Van Halen challenge: Balance vs III vs A Different Kind Of Truth

[machinegunner]

Sometimes touted as Sammy Hagar's best album with Van Halen, Balance ... can it stand up to the mighty A Different Kind Of Truth or even hold up to being as good (relatively speaking...) as III with Gary Cherone...?

Amsterdam must be one of the cheesiest songs ever written...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmz4n8H9WhI

...it's off the Richter scale of cheese...

and Feelin' makes me physically ill... http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Feelin'-lyrics-Van-Halen/A89636DF469E989648256BC70006B263

I can't say I have heard the rest of the album ...

Edited April 27, 2013 by machinegunner

[DirtyDeeds]

Not even a question. A Different Kind of Truth by thousands of miles. A Different Kind of Truth is their second-greatest album overall, in my opinion, and I think it's my personal favorite.

[Powerage5]

lol, is this even a question?

[mrandyk]

Yeah, this is not even a question. A better poll would be asking how A Different Kind of Truth stacks up against the original Van Halen albums. Pretty well, in my opinion. Better than Diver Down and all of 1984, except for Hot for Teacher.

[DirtyDeeds]

Yeah, this is not even a question. A better poll would be asking how A Different Kind of Truth stacks up against the original Van Halen albums. Pretty well, in my opinion. Better than Diver Down and all of 1984, except for Hot for Teacher.

In my opinion, the best-to-still-awesome-but-not-quite-as-awesome-as-the-other-albums list is as follows:

1) Van Halen (it was revolutionary, plus the songs are kickass, but it's my second-favorite. "I'm the One" is fucking kickass)

2) A Different Kind of Truth (It was like their second debut album, and like their first debut album, it was perfect and oozed personality)

3) Fair Warning (the hardest album)

4) Women and Children First (the most diverse album, I think)

5) Diver Down (I think it is underrated because people dislike the number of covers on it. But the covers are awesome! Plus, you have Cathedral and Little Guitars. It's a pretty diverse album that really brings out the goofball Van Halen personality of all four of them. I mean, Happy Trails, Big Bad Bill is Sweet William Now... it's like a big happy cartoon with great vocal harmonies)

6) 1984 (the synths are actually kind of cool when you're in the mood, and Drop Dead Legs is one of the best Van Halen songs ever)

7) Van Halen II (great album to listen to with a drink and your hand and your toes in the sand. Fewer stand-out tracks, though, in my opinion)

[Powerage5]

Yeah, this is not even a question. A better poll would be asking how A Different Kind of Truth stacks up against the original Van Halen albums. Pretty well, in my opinion. Better than Diver Down and all of 1984, except for Hot for Teacher.

In my opinion, the best-to-still-awesome-but-not-quite-as-awesome-as-the-other-albums list is as follows:

1) Van Halen (it was revolutionary, plus the songs are kickass, but it's my second-favorite. "I'm the One" is fucking kickass)

2) A Different Kind of Truth (It was like their second debut album, and like their first debut album, it was perfect and oozed personality)

3) Fair Warning (the hardest album)

4) Women and Children First (the most diverse album, I think)

5) Diver Down (I think it is underrated because people dislike the number of covers on it. But the covers are awesome! Plus, you have Cathedral and Little Guitars. It's a pretty diverse album that really brings out the goofball Van Halen personality of all four of them. I mean, Happy Trails, Big Bad Bill is Sweet William Now... it's like a big happy cartoon with great vocal harmonies)

6) 1984 (the synths are actually kind of cool when you're in the mood, and Drop Dead Legs is one of the best Van Halen songs ever)

7) Van Halen II (great album to listen to with a drink and your hand and your toes in the sand. Fewer stand-out tracks, though, in my opinion)

The thing about VH is that all of the DLR albums are incredible, and because of that everyone's favorites lists are so different.

My best to not-so-best list:

1. Van Halen

2. A Different Kind Of Truth

3. 1984

4. Fair Warning

5. Van Halen II

6. Diver Down

7. Women And Children First

[dalsh327]

To me, Van Halen never put out a bad album, just a few subpar ones. III was backlash from the reunion not happening. It would've fared better if Ed hadn't been a dick about it.

My problem with 1984 is that it needed a few more songs on it.

[machinegunner]

this is not a even a question

I know...

[machinegunner]

Nothing can touch the now-7 classic VH pack.

Van Halen 1
Fair Warning
Women and Children first
A Different Kind Of Truth
Van Halen 11
1984
Diver Down

[ZoSoRose]

ADKOT ranks up with their best, VH, II, 1984, etc

[Iron MikeyJ]

I'm gonna start this by saying I love all eras of vh, but vh 3 is by far the worst era and album. The only positive thing from that time was its the only concert that had a good mix of both dave and sammy songs.

