Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Van Halen is my favorite band of all time. I'd say my two favorite albums are VH II and Fair Warning. I have been waiting for this for 16 years since they released those 2 new songs off the Greatest Hits package. I remember that day like it was yesterday. When I heard Tattoo, I was slightly discouraged initially. It wasn't what I was expecting, however I liked the song. But I kept the faith, and refused to bash the band like many others who heard Tattoo and discounted the rest of the 13 songs on the album without even a listen. Man oh man, and does the rest of the album kill! Each and every song following Tattoo are extraordinary songs. Van Halen have returned to form and given us their most aggressive album ever. And to the nay sayers who are complaining about them re-working old unreleased songs, so what? They are THEIR songs that were UNRELEASED for a reason. They were unfinished in the form they were in. I can't understand why a band isn't allowed to use their OWN material that THEY wrote and never released officially. Would you rather other writers come in or Van Halen to sound more modern like Nickelback or have Eminem come in and rap in the middle of a song? Quit complaining and thinking you can tell one of the greatest bands in history how they should sound or make an album. That's why they are Van Halen and you are you sitting in your mother's basement with a negative attitude. If you actually listen to the album, it is, IMO, their best since Fair Warning. Stand-out tracks for me are: Chinatown, As-Is, She's the Woman, Trouble with Never, Stay Frosty, Outta Space, and Big River. However, each and every song is stellar. Even Tattoo which, when listened with the rest of the album, grows on you like a nice mustache. At worst I'd say 12 excellent tracks and one not bad track (Tattoo). If you ask me, that's pretty darn good. A note on production: I was very scared of how this album would sound. I was afraid it would sound too glossy and polished and poppy. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that this album sounds just as good and as raw as any of their early albums. Big Brown Sound from Eddie and Thunderous drum sound from Alex is all there. Very pleased with the production! I feel that background vocals were handled very well also! While Mikey is missed, I didn't think about him once while I listened bc Wolfie nailed it. He is killing it on the bass (almost sounds like Sheehan) and definitely did a tremendous job on the backing vocals. Mikey will always be a part of VH but if that's what it took for these guys to get along again, have fun, and make a great album, then so be it. Wolfie is doing a great job at filling Mike's shoes! A huge thanks to Van Halen for restoring my faith in modern music!