Turn your speakers up and hide the kids, things are about to get wild. That’s right, Van Halen is back for the first time in fourteen years with an album of all new music. A Different Kind of Truth is the band’s first since 1998’s Van Halen III, which had exactly zero awesome songs on it. Perhaps the most important thing to note about this new album is the return of David Lee Roth, the most successful front man for the band in its infamous carousel of singers.

The album is a throwback to classic 1980s arena rock. The sounds are big and it does not skimp on frills. Eddie Van Halen’s fingers move as fast as ever, with blistering guitar solos in “Blood and Fire” and “As Is.” While the lyrics are neither deep nor profound (not that we expect them to be. After all, we are listening to a band that named an album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge [I’ll let you figure that one out on your own] just, well, because), Roth’s voice manages to sound at 56, much younger than it actually is (especially considering the amount of drugs that man has put into his body).

The fourth track on the album, “China Town” is a pure face-melter. It opens with that distinctive overdriven guitar, and goes right into a frenzied delirium. It has a simple chorus, but everything around it is just about what one would expect from a Van Halen song. It closes in a way similar to how it began: big and loud. However, this is not to say that all the songs on the album are all loud all the time. “Stay Frosty” begins with a nod to the blues, an idiom that was never lost to the band. It is brought up again and played throughout the song, although at times it does sound a little corny.

When it’s all said and done, A Different Kind of Truth is full of the classic Van Halen strut and bravado that can be heard in older tunes like “Hot for Teacher” or “Panama.” Eddie’s pyrotechnics and showmanship cannot go unnoticed and his fret-work on the guitar ranks up in the stratosphere. Although they’re now older, these guys can still bring it. I suppose their true test will be on stage in front of thousands of suburban moms reliving their pasts.

3.5 / 5 bars

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Van Halen – “Blood and Fire”

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Van Halen – “Stay Frosty”

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Van Halen – “As Is”

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Van Halen – “China Town”

Guest post by Matt B.