listening Post: Aerosmith - Get Your Wings

This is a first for the Listening Post series in that I have no real relationship with this band at all. I mean, sure I know the "hits" and they've been a part of the general tapestry of my musical life since I was a little boy but the "Toxic Twins" or the "American Rolling Stones" or whatever their nicknames have made little or no impact on me at all.
Let's give the boys from beantown a roll, k?



Aerosmith - Get Your Wings - 1974 (Buy it)



If I was 13 and you handed me a copy of "Aerosmith" I would have listened and tossed it into the pile of crap collecting on the side of my bed. If you made me listen to "Get Your Wings" I would have immediately understood that this band could actually help me get laid. Maybe playing them wouldn't make any feathered haired denim wearing courtyard smoker remove her pants for me but I would have BELIEVED that one day that could actually happen.
Get Your Wings is what I was hoping Aerosmith would be. It's dirty, panting, heated, smoldering and tasty.
Thank you, Jack Douglass for taking the band out of the bar, keeping the booze and bringing the rock.
Sure, there is the weirdness of the proto-prog blues rock of "Spaced" but, hey, you need something to play in the background while you are rolling that next joint and figuring out whether you are going to the roller rink or hang out in the woods with a pint of Boone's Farm.

Grade A
A Side: Same Old Song and Dance, Train Kept A-Rollin
BlindSide: Lord of the Thighs, S.O.S (Too bad),
DownSide: Spaced & Pandora's Box (just not a very good song. Dull, really. And a strangely poor way to end a very good album).

The Hellacopters owe a lot to Aerosmith.

Listening Post: Aerosmith - Aerosmith

This is a first for the Listening Post series in that I have no real relationship with this band at all. I mean, sure I know the "hits" and they've been a part of the general tapestry of my musical life since I was a little boy but the "Toxic Twins" or the "American Rolling Stones" or whatever their nicknames have made little or no impact on me at all.
Let's give the boys from beantown a roll, k?

Aerosmith - Aerosmith - 1973 (Buy it)

If you have come to Aerosmith anywhere between, say, Armageddon and Pump then this should come as a weird little surprise.
Nothing here sounds like Aerosmith, with the exception of "Dream On" and that's just because it's been played over and over for years. I'm not even sure that without that single Aerosmith would have made as much of an impact as "Bandit". Sandwiched between all that mediocre blues-rock (much of which sounds to me like there were a lot of fans of The Beatles, Why Don't We Do It In The Road in the studio), Dream On sounds...trite. It sounds "Of its time". A quasi-metal, inoffensive, soaring Wings-esque ballad. Nothing else on the record sounds like it, though and to it's credit, that's not a great thing. In a way Dream On raises the level of all the songs that surround it and they, simultaneously, bring that one song down to earth. It's a weird alchemy I have never heard before.
The album is not bad, it's not awful, it's okay. Truth be told, in the wake of Zeppelin there were (and still continue to be) tons of Blues based wannabes. Others did it better, though, much better.
Aerosmith's blues quotient falls far short of their beantown brethren, J. Geils Band.
Their pop rockness, highly evident on the first two tracks, sound too much like Cheap Trick posturing to have any real teeth. Tyler doesn't have the sense of humor that Nielsen did nor the range of Zander.
It's interesting to note that every time Tyler strains for those high notes, which is not that often here, he sounds like he's struggling. Interesting particularly since that would become his trademark. I'm not sure who he sounds like here, is it the lead singer of Loverboy? Maybe. But it's not Tyler. It's bland as hell, though.
And when the band does try to turn up the edge they just come off sounding like Kiss-lite.
There's some good and ineffectual music here. Like I said, it's not offensive. It's just not all that memorable. Nothing earth shattering. Nothing and I mean NOTHING that points to a career longevity spanning a quarter century.

Grade C

A Side: Dream On & Mama Kin
Blindside: One Way Street (I love it when bands put 7 minute opuses on their debut records. This one is good in a "it's almost as good as Brian May" kind of bubblegumblues way.
DownSide: Movin' Out (The Jimmy Page Worship really begins right there. On your knees, Perry, start sucking...)

