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August 18, 2024 at 2:06 pm (This post was last modified: August 18, 2024 at 2:07 pm by 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.
Thief and assassin for hire. Member in good standing of the Rogues Guild.
This is going to take a bit of explanation, and I’m not even sure how close I am to the end. Yesterday, Dad was binging videos from a channel called “Anna Lindgren” and every so often, this odd tune would catch my ear. You can hear it around 2 minutes into this video:
I called it “Dixieland Sukiyaki Remix” because the production sounds like Dixieland winds and percussion that would have been recorded three quarters of a century apart at minimum, and a melody that, at points, sounded like a few bars from "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known in the West as “Sukiyaki.”)
Eventually, after trying to search for the song among her videos, I found the video I just posted, and, after trying and failing to Shazam it, I noticed that there was a little vocal section, and since the lyrics were clear enough, I found the song that it sampled:
(Note: I am aware that Jimmie Rodgers does not sound “Nashville Skyline” enough for the sample, but I figured it’s close enough for here.)
I’m finding a couple tracks claiming to be a remix of “Waiting for a Train”, but all seem to be remixes of an entirely different synth pop song that just happens to share a name and nothing else.
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
Hot take; about the only thing wrong with this song is that the instrument playing the hook has too much of an identity crisis. It doesn’t seem to know whether it wants to be a synth, a saxophone, or a set of Uillean Pipes.
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!