# Just heard the new VH album in its entirety



## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

Wow! This thing rocks. Tattoo is a joke compared to the rest of the album. Like every VH album, there are a couple of "meh" tunes, but man this things rips it up for the most part.

Don't care when some songs were written, this is new VH and make me smile just to listen to it.

TG

(Oh yes, my purchase/preorder is already made on Amazon.ca and will arrive Tuesday.)


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

That's encouraging.

I wonder why they would choose Tattoo as the single?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

sulphur said:


> That's encouraging.
> 
> I wonder why they would chose Tattoo as the single?


God only knows. Why was Smoke On The Water?


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## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

Great news! I've heard a lot of positive feedback, and I'd love another rippin' VH album. I can't wait to hear the whole thing!


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Closet VH fan here, and yeah, what I've heard so far is promising.


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## NB_Terry (Feb 2, 2006)

sulphur said:


> That's encouraging.
> 
> I wonder why they would chose Tattoo as the single?


The first VH single from each album was never really indicative of the rest of the album;

DD - Pretty Woman
1984 - Jump
5150 - Why Can't This Be Love

etc


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

traynor_garnet said:


> Wow! This thing rocks. Tattoo is a joke compared to the rest of the album. Like every VH album, there are a couple of "meh" tunes, but man this things rips it up for the most part.
> 
> Don't care when some songs were written, this is new VH and make me smile just to listen to it.
> 
> ...


Ditto. I played it on Thursday a couple times through and really liked it. Tattoo is definitely the low point of the album, though. Chinatown and a couple others really make up for it, though.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

The Deluxe Edition DVD with the acoustic set actually has LPCM audio on it. I was pleasantly surprised.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

sulphur said:


> That's encouraging.
> 
> I wonder why they would choose Tattoo as the single?


Pretty much every review of the album I have read asks that exact same questions lol.


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

The new album is fantastic! Its all I been listening to for the last 3 days. Honeybabysweetiedoll is one of my favs at the moment but there is alot of rocking stuff in there. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of the first 4 albums!


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Listened to it twice in my car...and i actually trashed the CD...the guitar tone alone is enough to make my ears bleed personnaly..not to talk about all the tunes on there that were rejected 30 years ago...BEURKK...but that's just me..


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Just listened to it in it's entirety as well, I like it. There's some very good stuff, and a couple duds. It definitely deserves a few more listens.

Pretty terrible job of mixing and mastering, though.


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> Pretty terrible job of mixing and mastering, though.


That is my only complaint about this album and seems to be the general consensus from most listeners. I did find the mix sits better when the volume is cranked. I cranked it through my big old fashioned 80's stereo system with big old fashioned speakers last night and it was decent. The mix had more depth, not just centered in your face. Could have used some verb on the vocals for sure.

I'm probably on my 8th listen all the way through. No duds for me. I'm actually loving Tattoo. Listen to it enough and the song gets Tattooed into you brain. Its a hit that will get tons of radio play and attract new fans.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Mooh said:


> God only knows. Why was Smoke On The Water?


That one seemed to turn out pretty good on reflection (probably played by as many young guitarists as Stairway).


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

After the shitty guitar tone, the thing that i can't stand is all the Process back Vocals...Ed Can't sing...Alex Can't sing...so it has to be done with software...


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

al3d said:


> After the shitty guitar tone, the thing that i can't stand is all the Process back Vocals...Ed Can't sing...Alex Can't sing...so it has to be done with software...


Ed and Mike did all the backings in the early years. Mike had the signature top harmony, Ed the second harmony. Ed does back-up and Wolfgang is doing Mike's part, just not with Mike signature vocals. I don't hear any auto tuning going on? The vocals are pretty dry too so they are not even relying on some verb to carry notes?
Maybe your ears are getting old? largetongue

The guitar tone is pretty classic stuff. The mix is a bit shrill though so maybe that's what you are hearing?


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Ed does'nt do any singing anymore..after his cancer he can barely talk. When you listen to the Back Vocals...it's WAY to tight to be real..it's like a computer singing in different octave basically. as for the Guitar Tone...Come one..listen to it..and then Pop UNCHAINED in right after it...and then tell me it's a Good Ed tone....



ne1roc said:


> Ed and Mike did all the backings in the early years. Mike had the signature top harmony, Ed the second harmony. Ed does back-up and Wolfgang is doing Mike's part, just not with Mike signature vocals. I don't hear any auto tuning going on? The vocals are pretty dry too so they are not even relying on some verb to carry notes?
> Maybe your ears are getting old? largetongue
> 
> The guitar tone is pretty classic stuff. The mix is a bit shrill though so maybe that's what you are hearing?