Chowhound: Blu Jam Cafe - West Hollywood

Chowhound is a new entry on Septenary. Since we tend to eat out a lot in LA, be it dinners out, food on the go or brunch/breakys/lunches while working, there's a lot to write about.
More than likely I will be co-listing stuff here that I also post on Yelp but many of you aren't Yelpers and you deserve to get the skinny on the delishisness.

Our Yelp Review:

Eat breakfast like a king, share lunch with your friends & give your dinner to your enemies." So said Camile the chef/owner of Blu Jam as we finished up our family breaky this morning. While my 18 month old daughter gobbled down a *HUGE* bowl of fruit (good fruit, too: blueberries, bananas and strawberries!) my wife powered down the Blu Jam French Toast


and I scarfed my Roma via Paris eggs and potatoes.



We love breakfast out. We have eaten and dozens of morning bistros, griddles and cafes. This one kicks the ass out of each of them.
I say go early, before the shops open and Melrose comes to life when Los Angeles has that sleepy feeling of a city recovering from a helluva night out. Then the parking is easy, there are plenty of seats and the atmosphere is perfect.
If BJC ever put out a cookbook I would be first in line to buy it.


Actual backing music: Frank Sinatra
Suggested background music: Okkervil River.

listening Post: Van Halen - 3

When I was about 15 or 16 my best friend in the summer vacation town of Bar Harbor was a guy named Pete. I met him while we were both prep cooks at the town's greasy spoon. Pete was a metal guy all the way. Used to listen to Pantera before anyone knew who they were. He took me to see Ozzy at the Blizzard of Oz tour stop at the Bangor State Fair, (Randy Rhodes was 5 feet from me and a little band named Def Leppard was the opener). Pete also had a pair of pants tailor painted with white stripes to emulate Eddie Van Halen's guitar. While I was immersing myself in Queen, Pete was learning to shred. I never even gave the Pasadena boys a chance.
Let's remedy that now, shall we?



Van Halen - III - 1998 (Don't Buy it)

Everything you've imagined is true.
I can't get through it.
It's crazy bad.
Cherone sounds like he wishes he was in Queen and not even classic Queen. For some reason Gary is trying to make everything sound like Headlong off the Innuendo album.
The music is worse than generic. It's TRYING to be interesting and failing.
I wanted to be able to say that I made it all the way through but I stopped halfway through. "Dirty Water Dog" was the end for me.
You wanna try? I dare you.
It's just awful.
I want to forget it happened.

Grade F

New Tattoo

Zoe inspired it.
Iden designed it.
Emily inked it.
I wear it.
The Zoe Tat.

Getting ink done.

Sitting in the chair @ purple panther getting the Zoe Logo tattoo done. Hard to type while emily is poking my skin with needles but it'll be worth it.

Update: The tat looks fantastic. The colors, the size, everything. Best way I could think to celebrate ZoZo and how much she means to me.

Snapshot: West Hollywood

During my journeys today I happened to park directly in front of the very first apartment I lived in in los angeles. No, not the columned one with the big windows.
Look down the driveway. See the windows low to the ground? That's a basement apartment. The one I shared with a man who would become a famous director. The one where we had a party where we invited so many strangers. The one where we painted in the walls, and my bed frame was made from milk cartons.
My first pad.

ShoZing

There is no reason for this post except that I am trying out the iPhone app ShoZu.
The above picture is The Hall of Justice. I mean, the Hollywood Bowl.

Firebug? Firefly? Bugaloo?

We spent my mom's last afternoon with us at the (very cool and cheap) Amy's Playhouse in Passdena.

