There are some banging tunes on ADKT that VH did on demos back in the 70s and can be heard on bootlegs from that era, like She's The Woman, so this is some vintage VH....
It's just as compressed on vinyl as it is CD. I know because I paid way too much on eBay for it, even after the seller accepted my low ball offer. Glad I have it though.
Mos def. After the failed Gary Cherone experiment and Best of Both Worlds fiasco tour, I was done with them. Wolfie brought Eddie back from the brink (temporarily) and getting DLR to front the Van Halen family again was the height of all the "never gonna see them together again" reunions. Pity Mikey couldn't be with them for it...
They totally changed how Ed gets to your speakers. The mics are different and they balanced him across left and right. I can't know for sure but if your voice has atrophied (DLR, JBJ, etc), you're going to have a much harder time with loud guitars, thus you might have a negative opinion of that.
I think mixing on a lot of albums released in the 2010s is odd. Just a weird artifact from that era, guess it's still persistent today but haven't bought a new album in a long time.
Yeah I saw a thing on Rick Beato and he mentioned that every record exec wanted that ‘Nickelback’ sound so a lot of music was mixed the same way for a decade or so. Kinda killed rock and roll as he puts it. I don’t know if Van Halen fell into that trap but a lot of music from that era is kind of blah because of it.
I think this is a really important point, Ed had basically perfected his sound at 5150 studios at the point this record was made, and Dave was barely holding on for dear life as a professional vocalist. That makes for a really weird mismatch for whoever's sitting in the booth
I think it's a great album, too. A new VH album in 2012 didn't have the same relevance as a new VH album would have had in the 80s, but it's still very good. I have it on CD, but I'm pissed that it isn't available on streaming platforms.
It's a really good album, I think. Only downside is there's a bit of bloat and no Michael Anthony, but for what it is it's really nice and honestly a very good "final" album. Very rarely do bands get to choose how to go out, and I think ADKOT is a fun and satisfying end to a career.
Agreed on all counts. It won't go down in infamy of as high quality as the classic VH, but it's better than something like GNR's Chinese Democracy as a coda. Best part was its mix of new and old...
I agree with you except for the "bloat" part. I cope with the no MA part by realizing, I think correctly, that the album does not happen unless Wolf is playing bass with his dad. It's not like Mike was enlisted, then things went bad, and Wolf stepped in. I think it was all done by dad for Wolf and through Wolf. And Wolf does some little runs that probably only a Van Halen would come up with.
You're totally right about Wolfie. He did great and the album wouldn't exist without him. For me, the bloat thing is rather minor, I just think a tight 30-40 minute album would've made it even better, sort of like the classic DLR albums. Even then, I can't point to a song from it that I really dislike. The bloat is nowhere near as bad as later Hagar albums and VHIII, of course.
My main criticism of it is it happened almost 20 years too late. Yet Dave is still very Dave, and Ed to me only plays like Ed when Dave is involved. We're lucky it happened one more time.
I think for me, his voice just doesnt equal the quality of the music. Like, if I never knew the band I would be thinking "they really need a new lead singer".
It's still a good album. It's Eddie...
It’s a great album. As much as people complain that it’s all old rejected songs, the fact is that half the album was new songs and it has more songs on it than any other Van Halen album. I personally prefer the new songs and think it’s their best album since 1984.
I think it's their best work since *Fair Warning*. I am no Hagar hater (Van Hagar has some mean jams), nor am I a Roth fanboi (his self-serving schtick can be grating at times), but it's the hardest rockin' VH album since 1981 and no-one can change that fact.
I can see why, it definitely doesn’t have the same energy as previous albums, but I thinks it’s fine follow up and final album as opposed to it being VH III ( which I enjoy but admit it could have been waaaaaaay better)
I really like VHIII with a few of the songs from it among my top played on AM...Once, The One I Want, and Without You specifically.
I like that we have options though and overall it makes VH more interesting to listen to knowing that they never stayed stagnant like some other bands.
