extreme red roth

For no particular reason, I busted out BOBW today on my way home from work.

I was listening to It's About Time and I realized something. Back in 04, I was truly excited for new music from Van Halen. (For the sake of this thread, I won't go into the other two tunes, though i liked (not loved) them.) Anyway, I thought the song was a solid effort, but not great. Over time it grew on me the way Van Halen tunes do, and for a short time, I even loved it.

When I listened to it today, something really stuck out for me. Overall, it's as good, if not better than anything on the Chickenfoot album. Of course, this is my opinion, but pick your favorite Chickenfoot tune and then play It's About Time. I'd be surprised if It's About Time doesn't come out on top in this little experiment.

The thing of it is...I love the new Chickenfoot. I really do. It's been in my car CD player for more than a couple of months. And I bought the new release with the DVD. But if I'm being honest with myself, I like It's About Time better.

I think that Eddie is just better at writing songs. I actually think that this is where Eddie might be underrated. I know he can shread. But the man also can write a song.

The problem is he hasn't or won't write new ones anymore. Damn it. So maybe he will someday. Or maybe Joe is just getting warmed up working with a band and collaboratively writing songs. Either one is a bonus.

Rock on.

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Little Dreamer

Opening riff is pretty cool.
But the verse melody is not one of Sam's best.
Also you can kind of hear that it's not the whole band playing together on that tune. With CF, you have more interplay between instruments.

I think SLT is a better written song than IAT. That's a different thing than saying the opening riff is cool. EVH doesn't write the melody or the lyrics. I also thing the song is a bit long for a single. EVH's song construction has been lacking since after Balance, i think.

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extreme red roth

Hey Dreamer, SLT isn't a bad song....It's a pretty close battle. At it's core, that's what makes this so interesting though. I agree Eddie's songwriting hasn't been the same since Humans Being (you say Balance, but Humans Being was a masterpiece from the same era), so for It's About Time to compete with Sexy Little Thing kind of shows that even Eddie at his possible more mediocre is still pretty flipping good. Which leads me to my last point...MAKE SOME FRICKIN NEW MUSIC, EDDIE. I know, it's like a broken record chant around here.

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Little Dreamer

Some videos of EVH from the last decade don't really support this. The 2 porn tunes sucked. "Up For Breakfast" wasn't good. Also EVH's "vibe" in the studio could be a problem.

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Ausfan

The song writing in any of the 3 BOBW songs is better. What I didn't like about those songs was Sammy's screeching. And the lyrics weren't the best although learning to see was pretty good.

I'd also like to add that the 3 new songs on the BOV1 are far and away better than the chickenfoot stuff. Not that the chickenfoot syuff is bad, it's not, some of it is quite alright, not stellar, but good enough.

Eddies ability to write and structure songs as well as deliver them with his obvious proficiency is something that very few can match. Couple this with his unique approach, sound, style and ground breaking innovation, is it then really any wonder why very few can match this standard?

Joe is a great guitar player and very versatile, however when comparing the two using the criteria outlined above, it is very clear he is no Eddie.

Eddie copped a fair shellacking for VH111, some deserved some not. My opinion on 3 is that there were some decent songs on there with some very good guitar playing. The main problem was the sound. Someone (Ibeleive it was Ed) royally fucked up the sound on that disk. It really sounded raw and unproduced, no polish. That affected it's success as much as anything, I mean the drums sounded shocking.

Anyway, I like CF, but they're not in the same league as Halen in my opinion. Others of course will disagree.

E-roc

I actually agree with most of the posts thus far. CF is ok, but decidedly old
hat; seems like they're having fun, but the songs were just kinda average
sounding and not very exciting. I expected something more epic from them,
and as mentioned, the band thing is not Joe's forte, so maybe that's why
they come up short in comparison to any VH, including the 3 BO tracks.
I've bagged on those tunes plenty, but the reason they fall short is for
the criticisms already mentioned. No band vibe. They seemed like tracks
Ed had laying around that Sam then stitched some lyrics on to. And Sam,
in large part, is what makes those songs fail. Not trying to start shit, just
the way I see it. I'm sure there are many reasons - not enough time, not
getting along, control issues, whatever, but had those same tracks had
better lyrics/melodies, they would be acceptable by VH standards. I thought
the music for IAT and UFB was decent. The fact that Sam is the biggest
qualm should give Ed some heart. Ed, are you reading this?

