Episode 188 - Van Halen - Diver Down - Part 1

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign [00:00:04] Speaker B: this is our musical reaction breakdown and commentary analysis of this song. Under Fair Use, we intend no copyright infringement and this is not a replacement for listening to the artist's music. The content made available on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only, notwithstanding a copyright owner's rights under the Copyright Act. Section 107 of the Copyright act allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders for purposes such as education, criticism, comment, news, reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. These so called fair uses are permitted even if the use of the work would otherwise be infringing. Now on to the Rock Roulette Podcast. [00:01:03] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:01:14] Speaker C: Welcome back to another episode of Rock Roulette Podcast. That's right, the crazy ass podcast that took over 1, 800 albums, stuck them in a list, stuck them in a wheel. Every other week we spin the wheel. She picks a record for us and we go through it track by track. We talk about the music, the lyrics, the production, the melody and the arrangement and we give it scores. Just a bunch of friends who love music want to do a podcast and anyone who takes this trip with us of discovery and rediscovery, we really appreciate it. Spread the word, tell us what you like, what you don't like. Maybe give us some suggestions. Whatever it is, man, we'll listen. We are a trio. Tonight we have Frank. [00:01:47] Speaker A: My name is Frank. [00:01:54] Speaker D: And I'm sexy. [00:02:02] Speaker E: Hello everybody. [00:02:03] Speaker C: We got Mark. Oh, hi Mark. [00:02:05] Speaker D: What's up guys? [00:02:06] Speaker C: And I'm Sad. Ciao Buena Theater. The last few times Mark and I requested from the Wheel an album from a band we knew, but we didn't really know the album. So the Wheel said, hey, how about I give you a band you don't know and an album you don't know. And it's French rock band Kokoma, Technicolor Life. And at least with Mark and I, our consensus was that there was some really good riffing on there. Musicianship was good. We just weren't into the production. It was that brick wall. Mastering is as called it where it just seems like they shoved all the knobs all the way up and everything sounded distorted, even the vocals. To me and him, I think that's where some of the low scores came. But some of the music was was pretty good. After the podcast, I think both times we kind of listened to some of the live recordings. The intimate stuff we found sounded pretty good, was just the two of them and everything that sounded real and I think it really made the music sound more alive to us. Frank. I mean I'll go to you first. You gave it some pretty high scores. And the production didn't really bug you. [00:03:00] Speaker E: No, I think that's what they were going for. The production met their requirements. There was just a uniformity to it. I found that the whole album was exactly how it was supposed to sound. Like you two pointed out, just sound like they turned everything up. That's what they wanted. But I will say that some of the live performances that we heard I liked better than the recorded ones. This might be one of the cases where the group sounds three times better live than they do on recording. [00:03:24] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, definitely. Mark, you would agree what I said, [00:03:26] Speaker D: production for me is the problem. That brick wall mastering all the levels up really high didn't ruin it for me. I think there would be much better songs without production. I'd like the riffs. I can't understand the lyrics, but they didn't sound horrible. Some of the melodies were pretty good. It's just production. Other than that, I'd like to hear some more stuff from them to see what it sounds like. [00:03:45] Speaker C: Well, I'm sure there are other albums on our list. Fact that you couldn't find the lyrics meant that you got a little bit of a break. [00:03:50] Speaker D: Well, we'll see what happens tonight, but I'm probably not going to get a break, I'm sure. [00:03:53] Speaker C: Yes, we get to spin the wheel again tonight, which is always incredibly exciting. But before we get to the mama wheel, we get to the baby wheel and the new vets. [00:04:01] Speaker E: In a world where new music is not easy to find. Welcome to new bets. [00:04:19] Speaker D: Okay, here is the new bets wheel. [00:04:34] Speaker C: Wisp, breathe onto me. [00:04:36] Speaker D: Oh, another ping I put on here. No one's gonna know it's shoegaze. [00:04:40] Speaker C: Man. I love shoe gaze. [00:04:41] Speaker D: All right, well, let's listen to it. [00:04:42] Speaker C: Yeah, let's see what it's like. [00:04:56] Speaker A: Your chest against my back. Keep track. Before I feel the need for more your crush on to my Sam. And know that you're around so teach me of your sound I touch a dreamt before I feel the need for more your hands rush onto my side. So many things I want. [00:08:29] Speaker C: I just love the. The catchiness. I don't know if you'd say catchiness. There's a lot of really, really nice music. It's heavy, atmospheric heavy, which I like. I liked Mark. [00:08:38] Speaker D: Her name is Wisp. My assumption is all the voice is going to be wispy. It's almost asmr. [00:08:44] Speaker C: Yeah, I wish. She kind of stretched out a bit. [00:08:47] Speaker D: I don't. I don't hate it. I don't know if I can listen to a whole bunch of it. [00:08:50] Speaker C: Musically, I can. I wish she kind of stretched out a little bit more. There are some of them that just do that low by singing. I really like the music. I like the production. The snare, I didn't really like. It's. I got that thing, but it's almost buried enough in it where it didn't bother me as much. I wasn't thinking about it as much. And I think that this is loud, done well production, and this is loud done well, which is typically what shoegaze is. Frank, what do you think? [00:09:14] Speaker E: I dug it. It brought me back to some of those 90 roots sounds. [00:09:19] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:09:19] Speaker E: So I like the lo fi sound, like, to your point. I like the shoegaze as well. [00:09:22] Speaker D: Like that overall. Well, if you guys like us, hit us up on social media. Let us know, and let's rubber stamp it. Here we go. [00:09:30] Speaker E: In a world where new music is not easy to find, welcome to new bets. [00:09:48] Speaker C: Now we get to spin the mama wheel. And as always, before we spin, I'll do a quick round table. I'm sticking to my guns here. I want that album from a band we know. That album we don't know from a band we know, where we're like, oh, I never heard this. So I'm sticking with that. [00:10:05] Speaker D: Mark, I'm seconding that. Sooner or later, it has to listen to us. So a band we know, but an album we don't know. [00:10:12] Speaker E: Frank, I think I want something lo fi now. [00:10:20] Speaker C: You were inspired. [00:10:21] Speaker E: I've been inspired. You know, something a little, you know, maybe like a morphine. That would be great if we got a morphine. [00:10:26] Speaker C: Like, I could use a little morphine during the workday. I'm not necessarily talking about the band. [00:10:34] Speaker D: Oh, we get it. [00:10:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:36] Speaker D: All right, here we go. Let's spin the wheel. [00:10:59] Speaker C: I think you rigged it, Mark. [00:11:01] Speaker D: I didn't rig it. [00:11:02] Speaker C: Van Halen diver down. No, we've done three. No. Well, we did. [00:11:09] Speaker E: We did two. [00:11:10] Speaker C: No, we didn't. We did three because we did women and children first. Oh. And then we got 5150. And then we said, well, let's do a kind of combo special. Back to. [00:11:20] Speaker E: Back to torture frame. [00:11:22] Speaker C: I'm sorry. We got 1984, and then we did 5150. [00:11:25] Speaker D: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I forgot about that. [00:11:27] Speaker C: That's what it was. I apologize. [00:11:28] Speaker D: We did a twofer on of the changing of the singer. [00:11:31] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:11:31] Speaker D: Out of all the Van Halen wrecks to get this is the one that has the most controversy because there's a lot of covers. Yeah, I say that the covers are good. I say they're done very well. I don't mind. It has very many covers. And even the songs that are on here that are Van Halen songs, I think they're great. [00:11:47] Speaker C: I think this is my cousin's favorite Van Halen, believe it or not. [00:11:49] Speaker D: I know there's people who don't like it. I do like it. It's short. It's 31 minutes. A couple of instrumentals, Intruder and then Cathedrals on here. Because he