Radiohead: Los Angeles 8/24

Truly an amazing show. Something about the music and this band in particular, with their dystopic sensibilities and desperation through post apocalyptic decay versions of humanity that really lends itself to Los Angeles. There is a disconnect here and the songs that Radiohead chose for the show fit that to a "t". Sadly, now there is the next day buyer's remorse and word comes out that tonight's show will contain more from The Bends and OK Computer.
But, let's just stay with this one.
I've read some comments where people say that the audience was lackluster. I give you that. In LA there is a very real attitude that screams, "Hey, monkeys, entertain me, I'm rich." I think that does happen. I think that's why Springsteen hates to perform here. I don't think the band gave out any more to make the audience participate any more than we already were. Look at the setlist below. It's not exactly sing-song round the campfire time with Radiohead.
Every song from In Rainbows was performed. Which is aswesome. The thing about In Rainbows is that when I listen to it I want to lay back and let the grooves and mood wash over me. Almost as though I'm listening to Jazz or Classical.
And there is a different response from Kid A, of which 1/4 of the show consisted. That album is like a rave concept album. When National Anthem (fucking sexy song, by the way) comes on, I want a glow stick. I want some E.
I thought the audience's response to Paranoid Android was fantastic. I think if there had been just one Fake Plastic Trees, or High and Dry or even Karma Police, you would have seen and heard the Hollywood Audience fill the air with their voices. It's just not the same to try to sing along to Videotape or All I Need or Morning Bell. Songs like that are meant to be washed over the crowd.
Now I am done speaking up for this audience because during one of my favorite pieces, "How to Disappear completely", a sad, desperate song that closes the show before the encore, the gaggle of hens behind me were talking, LOUDLY about dropping something that they concluded they would find when the lights came up. They weren't there because they love the band or the music, they were there because they know Creep and Karma Police. They were there for some hits and maybe they got a taste of it with There There, but I doubt it.
One thing I don't think you do during a Radiohead concert is talk during the songs. And there is a big difference between "What song is this? What album is this from" than "Oh, yeah, Gina called and was wondering if we are going to her place next weekend. I told her that we are going to drive up the coast......blah blah blah." Save that shit for Liars, the opening band. Who weren't bad but could have not been there and no one would have noticed.
All in all, it was a great show. I am glad that Beth was there and that there was so much from the only two albums that she really has ever heard. As I said, Kid A is one sexy mutherfucker. And I played In Rainbows a lot when it came out.
And she loved the show.
As did I.

The Setlist

1. 15 Step
2. There There
3. Morning Bell
4. All I Need
5. Pyramid Song
6. Nude
7. Arpeggi/Weird Fishees
8. The Gloaming
9. The National Anthem
10. Wolf at the Door
11. Faust Arp
12. Exit Music
13. Jigsaw Falling into Place
14. Idioteque
15. Climbing up the walls
16. Bodysnatchers
17. How to Disappear Completely

encore:

Videotape
Dollars and Cents
Paranoid Android
Street Spirit
Reckoner

2nd encore:

House of cards
Lucky
Everything In Its Right Place

listening Post: Van Halen - Balance

When I was about 15 or 16 my best friend in the summer vacation town of Bar Harbor was a guy named Pete. I met him while we were both prep cooks at the town's greasy spoon. Pete was a metal guy all the way. Used to listen to Pantera before anyone knew who they were. He took me to see Ozzy at the Blizzard of Oz tour stop at the Bangor State Fair, (Randy Rhodes was 5 feet from me and a little band named Def Leppard was the opener). Pete also had a pair of pants tailor painted with white stripes to emulate Eddie Van Halen's guitar. While I was immersing myself in Queen, Pete was learning to shred. I never even gave the Pasadena boys a chance.
Let's remedy that now, shall we?



Van Halen - Balance - 1995 (buy it)


Hmmm....
This is a weird thing. Lots, I mean LOTS of people hate this album. I don't.
It's a strange piece but it's also terrific in many respects. "Not enough" sounds like the band's "Innuendo". It smells of Queen, it reeks of Swan Song. Then again, there's also, "Can't Stop Loving You" which sounds like the theme to "Beverly Hills, 90210", I shit you not.
This is a thicker album than VH has made. Maybe the thickest since Fair Warning. Wolfgang's dad is reigned in like a budweiser stallion and we are better for it. This is the triumph of "band" over "Van Halen". And there's a lot to love here.
The first Eddie solo, "Strung Out" is the weirdest thing the band has put on record in a while and I would stand it next to Eruption on almost any day. It helps that it was originally recorded in 83 BEFORE the band's super-duper status.
"Amsterdam" rocks with a thump instead of a thud, as so much of VH's offering have in the past. Even if it is all about partying...so what?
Balance is the best thing Van Halen has done since 5150. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that it's the fact that it's Hagar's last with the album that makes it so. I can see a world where he got comfortable and exerted his influence resulting in this album. The power play would piss of Eddie and Alex (the indignant twins) and they would boot him out.
Sounds right to me.
This isn't a Van Halen record. It's a Montrose record. A Hagar album. And it's good.