CF definitely has a better band vibe, and Sammy offenses therein are
minimal, but that record also fails for me in that it is SO cliche, especially
in the lyric department. Just looking at their song titles, you knew it was
gonna be uninspired lyrically and average melodically. Again, this isn't to
bag on Sam, I've grown to really love and respect the man, but he is and
will forever be Capt. Cliche. Which is why the recent Ed news may be so
hard to swallow; one got the impression he may have wanted Dave back for
some creative mojo. But we kid ourselves...

fuddman5150

I thought hey man was back starting shit but actually this is a good comparison.

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brownnation

The only thing I would say for sure in my opinion is that Future in the Past is hands down better than anything on BOBW. After that it gets to be a little tougher comparison. I'd probably still take most of the CF album.

I did not like the 3 VH tracks when they came out, but like some of you said, they have grown on me. But the CF album just does it for me and, if this makes sense, it just seems more "real". I had no interest in '04 songs or tour b/c I just smelled BS. I don't think it was a shining moment for anyone involved. That could bias me a little against those songs, but I'll stick by CF and the sound and feel they got on that album.

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Kimmie5150

OH! I COMPLETELY AGREE!!!

I know, y'all think I'm biased, but I SWEAR I'm NOT trying to be. Ed just IS a better song writer PERIOD!

K, I HAVE to be honest. I do LIKE some of Sammy's solo stuff, but Foot doesn't do anything at all for me. It kinda gives me the blahs. And personally, I LOVE Joe BY HIMSELF.

Just me and my opinion, but for all the CHICKEN NUTS fans, ENGULF YOURSELF!!

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extreme red roth

I haven't posted in quite some time because of the usual Dave Vs Sam Vs Chickenfoot nonsense, but I was hoping this thread would spark some interesting conversation. It didn't disappoint.

Good points made by all on both sides of the arguement!

I don't want my last point in my original post to be lost. I think Joe could just be getting warmed up. We all know he has "skills". He might just need to get used to Sam and the other guys. In turn, it's possible that Sammy would be inspired to write better lyrics.

My other point stands. Even when Eddie is average, he's better than most. Let's hope Dave or his son or someone pull it out of him one more time.

Both VH and Chickenfoot better get moving though...nobody is getting any younger!

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Dolemite

I did not like the 3 VH tracks when they came out, but like some of you said, they have grown on me. But the CF album just does it for me and, if this makes sense, it just seems more "real". I had no interest in '04 songs or tour b/c I just smelled BS. I don't think it was a shining moment for anyone involved. That could bias me a little against those songs, but I'll stick by CF and the sound and feel they got on that album.[/QUOTE]


I love Ed and VH in all its various iterations, but can anyone honestly say that an album filled with tunes like the 3 on BOBW would make them excited? Can you imagine if UFB or IAT had been on F.U.C.K. or Balance - they would have been considered the worst tunes on those albums, but because we've all been sitting around waiting for something, anything, to come out of 5150 we convince ourselves that these songs are better than they actually are. I think when you compare Eddie's songs from pre-'95 to those written after, you hear how bloated, heavy handed and indulgent his writing has become.

When I listen to old albums (Roth and Hagar era), I can't believe that the tight, energetic songs I loved in the 80's and 90's were written by the same guy who is now writing these long, lumbering tunes that seem to plod along for 6 or 7 minutes (at least they all feel that long). Where's the fun? Where's the hook? Where is the freakin' melody that Eddie used to bring to rock?

Just my two cents.

I Coulda Hada VH

Personally, I prefer both of the following to anything on BOBW or Chickenfoot's album:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTxZs...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlI_-...eature=related

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BOMBER

Agree totally,Future In The Past is awesome.

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Bad to the Bone

IAT only sounds like VH at a few points otherwise I think it's just an average song. I don't think it is as good a song as AR, Turnin Left or FITP...hell I like SOAR alot better than IAT, DTD is funner.

I don't know, I dont' agree with the OP at all in this case.

Dave's Dreidel

LOL, on the Youtube clips.

Had not seen the one with Stevie Wonder, that was damn funny.

I will take anything on Chickenfoot over the three new tracks on BOBW.

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"I don't know why women are so uptight...they got half the money and all the p***y!" - the great Gary Busey!

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