Customer Reviews

Van Halen III

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4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(67)
2 star:		(50)
1 star:		(181)

 

 

VAN HALEN III is easily Van Halen's most critically reviled, hated album. The fans were shocked and dismayed, and ultimately this album lost Van Halen's record contract with Warner. And why?

First off, the album is not as bad as everything says. It's certainly not a great Van Halen record, but if Gary Cherone's band had released it, people would be wondering who the hell that guitarist was. In many ways, VAN HALEN III has a lot of similarities to Pink Floyd's FINAL CUT.

The biggest problem with III is tone. With BALANCE, and a handful of tracks from BALANCE's predecessor, FOR UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE, Eddie was trying to move Van Halen away from the party-hearty image that so long defined them, and was trying to reinvent the band as a socially conscious, more mature band. BALANCE found Van Halen balancing two major defitinions of their band, the partying, feel-good rock and rollers ("Amsterdam", "Big Fat Money,") with the more politically aware, socially concerned world citizens. (a la U2's Bono) The problem with that is Sammy Hagar was in the band. While I've always liked Sammy, he's always been about partying and getting into girls' pants (but then, so was David Lee Roth and the rest of the band).

Exit Hagar, enter Cherone. While Hagar wrote and sang from the heart and gut, and just wanted to hang out on a beach somewhere with a hot chick, Cherone instead wrote much more from a head perspective, preoccupied with intellectual concerns. Cherone has some songs about women, but the songs on III are primarily concerned with political and social matters.

Some of these political, social songs fall flat. "Ballot or the Bullet" is dull, sounding more like a history lesson of the United States than a rock and roll song ever should, and the guitar instrumental "Primary", no doubt referring to U.S. primary elections, is both boring and an unnecessary introduction to "Ballot." "How Many Say I", the first song in Van Halen's career (and so I pray the last) to feature Eddie on lead vocals, sounds like Eddie writing a bad early 1960s protest song with a rock arrangement backing it. As for the voice, there's a reason why he's the guitarist, not the lead singer.

Other songs I like, but again are simply too much of a departure for the majority of Van Halen's fan base to go along with. "Joesephina"*, one of my favorites, will be too trite and precious for most fans, though musically it among the most interesting. "Fire in the Hole," used on the Lethal Weapon 4 soundtrack, never caught hold with myself. "A Year to the Day," while certainly epic in a cinematic, Led Zeppelin way, is clearly derivative. "Once", the other epic on the album, and admittedly a fantastic song (primarily because it was ripped off from superior songs), sounds like a rewrite of some progressive rock. Still, the songs have some undeniable power, and is certainly catchy. "One I Love" has that weird Cherone lyrical direction all over it, sound like a love-song from psychology major who has stalker tendencies and is more interested in the idea of love than the experience of love. Very much written from the head, not the heart, though still a fun song. "Dirty Water Dog" again focuses on social matters. "From Afar" is the only traditional woman song on the album, all about stalking an unrequited love. I used to relate to it in my younger days. "Neworld," the title surely being a reference to the rebirth Eddie envisioned the record to be for the band, is a pleasant, but unsubstantial, instrumental. "Without you", which kicks starts the album, is the most intrusementally instersting, lyrically original song on the entire disc, and where the whole band just SYNCS. It set a record for going to number one the fastest on the billboard charts.

Instrumentally, while Eddie certainly turns in some great guitar work, the rhythym section sounds run of the mill and rather dull, and Eddie works within his established guitar techniques, never once sounding vital and free, but instead rather formulaic with a been-there, done that feel, with clinically precise, technically skillful guitar solos.

When Hagar joined the band, he brought a much different vocal style than DLR. Instead of Cherone bringing a new vocal style and sound, he sounds, rather uncannily, like Sammy Hagar, only after a botched throat surgery and who screams all the time. Some of the vocals get grating, to say the least.

VAN HALEN III is simply a hard record to classify. While certainly not a great Van Halen album, par say, neither is it a bad album. Ultimately, the record sounds like a band trying to reinvent themselves at a point in their career where the major audiences won't care about the reinvention, nor welcome it, and nor will the reinvention win them new fans. But that sounds like I'm giving a bad statement about the music itself, which is actually quite good in parts (the only real dud is "How Many Say I" due how self-concsious it feels and "Ballot or the Bullet", which does not work on any level). The record shows definite promise, and perhaps had the band had time to develop this direction more the Cherone version of the band would have made it.

