Van Halen

Van Halen III

Written ina hurry,widely dismissed as trash, but 1 good song

Review Score:

(4/10)
Back when this came out, I saw an interview with Eddie saying how natural this grouping was, and how they wrote all the songs in just a day or two. Well it shows; to me, they are all well-produced - but totally forgettable filler material EXCEPT FOR: "The One I Want" which, to me, stands up to the best of any of Van Halen's stuff ever.
I happened to catch them on MTV's Live at the 10-Spot on this tour in Australia, and was slightly captivated by their performance - Eddie's Playing and the singing on the part of the entire band was terrific. When I first saw this; I was really turned off by the lead singer's hyperactive 'antics'. I pull this tape out and re-watch it about every 6 months, and I've noticed that everytime I watch it, I like it more and more. Their lead singer's antics don't seem anything like I first remember them as; and I now find my self 'EXTREMELY' impressed with his performance- although I'vwe never liked "Extreme" or his other work on the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.
Both Michael Anthony & Eddie turn in lead vocals for short verses in "Why Can't This Be Love?", and especially Eddie's short little vocal sole is very cool. 2 of the songs off that MTV special were downright decent: "Without You" & "A Year and a Day". Especially on "A Year and A Day" Eddie's guitar solo is the best EVER - EVER -EVER (2nd best in my opinion, "Live Without a Net" - "5150"). Three weeks ago on the strength of watching the MTV video again, I went out and bought a used copy of this CD looking especially at the "Year and a Day" song. Well the studio version to me, JUST FALLS FLAT, and is WAY, WAY, WAY too long in getting around to the guitar solo. However, I still rate this as a good buy for Van Halen fans, for the one good song: "The One I Want". You can pick this up used for next-to-nothing; and in my opinion, it's well worth it for that song alone.

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