New Music Tuesdays...Van Halen

It’s hard to believe I was only nine years old the last time Van Halen recorded an album with David Lee Roth,  but the wait is finally over for their much anticipated reunion album, A Different Kind of Truth, available today.  

A Different Kind of Truth is Van Halen’s twelfth studio album, and only their seventh album with Roth. It’s been nearly 30 years since their classic swan song, 1984, and since then, the band has been on a never-ending roller coaster ride with different lead singers, rumored reunions, break-ups, and plenty of drama.  After Diamond Dave’s departure,  the band enjoyed continued success with Sammy Hagar for more than a decade, and after the ‘Van-Hagar-era’ abruptly ended,  Gary Cherone (Extreme) became the new VH front man,  which ultimately resulted in their uneven and critically-panned eleventh LP, Van Halen III.  Despite the lead single “Without You” charting at #1 for six weeks, the band has largely ignored Van Halen III, even forgoing any of its tracks for later greatest hits compliations. So, in many ways, A Different Kind of Truth offers a breath of fresh air or, at the very least, an exciting new chapter in the Van Halen saga.

A Different Kind of Truth offers the same fun and youthful escape that garnered the band massive worldwide success over 30 years ago. Roth doesn’t sound washed up, Eddie’s solos are signature, Alex’s thundering drums remain intact, and Eddie’s son Wolfgang, fits right in on the bass.  Despite the absence of Michael Anthony, the harmonies warm up each track in trademark fashion, cementing this as a genuine Van Halen release.

Many of the tracks on the new album stem from earlier Van Halen demos, some dating back as far as 1976. “She’s the Woman” recalls the sunny chorus of “Beautiful Girls” while “Blood and Fire” offers fans more of the vintage Van Halen sound, complete with Roth’s cheesy and almost ridiculously absurd lyrics. The soulful “Big River” was actually intended to be a track called “Big Trouble” for Diver Down, and displays some of Eddie’s strongest guitar work on the entire album.

“Beats Workin’”closes out the new album with plenty of energy, leaving the listener hopeful that more new music will eventually be released over the next 30 years.

Some of the tracks were not as enjoyable, such as the lead single, “Tattoo”, for example. The playing sounds uninspired and while the song is somewhat catchy, the track will likely serve as a bathroom break or beer run for concertgoers on the upcoming tour.

Tracks like “Honeybabysweetiedoll” or “The Trouble with Never” sound dated here and were probably leftovers from the late nineties.

Fans will certainly revel in Eddie’s killer guitar playing on the new record, but David Lee Roth actually makes this album a triumphant reunion.  It’s clearly evident that Roth has been waiting for years to get back in the saddle again and let loose, and he successfully does so throughout A Different Kind of Truth.

Roth proudly announces “I’m doing the victory dance,” on “Blood and Fire.”  Guess what?? So are we.. welcome back, Diamond Dave!!

-Will Fisher, The Showbiz Kids

The Showbiz Kids Rating: 7.5 out of possible 10 (It’s Van Halen with David Lee Roth…do you have to ask?!?!?)

See The Darkness' New Exclusive Video (Rolling Stone)

The animated video for British rockers the Darkness' new single "Nothin's Gonna Stop Us" captures the band's over-the-top energy and silly sense of humor in ways a traditionally filmed video could not. "The video turned out ace. I've always been a fan of Thom Lessner's illustrations, so I was delighted when he and Ted Passon agreed to make it," says frontman Justin Hawkins. "They have really captured the vibe of the song. I've watched the video a thousand times already and I love every second of it. I suppose 'Nothin's Gonna Stop Us' has matured like a fine wine and Thom Lessner and Ted Passon are our master sommeliers. I knew they wouldn't cork it. Bottoms up!

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/new-and-hot/the-darkness-nothins-gonna-stop-us-20120201#ixzz1lXG39u68

On the turntable this Sunday...Speaking In Tongues

Speaking in Tongues is the fifth studio album by the band Talking Heads, released in 1983.

The album was a commercial breakthrough that produced the band's first (and only) American Top 10 hit, "Burning Down the House", which was accompanied by a promotional video. The following tour was documented in Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense, which generated a live album of the same name. (The concert film and live album's title comes from the repeated phrase "Stop making sense!" during the song Girlfriend is Better.) In addition, the album crossed over to the dance charts, peaking at number two for six weeks.

David Byrne designed the cover for the general release of the album. Artist Robert Rauschenberg won a Grammy Award for his work on the limited-edition LP version. This album featured a clear vinyl disc in clear plastic packaging along with three clear plastic discs printed with similar collages in three different colors. Original cassette copies of the album have special extended versions of "Making Flippy Floppy", "Girlfriend Is Better", "Slippery People", "I Get Wild/Wild Gravity" and "Moon Rocks".

