and country guitar. Like holidays, all good things must come to an end, and the Brigadier departs for now with an epic, extravagant ballad entitled “Time To Go Home”. Among his most ambitious tunes, “Time To Go Home” oscillates between breezy orchestration and rocking fuzzy guitar breaks. Definitely a few tracks on here going onto my summer playlist. More info here.

Surprise of the week
New research from Australian scientists will convince you to always have some AC/DC handy if you take out your boat into shark-infested waters. Read why here.

News
New Chickenfoot record in sight? “Chickenfoot’s second album is almost finished, and we’re hoping to mix sometime in June,” says guitarist Joe Satriani. “It is heavier, and better than the first one, and I can’t wait to get it out there!” Read more here.

In related Van Hager news, Sammy Hager and the third Van Halen singer (Gary Cherone, better known as front man for Extreme) will be sharing a stage tonight. Cherone's new band, Hurtsmile, will support Sammy Hagar and the Wabos at Casino Del Sol tonight. Cherone also commented that Extreme is back at work on a new album. The full story is here.

How about some new Pearl Jam? With Eddie Vedder’s solo record out of his system (“Ukulele Songs”), the band is back at work on new material for their tenth album. Read the full report here, and check out this video from Vedder’s solo outing.



Random iPOD song of the week
From her breakthrough record, “I Do Not Want What I Do Not Have”, this definitive breakup song from Sinead O'Connor leaves me with chills every time. This particular performance is also noteworthy as it shows Sinead in rare form – with hair!

Classic melodic rock CD of the week

By Stephen Kasenda

VAN HALEN "Balance" (1995)

"Balance" reflected a balanced composition between Van Halen's darker edge and lighter side. This album depicted a lot of expressive statements in the lyrics and revived some old riffs and arrangements - most songs are embalmed with a heavy metal touch with a couple of ballads and interludes. Now onto evaluate the quality of the songs: I found that the latter half of the album is slightly inferior, downgrading the whole album from the perfect rating, but overall Van Halen did an amazing job, especially looking back at 1995, which was a tough year for the glam and hard rock scene.

"The Seventh Seal" and "Don't Tell Me" are examples of Van Halen playing in the darker territory. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" and "Not Enough" are radio hits that I found to be lovable and fresh to this date. "Amsterdam", which pictures the sex and drugs of the city, has groovy guitar and an infectious chorus. "Big Money" is a jazzy jam with a frantic rock and roll rhythm. The intro to "Aftershock" will remind you of Metallica, and this song later evolves into a superb hard rock track. The remaining songs are decent but with several unimportant instrumental fillers, "Balance" should only enjoy a maximum of 4 stars from me.

Read more of Stephen’s features at MetalMusicArchives.

Classic melodic rock CD of the week

By Stephen Kasenda

VAN HALEN "Van Halen" (1978)

Selling over 10 million copies in the US alone, Van Halen's first album was cited as one of the most successful debut ever made. Eddie introduced a revolutionary guitar playing through the blinding and almost impossible shred on "Eruption". Though many stated that tapping technique was first developed by Steve Hackett, it's Eddie Van Halen that opened the world's eyes with his breakthrough invention and heavy metal had never been the same ever since.

The first half is ultimately strong while the second half is a bit bumpy and with couple of decent tracks, it's generally weaker but still doesn't reduce much value of the album. My favorite parts are the immense slow tempo hit of "Runnin' With The Devil", the frenzy tapping of "Eruption", the dancy Kinks cover of "You Really Got Me" , the punchy tune of "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love", the underrated "I'm The One" with Eddie's insane solos, and "Ice Cream Man" which is highly entertaining, and again, the thrilling solos steal the show.

David Lee Roth's place is also as important as Eddie himself, with his flamboyant persona and volcanic charm, they conquered the arenas and garnered million followers. For fans of hard rock, glam, and traditional heavy metal, this is an indispensable and highly influential release that later spawned many great axemen and albums, and after more than 30 years, it just never gets old. Van Halen's first step to the scene quickly propelled them to the height of sweet success and with this monstrous attempt, they definitely deserved it.

Read more of Stephen’s features at MetalMusicArchives.

Review: Tribe of Judah "Exit Elvis"

What in the name of all that is holy is going on here? This is horrible, dreadful, unlistenable. Hard rock, electronica, industrial, a little bit of soul, children singing, and lounge music just don't mix!

Gary Cherone is an enigma. He has one of the best voices in rock today, but I wish it would be used in better ways than this. He's had a very successful career with Extreme, producing 3 decent albums (the fourth one being an aptly-named joke called "Waiting for the Punchline"). After the demise of Extreme, Gary became the infamous Van Hagar singer that pooped out the atrocious CD, "Van Halen 3". Then in 2002, he puts out this mess of a CD, inviting us to join in his schizophrenic journey to Hell. Unfortunately it fails on so many levels I don't know where to begin. There is more crap on this CD than a cruise ship carrying the Norwalk virus.

"Exit Elvis" is utterly unmelodic - Gary avoids hooks like a fish on this record. Maybe that was his goal. He wanted to be experimental and that is a euphemism to describe this garbage. I couldn't find one track on this CD I'd like to listen to twice.

And the enigma goes on, his next release being an unpredictable EP of soulful light rock. Was he trying to recapture the "More Than Words" glory? I wish that he would try. It will be interesting to see what the reunited Extreme does later this year.

iPOD-worthy: uploading anything from Tribe of Judah will cause your mp3 player to give you the finger.

Gary Cherone on MySpace. Official site.

Extreme at MySpace.

Check out the video for "Thanks for Nothing":

Name that tune, Van Halen edition

In honor of the recent news that Van Halen will reunite and tour with David Lee Roth...name these tunes...

You just smile and the picture sells

Look what that does to me

Answer

So fine and pretty

Fooled me with her style and ease

Answer

I grabbed that telephone

I thought we were alone

Telling me there's company

Your husband's comin' home

Answer

Got the feeling, power steering

Pistons popping, ain't no stopping now

Answer

I found the simple life ain't so simple

Answer

You can't get romantic on a subway line

Conductor don't like it, says you're wastin' your time

Answer

Here's to hoping the boys actually pull this one off...and put out some great new stuff!