I enjoyed adkot, I think its a solid comeback album. But I think many fans have highly overrated it. Imo the only vh album it is better than is vh3. I know that's gonna piss people off but, that's how I feel. Maybe diver down? But that's it.

Here's my rank

1. Van halen (perfect album from start to finish)

2. 1984 (hits, solos, dave and eddie at there all time best)

3. 5150 (sammy masterpiece, doesn't get the respect it deserves.)

4. Van halen 2 ( great follow up to I, I love this album start to finish. Light up the sky!)

5. Women and children (take this whiskey home is an underrated vh classic!)

6. Fair warning (dark album, but still great!)

7. Ou812 (more sammy hits, vh matures on this album)

8. balance (couple great songs but mostly filler. But Ilove the hits)

9. Fuck (its a very good album, but my least fav sammy record. Right now saves it.)

10. Diver down (lots of covers, but done well. Very poppy album. I still enjoy it)

11. Adkot (solid comeback album, couple of great songs. Eddie plays great, daves lacking imo)

12. Van halen 3 (eddies experiment album. Not bad, but not good either)

[Zeppelin]

Usually, I'd have a difficult time ranking a comeback album as one of a band's best after they've released such great material. But ADKOT just demolished my expectations. That, and Brave New World by Iron Maiden, are the two best comeback albums I've heard.

[Powerage5]

Whoever voted Balance, you fail.

[DirtyDeeds]

I'm gonna start this by saying I love all eras of vh, but vh 3 is by far the worst era and album. The only positive thing from that time was its the only concert that had a good mix of both dave and sammy songs.

I enjoyed adkot, I think its a solid comeback album. But I think many fans have highly overrated it. Imo the only vh album it is better than is vh3. I know that's gonna piss people off but, that's how I feel. Maybe diver down? But that's it.

Here's my rank

1. Van halen (perfect album from start to finish)

2. 1984 (hits, solos, dave and eddie at there all time best)

3. 5150 (sammy masterpiece, doesn't get the respect it deserves.)

4. Van halen 2 ( great follow up to I, I love this album start to finish. Light up the sky!)

5. Women and children (take this whiskey home is an underrated vh classic!)

6. Fair warning (dark album, but still great!)

7. Ou812 (more sammy hits, vh matures on this album)

8. balance (couple great songs but mostly filler. But Ilove the hits)

9. Fuck (its a very good album, but my least fav sammy record. Right now saves it.)

10. Diver down (lots of covers, but done well. Very poppy album. I still enjoy it)

11. Adkot (solid comeback album, couple of great songs. Eddie plays great, daves lacking imo)

12. Van halen 3 (eddies experiment album. Not bad, but not good either)

Your list is wrong.

no, really

Edited April 27, 2013 by DirtyDeeds

[mrandyk]

You guys got me thinking about how I'd rank the 7 albums now. Here is how I feel at this moment:

1. Van Halen I - One of my favorite albums ever. Band is just on fire, Eddie's playing on this album sucks me in every single time. Every track is a must listen.

2. Van Halen II - Amazing followup. Outta Love, Beautiful Girls, Light Up the Sky, DOA, Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Women in Love, Spanish Fly. Only track I'd say I can do without is Dance the Night Away

3. A Different Kind of Truth - I can't believe how well this album turned out. I was just happy to hear Van Halen was touring again with Dave, I assumed the album was going to be kind of pathetic and never got my hopes up. They really got my attention when I heard She's the Woman was going to be on there. Killer album, fits right in with the first few.

4. Fair Warning - Some amazing tracks on this one too. An oddball of sorts compared to the rest, but their hardest album too. I could listen to Unchained everyday until eternity and never get sick of it.

5. Women and Children First - Only a few real standout tracks on this one with Everybody Wants Some, Romeo Delight, and Loss of Control, the rest isn't bad though.

6. Diver Down - This album has me torn at times. I used to ignore it, but now I can say that I really like it if I skip Secrets and Dancing in the Street. Love Where Have All the Good Times Gone

7. 1984 - I just am not that fond of this album. Hot for Teacher is perhaps my favorite song ever, and Panama is an overrated, but decent, track. I hold quite a disdain for Jump and I'll Wait, and the rest of the album is filler that doesn't stand up to much from the other albums.

[DirtyDeeds]

Whenever Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth get together, magic happens. You just can't go wrong. I don't know of a better musical duo, truly.

[Zeppelin]

Man, not a lot of love for 1984. Girl Gone Bad, Top Jimmy, House Of Pain, etc. Some really awesome songs on it.

[DirtyDeeds]

I think people dislike 1984 as a whole because of the title track and Jump. But yeah, the rest is killer. And although I think it's in the bottom 5% of DLR-led Van Halen songs, I can even be in a Jump mood every so often.