Update: I wrote this as the album was closing, as the last track "Feelin'" began. I had to get back in here to mention that this song is the heir apparent to Queen. Forget Paul Rogers and all that new crap. Sammy Hagar go it right in 95 and that song is the shit.
That is all.

Grade A
A Side: Amsterdam & Can't Stop Loving You & Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do
BlindSide: All the Instrumentals. Big Fat Money, Aftershock, Not Enough
DownSide: The cover. I mean, just look at that. Blech!

listening Post: Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

When I was about 15 or 16 my best friend in the summer vacation town of Bar Harbor was a guy named Pete. I met him while we were both prep cooks at the town's greasy spoon. Pete was a metal guy all the way. Used to listen to Pantera before anyone knew who they were. He took me to see Ozzy at the Blizzard of Oz tour stop at the Bangor State Fair, (Randy Rhodes was 5 feet from me and a little band named Def Leppard was the opener). Pete also had a pair of pants tailor painted with white stripes to emulate Eddie Van Halen's guitar. While I was immersing myself in Queen, Pete was learning to shred. I never even gave the Pasadena boys a chance.
Let's remedy that now, shall we?



Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge - 1991 (Buy it)

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge? Get it? The album says "Fuck", Bevis. He he he....yikes. These are grown men.
They sing about Poundcake. Which, I think, is more about pounding someone's cake than Sara Lee. Or maybe it's Sara Lee's Poundcake. Or maybe they want to have sex with dough....I don't know. I don't care.
This sucks.
It's lifeless. It's boring. It sounds like 3rd rate Judas Priest at times. Which is like a notch below Ratt.
There is no there here.
This is one really obnoxious record that sounds, much of the time, like Fingers Bertinelli didn't even listen to the backing section and just asked what key the songs were in and sent some leads over.
The melodies are empty headed and lunk sounding.
The single was good, the rest, not so much.
Van Halen, more and more, are really all about the alchemy of VH, VH, Anthony and Roth. After that, they are pretty much useless.

Grade D
A Side: Right Now
BlindSide: Nothing. I really didn't like this at all.
Downside: The weird talky prog of Pleasure Dome

Snapshot: Vancouver

Walking up Howe toward the movie theater on Burrard I pass the Vancouver Art Gallery where the big Winter Olympic Countdown digital clock is.
There is also this.
I don't know what it is but I should have been listening to Pink Floyd, methinks.
Here is a closer shot.

Update: Pic is coming. Having trouble uploading from the hotel....don't worry.
UpUpdate:

DoubleUpdate: From John "Canadian artist Jeff Ladouceur’s massive inflatable sculpture Floater will span the columns of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Georgia Street façade. Created to coincide with the current exhibition KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comic + Video Games + Art, the large-scale installation of a cartoon-like body intertwined in the Gallery’s pillars, draws on the artist’s celebrated work as an illustrator"

Balloon Art at its best.

Simply music

I haven't been posting lately. Haven't really been busy just, well, doing other stuff.
I promise I will pick up the rest of the Van Halen listening post. It's just that.....man it was like listening to the same album over and over again.
Plus my musical obsessive disorder has been co-opted by Simplify Media.
The idea that I can listen to someone else's record collection anywhere I have wi-fi or internet access is too tasty.
Currently I just have one "friend". Someone I met through facebook who has the same software. (It's free!)
Through this person I was able to hear the first Bright Eyes release (genius. Wait, he was 19 when he recorded this? Fuck me.)
Neon Horse - scuzzy 80s influenced Oingo Boingo wannabes.
Me Without Him - Perfect dark companion to The Builders and the Butchers and anything from Sub Pop circa 1995
&
Conor Oberst last album. Alt country. Not my cuppa tea.

Simplify Media. The bestest!

My favorite meal, Jerk!

Today we had some friends over to break in the deck. Two couples, one that Beth met in improv class who have a 1 year old and another that was my friend across the hall freshman year at NYU that I reconnected through Facebook. They have an adorable 4 year old daughter named Molly.
It was a perfect afternoon. And I made a meal that has become my absolute favorite of the year.
Believe it or not, it was Aaron McCargo's signature meal for his pilot presentation on the Next Food Network Star. We didn't like Aaron, we think he's a terrible host and can barely speak, but his recipes are to die for.
His was a Jerk Rib Eye, I changed it to chicken and the only thing I altered was Molasses instead of honey because I don't have any honey. Doesn't make a difference.
Make this dish and your family will love you forever. It's amazing and delicious and frighteningly easy.