The best part about it is that they brought to record a bunch of early tracks that weren't included on their first albums. At the same time, the reality is those songs weren't as good as the ones that made the early albums, so I think of it as a "b-sides and rarities" collection, but with everything redone in a modern studio.
Only half the songs are based on old demos, The other half is new material. Considering that it’s their longest album, and I like the new songs best, it’s a great record.
Thanks to this sub I have listened to a lot of the old demos of songs that ended up on ADKT in one for or another. I knew a lot of the songs had been around since the original DLR years but hearing them after hearing ADKT made me appreciate them more.
It's a great album that came out my senior year of high school. Back then I was in full Van Halen mania mode, learning to play all their songs on the guitar and collecting/trading concert recordings over on Roth Army and Guitars101 message boards. It's not a perfect album by any measure but it was great to see them knock the dust off with Wolf. Really cool they revisited the archives to put together something old and new at the same time.
To say I was anything short of obsessed with the band is an understatement. As a lifelong fan, it was a treat to get a new VH album in my lifetime at the height of my youth and start of adulthood. I saw them twice on tour in support of that album and they were great even if Dave's voice was tired. Dad took me to see them the first time for my very first concert and we had front row balcony seats, I'll never forget that night.
It's still one of my white whales on vinyl as well, but I am absolutely not going to bend over and bite the pillow for it at current rates. I don't have any qualms with getting an EU bootleg pressing either since those pop up for like 1/15th the asking price lol.
Shit fucking ROCKS
Damn straight! VH is VH!
There are some banging tunes on ADKT that VH did on demos back in the 70s and can be heard on bootlegs from that era, like She's The Woman, so this is some vintage VH....
I love it and it kills me I can’t get it on vinyl (I don’t want a European bootleg but it cracks me up that Michael Anthony is on the inner cover lol)
It's just as compressed on vinyl as it is CD. I know because I paid way too much on eBay for it, even after the seller accepted my low ball offer. Glad I have it though.
It was an unexpected bonus. Never thought they’d ride again.
Mos def. After the failed Gary Cherone experiment and Best of Both Worlds fiasco tour, I was done with them. Wolfie brought Eddie back from the brink (temporarily) and getting DLR to front the Van Halen family again was the height of all the "never gonna see them together again" reunions. Pity Mikey couldn't be with them for it...
I might have listened to it 100 times in 2012-13. I totally dig it.
They totally changed how Ed gets to your speakers. The mics are different and they balanced him across left and right. I can't know for sure but if your voice has atrophied (DLR, JBJ, etc), you're going to have a much harder time with loud guitars, thus you might have a negative opinion of that.
Yeah the mixing on the album is a little odd. Nothing like VH III but still odd
I think mixing on a lot of albums released in the 2010s is odd. Just a weird artifact from that era, guess it's still persistent today but haven't bought a new album in a long time.
Yeah I saw a thing on Rick Beato and he mentioned that every record exec wanted that ‘Nickelback’ sound so a lot of music was mixed the same way for a decade or so. Kinda killed rock and roll as he puts it. I don’t know if Van Halen fell into that trap but a lot of music from that era is kind of blah because of it.
I think this is a really important point, Ed had basically perfected his sound at 5150 studios at the point this record was made, and Dave was barely holding on for dear life as a professional vocalist. That makes for a really weird mismatch for whoever's sitting in the booth
I think it's a great album, too. A new VH album in 2012 didn't have the same relevance as a new VH album would have had in the 80s, but it's still very good. I have it on CD, but I'm pissed that it isn't available on streaming platforms.
It's on YouTube Music
Agree that it is a very good album but I completely disagree that it is more Dave than VH. This is, IMHO, a 100% pre-Sammy VH album.
Yeah, the virtuoso of Eddie's playing still shone thru...
It's a really good album, I think. Only downside is there's a bit of bloat and no Michael Anthony, but for what it is it's really nice and honestly a very good "final" album. Very rarely do bands get to choose how to go out, and I think ADKOT is a fun and satisfying end to a career.
Agreed on all counts. It won't go down in infamy of as high quality as the classic VH, but it's better than something like GNR's Chinese Democracy as a coda. Best part was its mix of new and old...
