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| Walhello -> Knowledge Base -> CDs -> V -> Van Halen Balance |
| Van Halen - Balance Band: Van Halen Tracks: - Seventh Seal - Can't Stop Lovin' You - Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do) - Amsterdam - Big Fat Money - Strung Out - Not Enough - Aftershock - Doin' Time - Balluchitherium - Take Me Back (Deja: Vu) - Feelin' - Crossing Over Balance is Balanced. From the fast-paced rockers "Big Fat Money" and "Amsterdam" to the dark and powerful "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" and "The Seventh Seal" to the beautiful ballads "Not Enough" and "Take Me Back (Deja Vu)", Balance delivers on all levels. Sammy Hagar, who has never been a good lyricist delivers his best -- and worst -- lyrics to date. The lyrics to "Amsterdam" are bloody awful -- "wham bam oh Amsterdam"? C'mon, Sammy, that's bad even for you. But Sammy makes up for this with the wonderful bittersweet lyrics to "Take Me Back (Deja Vu)" and the intelligent lyrics of "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" (even though I still haven't made sense of the title or the chorus). As usual, Sammy's vocal melodies are catchy and infectious. Eddie Van Halen is as good as he always is -- which is to say, great. I Love the guitar sound on this album. In some subtle ways, I think Balance is somewhat of a natural prequel to Van Halen III. I can sense Eddie Van Halen's Urge to experiment on some tracks (listen to "Strung Out" and you'll know what I mean) but he seems held back a bit. Fortunately, Eddie's creativity explodes on Van Halen III (a fine treat). Balance is an excellent album, just as good as any of Van Halen's previous work (with the possible exception of their self-titled debut). Sort of weak in comparison to other Sammy-era albums. Don't get me wrong. This is still a pretty solid Van Halen album, but that's all it is. In my opinion, there are only a few standout tracks on this one. The first one is "Can't Stop Lovin' You," the classic song that sounds great with Sammy singing it. Very nice job! "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" is a very powerful song about young criminals and the guilt-complex they get (that's my interpretation, anyway). This is a very good, mature song that also has an interesting and appropriate video. "Big Fat Money" comes close to recreating some of the fun tunes from early on in Van Halen's career. It has crazy playing, crazy singing and crazy vocals. Pretty cool tune! The rest of the songs don't really stand out to me, but are solid material. I definitely recommend this for fans, but for newcomers, I'd say get the self-titled debut, which I (and many, many others) consider to be the bands' best. Hey, Ray... what you said is true! Much like the band's earlier album, "Fair Warning", "Balance" was recorded during a tumultuous time for the band. In many ways, this album is similar to "Fair Warning" in the sense that both albums have a dark cloud hovering over most of the songs. <BR> <BR>Aggression and ill feelings aside, The Band was able to create an album full of powerful music. While "The Seventh Seal" bares too much resemblance to "Poundcake" (from "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"), the rest of the album shows what this Band is capable of.<BR> <BR>After listening to "Can't Stop Lovin' You", just try to resist tapping your toe to the catchy beat. The chunky guitar intro to "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" has a menacing feel to it. "Strung Out" is a bizarre inclusion to the album, but I suppose Eddie Van Halen has his reasons for using it as the intro to the mandatory ballad, "Not Enough".<BR> <BR>"Amsterdam" could have been a great song, but Sammy's lyrics about marijuana seem horribly out of place for a Band in their 40's. If Snoop Dogg wants to sing about pot, go right ahead, but when Sammy Hagar does it, he falls flat on his face - an issue that Eddie Van Halen would reiterate in interviews while promoting the album.<BR> <BR>It's a shame that this ended up being the last (?) Van Halen album with Sammy Hagar, because it contains some of the band's best work. "Balance" turns out to be an appropriate ending for a Band arguably at its creative peak.<BR> <BR>Come back soon, Sammy. Buy Van Halen Balance at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.comJamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! |
