Van Halen just released ‘A Different Kind of Truth’, their 12th studio album, and their first album of new material since 1998. It turns it turns out some of the songs are based on demos and unrecorded lyrics from the 1970’s. And it sounds like it. The album is making me feel old and…Sad. Really really sad.
Back in the day, I was a huge Van Halen fan. I had all their albums, and I listened to them constantly; the band even played a central role in my fraternity life. I belonged to a deep southern fraternity and many of my brothers from the South listened to “beach music”. Those of us in the “northern minority” countered their musical choice with selections that often included Van Halen. They played their music, and we played ‘Hot for Teacher’ … over and over and over, early in the morning and as as loud as possible.
All of this is why I was excited to see Van Halen’s new release.
“Was”, past tense.
Past tense because the album proves that some things are better left as memories. The songs all sound the same. The guitar riffs aren’t anything new, And after just a few minutes I could’t take it anymore.
I turned it off.
Yes, the album is immediately identified as Van Halen… but that’s not meant as a compliment.
Seems you just can’t go back again. And THAT’S the truth.