Jerk chicken with Honey Plantains on Collared Greens

1 (12-ounce) rib-eye steak (I used a bunch of boneless skinless breasts)
Jerk seasoning, recipe follows
Plantains, recipe follows
Collard Greens, recipe follows
Preheat grill or grill pan on high heat.
Rub jerk seasoning on steak. Place steak in a plastic bag to marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator. After marinating for 1 hour, remove steak from refrigerator and let sit for 15 minutes. Grill steak for 12 minutes (6 minutes on each side). Remove from grill with tongs and let rest for 8 to 12 minutes. Serve with plantains and collard greens.

Jerk seasoning:
1 tablespoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients with 2 tablespoons of canola oil.

Plantains:
Canola oil
1 ripe plantain
4 ounces butter
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh scallions
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
Preheat a medium frying pan and coat with canola oil. Slice plantains on bias, then saute until brown. Mix in butter and scallions. Then remove from the heat. Stir in honey and parsley with a large spoon.

Collard greens:
12 ounces fresh collard greens, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup finely diced onion
Crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup chicken stock
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Wash collard greens thoroughly. In a medium stock pot, place collards in hot water for 3 minutes, remove and drain.
In a large saute pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, then add onions and crushed red pepper, saute. Then add collards and chicken stock to saute pan. Cook on high heat, stirring occasionally for 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

enjoy!

Time Magazine makes a funny.

From the article on the closing of Bennigan's:

"[Bennigan's] signature sandwich, the Monte Cristo, was a surgeon general's worst nightmare: 'A Delicious combination of ham and turkey, plus Swiss and American cheese on wheat bread. Lightly batter and friend until golden. Dusted with powdered sugar and served with red raspberry preserves for dipping.' You have to wonder: Why wheat bread?"

But damn they're heart attack good.

Hey, pal. Got 3 minutes?

If you do then I have a treat for you.
One of my favorite albums of last year was Against Me!'s New Wave. I reviewed it and extolled the virtues of it for Shuffleboil.
Not since the Replacements has there been a video so minimalist in nature and fantastic to watch.

Enjoy it. I did.

Against Me "New Wave"

More Batshit

Another college friend weighs in with some thoughts. She is a noted poet and teacher now and had a lot of vitriol for the incessant music playing throughout the flick in lieu of actual scenework.
I appreciated this statement in response to my statement that the film is more a series of scenes that barely connect and are held together by the music:

"this is the bullshit myth of "postmodernism": that the narrative structure can be dished out in discrete pieces. that is a total misunderstanding of structure; it's cynical and very lazy."

Zactly.

Am I taking Bat-crazy pills?

Jesus I don't know where to start.
I'm not that great at getting my thoughts down, at least not as good as wandering the streets of NY and shouting to the heavens.

The Dark Knight.

This is NOT a great movie.
I don't care what anyone says. I don't care that 300 million dollars worth of people have flocked to this piece of crap. It's bad and deep down, you all know it.

First off: Really? Wall to wall music?!?!? Loud enough to drown out the mumblespeak? Why? Perhaps its because your plot has so many holes and the editing is so poor that you need to cover it up with false melodrama????

Worst Batman cowl in history.

Action sequences so dark and convoluted that nothing makes sense and it's impossible to rally behind the heroes.

I'm not going to go into it here. It's all too exhausting. But i want to bring up one part of the film that illustrates my point. Some of you might think that I am being petty. I am not. I am right.
Okay.

I call this the Lorne Michaels/Titanic factor.

In the early 70s Lorne made a change in a sketch between dress and show. It was a date sketch and the suitor brought flowers to the girl. "Make it candy" he said. Why?
Because flowers create an anxiety in the audience. What will she do with them? She has to put them in water otherwise they will die. Since the flowers aren't the thrust of the scene, make it candy and there is no anxiety.
In other words: Take care of your audience.