was still in the mode of doing his guitar things pieces on every album at this point. The one thing you're going to ways the guitar playing is going to be good. I think Savino always enjoys David Russell's lyrics because he's very inventive on his stuff. [00:12:08] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, he's definitely playful. [00:12:10] Speaker D: He's good with the double entendres. He never really throws it in your face. He makes you think a little bit about it. There's a lot less obvious lyrics I find on his stuff. [00:12:18] Speaker C: I definitely know one original that's on there that's pretty good. Isn't Little guitars on this? We did that song. Isn't that the one that has the same beat as Bullets of Blue Sky 2 do? Yeah. Because I remember you busting my balls about it. I'm like, well, it's not exactly the [00:12:32] Speaker D: same Pretty Woman's on here, which I personally like. Even though they skip a verse. There's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 covers on this. [00:12:40] Speaker E: Why was the first skipped? [00:12:42] Speaker D: She just forgot the lyrics and he didn't have them written down. [00:12:44] Speaker E: But, you know, there's a recording, right. So they can go back. [00:12:46] Speaker D: And Van Halen didn't do that. [00:12:49] Speaker E: All right, so it was not like a copyright thing that they had to leave it out. [00:12:52] Speaker D: No, he just forgot the verse and he just didn't do it. He forgot it was there. [00:12:56] Speaker C: They made a short song shorter. [00:12:59] Speaker D: Yes. A short song shorter, Yes. I think at least you'll like the drums on this. At least the drum sound will be all right. He won't be complaining about that. [00:13:06] Speaker C: Well, I've never been a massive fan of his drum sound. Production wise, it'll probably sound. I do give it credit in the sense, because we mentioned it with the other ones, that as much as Eddie Van Halen has a sound, you can tell a Van Halen song by his drum sound as well. They're very unique sounding. [00:13:21] Speaker D: It's very hard to have that, I think, like, you know, John Bonham sound, you know, the guy in U2 sound, you know, a bunch of people's drums out. Then you have the drums that all sound the same. Even from back in the day. You could take whatever drummer and you're like, I don't know what drummer's on this album. I have no clue. And that's not even a today thing. That's a back in the day thing, too. Are we ready for this? The first song is a cover. It is Where of all the Good Times Gone, which is another Kinks song. They did the Kinks on the first album. What? You really got me. So I guess they decided to try another one with them. Davina's probably heard this. Frank, have you heard this version or no? [00:13:50] Speaker E: No, I have not. [00:13:51] Speaker D: I'd be curious to know what your thoughts are about this. All right. Where have all the Good Times Gone by Van Halen. [00:14:24] Speaker A: Stop to worry about a thing Open up and shout it out Never try to sing Wondering if I've done it wrong Will this depression last for long? Won't you tell me where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? [00:14:56] Speaker C: Mark, who produces Templeman, right? [00:14:58] Speaker D: Yes. [00:14:58] Speaker C: Sounds good. I'm not crazy about the song itself, but I think it sounds good. This is no knock on them. I'm not a fan of the song just kind of goes nowhere for me. [00:15:07] Speaker D: I do think what's going good here is just the way it's performed less than the song itself. Eddie Van Halen said he could never sound just like the radio or any cover that they did. So that's why they tend to be very unique, because even though you want him to sound exactly what it is, he can never do that. He always sounds like him, no matter what he does. [00:15:25] Speaker C: Yeah, but, I mean, you think about. You really got me. I mean, their version is awesome. [00:15:28] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:15:28] Speaker C: It's really, really good. And that's a good song. As simple as it is. They have a good foundation there. We're here. I'm like, yeah. The song itself isn't. I'm not knocking them. I'm kind of more knocking this song. [00:15:38] Speaker D: I don't know if I've ever heard the original. [00:15:39] Speaker C: I may have. That term sounds so familiar. You're like, oh, I've heard that song. And you're like, wait, is that the one that. I know. It's. [00:15:47] Speaker E: It's okay. It's. Yeah, we'll see. So far, I'm not impressed. Then again, I wasn't really a big fan of the song to begin with, so. [00:15:56] Speaker D: Well, it's no morphine. What can I say? I know it can't be that. I know it's only one of the biggest rock bands ever in the world, but. Okay. [00:16:05] Speaker E: Doing covers, but. [00:16:07] Speaker C: All right. Oh, hey, hey. [00:16:09] Speaker D: Well, no, listen. This is true. [00:16:10] Speaker C: Corners, gentlemen. In your corners. [00:16:13] Speaker D: Do you want me to read the words from this or. We don't really care because it's cover. [00:16:16] Speaker C: Who cares? We won't vote the lyrics. They didn't write them, so. [00:16:20] Speaker D: All right. What are we thinking about? Drums. Snare sound is very him. [00:16:24] Speaker C: It's him. I've never been a big fan of his drums. Overall, I think the song sounds good, though. I definitely think overall, the production is very good. [00:16:31] Speaker D: Background vocals are good. [00:16:32] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. They always have good background vocals. [00:16:34] Speaker D: Yeah. Well, Michael Anthony and Eddie Van Halen together, always good stuff. All right, let's continue. Here we go. [00:16:40] Speaker A: Once we had an easy ride Always felt the same Time was on our side we had everything to gain like yesterday Is that me? All happy days Ma and P look back on all the things they used to do they never had no money and they always told the truth Daddy didn't need no little toys Mommy didn't need no little boys Won't you tell me where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? Where have all the good times gone? [00:17:47] Speaker C: Yesterday didn't really do much there. I don't know if he's going by the original. I'm assuming this is a short song. [00:17:52] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, sure. 304. It's super short. Yeah. I don't remember what the original's like. He probably is playing off the original solo, I would guess. Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. The original solo, whatever he's playing is fine. It's good. It's a good solo. It's nothing going. Oh, my God, I can't believe what that is. But for just a cover part of it, the musicianship is going to be what it is. Michael Anthony's not doing very much either. His is just basically open notes on this, not really going a little more crazy as he does in some of the other stuff. [00:18:18] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I remember maybe not as much on 84 and 5150, but definitely on women and children. First, we complimented his bass playing a lot. Assuming it was him. I mean, I know there's some talk. You probably know more about it than we do about exactly who played what. [00:18:33] Speaker D: I've heard some stuff that Wasn't him, but I don't think that's the case. I think that's just revisionist history that was made up after the fact. I doubt very highly that it wasn't him. Was I there? No. I have no idea. And David the Roth sounds good. I mean, he's not a great singer. Live, he's passable. But here, he sounds good. Whatever they're doing with him here and how, however many times he had to do this, he sounds actually good, I think. [00:18:54] Speaker C: Was he a lot of takes, Guy? [00:18:56] Speaker D: I don't know about that. I do think that takes a little bit to get him going. He has a lot of personality in his voice. You know, you're not thinking he's somebody else either. [00:19:04] Speaker C: No, he is him. And it's either him or you sound like him. He's one of those people. Without a doubt. [00:19:09] Speaker D: Yeah. I mean, I think they put their personality into the song. Even though it's not a great song. I think, you know, it's Van Halen doing this song. [00:19:15] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely. [00:19:16] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:19:17] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:19:17] Speaker D: You're not mistaking it for someone else. [00:19:19] Speaker C: Even before David Lee Ralt sings, you know, it's there that. Absolutely. [00:19:23] Speaker D: All right, let's continue. Here we go. [00:19:24] Speaker A: Easy game for you to play let's face it things are easier today Guess you need some bringing down get your feet back on the ground. Where have all the good times done? Where have all the good times