Ultimately, VAN HALEN III is Van Halen's own FINAL CUT. When Roger Waters issued Pink Floyd's final album with him still in the band, it was a sonically dense record that did not quite sound like anything else in rock music, save Roger Waters' own solo records that were released subsequently. Just like the 1987 MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON is essentially a Gilmour solo project under the Pink Floyd moniker, so FINAL CUT is a Roger Waters solo album in all but name. FINAL CUT is where Roger Waters took over the band and remade it under his own artistic vision and image.

VAN HALEN III, while musically nothing like FINAL CUT, has remarkable similarities. III is where Eddie became Edward and he took over the band, and just like Waters (though due to entirely different circumstances), the band folded underneath him. While Floyd fans like FINAL CUT, not very many VH fans like III. Still, this is very much an Eddie Van Halen record, with his personality ultimately dominating the album.

Ironically enough, though III was flouted as being a musical rebirth though ultimately fell through, FINAL CUT and VAN HALEN III are worth listening too, as both are diverse and sound like nothing else in rock music.

But it's probably better not to be a Van Halen fan to really appreciate this album.



*III's release date was delayed three weeks when the band replaced "That's Why I Love You" in the track listing with "Joesephina". "That's Why I Love You", still unreleased, leaked before the album hit the stores, and is still widely available over the internet. A fine song, it should have been included as well.

On St. Patrick's Day 1998, Van Halen released their eleventh studio album, their first (and only) album to feature lead singer Gary Cherone. The aptly titled "Van Halen 3" received some positive reviews (Entertainment Weekly, Guitar World) and debuted at number 4 on the charts. At first it looked like Van Halen's third incarnation might fly. An enthusiastic audience at the world premiere, and a huge turnout to meet the band at Times square were positive signs. But alas, Van Halen's third incarnation was not meant to be. The album was a huge bomb, selling only 500,000 copies in the US, one quarter the sales of its predecessor "Balance" (1995). The tour too was a relative failure. Van Halen's third incarnation turned out to be very short-lived. The following year, while well at work on their follow-up, Gary Cherone and the rest of Van Halen parted ways. The whole Gary Cherone-era of Van Halen was seen as a failure. "3" is regarded by many as not only Van Halen's worst album, but as the worst album of all-time.

So why didn't fans take to the third lineup of Van Halen, especially when you consider that they had adjusted to a change in singers before? Why did the rock-community so reject "Van Halen 3"? The answer lies in anger/protest, and expectations.

Many fans didn't buy or open their minds to "Van Halen 3" out of protest and anger towards the band. In 1996, after eleven years of fronting the band, Sammy Hagar, Van Halen's second lead singer, left the band, and not amicably. Eddie Van Halen maintains that Hagar quit and that his "work ethic sucked." Hagar maintains that he was informed, by phone, that original lead singer David Lee Roth was returning and that his services were no longer required.

The return of Roth to Van Halen created a media sensation. MTV started airing "welcome back Dave" commercials and fans were elated at the prospect of reunion tour/album. While the band maintained that they were looking for a new singer, fans were hoping Dave would return for good. In the late summer, David Lee Roth joined Van Halen on stage, for the first in eleven years, to present an award. The crowd went nuts, giving the band a standing ovation. While Eddie Van Halen and Dave hugged on stage, all was not well. That night Eddie and Dave almost came to blows when Dave told Eddie to stop talking about his hip. In addition, Eddie was mad at Dave for hamming the spotlight when Beck was accepting his award. While Van Halen's brief reunion at the award show received overwhelming rave reviews, any hope of a reunion was shot. The next month David Lee Roth put out a press release which stated that while at the MTV awards, Van Halen already had another singer waiting in the wings and that he was an "unwitting participant" in a scam to give a false impression that the band would be reuniting. The other singer was of course, Gary Cherone of Extreme.