Titanic: Roger Ebert pointed this out a decade ago. The scene on the boat in present time when the crew member is showing old Rose the computer images of what happened to to ship, the holds over flowing and so forth. Remember that? You know why it's there? Because later, when that shit was happening to our heroes, we already know exactly what is going on and don't need someone to explain it. We're taken care of.
I bring this up (and here is the petty part) because...SPOILER ALERT

What the fuck happened between the Joker and the cop in the holding cell? I NEED to see something. It isn't enough for the joker to just have overpowered a 20 year veteran with nothing on him but his shirtsleeves. In fact, the way he would have done it would say a helluva lot about the Joker and who he is. Instead, he's just walking out with the lummox at gunpoint.
Please. This isn't taking care of an audience. It's taking an audience for granted. And it's bad, bad, film making.
UPDATE: Okay. I guess the neck cracking moment is a sign of what is about to come. But I still think it's a really clumsy moment and a cheap exclusion.

Maybe we are inured to poor storytelling. Maybe videogames have made it so that we just accept action sequences with no build up and take set pieces for brilliance. I wish not.
I miss The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
I miss The French Connection
I miss Die Hard
I miss Die Hard 2
I miss Lethal Weapon
I miss good action films. Period. Where the action was generated by reason and logic and the emotion was something we clung to.
I miss Michael Keaton. The reason he was the best Batman? Not because i am an old fart. But because he brought sanity to his myopic crazy. He understood the duality of his character. He was tortured. He wasn't a martyr or self righteous. He was in pain. I could relate to that.
Tim Burton got that, too. There has to be sex in your violence. There has to be humor in your pathos. Otherwise it's so fucking heavy you want to leave.
Heath Ledger got that. he found the humor in the pathos, the sex in the violence.
he was the only one.

Batman: The Dark Knight is everything that Iron Man wasn't. Which is not to say it's good. Quite the opposite. Iron Man was an achievement on a scale that Batman could not reach. It never pandered to it's audience but it took care of us. It engaged us even when it was silly and outrageous. And it took it's beyond-comprehension technology and made us believe and understand it.
Batman does not do this. The sonar phone pseudo-colossus device? Too fucking confusing and ridiculous for words.

Oh, and the plot about turning Gotham into chaos? Wasn't that last movie as well? Jeez!

This is a bad bad bad movie.

You know I'm right.

Listening Post: Van Halen - OU812

When I was about 15 or 16 my best friend in the summer vacation town of Bar Harbor was a guy named Pete. I met him while we were both prep cooks at the town's greasy spoon. Pete was a metal guy all the way. Used to listen to Pantera before anyone knew who they were. He took me to see Ozzy at the Blizzard of Oz tour stop at the Bangor State Fair, (Randy Rhodes was 5 feet from me and a little band named Def Leppard was the opener). Pete also had a pair of pants tailor painted with white stripes to emulate Eddie Van Halen's guitar. While I was immersing myself in Queen, Pete was learning to shred. I never even gave the Pasadena boys a chance.
Let's remedy that now, shall we?



Van Halen - OU812 - 1988 (Buy it)

Remember that Pasadena rock band that stirred up the shit on Sunset Blvd in the mid 70s? Yeah. They're gone.
Van Hagar is a different animal. It's an arena band of a different color. The Yes meets Metal template continues and, in a way, Eddie, Alex and Mike are really just a backing band for Hagar. except that this backing band is comprised of dynamite musicians who write the songs as well. Does this make sense?
I'm sort of struggling to figure out what I want to say when what I really want to say is that while Van Roth is the reason these guys are successful, Van Hagar is the better band. The album is better produced, the rhythm section is an entity unto itself, the leads are where they belong, the harmonies are up to par and even exceed the past. This is a band that takes itself seriously, not a band whose lead singer insured his cock.
Van Roth is a rock band for chicks. Van Hagar is a band for dudes. All the fist-pumping, devil-horned way.
If I'm not mistaken this is the first VH album to break the 40 minute mark. 50, actually. Giving the fans their cd owning money's worth.
But, what a ride. The first three tracks alone culminating in the hellride that is AFU, (A track with more energy and power than anything on the first 5 Roth albums) is worth the price of admission.
The pallet cleansing 7 minute Cabo Wabo subsides and we are back in familiar territory. Source of Infection is so good that it makes me forget that I am listening to a glorified glam metal band.
OU812 really takes up where 5150 left off and leaves the previous incarnation in the dust.