done? Where have all the good times done? Wherever the goodness. [00:20:16] Speaker C: For what it's worth it sounds shorter than 304. Yeah. [00:20:20] Speaker D: I don't hate it. Again, I don't have a problem with the covers on here. I don't know the original. I don't know if I've heard the original. I like this version of it. Whatever it is, it's fine. It's a cover. Musicianship is good for me. I'm okay with that. Do I wish there was more original music on here? Of course. I don't know if you know the reason they did Pretty Woman as a cover. They put it out, it charted really high, and then they rushed them back into the studio to take advantage of the momentum of Pretty Woman. That's why there's all these covers on here, because they didn't have enough music. [00:20:46] Speaker A: Music. [00:20:46] Speaker D: It just gotten off the road. They were supposed to take a break, but then this thing hit. They were saying, well, we have to put something out so we don't get forgotten. So they put that song out, not expecting that it was going to go that high. And then they had to go back to the studio. That's why there's five covers. Because they didn't have enough music. [00:20:58] Speaker C: It wasn't because they're all blitzed out of their minds. No. They couldn't write anything. No. [00:21:03] Speaker D: It was just a very rushed thing. And it's easier to do a cover than it is to write your own music. Eddie Van Halen hated that there were so many covers on here. He hated it. He said he'd rather fail with his music than succeed with someone else's, which technically isn't true because look what happened with Van Halen 3. And that derailed. [00:21:18] Speaker C: I was just about to say, didn't he kind of do that later on in his career? [00:21:21] Speaker D: That derailed Van Halen for a good 15 years. I guess when all of your records are doing very well, you can say stuff like that. Well, I'd rather fail my own stuff until it happens. [00:21:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:32] Speaker D: And then it just threw him totally off. Threw him into a tailspin for a while with drugs and just. It just didn't help him out. Maybe he should have done a whole bunch of covers on Van Halen 3. That would have been better. I'll go first. It's going to be easy. We're just going to do music arrangement, production. I'm going to give it sevens. I think that it's done very well. And I think, as a cover goes, I don't. I can't think you do much better on a cover. Saf. [00:21:53] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I'll say seven on production, I think it's really good. And I'll say six on the others. I'm not knocking them. I'm knocking the song. I don't ever need to hear the song again. I don't really like it. They play it well for what it's worked, but I probably wouldn't go back to that. Probably like, oh, what's number two? Right. [00:22:08] Speaker E: You're gonna give the same scores. I have the same sentiments. I mean, they play really well. The vocals are great. You know, the guitar playing is great as you expect it to be, but it's not something something. I'm just gonna go back and hit replay. [00:22:19] Speaker D: That's what I expected. Next song is Hang Em High. And I can say the riff in this song sounds like it should be easy. It's not easy to do it. The actual pace that this is happening and the way he's playing it. I've tried have a hard time with this. Not that I can't get it if I worked on it long enough, but it's not easy. You would think it sounds easy. It would be easy to do. Not so much. This is Hang em High. [00:22:57] Speaker A: Somewhere he lost it in turn now trouble seems to feel him like in love. Travels life without a pack without love he comes from nowhere he turns on his own they both are hanging While the moon hang him high. [00:23:26] Speaker C: Come on, Mark. That sounds super easy, especially that little part. [00:23:31] Speaker D: That's the easy part. The hard part is that rhythm. You think that's easy? It's not that easy. [00:23:38] Speaker C: I wouldn't, probably wouldn't say it was easy. [00:23:40] Speaker D: Not at pace it's not. You can do it slower. Once you get faster, you get all up. [00:23:45] Speaker C: I really like the music. I'm not too crazy about the melody in this one though, so far. But I do like the music. And the bass is back. I mean, the bass is doing some really cool stuff. Obviously the guitar. So yeah, I mean, musically I definitely like this one better than the melody. [00:23:58] Speaker E: I'm not too crazy about loving the guitar playing again. That's the only saving grace for me so far. Musically I think I'm gonna enjoy it. But overall, probably not gonna love this album that much. [00:24:08] Speaker D: You're not there yet, my friend. Give it a second, give it a second. The one thing I have to say is, is that people have to understand that Eddie Van Halen doesn't give you completed songs. He goes, here is a riff I'm working on. And then David Larue has to take this friggin riff that he wrote, which makes no sense to anything. The mere fact he got any kind of melody onto this frigging riff and this friggin song. I'd be hard pressed for having very many people be able to do that. It's not like he gives you like, here's a. Here's this, here's some stuff. So now I need to come up with a fucking melody to that weird fucking guitar thing. I gotta say that's one of the things that he did very well is he took weird guitar stuff and wrote lyrics and melody to it. Which sometimes you wonder how that even happened. Yeah, maybe the melody isn't the greatest. I don't know how much better you could do with the weird stuff that he's giving you. Like when me and you write songs, right, I might have a riff, but I don't usually come up with weird crap like that that no one can sing over. It's kind of hard to do. You got to give the guy credit, man. I don't know how he did some [00:25:05] Speaker C: of this Stuff, I think in other things I hear that, but I think melodies are better. The song just started second time around. I know sometimes we'll say, ah, it's not really into the second time around. Like, okay, sometimes it seems better. [00:25:15] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:25:16] Speaker C: As it goes around. So we'll see. [00:25:18] Speaker D: Well, I don't get a break for lyrics, so here are the lyrics. Somewhere he lost it in a turn now trouble seems to fit him like a glove first come, first served he's serving it back Travels light without a pack without love and the chorus says, he comes from nowhere Returns on his own Late for the hanging yes, he's headed for the moon Hang him high. What the does that mean? [00:25:39] Speaker C: Yeah, it's, you know, it's this guy. [00:25:41] Speaker D: And I don't know what this is, what it's about. [00:25:45] Speaker C: Hang them high. That's a western term, isn't it? Or am I wrong? [00:25:48] Speaker D: I think it has something to do with that a little bit. Even some of the little word. He doesn't make the stuff super simple either, which I appreciate. I mean, you could take this and give it really silly, silly, silly lyrics. I give him credit that he tries to at least paint up story a little bit. And I think he's really good with that. I know when we did a little enough record, you were impressed on some of the words. You were like, oh, that was actually pretty good. [00:26:08] Speaker C: Yeah. I feel he goes in between the incredibly simplistic, where it's just flat out about something. And then other times, even though the topic is simple, he does interesting things with the way he presents it. I definitely give him credit in some [00:26:21] Speaker D: of the stuff, I think better than Sammy Hagar, because I think sometimes Sammy Hagar can be very to the point. [00:26:26] Speaker C: Yeah, he was very straightforward, I think, at least from what I've heard. [00:26:30] Speaker D: And then you can have other times where I think some of his lyrics are very good, but I think he doesn't really dance around things as much. No, when he does dance around it, it really is not dancing around it. You know exactly what he means. Just because what it is in general for me, I think I like David Le Rot's lyrics better overall. [00:26:47] Speaker C: I would say so too. I mean, I definitely find them overall more interesting. [00:26:50] Speaker D: I heard this one thing. This is totally off topic. Remember I told you that I've seen Kenny Wayne Shepard three times. I never bought a ticket to his show. He just ends up opening for people. So he was on a show and he was talking about the last Van Halen talk is he was the opening for that and he said he met everybody. Wolfgang. He met Alex and Eddie. They were all great. You know, he never met once on the whole tour. David Lee Ross. [00:27:11] Speaker C: David. [00:27:12] Speaker D: He said no one could talk to him. When he went to go on stage, they cleared