And I love "I'll Wait," so fuck all of you guys

[ShadowOfTheWave]

I like Balance more but ADKOT is definitely the better album. Eddie is brilliant on both in different ways though. I just prefer Sammy to Dave (he comes off too intellectual and gay to me). On III, Gary is actually better than Eddie who writes almost nothing worthwhile save a few songs.

Edited April 28, 2013 by ShadowOfTheWave

[Powerage5]

Man, not a lot of love for 1984. Girl Gone Bad, Top Jimmy, House Of Pain, etc. Some really awesome songs on it.

Girl Gone Bad is probably my least favorite DLR VH song. Totally killed the energy in the 2012 setlists for me.

I think people dislike 1984 as a whole because of the title track and Jump. But yeah, the rest is killer. And although I think it's in the bottom 5% of DLR-led Van Halen songs, I can even be in a Jump mood every so often.

And I love "I'll Wait," so fuck all of you guys

I'll Wait is my favorite off of 1984, killer song.

And who the fuck voted for VH III?

[Zeppelin]

Man, not a lot of love for 1984. Girl Gone Bad, Top Jimmy, House Of Pain, etc. Some really awesome songs on it.

Girl Gone Bad is probably my least favorite DLR VH song. Totally killed the energy in the 2012 setlists for me.

>I think people dislike 1984 as a whole because of the title track and Jump. But yeah, the rest is killer. And although I think it's in the bottom 5% of DLR-led Van Halen songs, I can even be in a Jump mood every so often.

And I love "I'll Wait," so fuck all of you guys

I'll Wait is my favorite off of 1984, killer song.

And who the fuck voted for VH III?

Dammit, man haha. Well, yeah, DLR kinda brushed off the lyrics live so it didn't really do it for me as much as I wanted it to. But I still love that song. Eddie's playing is awesome on it.

And yes, who the fuck voted for VHIII?!

[James Bond]

I echo the commonly stated opinion already - is this even a question? A Different Kind of Truth owns both. Balance isn't even my favorite Hagar album. III is just crap and deserves the hate it gets, though that was less to do with Cherone than it was that the songs were just crap. He was good live on the III tour.

[Powerage5]

Man, not a lot of love for 1984. Girl Gone Bad, Top Jimmy, House Of Pain, etc. Some really awesome songs on it.

Girl Gone Bad is probably my least favorite DLR VH song. Totally killed the energy in the 2012 setlists for me.

>I think people dislike 1984 as a whole because of the title track and Jump. But yeah, the rest is killer. And although I think it's in the bottom 5% of DLR-led Van Halen songs, I can even be in a Jump mood every so often.

And I love "I'll Wait," so fuck all of you g

uys

I'll Wait is my favorite off of 1984, killer song.

And who the fuck voted for VH III?

Dammit, man haha. Well, yeah, DLR kinda brushed off the lyrics live so it didn't really do it for me as much as I wanted it to. But I still love that song. Eddie's playing is awesome on it.

And yes, who the fuck voted for VHIII?!

Eh, it just doesn't do anything for me

It really had no place in the setlist, Dave fucked it up horribly at all 3 gigs I saw last year. In Pittsburgh, he even gave up in the second verse and just shouted "I don't know the fucking words to this song!" and came back in at the chorus

[luciusfunk]

Man, not a lot of love for 1984. Girl Gone Bad, Top Jimmy, House Of Pain, etc. Some really awesome songs on it.

Girl Gone Bad is probably my least favorite DLR VH song. Totally killed the energy in the 2012 setlists for me.

I think people dislike 1984 as a whole because of the title track and Jump. But yeah, the rest is killer. And although I think it's in the bottom 5% of DLR-led Van Halen songs, I can even be in a Jump mood every so often.

And I love "I'll Wait," so fuck all of you guys

I'll Wait is my favorite off of 1984, killer song.

And who the fuck voted for VH III?

I did. Just to see your response after what you said about someone voting for Balance.

I haven't heard any of the albums, but I've heard great things about A Different Kind of Truth.

[Powerage5]

Man, not a lot of love for 1984. Girl Gone Bad, Top Jimmy, House Of Pain, etc. Some really awesome songs on it.

Girl Gone Bad is probably my least favorite DLR VH song. Totally killed the energy in the 2012 setlists for me.

I think people dislike 1984 as a whole because of the title track and Jump. But yeah, the rest is killer. And although I think it's in the bottom 5% of DLR-led Van Halen songs, I can even be in a Jump mood every so often.

And I love "I'll Wait," so fuck all of you guys

ockquote> I'll Wait is my favorite off of 1984, killer song.

And who the fuck voted for VH III?

I did. Just to see your response after what you said about someone voting for Balance.

I haven't heard any of the albums, but I've heard great things about A Different Kind of Truth.

Fair enough

But do yourself a favor and never listen to VH III

EDIT: Ugh, what the fuck is up with quoting? This is the second time this has happened to me tonight...