My Take on VH III (and perhaps only VHIII fans will be interested in this)

**broken9500** · 06.28.06, 11:27 PM

I love it. I really do. It strikes me as so ambitious and so genuine to where Ed was and how he felt about Gary.

My "issues" are these:

1. I wish it had been engineered differently. The guitar is soooooo up front that so much of Gary and so much of the rest of the mix is buried.

2. I wish they had released Year to the Day as the single. Really throw the gauntlet down and tell people up front : "HEY, this is NOT what you're used to."

3. It seems to me that Gary is either trying to sound like, or was being made/asked to sound like Sammy on a lot of the tunes. Gary is one of the most amazing SINGERS of the last several years...he can screach and scream with the best of them but he has a falsetto that is not quite up there with Brian Wilson but close. He has a phrasing and a delivery that is not quite up to but damn close to Sinatra and he has the intelligience, creativity, self confidence and ability to do whatever he wants. I really think this guy is a special talent.

That's really about it. I was and am starved to hear what these guys were doing when it all ended...

The tour was fucking inredible. Period. I was left speechless.

**Infinite Cactus** · 06.29.06, 12:35 AM

It's definitely more like progressive rock than anything else. Which I definitely dig. Sounds like Eddie took some Rush and Yes and mixed it with some good old fashioned VH Brown Sound. I dig the effort.

**FORD** · 06.29.06, 02:19 AM

With all these "My take" threads popping up, I'd have to think someone's been lurking over at www.ROTHARMY.com recently.

**Brian Elliott** · 06.29.06, 05:09 AM

Aside from "Without You", "Once", and "Year To The Day", I'm not a big fan of "III" at all. Actaully, I think it took me a few months to listen to all of "Ballot or the Bullet", such was my dislike of it.

One day - and we are going back about three years now - I decided to get the headphones out, have the lyrics in front of me, and listen to the album all the way through. I was pleasantly surprised, things made a lot more sense when I realised the point that Gary was trying to get across.

Still, the album has problems. Firstly, Gary's voice - for whatever reason - was not up to scratch. Either that, or it was an extremely (pardon the pun) bad mixing job. He sounded like he was trying, and failing, to keep up with the band. I've heard that Gary had throat surgery at some point before recording the album, although I've never heard that substantiated. The fact that there is barely any Michael on vocals didn't help Gary one iota. (By the way, I don't hear any Sammy Hagar in Gary vocals)

If you listen to the music that Van Halen produced in 1996 ("Humans Being", "Me Wise Magic" & "Can't Get This Stuff No More") you'll notice how Ed is moving away from pop melodies and beginning to get more experimental. "III", for me, was the final part of that experimentation. He tried a lot of things, and for most fans, used to simpler pop melodies, they didn't work.

I could go on and talk about how people were also down on Gary because of his reputation with Extreme, or about how the lyrics didn't really suit Van Halen, but you get the idea.

It's a good album when looked at in context. It just doesn't feel like Van Halen.

**sixstring** · 06.29.06, 08:18 AM

"

My Take on VH III (and perhaps only VHIII fans will be interested in this) "

...and perhaps Squalen...

LOL! Just kidding yo, bro.

Good read...

**Van Squalen** · 06.29.06, 09:08 AM

**smithjc** · 06.29.06, 09:15 AM

Totally.

**sixstring** · 06.29.06, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by Van Squalen

Like friggin' clockwork...LOL!

**Van Squalen** · 06.29.06, 09:27 AM

Just outta curiosity, why is it nobody ever starts threads on the underappreciated genius of Women and Children First? Or Van Halen II? Or OU812?

Nope, it's always gotta be III, that red-headed bastard stepchild.

That's it, I'm gonna start an OU812 campaign. Six, I need an OU812 underappreciated avatar.

**sixstring** · 06.29.06, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by Van Squalen

Just outta curiosity, why is it nobody ever starts threads on the underappreciated genius of Women and Children First? Or Van Halen II? Or OU812?

Nope, it's always gotta be III, that red-headed bastard stepchild.

That's it, I'm gonna start an OU812 campaign. Six, I need an OU812 underappreciated avatar.

Aye, aye, Cap'n...

**broken9500** · 06.29.06, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by Van Squalen

Just outta curiosity, why is it nobody ever starts threads on the underappreciated genius of Women and Children First? Or Van Halen II? Or OU812?

Nope, it's always gotta be III, that red-headed bastard stepchild.

That's it, I'm gonna start an OU812 campaign. Six, I need an OU812 underappreciated avatar.

Actually, Women and Children First was going to be my next thread...just building up to it! hahaha

**Greenpaw** · 06.29.06, 09:59 AM

I guess the "Search" function isn't workin or something?

Cuz I coulda swore I saw a thread or 20 about VH3 on this board at one time....

oh yeah, and VH3 still blows goats for quarters. IMO of course.

**Van Squalen** · 06.29.06, 10:23 AM

I'm so happy the goats are back.

**Fair Warning Rocks!** · 06.29.06, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by broken9500

The tour was fucking inredible. Period. I was left speechless.

The tour was incredible! Ed was on fire, and it was a great setlist.

**sixstring** · 06.29.06, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by Van Squalen

Just outta curiosity, why is it nobody ever starts threads on the underappreciated genius of Women and Children First? Or Van Halen II? Or OU812?

Nope, it's always gotta be III, that red-headed bastard stepchild.

That's it, I'm gonna start an OU812 campaign. Six, I need an OU812 underappreciated avatar.