the walkway. Get out of the way. David's. You couldn't talk to him. You couldn't say anything to him. He's just one of those guys. And I guess, you know, for a frontman, I guess you have to have lsd. So he has lead singer disease. I think he's the guy who invented lead singer. [00:27:29] Speaker C: He's up there. [00:27:30] Speaker D: Yeah, he's up there. [00:27:31] Speaker C: There's some other people that I've done it, too. We won't mention names. I'll probably come up sometime in the podcast. [00:27:36] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, that's going to come up, I'm sure. [00:27:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:40] Speaker D: All right, let's continue. Here we go. [00:27:51] Speaker A: One eye on the road Lights upon his hair Warrior to the ground he's listening to it he comes from nowhere and turns on his own they father hanging as he say for the moon Hanging out. Lying to himself and laughing up his sleeve Looking back at him now the city is sleep Vision of light Child of the night. [00:29:11] Speaker C: I appreciate the fact, too, that there's no rhythm track under the solo, and even when he does his little fills in the riff, there's nothing under there. What you hear is one guitar and that. That's it. When it does it live, you're not going to say, oh, this doesn't sound as full as the record. And it sounds like the record. Mark, what do you think of that solo? [00:29:28] Speaker D: I liked it. I thought it was good. It's not one of my favorites, but he did a lot of cool stuff in there. He didn't even really do a lot of his stuff in there, really what he normally does. I know they tracked a lot of this live for the most part, especially the first couple albums. Three was mostly live. Fair warning. Had a bunch of overdubs. This feels like this is very tracked live, and I don't miss the backing. I think there are some guitar players where they need the backing. He's not one of those guys because they played in the trio forever. I kind of understand that. He knows what to do to fill the sound out. It's not an easy thing to do if you've not really played in the trio or, you know, even a trio with a singer. It's a different beast than playing with two guitar players. A bass player, keyboard player. It's totally different. He has to fill space up and he's really good at doing that Phil stuff in between his playing. His rhythm playing, as like I said on probably other podcasts that we did for Van Halen, is very underrated. Everyone worries about the solo stuff, but it's really. If you listen, it's the rhythm stuff that really. You sit back and go, jesus Christ. The mere fact that him and his brother have this swing thing that happens. Even on this song, there's this swing that's happening. It's not just a totally straightforward four, even though it is. I don't know if it's behind, but it's very swingy. You can just feel it. [00:30:38] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, there's a lot of swing in this song. It's got. Then he goes to the double bass. [00:30:42] Speaker D: At one point, if he wasn't in a band with Eddie Van Halen, his drumming would be more pronounced. [00:30:47] Speaker C: Well, listen, I mean, he's definitely a name mentioned amongst drummers. It isn't like he's definitely recognized and appreciated for his drumming. [00:30:54] Speaker D: He's a little overshadowed, though, unfortunately, I think. [00:30:56] Speaker C: Oh, well, it's a little bit hard. It's hard. I mean, look at Mitch Mitchell. [00:31:02] Speaker D: Yeah, this is true. I mean, it's hard to be in that situation. I think both of them are doing a good job in both of those places. To be with a guy who people are saying the best at that point, it's an easy thing to take for granted. I think a bunch of his fills are good. I just. I think he's a great drummer. He may not like everything he does because brothers, I think they have a thing. Just like when they say people who sing together and their family, they got a certain thing that happens. I think that happens with the music here and Michael Anthony doing a bang up job. [00:31:27] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, the bass is great. This is really good. [00:31:30] Speaker D: Yeah, it's super awesome. [00:31:31] Speaker C: I mean, overall, the musicianship is really good. It's just kind of the melody that I'm not still kind of. [00:31:35] Speaker D: Yeah, it's not my most favorite either. [00:31:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:31:37] Speaker D: Again, did you listen to the stuff that's going behind it? I don't know how the you would write anything to that. I don't know if we'd be able to write lyrics to that crazy shit that's happening back there. He doesn't make it easy on you either. [00:31:46] Speaker C: I just remember back in the day, I always had a notebook book full of lyrics and you would write something and Nick would pull something out. He's like, I can't fit these lyrics to this song. Like, I was like, I didn't write that for this. I was like, just trying to give me a melody and I'll try to fit something there. [00:32:00] Speaker D: I guess that I have a problem with that too. [00:32:01] Speaker E: Maybe, like, you guys have been talking about. Very unique sound. I don't recall ever once listening to a group and be like, oh, they sound like Van Halen. They just don't, you know, because Van Halen just has that unique sound that I don't think very. I don't think anybody could really replicate some of the things that Eddie does on guitar. I mean, his technique, his style, like, it's amazing. Like, he do lead and rhythm and bounce seamlessly between the two styles very quickly. And not a lot of people could do that. I've always appreciated from a musicianship standpoint, when you have someone that's in the family, they just know each other's style. They could pick up just about the different styles and how they're playing along. Hey, listen, the bass is here. He fit right in. It feels like he was like the third brother or like. Or that one friend that's always over and hanging out with the family that just picked it right up. That's one of the things I've always appreciated about Van Halen. That they just have that unique sound that no one else can replicate or come close. [00:32:51] Speaker C: People try. You hear it right away. [00:32:53] Speaker E: Yeah, but when you hear it, you're like, that's a shitty sounding. Like, it's almost instantly like you say, wow, that was a shitty attempt. But when you hear some groups try to sound like a Nirvana, you'd be like, oh, that sounds kind of like Nirvana. Or what was the one group that we heard that we said, wow, this sounds very Led Zeppelin. [00:33:12] Speaker C: Like Red of an Fleet. [00:33:13] Speaker E: There you go. That we even said, whoa, wait a minute. You know, he really went out of his way to see sound like the group. If someone tries that with Van Halen, you'd be like, oh, this is horrible. It just sounds terrible from the first note. [00:33:24] Speaker D: How many bands in the 80s tried to do that? They would have a song that would and was always bad. It's supposed to be like Van Halen, but it never was any good. Terrible from the first note because you can't copy this. Whatever's going on here between these four guys, you can't copy this. And you can try. And that's why I think, for me, I tend to be critical when we hit the 80s stuff, because in my head, head, this is my reference. My reference is this. If it's not anywhere near what's happening here? I have a problem. Well, this guitar player sounds like every guitar player and he's trying to do Eddie Van Halen stuff, and this guy's doing this. And so I sometimes become uber critical of bands in that time frame because I think a lot of them are trying to do this and just not doing it very well. [00:34:02] Speaker C: Or it's good, but it doesn't have a personality. That was a great solo, but as opposed to when Eddie Van Halen does it, it's him doing it. [00:34:10] Speaker D: I mean, having a sound of your own is a hard thing to do. I can even say that about the Edge in you, too. No one really sounds like him. Anyone who does the things that he does, automatically people are going to go, you want to sound like the Edge. I'm not even putting those two guitar players at any kind of a technical thing, because technically, Eddie Van Halen is a better guitar player. I'm just talking about sound wise. He has a style. [00:34:31] Speaker C: Case in point, let's say you, Mark, had never heard Beat It. You lived under a rock. You knew Van Halen. You didn't know Beat It. And I'm like, hey, Mark, check this song out. And you hear the song solo, don't you think you're like, wait a second. That sounds incredibly familiar, the style. I mean, it does sound like Eddie Van Halen playing, right? [00:34:49] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:34:50] Speaker C: It's not