Grade A
A Side: When It's Love & Finish What Ya Started
BlindSide: Mine all Mine & Source of Infection
Downside: Black & Blue

Listening Post: Van Halen - 5150

When I was about 15 or 16 my best friend in the summer vacation town of Bar Harbor was a guy named Pete. I met him while we were both prep cooks at the town's greasy spoon. Pete was a metal guy all the way. Used to listen to Pantera before anyone knew who they were. He took me to see Ozzy at the Blizzard of Oz tour stop at the Bangor State Fair, (Randy Rhodes was 5 feet from me and a little band named Def Leppard was the opener). Pete also had a pair of pants tailor painted with white stripes to emulate Eddie Van Halen's guitar. While I was immersing myself in Queen, Pete was learning to shred. I never even gave the Pasadena boys a chance.
Let's remedy that now, shall we?



David Lee quits the band because he's the money maker and the rest of the band has been shorting him on royalties. Okie dokie.
So, what to do? How to replace the Joel Grey MC of Rock?
While getting his lamborghini cleaned Eddie meets, befriends and decides to work with one Sammy Hagar. Oooooookay....
Flashback to my friend Pete. We're in a record store in Maine and he's STILL waiting for his Eddie Van Halen pants to be painted and he pulls out a record. It's by Sammy Hagar. Apparently this guy can't drive 55 or something. And Pete thinks the guy is brilliant.
I guess, looking back, the marriage of Van Hagar makes sense.
I was actually kind of tickled by preparing to listening to this version of VH because while he was with Montrose, Hagar wrote one of the best pop songs ever. Of course, his version is nearly impossible to listen to but Rick Springfield's cover of "I've Done Everything for You" is brill, baby!
How is 5150, then?
It's....not bad. It kicks pretty hard at the open with "Good Enough" and really doesn't let up for a while. When it does, it's for the quintessentially 80s synth sounding Dreams. Even that song, however, has more teeth than the average Jon Parr song (which it sort of sounds like). I don't even mind the stupid ballad, Love Walks In, in fact I kind of like it.
This is a bigger band than before. It's not Van Halen. It's something else. It's like Asia with shreddability.

Grade A
A Side: Why Can't This Be Love? & Good Enough
BlindSide: 5150 & Inside & Love Walks In
Downside: Summer Nights is the qeakest track on a very solid album.

Listening Post: Van Halen - 1984

When I was about 15 or 16 my best friend in the summer vacation town of Bar Harbor was a guy named Pete. I met him while we were both prep cooks at the town's greasy spoon. Pete was a metal guy all the way. Used to listen to Pantera before anyone knew who they were. He took me to see Ozzy at the Blizzard of Oz tour stop at the Bangor State Fair, (Randy Rhodes was 5 feet from me and a little band named Def Leppard was the opener). Pete also had a pair of pants tailor painted with white stripes to emulate Eddie Van Halen's guitar. While I was immersing myself in Queen, Pete was learning to shred. I never even gave the Pasadena boys a chance.
Let's remedy that now, shall we?



Van Halen - 1984 - 1984 (Buy it)

this is it. The one with all the hits. The one with the ubiquitous videos. The one with that great picture of cupid smoking on the cover (best use of a baby until nevermind).
So. After hearing all the tracks, all 33 minutes of this (holy god, these albums are short!) are there any revelations to be made?
Yes. Without David Lee Roth, Van Halen would never have existed. Well, that's not true, they just wouldn't have become megastars.
Roth is the star here. Screw Eddie. The truth is, Eddie's solos are boring as hell. Okay, not really *boring* just more about the virtuosity than the song. Songs are excuses for solos. That makes them boring.
Subsequently, this is the David Lee Roth show and he knew it.
He's stellar here. The music is fine, a little bland, the keyboards are an interesting addition and without them there would be no "Jump", but that's not really saying much.
The true star track here is "Hot For Teacher", which conjures it's video and the dancing teacher in blue even 24 years later.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great album and well deserved of its success, it just doesn't reinvent the wheel or the guitar pic or anything. It's just a really good Van Halen album.

Grade A
A Side: really? Okay. Panama, Hot For Teacher, Jump
Blindside: I'll Wait & Girl Gone Bad
Downside: 1984 (ah those crazy, bloated, self-important semi orchestral opening tracks of the 80s)