The album was re-released in February 2006 as a remastered DualDisc. It contains the extended versions of the songs found on the original cassette, and includes two additional tracks ("Two Note Swivel" and an alternate mix of "Burning Down the House"). The DVD-A side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 version of the album, a new alternate version of "Burning Down the House" with the emphasis on experimenting the possibilities of surround sound, and videos for "Burning Down the House" and "This Must Be the Place" (videos are two channel Dolby Digital only). In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax with Talking Heads.

Byrne has said, as a partial explanation of the album's title, "I originally sang nonsense, and uh, made words to fit that. That worked out all right."

Track listing:

All lyrics written by David Byrne; all music composed by Talking Heads.

"Burning Down the House" – 4:00

"Making Flippy Floppy" – 4:36

"Girlfriend Is Better" – 4:25

"Slippery People" – 3:30

"I Get Wild/Wild Gravity" – 4:06

[edit] Side two"Swamp" – 5:09

"Moon Rocks" – 5:04

"Pull Up the Roots" – 5:08

"This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" – 4:56

2006 DualDisc reissue

"Burning Down the House" – 4:01

"Making Flippy Floppy (Extended Version)" – 5:53

"Girlfriend Is Better (Extended Version)" – 5:42

"Slippery People (Extended Version)" – 5:05

"I Get Wild/Wild Gravity (Extended Version)" – 5:16

"Swamp" – 5:12

"Moon Rocks (Extended Version)" – 5:45

"Pull Up the Roots" – 5:09

"This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" – 5:03

"Two Note Swivel (Unfinished Outtake)" – 5:51

"Burning Down the House (Alternate Version)" – 5:09

Ryan Adams, Michael McDonald and Childish Gambino Audition for Jack Donaghy

Something funny for this Saturday afternoon...

Bruce Springsteen to Rock Grammys

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have joined the lineup of live performers at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 12th. The rocker is part of a slate of performers that already includes Adele, Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, Coldplay and Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars and a special performance by Glen Campbell with the Band Perry and Blake Shelton.

"Soul Train" Creator, Don Cornelius, Found Dead

Don Cornelius, the producer and television host who created the dance show “Soul Train,” was found shot dead in his Los Angeles home early Wednesday morning in what appears to be a suicide, the Los Angeles Police Department and the county coroner’s office said. He was 75.

A person called the police from Mr. Cornelius’s house on Mulholland Drive in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood just before 4 a.m. and reported shots had been fired, a police spokesman, Chris No, said. When officers arrived, they were let into the house and found Mr. Cornelius lying lifeless on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head that appeared to be self-inflicted, said the Los Angeles County assistant chief coroner, Ed Winter.

Mr. Cornelius was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:56 a.m., Mr. Winter said. “It was reported as a suicide, a self-inflicted wound,” he said. “I have investigators at the hospital.”

“Soul Train” was one of the longest-running syndicated shows in television history and played a critical role in spreading the music of black America to the world, offering wide exposure to musicians like James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson in the 1970s and 1980s.

“I am shocked and deeply saddened at the sudden passing of my friend, colleague and business partner Don Cornelius,” said Quincy Jones, according to the Associated Press. “Don was a visionary pioneer and a giant in our business. Before MTV, there was ‘Soul Train.’ That will be the great legacy of Don Cornelius. His contributions to television, music and our culture as a whole will never be matched. My heart goes out to Don’s family and loved ones.”

Mr. Cornelius, a former disc jockey, created the show in 1970 in Chicago on WCIU-TV and served as its writer, producer and host. Quickly becoming a success, the show was first broadcast nationally in 1971, beginning a 35-year run.

Besides the performers, the program showcased young dancers who would strut their stuff, laying the groundwork for countless dance programs, including current hits like Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.” “We had a show that kids gravitated to,” Mr. Cornelius said.

In a 2010 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Mr. Cornelius said he was excited about a movie project he was developing about the show. “We’ve been in discussions with several people about getting a movie off the ground. It wouldn’t be the ‘Soul Train’ dance show. It would be more of a biographical look at the project,” he said. “It’s going to be about some of the things that really happened on the show.”

Mr. Cornelius stopped hosting the show in 1993, and “Soul Train” ceased production in 2006. Two years later, he sold the show to MadVision Entertainment.

Third Man Records announces the release of Jack White's debut album "Blunderbuss"

Third Man Records has announced that Jack Whites' debut album Blunderbuss to be released on April 23rd.

"Love Interruption," the first taste off the album, is available as a free stream with embeddable widget at www.jackwhiteIII.com.

Third Man Records is also releasing "Love Interruption" on 7" vinyl with non-album B Side "Machine Gun Silhouette" on February 7th, but you can pre-order it now online.  In addition, Jack’s new single is available for download on iTunes NOW.

Produced by White and recorded at his own Third Man Studio in Nashville, Blunderbuss has been described by White as "an album I couldn't have released until now. I've put off making records under my own name for a long time but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name. These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas."

For more information, check back at www.jackwhiteIII.com and www.thirdmanrecords.com.