The Atheist Forums Playlist

[Ravenshire]

I've been revisiting the sole Van Halen album to feature Gary Cherone on vocals:



I have to agree with the general consensus that  this is Van Halen's weakest album, but not for the conventional reasons. Adding Cherone to the band took them in a new direction, one not terribly suited to Van Halen's sound. Unlike Hagar, Cherone had a very different style from the front men who came before him, leading to a departure for the band into styles they'd not done before. As a Van Halen album it was not good. If this same album had been Extreme's 5th album, slotted in between 1994's "Waiting for the Punchline" and 2009's "Suadades De Rock," I think it would have been favorably received and it would have fit quite well thematically. I still think their greatest mistake was not hiring Cherone, but rushing into the studio with a new, and stylistically very different front man. I think they would have been far better served to do a limited number of shows, maybe a 10-15 date mini-tour comprised as much of jam sessions as straight VH material to get to know the new voice of the band before writing new material. While the brevity of the Cherone era of Van Halen did eventually lead to a reunion album and tour with Dave, I think it still stands a a huge missed opportunity.

TL/DR: Van Halen III sucked as a Van Halen Album, but was a pretty good Extreme album.