masked. [00:34:52] Speaker D: I would say that either that's Eddie Van Halen or someone cloned him and put him on this record. And I know when no one cloned him, so it has to be Eddie [00:35:00] Speaker C: Van Halen or someone's trying to sound like him. [00:35:03] Speaker D: Even people who are really good at it. And let me tell you, there are some people online who are really, really, really, really, really good. But it's always missing. It's missing something. It's either missing the swing in his playing or just the way he plays. The only guy who I've felt comes close, close. And not that it's perfectly accurate, but Dweezel Zappa, he comes close besides Wolfgang Van Halen, because when he did that tribute stuff to Taylor Hawkins and they played like Fire and Half a Teacher, whatever happens in the Van Halen thing, the way his feel of the song was, was perfectly right. And I have to assume that's a genetics thing. [00:35:38] Speaker C: Plus he grew up with it, right? I think he lived it. [00:35:41] Speaker D: Oh, and he has the DNA in there, too. So there's got to be some kind of a. Some kind of a genetic thing that he has the same kind of timing as the other guys do. And that's why he sounds right playing it where other people sound. A little clunky playing with me included. But I don't ever want to sound like Eddie Van Halen. Do I want to take pieces of it and stick it in my playing? Yes. Do I always want to sound like Jimi Hendrix? No. Or Ace Frehley or anybody who I really like. I just want to pull pieces to sound like me. I don't look to try to sound like that. [00:36:07] Speaker C: Them. [00:36:07] Speaker D: If I ever played something that sounded too much like them, I would hope someone would tell me, this is too much. Change it up. I don't want to be a clone of anyone else. Just like I don't think any of these guys want to be a clone of someone else. Regardless, Eddie Van Halen loved Eric Clapton. Does he sound like Eric Clapton? [00:36:22] Speaker C: You? Oh, not at all. [00:36:23] Speaker D: But he can play every Eric Clapton solo. No. For no. Whatever happened filtered into his style a certain way. That's kind of really what happened. Let me get reading the lyrics. It's gonna be the longest song in the world. There's lots of yapping. Verse two is leather across his thighs Blasting out the night he's terrified to drop alive One eye on the road Crest upon his head One ear to the ground he's listening to the dead Chorus. He comes from nowhere Returns on his own Late for the hanging yes. He's headed for the moon Hang him high I guess this is a bridge Alone to himself he's laughing up his sleeve Looking back in anger the city is relieved Vision of light Child of the night Passing by and then solo. And then. Let's run it out. Here we go. [00:37:39] Speaker A: One eye on the road One ear to the ground he's listening to the dead he comes from nowhere he turns on his own Think father hanging. [00:38:16] Speaker C: I like that ending. Change it up a little bit. [00:38:18] Speaker D: There was a sick drum toward the end of that thing. I wonder what the was going on there. I was like, holy. I was like, that's awesome. [00:38:24] Speaker C: I was gonna ask, do you know what guitar he was playing at this point? Or guitars? Like, was it. Did he have his thing already? [00:38:29] Speaker D: The red, white and black, which is actually the white and black one from the first album. It's the same guitar. He hadn't had any of his signature things yet. This is still the one he put together. He's played other things on records. He's played a Destro player. He's played, I think even a Flying V somewhere. Especially any of the solos that don't have whammy bar. He tends to play guitars like a Flying V or Destroyer. That just Fixed bridge or Half for Teachers is not a whammy bar guitar song. [00:38:52] Speaker C: I don't think I've ever seen a flying V in his hand. [00:38:54] Speaker D: It's only recorded. You'd never see it. [00:38:56] Speaker C: You have a replica, right, of the red guitar with the things on it. [00:38:59] Speaker D: I have too many of those. I have the white one. I have the red one. I did all them. I did the white and black one. I did the black and yellow one, which I think is my favorite, personally. I have my. My Ernie Ball one that I played forever. Yeah, I put that in 93. I have the PV version. I have the EVH version. So I have all the permutations of the guitars in some form. [00:39:19] Speaker C: Which is your favorite out of those? [00:39:22] Speaker D: Probably the Ernie Ball one. I mean, I played it for a long time. I mean, that thing is worth a lot of money now. I think I paid like 1100 bucks for it. I had the money. I had disposable income back then, so I was able to buy it. But it's just one of those things. Should I have had that? Probably not. [00:39:33] Speaker C: Not. [00:39:33] Speaker D: I spent money on it. [00:39:34] Speaker C: Yeah, but you've played it all these years. [00:39:36] Speaker D: I mean, I played that on almost all the stuff we've ever done, I think, except maybe the first demo. I played that while we were doing the COVID stuff. I. I played that guitar a lot. It didn't sit in the case. It got played. It's probably. No, it's not in perfect shape. It's battle scarred. [00:39:48] Speaker C: Exactly right. [00:39:50] Speaker D: Why don't you go first? [00:39:50] Speaker C: Six on the lyrics, five on the melody, seven on the music. So an arrangement and seven on production. I think if the melody was better, I'd like the song overall. But musically, obviously it's cool. It's definitely Van Halen. It's that vibe. Van Halen, double time swing kind of thing. Bass was freaking awesome. I mean, obviously guitar and drums. Overall, a good song. [00:40:08] Speaker D: Mark, you'll be surprised with this fives now. Five in the lyrics, five on the melody, seven on everything else. It's never been my most favorite melody nor lyric. But I appreciate the music, the riffs. A. I appreciate the bass playing. The drumming is great. It's not my favorite solo that he does. It's still good. I would never say that his souls are bad. Even Van Halen 3. I find some stuff that I can like on there, even though it's not my favorite riff record. But if I just Take as a guitar player listening to the guitar stuff or you're a drummer listening to drum stuff. Even if you don't like the song that much, you always can find pieces ago. Well, that's pretty cool. He did that thing. I'd like that even if I don't like the overall song as much. [00:40:45] Speaker C: I gotta tell you, Van Halen 3 is one of my top. I'm waiting for that one. I really am. [00:40:49] Speaker D: We may have to pick it. If it doesn't come out at some point. [00:40:52] Speaker C: We may have to, because I really want to listen to it again. I remember just very quickly because I know we've been yapping. This one song I was with my friend bought it, played in the the car. He threw it out his window. [00:41:03] Speaker D: A lot of people did. Yeah. [00:41:07] Speaker E: Frank Music and production, I'm gonna give those eight. Really like the music like we've been talking about. You can't replicate it. And his style is just so great. 8. For me there. The melody, I'm gonna give a 7. The lyrics, I'm gonna give a 5. An arrangement, I'll give that a 7. Because Van Halen's music is always going to be good and solid. [00:41:26] Speaker D: So next song is an instrumental. This is Cathedral in the vein of all the things he. This point. Eruption on the first one, Spanish Fly in the second one. Mean Streets. Unfair warning thing. It's always something that you go, what the Is that? Is that guitar? This is Cathedral. [00:41:57] Speaker A: Sam. Sa. [00:43:03] Speaker C: The beginning reminds me of. I don't know if you guys ever seen back rooms videos on YouTube. Creepy spaces. And then the thing reminds me a little bit of a video game. So Mark, is he just basically doing that with like reverse reverb and the volume knob. [00:43:17] Speaker D: Volume knob. And he's just basically hammering on the notes. And then there's delay on there, probably a little bit of chorus. I would think when you first hear it, you don't know what the it is. Now we know because we can see it. When it first came out, no one know what the that was. Is that a guitar? How the does it even sound that way? [00:43:33] Speaker C: I assume you've tried playing it. [00:43:34] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, it's not that hard to do. If you have the technique down and you have the stuff, you can do it. If you put the record on, you drop that thing in your guitar player, you're like, with what? What is that? Give him props for the innovation part. He was still in the part of innovating in his guitar playing. He hadn't gotten to a point where he didn't do any of that because most of the hagar stuff. There really isn't stuff like this. There's some, but not the same