The fruits of the Roth/Halen reunion bore two new songs "Me Wise Magic" and "Can't get this Stuff No More." While the songs are excellent, the bitter second breakup cast a shadow and fans didn't enjoy the new songs as much as they could have.

For the next year and a half, Van Halen, Roth, and Hagar beat each other up it in the press. Mudsling and accusations went back and forth. Van Halen's once enormous fan base was divided between the VH loyalists, the "Dave camp" and the "Sammy camp." When "Van Halen 3" was finally released, many fans, out of loyalty to either Roth or Hagar, simply refused to buy the album on general principal. Not only were fans angry at Van Halen for discarding their favored frontman, but Gary Cherone was viewed as a poor replacement. While Cherone is multi-talented, most knew Cherone only from Extreme's 1990 smash acoustic hit "More than Words." In the eyes of many fans, Cherone was viewed as a candy-ass, not worthy to fill the shoes of the Diamond One or the Red Rocker.

The other reason "Van Halen 3" bombed was it didn't meet fans expectations. The album was just too far out there for fans to accept. Even fans willing to give Gary Cherone a try just couldn't dig the band's experimentations. "Van Halen 3," with Pink Floyd-esque epics, multi-layered solos, and political/cultural commentaries, was not what Van Halen fans wanted to hear.

While the artistic merit of the album is subjective, the album does have some flaws. The production is fair. "Van Halen 3" sounds more like a demo, or a rough-draft, than an actual finished product. Another problem was the lack of Michael Anthony's signature harmonies. Also, Cherone at times sounds out-of-range. He sounds as though he's screaming his lungs out. Many have commented that he sounds like a "poor-man's Sammy Hagar." Since Van Halen had so much to prove with their album, regardless of its merits, its faults were the final nail in the coffin. In hindsight, it was a mistake for Eddie to produce the album with TV producer Mike Post.

All of this is a shame because, despite its faults, "Van Halen 3" is a good album. It was refreshing for Van Halen to branch out and experiment. And Eddie Van Halen had never sounded better, churning out some of his best solos in years.

The album opens with the somber, serene "New World." This elegant piano/guitar instrumental leads perfectly into "Without You," the hard-rocking, funk-laden first single, which sounds a lot like Extreme. The infectious "One I Want," sounds like reggae peppered "Panama." The off-center, theatrical "From Afar" is probably the strongest song on the album. An ode to a stocker, it boasts eerie vocals, layered guitars, and Alex Van Halen's bohemian like percussion. The crisp "Dirty Water Dog" is both melodic and lush. The song is under-produced and somewhat awkward, giving it a certain charm. "Once" pays tribute to Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd. This spacey, multi-layered, atmospheric song is probably the most creative composition Van Halen ever penned. While some may call it "pretentious," they probably only do so because it's Van Halen they're hearing. If the same song had been released on a Peter Gabriel album, it would have been hailed brilliant. "Fire in the Hole" is a good-but-no-great, straight-forward "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" era-type rocker. The beautiful "Josephina" follows next. This song also sounds somewhat awkward, under-produced, and left-of center, but that only adds to its sincerity and the song is a triumph. The downdraught "A Year to the Day" sounds akin to some of the bluesier songs by early Led Zeppelin, and is another winner. "Primary" sees Eddie Van Halen soloing on a sitar, which is an interesting change of pace. "Ballot or the Bullet" is probably the weakest song on the album. It has a good Zeppelin-like riff and rocks hard, but its political-laden chorus sounds forced and out of place. Also, Cherone sounds horse and out of range. The closing "How Many Say I" which sees Eddie Van Halen taking the mic for the first time. This song isn't as bad as its reputation. It's a little corny, but heartfelt. Still, unreleased pop-savvy "That's why I Love you" would have made for a better choice to end the album.

Despite its reputation, I have always stood by "Van Halen 3." Yes, it has its faults, but I still find it to be an intriguing and satisfying listen. It's really a misunderstood and underrated album. If Van Halen had taken a little more time on polishing the album, and if they had worked with a better producer, the album may have had a chance. As it is, it has been vitally forgotten. "Van Halen 3" and Gary Cherone aren't even acknowledged in the credits in Van Halen's career-spanning anthology "The Best of Both Worlds" (2004). It's as though the Cherone-era has been erased. Funny, considering how Eddie Van Halen once said "Gary is my musical soulmate."