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

al3d said:


> Ed does'nt do any singing anymore..after his cancer he can barely talk. When you listen to the Back Vocals...it's WAY to tight to be real..it's like a computer singing in different octave basically. as for the Guitar Tone...Come one..listen to it..and then Pop UNCHAINED in right after it...and then tell me it's a Good Ed tone....


You don't need a tongue to sing AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Listen the the interviews from the downtown sessions. Ed seems to talk pretty clearly now. Probably did some speech therapy? Listen to the cd more than once and maybe your observations might have more merit. The backup sounds very decent. 

As for the tone, its not Fair Warning for sure but it definitely has a flavour from the past the was gone during the Hagar era. It sounds like Van Halen right off the bat.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I like his guitar tone too and I didn't miss Mike's vocals as much as I feared. 

This mix isn't the best, but it does sound good LOUD! I bet this is kind of what the band sounds like on stage . . . 

When I pop in old VH albums, especially I or II, I hear WAY too much reverb, but I still dig the tunes. I think this new album is just as solid as their older material.


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## captainbrew (Feb 5, 2010)

I was one of the people that really didn't dig Tattoo but in honesty the more I listened to it the more it grew on me. I listened to the whole album at a local record producer's studio on some $6,000+ Genelec monitors and it sounded pretty damn good. Some decent tunes in there and DLR's voice actually surprised me. He sounds decent after all these years. I don't really like Ed's more modern higher gain tone but that's a preference thing.
I think the Tattoo video is still horrible and it rubbed me the wrong way but the album seems pretty decent is not mediocre.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

captainbrew said:


> I was one of the people that really didn't dig Tattoo but in honesty the more I listened to it the more it grew on me. *I listened to the whole album at a local record producer's studio on some $6,000+ Genelec monitors and it sounded pretty damn good.* Some decent tunes in there and DLR's voice actually surprised me. He sounds decent after all these years. I don't really like Ed's more modern higher gain tone but that's a preference thing.
> I think the Tattoo video is still horrible and it rubbed me the wrong way but the album seems pretty decent is not mediocre.


I noticed something funny about this album. I listened to it on my Yorkville YSM1Ps and really liked how it sounded. It also sounded great on my Klipsch in-ear buds. Listening to it yesterday, though, on my Sony receiver and Energy speakers, I didn't really like the mix. I thought it sounded too muddy and heavy in the mid-range. Didn't seem to have the same "space" that I heard earlier. 

I mean, they're just a 3 piece instrumentally with some vocals (overdubs notwithstanding), so I expect to hear some "room" in the mix between instruments, but on that rig, it didn't really work out. 

Maybe my ears were tired or something.

My NAD integrated is in the fritz (I really should get that repaired), so maybe that would help with the Energy's instead of the anemic transformers in the Sony, but I won't be able to hear that for a while.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Yah, it's odd it sounds good on Genelec monitors. They aren't very forgiving and are very balanced and detailed. It sounds horrible on my Focal speakers.

This album will sound best cranked on vintage bass heavy, mid scooped rock type speakers. Klipsch, Cerwin Vegas etc etc.


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> Yah, it's odd it sounds good on Genelec monitors. They aren't very forgiving and are very balanced and detailed. It sounds horrible on my Focal speakers.
> 
> This album will sound best cranked on vintage bass heavy, mid scooped rock type speakers. Klipsch, Cerwin Vegas etc etc.


Haha......nice call, mine are vintage bass heavy, mid scooped Cerwin Vegas!


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## Frenchy (Mar 23, 2011)

I played Tatto on my computer and was not impressed... Went and got the album and played it on my home system and in the car full blast and I like it very much!..... Brings me back to the old VH feeling... It rock's!evilGuitar:

Wish Mike was playing bass....


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## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

This album is incredible and I can't get enough of it! I've listened to it straight through about 10-12 times since buying it on Thursday. They have absolutely knocked it out of the the park with this one and it's such a joy to hear Dave and Eddie together again. I just crank the f*ck out of it, several times a day. Killer, killer album.


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