way. He was still trying to innovate. He says he's destroyed so many volume knobs because if you keep turning that volume down a lot, it freezes up. It just seizes up and doesn't work anymore. Yeah, I'm just going to do music on this because I think that's all you really can do. I mean, production is negligible here. I'm going to say 10. [00:44:10] Speaker C: Whoa. [00:44:11] Speaker D: Just because of the innovation of what it is that no one was doing anything like this. You didn't know what it was. I would do the same thing for Eruption. No one knew what the fuck that was. No one ever heard finger tapping before, really. I mean, it was around. But no one put it in the context that he did it, in the musicality that he did. That's how I feel about this. I feel that it's a statement of a guitar player trying to find a sound and trying to do things that no one's heard before. So that's why I give it a 10. I know that no one knew what the this was. So that's my thing for the purpose. Pure music part of it. And the innovation of what that is. Ze. [00:44:44] Speaker C: I don't want to piss you off, but I'm gonna say five. Eruptions. Eruption. Holy. Just cool. And again, it's not about. Oh, I can do that. It's never about that. It's just the appreciation. And I understand where you're coming from, but it's okay. I don't know. Right? [00:45:00] Speaker E: Listening to Mark talk about it with such passion and how much he really is throwing flowers at the art artwork that was done here. I'm kind of with you. I'm gonna give it a five. [00:45:11] Speaker D: You're all wrong. [00:45:14] Speaker C: I thought he was gonna give it like an 11. [00:45:16] Speaker D: I'm gonna get a. I forget an eight or seven. [00:45:20] Speaker C: He's like, listen, hearing the way Mark loves this and passionate and we've been friends for years. I gotta give it a five [00:45:31] Speaker E: on this one. [00:45:34] Speaker D: I mean, I get it if you're not a guitar player. I understand that. [00:45:37] Speaker C: No, I appreciate it. And I'll probably never be able to be able to do it, but as it is, it's okay. I can appreciate it. [00:45:44] Speaker D: All right. The next song is Secrets. [00:46:11] Speaker A: She ain't waiting till she gets older her feet are making tracks in the winter snows she got a rainbow that touches her shoulder she be heading where the thunder rolls she got that rhythm Got that rhythm of the road she get crazy woman get crazy she can go she just looking good She's. [00:46:49] Speaker C: When the song first starts, all I can picture is Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito and Billy Ocean kind of doing that. The fist as I win the top. It's the rhythm. The song sounds nothing like that. But all of a sudden I had that in my head and it made me happy. It's okay. It hasn't gone anywhere yet. Yeah, I'm not really going to pass judgment. [00:47:08] Speaker D: I think it's one of the riffs and stuff that is easier to write music to. There's a riff here that you can write stuff to, which is not always the case. I think his voice sounds good. I like the playing. I think the bass playing is awesome. [00:47:19] Speaker C: I. I didn't listen to the bass. I gotta listen out for it. I just had that vision in my head and I couldn't shake it. Like, I have to really pay more attention now. [00:47:26] Speaker D: It's a very poppy song. It's pop. It's something that could be played on the radio because it's so poppy. And I think that's one of the things about Van Halen is that they're able to go in the pop direction and still put great musicianship into something that's super poppy. I think that's a hard thing to do, too. Usually pop is so simple. Not that this is ridiculously hard, but there's more music going on here than probably most pop music. Music. [00:47:50] Speaker E: Very 80s sounding, for sure. It's okay so far. I want to give it a more listen before I give it my thoughts. [00:47:56] Speaker D: I'm getting worried about this record now. It's the More We Go. I don't know what people are gonna do here. [00:48:00] Speaker E: Oh, boy. [00:48:02] Speaker D: Verse one. She ain't waiting till she gets older her feet are making tracks in the winter snows she got a rainbow that touches her shoulder she'll be headed where the thunder rolls Chorus Ah, she got that rhythm Got that rhythm of the road oh, oh she get crazy Women get crazy if she can't go Ah, looking good. [00:48:22] Speaker C: See, I didn't realize it was a chorus. [00:48:24] Speaker D: Yeah, it's a little deceptive. I don't think they use secrets in the actual name. [00:48:28] Speaker C: I didn't notice a major switch. That's what I'm saying. I gotta try and pay a little bit more attention. [00:48:32] Speaker D: Let's continue. Here we go. [00:48:35] Speaker A: She comes like the secret when she's as strong as the mountains Walks tall as the trees she Been there before. She never give in. She'll be gone tomorrow. Like the silent Ra. She got rhythm, got that rhythm of road. She get crazy, she get crazy and she can go but she just looking good. You know how sometimes you got to run? You running blind but you jump the gun. The question is nap does love exists? But when she leaves where she goes. I got the feeling she don't know either way. Like the wind, watch where she blows. [00:49:52] Speaker C: This is odd because I really like the music and his melody fits perfectly to the music. But I'm not digging the song. Overall, it's odd. I. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe I just like some kind of dynamic in it and there really isn't any. But I like the riff. What he's doing is not. I'm not saying that. Oh, his melody is totally new. It's. Everything is there. But like in Cycle, when the guy says if it doesn't gel, it is an aspect. [00:50:16] Speaker D: I understand that it is a little bit samey same between the chorus and the verses. I don't hate it. I mean, again, I'm a fan, so you take whatever I say with a grain of salt. I've heard these songs millions and millions of times. They've kind of burned themselves into my head for me. I appreciate when I listen to listen to the changes. Especially in that little bridge part where he changed it up a little bit. I don't even know how you write anything over that. It was like, how did he even put a melody on that? And then it went right back into the verse. [00:50:44] Speaker C: But that's what I'm saying. These distinctions are barely there. Maybe that's what it is. If it had a little bit of change. [00:50:50] Speaker D: Yeah, I can see that. I would like a little bit of change too. First two. She comes like the secret wind. She's as strong as the mountains, Walks tall as the trees. She's been there before. She'll never give in. She'll be gone tomorrow like the sun, silent breeze. And then the chorus is the same and there's this weird little two line bridge thing. You know how sometimes you gotta run. You're running blind but you jump the gun. And then back into a verse. The question is not does love exist? But when she leaves where she goes. I got the feeling she don't know either. Wait. Like the wind, watch where she blows. What are you thinking about lyrics? Do you like the lyrics? [00:51:25] Speaker C: Honestly, I think the first verse was okay, but I think they've kind of gotten better. He's using a little Bit more poetic imagery, it seems. The first verse was simple. Not that it was bad, but I feel like as the song goes on, I'm liking the lyrics more. [00:51:37] Speaker D: Okay. I expect a better score then. [00:51:39] Speaker C: Yeah, the lyrics are not bad. [00:51:42] Speaker D: Solo time, here we go. [00:52:15] Speaker C: Yeah, look, it was a good solo. Fit the song perfectly. I mean, it had feel. It reminded me of Reeling in the Years a little bit by Steely Dan. [00:52:22] Speaker D: You know what it is? It's those fast little run things in between the bends and the little more emotional part of what he does. And that's one of the things he does do very well. He can bend and do whatever and give you that kind of thing. Then he throws this weird scale pattern that's not what you normally would hear somebody do. I think that's juxtaposition about how he does those two things together is really what makes him above lots of other guitar players. Not everyone can really do that. It's easy to write something that's very straight ahead. Whatever rhythm he has in his head is weird. So his playing is not what you expect. [00:52:52] Speaker C: I like that he's flashy, but he has feel. They're not notes just for notes sake. There's a vibe. [00:52:58] Speaker D: Oh, and you know he can do it. [00:52:59] Speaker C: Yes, but that's what I'm saying. Let's say in the 80s frame of good league. Guitar players could say they don't have as much feel. Like, yeah, they can play and play well, but maybe they don't necessarily play with feel. He has feel. Someone else could write a solo for this song. Do