While "Van Halen 3" will in all likelihood always be hated and ultimately be just a footnote in the legacy of the mighty Van Halen, it still has many fine qualities and deserves a second chance. It's a shame Van Halen and Cherone didn't give it another try and release a follow-up.

Okay, first understand, I am a HUGE Van Halen fan from the release of the first album. I am also a professional guitarist and spent many years copying Eddie and have one of his signature Wolfgang series guitars. I never liked Sammy Hagar, but he said he quit because Eddie just had riffs and boring ones at that and no songs for Van Halen III. Sammy says it all. This record is an embarassment to one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Eddie said in an interview that he composes on the toilet, I guess that is why this album is crap. So Eddie if you read these, please either get back with Roth and bring back the glory days or go and create and instrumental band and let yourself fly like you did on Fair Warning. So Fair Warning, stay away from this stinker.

Instead of a fat guy with a cannonball to the stomach, it should have had Eddie Van Halen shooting himself in the foot.

This was the biggest mistake of Van Halen's career. Gary Cherone is trying too hard to sound like Sammy Hagar. Van Halen's greedy manager lost it when he got Sammy kicked out of Van Halen so he could get a bigger percentage of the profits. Lets hope Eddie loses the EGO and lets a real frontman back in the band named....DAVID LEE ROTH!

Former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone only lasted one record with Van Halen, but he acquitted himself admirably on vocals and lyrics. The Sammy bit was growing old, and VH was in danger of becoming a Pop band with Sammy-led hits like "I Can't Stop Lovin' You". Cherone writes interesting lyrics that don't always involve thoughts originating below the waist. And the songs "Dirty Water Dog", "Fire In The Hole", and "Without You" from "VH3" are as good as any rock songs VH ever recorded. But I hate to tell you, Eddie Van Halen, but "How Many Say I" was a misstep. "VH3" is uneven, but the stuff that works works really well. Perhaps starting with a new lead singer was a bad time to get a little experimental with the tunes, eh? Cherone proved with Extreme that he is a superbly talented vocalist, lyricist, and songwriter. Too bad he didn't get the chance to grow with Van Halen. Eddie said in early interviews with Cherone that this incarnation of Van Halen would be the LAST incarnation. So now what are you guys gonna do? ** I've seen Van Halen in concert 9 times and with all the lead singers. The shows with Cherone were the best! The band played from their entire catalog, and proved that the Dave-era tunes were the best ones to play live. Cherone did a great job with them. Van Halen, had they cut a more "traditional" Van Halen album with Cherone, might have had many years of continued success ahead of them. But this is turning into a soap opera. It's getting a little embarrassing to watch. Just how long do they think they can play musical chairs with lead singers and still be respected by their fan base? Even if the music is good, it will always be overshadowed by the soap opera. Always. Is VH3 good? Parts of it are GREAT. The rest should have been "re-thought" before releasing.

THE BAND: Eddie Van Halen (guitars, keyboards, bass, vocals), Alex Van Halen (drums & percussion), Michael Anthony (bass), Gary Cherone (vocals).

THE DISC: (1998) 12 tracks clocking in at approximately 65 minutes. Included with the disc is a 5-page foldout containing song titles/times/credits, song lyrics, band photos, and thank you's. Recorded at 5150 Studios (Eddie Van Halen's home studio in Los Angeles). This is the band's 11th studio album, and 1st (and last) to feature ex-Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone. Label - Warner Bros.

