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By James Blue Entertainment Staff |
Guide to Star Ratings |
: Is it me, or didn't they fire Sammy Hagar? After hearing Van Halen III, you'd swear he was still with the group. It's Gary Cherone, though, that's handling the vocals these days for Van Halen.
With Cherone's new raw vocals, he's nearly a dead ringer for the now solo Hagar. One thing that Cherone wasn't able to mimic on III, however, is the cut-loose attitude that made Hagar and Roth thrive. There just isn't any excitement or playfulness like past lead singers have brought to the table.
Gary Cherone has basically been brought in to fill in the void left by Hagar and Roth, nothing more. So can Van Halen accomplish what no other band has done before—to maintain their success with an unprecedented third lead singer? No one thought Hagar was going to be able to fill David Lee Roth's shoes when he left to pursue his solo career, but Van Halen stayed successful for another twelve years with Hagar at lead vocals. Now it's Cherone's turn to fill those shoes. While not nearly as talented as with Roth or Hagar, Van Halen should be able to stay successful; not because of Cherone's abilities, but because of the driving force behind the band since 1978, Eddie Van Halen.
Eddie is well-known for being one of the greatest guitar players ever, and while his more mature approach doesn't involve as much of his classic guitar jamming, he still hasn't lost a step in his latest album, III. When Cherone has his moments and Eddie jams away, Van Halen III isn't all that bad. The older style songs like "Without You" and "Year to the Day" can be ranked up there with older Van Halen tunes. The more mature, slower tunes inspired by Eddie on this album, such as "Josephina" and "Once" just don't do it for me, though.
I'm sorry, but Gary Cherone just lacks the personality required to make these newer tunes inspirational. Eddie's solo performances are also rather lackluster with "Neworld" and his rather interesting vocal performance of "How Many Say I." Eddie is best found on this album as a strong backup to Cherone's vocals as he has been in the past with Hagar and Roth.
Many veteran Van Halen fans will be reluctant to pick up III. I, too, still reminisce of the old days and pray for the day either the Red Rocker or Diamond Dave will return to take back the reigns. But after listening to their new CD, many elements of old can still be found here, with the focus back to Eddie Van Halen, the heart behind the group. This is clearly Eddie's band now with the emphasis much more on making music than having fun as it was in the past.
Now we'll just have to wait and see whether fans can accept the new Van Halen. I know I'm sure having a hard time doing it.