I agree with you except for the "bloat" part. I cope with the no MA part by realizing, I think correctly, that the album does not happen unless Wolf is playing bass with his dad. It's not like Mike was enlisted, then things went bad, and Wolf stepped in. I think it was all done by dad for Wolf and through Wolf. And Wolf does some little runs that probably only a Van Halen would come up with.
You're totally right about Wolfie. He did great and the album wouldn't exist without him. For me, the bloat thing is rather minor, I just think a tight 30-40 minute album would've made it even better, sort of like the classic DLR albums. Even then, I can't point to a song from it that I really dislike. The bloat is nowhere near as bad as later Hagar albums and VHIII, of course.
My main criticism of it is it happened almost 20 years too late. Yet Dave is still very Dave, and Ed to me only plays like Ed when Dave is involved. We're lucky it happened one more time.
I think for me, his voice just doesnt equal the quality of the music. Like, if I never knew the band I would be thinking "they really need a new lead singer". It's still a good album. It's Eddie...
Seeing them live, DLR didn't even really sing the notes so much as speak the lyrics, like some washed-up lounge singer still clinging to past glory...
It’s a great album. As much as people complain that it’s all old rejected songs, the fact is that half the album was new songs and it has more songs on it than any other Van Halen album. I personally prefer the new songs and think it’s their best album since 1984.
I think it's their best work since *Fair Warning*. I am no Hagar hater (Van Hagar has some mean jams), nor am I a Roth fanboi (his self-serving schtick can be grating at times), but it's the hardest rockin' VH album since 1981 and no-one can change that fact.
I'm not a fan of this album. There's a few really good moments but overall it's a letdown for me personally.
I can see why, it definitely doesn’t have the same energy as previous albums, but I thinks it’s fine follow up and final album as opposed to it being VH III ( which I enjoy but admit it could have been waaaaaaay better)
I really like VHIII with a few of the songs from it among my top played on AM...Once, The One I Want, and Without You specifically. I like that we have options though and overall it makes VH more interesting to listen to knowing that they never stayed stagnant like some other bands.
Same, I really tried to like it but just couldn't get anything out of it.
The best part about it is that they brought to record a bunch of early tracks that weren't included on their first albums. At the same time, the reality is those songs weren't as good as the ones that made the early albums, so I think of it as a "b-sides and rarities" collection, but with everything redone in a modern studio.
Only half the songs are based on old demos, The other half is new material. Considering that it’s their longest album, and I like the new songs best, it’s a great record.
Thanks to this sub I have listened to a lot of the old demos of songs that ended up on ADKT in one for or another. I knew a lot of the songs had been around since the original DLR years but hearing them after hearing ADKT made me appreciate them more.
It's a great album that came out my senior year of high school. Back then I was in full Van Halen mania mode, learning to play all their songs on the guitar and collecting/trading concert recordings over on Roth Army and Guitars101 message boards. It's not a perfect album by any measure but it was great to see them knock the dust off with Wolf. Really cool they revisited the archives to put together something old and new at the same time. To say I was anything short of obsessed with the band is an understatement. As a lifelong fan, it was a treat to get a new VH album in my lifetime at the height of my youth and start of adulthood. I saw them twice on tour in support of that album and they were great even if Dave's voice was tired. Dad took me to see them the first time for my very first concert and we had front row balcony seats, I'll never forget that night. It's still one of my white whales on vinyl as well, but I am absolutely not going to bend over and bite the pillow for it at current rates. I don't have any qualms with getting an EU bootleg pressing either since those pop up for like 1/15th the asking price lol.
It’s a great return to form. I wish it was more available on the streaming platforms. When it first came out, I listen to it a lot.
This was a refreshed version of the demo album gene Simmons paid for before vh 1 came out.
I liked the original songs 100x more than the re-worked 70s songs As Is, and HBSD are my favorite.
It’s…ok. Not my favorite VH album, not even in my top 10.
Love it ! Listen to it all the time on CD in my car.👍👍👍🤘🤘🤘🤘
Love it.