COMMENTS: Very few of the legendary rock bands can achieve and sustain a glorious immortal high album after album... and with "3", Van Halen has certainly proven they're human. Van Halen has released so many classic albums, that I think it's fair to say this "3" is at the bottom of the list. This is the band's desperate low point. Van Halen is not alone here - as so many great bands have put out subpart albums - to name a few; Metallica had their ugly "St. Anger", Kiss had their comical "Unmasked", Aerosmith had their Perry-less "Rock In A Hard Place", Def Leppard had the unexciting "Euphoria", and Iron Maiden had the vapid "No Prayer For The Dying". Over the decades, it's bound to happen... even to the best. I thought to myself often about "3" - could David Lee Roth have saved this material if he were given the chance to sing it? And I came to the conclusion... NO. You get the feeling the band is simply going through the motions on "3". The words - uninspired, tiresome, boring, repetitive - come to mind. Gary Cherone is a good singer. At least he was on several albums with his former band, Extreme - Cherone clearly had some magic with former bandmate Nuno Bettencourt. However with Van Halen, I don't hear/feel the chemistry between the players. And, on some songs, Cherone sounds too much like Sammy Hagar in tone and delivery (so much so that it actually sounds like someone doing a really good Hagar impersonation). The singing seems strained and forced at times, and the some words just don't fit. On some tracks it sounds like Cherone was singing the song(s) for the very first time and improvised the vocals. The guitar work is competent... but there is a severe lack of melody and catchy hooks throughout "3". As for the songs on "3", the highlights are few. My favorite track here is the political "Ballot Or The Bullet" - with a very heavy rhythm and groove. Next best would be the short instrumental opener "Neworld", leading into the highest charting hit from the album, "Without You". Too many tunes here not even worthy of the term "filler" if you ask me. And, perhaps two of the band's worst ever recorded songs... "One I Want" and the album closer "How Many Say I" - sounding like a sad old Irish drinking song with Eddie on lead vocals... only one word comes to mind - painful. "Year To The Day" is the longest song at eight-and-a-half minutes - the slow first half being torturous (thanks largely to Cherone), then the 2nd half picking up and giving the listener a very fun bluesy guitar solo (I could just picture Stevie Ray Vaughn having a blast with this song). Amazing (at least to me), "3" was #1 on Billboard's Top 200 albums for six weeks... then fell down like a ton of bricks hitting the water. *Note: "3" is the only Van Halen album NOT to achieve double-platinum status. For diehards with money to burn... maybe (2 stars).

I am not a Van Halen fan, but I received this album four years ago as a gift, and I still own it this day for two reasons. 1) No CD Recyclery will buy it from me for their shelves are already full of them, nor will any self-respaecting person take it from me (I even put it on my front lawn for a few days, but not even the west wind cared to pick it up). 2) It is a collection without any redeeming qualities, a feat even the lowliest pop band cannot achieve. From it's bland vocals ala Gary Cherone, to it's hard to follow licks to it's toxic-smelling liner notes, this album takes the cake fopr worst of the nineties.

I recently have been getting back into the hard rock of my youth and buying the Van Halen CDs I only had on tape. This brought on memories of all the rancor of a few years ago with the Hagar firing and the Roth "Reunion." I realized I had never heard 'III' so I decided to give it a shot. Boy, do I regret it. This is downright horrid music. Beyond the obvious reasons it stinks (I'll get to Cherone in a minute), the production value is awful. This album is the result of Eddie Van Halen's overblown ego. The man absolutely refuses to acknowledge that the talent of David Lee Roth, and yes even Sammy Hagar, have just as much to do with the success of Van Halen as his guitar work. (There's barely any pictures of them on the official VH Web site! It's like they never existed!) Eddie thinks he is the only talent in the band and that the fans will just blindly accept anything put before them. Well, the joke's on you, as the meager sale of only 500,000 copies of this album prove. Cherone is awful. At best he sounds like...Hagar..., and at worst he [is bad]. What's so upsetting, is the two new Roth tracks on the Best Of: Volume 1 were so fantastic and showed how great the band could have been again if they would all just swallow their pride and make music. But Eddie refuses and puts this pile in our lap. Advice to Eddie: If you don't make amends and bring either Roth or Hagar back into the band, Van Halen's career is over. It's that simple.

It's amazing how the typical VH fan can't get this album, and how frustrating has to be for Eddie VH record, maybe his best guitar work, and then see that if they don't write 4 minutes party songs, simply the people get hummm?. The point is this, I'm not saying is their best album, but is their better worked and crafted, I imagine the people that give bad reviews to VHIII, hearing a song passing minute four and then asking, what's happening???, my brain can't understand, this isn't suppose to happen!!. No wonder why VH is dead, stupid fans maybe have had something to do with that, shame on them. VHIII is a great album.