flash, but no feel. And he has both. [00:53:15] Speaker D: All right, let's run it out. Here we go. [00:53:29] Speaker A: Yeah, she can go. I'm looking good. [00:53:52] Speaker D: Frank, go first. [00:53:53] Speaker E: Do I have to write the lyrics on this one? [00:53:55] Speaker D: Yes, it has lyrics on it, Mark, read the lyrics. [00:54:00] Speaker E: Well, I'm gonna do music. Music I'm gonna get for this one here. It's all right. I'm gonna give this a six. The production, I'm gonna give that a six as well. The melody of five lyrics, I'm gonna give those a four. Yeah, this is it feels like a filler song to me. Sorry, Mark. The arrangement, I'm gonna give that a five. Zav, this is hard. [00:54:21] Speaker C: I'll say six on the lyrics. The way it started, I was a little simplistic. I like where he went with it, actually. I'll just do sixes across. Part of me wants to do lower on some of it. But like I said, it's hard to. Because I really want to like this song, and I like the vibe. It doesn't gel, but it's not bad. [00:54:37] Speaker E: But is it. But is it six good or like a five? I mean, it's like a five, maybe even a four. [00:54:43] Speaker C: I could almost do fives, but it's hard to do fives because I don't think it's five bad, it's just not six good. No, but I'll be honest, I don't know that I go back to it either. No offense. I don't really go back to any of these songs yet. [00:54:57] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, and that's what I'm saying. Like if you gave it a five. [00:55:00] Speaker C: And overall, I consider myself a Van Halen fan. I mean, without a doubt. How about I borrow five from Frank? [00:55:06] Speaker E: All right, [00:55:10] Speaker C: Mark. [00:55:11] Speaker D: Frank gave segments to Kokomo, so I don't know if I can listen to anything he says. Oh, he gave production to 7 on Kokomo, so take that with a grain of salt. I'm gonna say lyrics, six melody, six musicianship. I'm saying it's seven again. Whether you like the song, don't like the song, the music is good. Arrangement, six production. I think it was produced very well. You could hear everything. I think Ted Te does a great job. I'm gonna give that a seven. You know, I' giving these things nines, cuz I don't think that's the case. I think they're way better Van Halen songs. [00:55:39] Speaker E: You gave one song 10. [00:55:40] Speaker D: Well, yes, because it's not a song, it's a musical piece. That's all what it is. It's the innovation. It's easy to say five now because you've heard it. People do things like this all the time. But you have to take it in the context of when it was released and that no one had ever heard that. No one knew what it was. Guitar players put that down and went, what the. How is he doing that? So that for me, that's why it's a 10. Because if you don't know how to do it, and it takes people hours and hours and hours trying to figure out what the fuck he's doing. It's not like these days you can't go to YouTube and look it up and watch him play it. So someone had to figure the what he was doing out or go to the concert and see what he was doing. So that's why that has a 10. Not for anything else. Is it the most complicated thing in the world? No, but innovation wise, it's very high. If you're a Guitar player. If you're just a regular music listener, you probably listen to that and go, eh, it's a. It's a little guitar thing. I mean, I'm coming from that point of view, not average non musician listening to that. That sense makes make sense. Okay, I'm giving this a six. This is not tens. Is this my favorite stuff? I think this stuff on the second side's a little bit better as far as original goes. Now we're going to put two songs in a row together. Cuz I think they go together so we're not going to skip through it. The first part is Intruder, which is an instrumental. And then into Old Pretty Woman we're going to let it run through. This is Intruder into Old Pretty Woman. [00:56:57] Speaker A: It. Pretty woman walking down the street Pretty woman, the kind of back to me Pretty woman, I don't believe you, it must be true no one can look as good as you Mercy. Pretty woman, won't you pardon me Pretty woman, I couldn't help but see Pretty woman, you look lovely as me. Are you lonely just like me? [00:59:46] Speaker C: Who's doing that main lead vocal with him? Is that Eddie? [00:59:49] Speaker D: No, I just think it's either him doubling himself, I think. [00:59:52] Speaker C: I don't think so. [00:59:53] Speaker D: Or it could be Michael Anthony maybe. [00:59:54] Speaker C: Michael Anthony? Yeah. I mean I like the Dragon Intruder thing. The transition is a little abrupt, I think because Intruder is so loud and then it kind of goes into the other thing. But it was cool. I knew that that part existed. I don't think I ever realized it was specifically separate. I probably knew because when you said Intruder, I was like, yeah, I know that there's a song Intruder on here, but I don't think I realized what it was. It's cool, it's almost dark sounding maybe like a horror thing. I mean, listen, this. The COVID itself is a cover. I mean it sounds like the original. So I mean it's played well. [01:00:24] Speaker D: I think he has made it his own. Own where the whole band has. I don't think so, but I think him in the little fills and the things he does, he makes it a Van Halen song. I say the same thing with ace Fraley and 2000 man. Same thing to me is that it becomes more than maybe just the COVID because of his guitar playing, the little riffs and things he does, the dive bombs and the things that make it a Van Halen thing as opposed to just a straight cover. [01:00:48] Speaker C: No, I mean you can tell it's them without a doubt. For the drum sound alone, you can tell that it's It's Van Halen. [01:00:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:54] Speaker D: I'd like in treater a lot. I. I don't know if they ever thought about doing anything with that. It was cool. It had some cool parts to it, I thought. [01:01:00] Speaker C: Yeah, it was kind of. It was kind of weird. I mean, I like weird. [01:01:03] Speaker E: Yeah. That conversion felt a little clumsy. It didn't feel like it fit. I remember the song. I've always liked the song, so I'm going to dig it. [01:01:10] Speaker D: It's a good song in its own. I know there's some people who like this version better than the Roy Orbison version and the people the other way around. I personally lean more toward this surprise. Well, I'm a Van Halen fan, so. But I heard this one before I heard the original. [01:01:27] Speaker E: Really? [01:01:27] Speaker D: Yeah. Well, I was. Yeah, I heard this first. I don't hate the original. I'd like the original. I like the guitar playing in this better. Maybe I should say that. [01:01:35] Speaker C: Wait, this came out in 82? [01:01:36] Speaker D: Yes. [01:01:37] Speaker C: I don't know, Mark. I'd like to bet that you heard the original first. That song was so damn popular, man. [01:01:43] Speaker D: I don't know if I did. Tell you the truth. I didn't realize that a verse was even gone until I heard the original version. If I did hear it, it wasn't really on my radar. I might have heard it in passing. [01:01:53] Speaker C: I wouldn't notice. I mean, just said it, but I wouldn't notice. Do I think the original song is good? Yeah. Do I ever listen to it when it comes on? No. I do. It's one of those. [01:02:03] Speaker D: If you gave me a choice about which one to listen to, I would probably listen to this one. For me, personally, I like the way he's singing it. I like the music. I obviously like Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing. For me, I would rather listen to this one. Although hearing the original, it's blatantly obvious that the verse isn't there. You might not tell right now because when you listen to this, it feels like it doesn't matter. When you listen to the Railroad, like, oh, that's supposed to be in there. It doesn't make a lot of sense what you hear. [01:02:27] Speaker C: I might pick this one, too, for what it's worth. The production, the way it sounds and everything, and this is not knocking the [01:02:32] Speaker D: original one, but no, I think the original is good. [01:02:35] Speaker C: Am I gonna listen to either one? Yeah. I mean, it's okay. I've never been a massive fan of the song. I don't think it's a bad song. [01:02:42] Speaker D: If there was a choice, if this came on or the original came on, I would probably leave this one on. Again, not saying that I don't like the other one. I just like this one better. [01:02:49] Speaker C: I might do the same. I might have to sit there and think about it, but I. I'm not sitting here saying what I was like. Yeah, I might do that. [01:02:57] Speaker D: All right, let's continue. Here we go. [01:03:19] Speaker A: Woman, look my way Pretty woman say you'll stay with me. Cause I need you need you tonight. Pretty woman, don't walk on my cr. Woman, don't make me cry Woman, don't. Okay, this way must be okay I guess I go on home it's late There'll be tonight Tomorrow night what do I see? She's walking back to me. [01:04:37] Speaker C: What's many missing? [01:04:38] Speaker D: There's another verse that's missing. I didn't know either. I didn't pay attention to the original song as much. [01:04:42] Speaker C: No. [01:04:43] Speaker D: And I have to tell you, anytime I've ever played this song as a cover, I've always done this version. Yeah. Just because the time we grew up. I think this would be an easier sell as the version, but it's a little more contemporary sounding. I think that's just kind of what it turns into. [01:04:57] Speaker C: They don't do a bad job with it at all. [01:04:58] Speaker D: I think it's good. I'd like his vocals on here, too. Again. I think his vocals on his album are pretty decent. I know he gets ragged on all the time. [01:05:04] Speaker C: To me, it is what it is. It's part the of. Of their sound. I've mentioned it before in the drumming. You have to mention it in the vocals, too. David Lee Roth was the voice of Van Halen, at least in the beginning, before Sammy Higar came in. He's as much part of the chemistry as anything else. True. If Van Halen had, let's say, a more stock singer, maybe it wouldn't have stuck out as much. No matter how good his guitar playing is. I understand. Obviously not even Hillen to God. I understand. But what I'm saying is not that David has this amazing voice. He's not like a Steve Perry, let's say, if it wasn't his unique voice. You attribute that to these songs? [01:05:38] Speaker D: Yep. I think just because he doesn't have the range or whatever, I think his voice is so unique that just as much as anyone else in the band, it has something to do with it. And if you take. If you take Michael Anthony's background vocals and Eddie Van Halen's background vocals out that too. It's all the things together. It's those four guys. Like anytime it's like the Beatles that way, it's like Kiss that way, it's like you two that way. If you take one of those guys out, it doesn't work. [01:05:59] Speaker C: Yeah, it's not the same. [01:06:00] Speaker D: Could have varying degrees of success while you take somebody out because Van Halen did a Kiss has done it. Any band who. You take somebody out, you could possibly have success AC DC with Bon Scott when he died and Brian Johnson came in. But that doesn't always happen. You take somebody out and it just changes too much of the chemistry and it doesn't work. [01:06:16] Speaker C: But when you think about Bon Scott and Brian Johnson, right, There's not a massive difference in those voices. And the music is always the music. There is a massive difference between David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. It could also not have worked, but it wound up working, working for them. It wasn't necessarily going to work. They basically went with someone who wasn't necessarily a singer. He was a performer and he did what he had to do with the song. Sammy Higar is a singer, right? He's got that range and you can belt out. And I'm sure that it was different writing for him than it was for David Leroy or whatever mechanism there was. [01:06:49] Speaker D: From what I gather, it was the same exact. Eddie Van Halen would come in with wacky, wacky riffs and he'd have to write songs the same exact way. So. So I don't think that changed that much. The songs changed. The songs became a little more, or I should say, less adventurous. I think they became a little more grown up. I believe during the Sammy Hagar time, where in the David Le Roth time, I think there was a little more experimentation going on and a little more changing. And maybe that was because there was a lot more conflict. And that conflict made the way it sounded. [01:07:17] Speaker C: I mean, do I think David Roth necessarily is a great voice? Has he ever ruined Van Halen? No, absolutely not. His era. Van Halen is my favorite. [01:07:25] Speaker D: Me too. If I had to pick, I would say that the David Lou out there is my favorite. Are we going to score Intruder or no? Just for music? [01:07:30] Speaker C: I guess so. Like two separate scores in music? [01:07:33] Speaker D: Yeah, just music on that one. Why don't you do that first? [01:07:36] Speaker C: I'll say six on Intruder. Pretty Woman, Sixes. Listen, it's a good cover. I just don't think either one of these covers are at the level of you really Got Me. And maybe it's just the Song you really Got me just lends itself to the their version. Pretty Woman's new do a great job. Hard pressed, I would say. I probably do like this version better. Right. [01:07:56] Speaker E: For the first one I'm going to do five. And then for the COVID Pretty Woman, I'm going to. I'm going to go sixes across. I do remember rocking out to it when the song first came out. I definitely don't like it better than the original, but if I had to choose one, I'm picking the original one. It's okay. It's a fun song to listen to. [01:08:15] Speaker D: Mark Tens. No, I'm going to give seven on Intruder. I do like that Pretty Woman. I'm going to say seven on the music, six on the arrangement because they missed the verse. Even though I don't miss it, it is annoying that it's not there and that they just didn't re record it again. And I think the production is good on that. I think he's doing a great job. I'm gonna give a seven. Through this whole record you can hear everything very well. The drums are done well. The guitars are done well. Bass, vocals. You don't have a problem hearing anything. And that inside one. We've probably yapped more than the actual music. [01:08:45] Speaker C: Yeah. For short album. My God. What the have we been talking about this whole time? [01:08:52] Speaker D: You know, the problem is is though there's a lot to talk about with Van Hal Villain. That's the problem. I'm sure the next week won't be as long just because we've already yapped a lot. [01:09:00] Speaker C: Well, you get the covers, right? You get the band, you get the singers. You start talking about that. It all blends in. It's like trying to do a Kiss record without talking about the drama and everything. Especially if it's a transition record. [01:09:13] Speaker D: There's just as much drama, if not more on the Van Halen sides. It's impossible not to talk about the things that happen. And especially when you're dealing with someone of Van Halen. The statue and the guitar thing, you would be remiss not to talk about the certain things that he means to whatever's happening. Whether you like all the songs or don't like all the songs. To take his contribution into what everyone else was doing into consideration. [01:09:36] Speaker C: No, they were band that changed things. When you give credit where credit is [01:09:39] Speaker D: due, is it the best Van Halen Wreck. Would it be the one that I would pick to want to do if I had a choice? No. [01:09:44] Speaker C: 3 baby. [01:09:46] Speaker D: 3 is just because of the Controversy. If I had to pick a record, I would want to do Fair Warning. [01:09:50] Speaker C: Yeah, but Fair Warning is good. That's boring. Boring, man. I need to hear if this album is as bad as A, I remembered, and B, as everybody else says, it isn't one of those records where I heard it and I told you what happened, and everybody else is like, what? Oh, my God. It's good. It's the best one. You didn't get it? No, those are the ones. [01:10:08] Speaker D: That's like the Motley Crue record. [01:10:10] Speaker C: That's another one that'll come up someday. Because I tried that one. Man, did I try that one. [01:10:14] Speaker D: I haven't heard it since it came out in 94. I haven't heard it at all. Frank, did you like that record? Anyway, Sab, why don't you do your thing? [01:10:22] Speaker C: We are part of the Deep Dive Podcast Network and the Boneless Podcast Network. [01:10:26] Speaker D: Boneless, you don't like those chicken wings without the bone. [01:10:29] Speaker C: Like I always say, great bunch of guys took us in right away. You want individual podcasts about bands, check them out. You got Tom Petty, Uriah, Heap, Rush, Judas Priest, you name it. It's probably on there. So check it out. And Mark, where can they find us? On the interwebs. [01:10:42] Speaker D: Rock with that pod and all the social media rock with that podcast. On all the social media rock with that podcast. Dot com. Do the polls, do the merch. You know what to do. Put us on your auto download and rate us 5 stars because that helps the podcast. Next week we get to finish it out. And Frankie, give me fives again on every Van Halen song. And he'll be happy about that while I give everything tens, obviously. And that's just the way it's gonna go. All right, we'll see you next week. [01:11:05] Speaker C: Ciao, ciao. [01:11:06] Speaker D: Later, later, Bonehead. [01:11:20] Speaker A: Sam.