The Atomic Punks are BACK!!!!!

It’s leaked. Yes, I downloaded it and IMHO it’s actually worth buying. I was worried it would be shit. It’s not. It rocks.

Fair Warning: The worst song on it is the single “Tattoo” so don’t judge a album by it’s single.

PRO:

1. The good thing about it is that it’s pretty punk, as in the “Atomic” variety. It’s fast, it’s got energy. It never coasts. Remember “I’m the One” and “Mean Streets”? That kind of energy. It demands to be played loud.

2. It’s got swagger, sass, ridiculous guitar playing, even more ridiculous lyrics, and plenty of DLR whoopin’ an hollering. (minus the DLR camp though) Yes, DLR’s range is limited but they do a great job with it and don’t make him sound like Kanye or T-Pain.

3. There’s some seriously great grooves on it. It doesn’t sound “Pro Tooled” to death. It swings in spots like old VH did. At least 2 of the songs are from the 70’s, demo’d but never released, and they have that “classic” sound down to the background vocals.

4.The guitar playing is outstanding as is the bass playing.

This is a big deal if you’ve been following VH and EVH since ‘80 like I have.
The past few years have not been good for VH fans. 

Like many I thought Ed was dead, had nothing left to say. Most guys like him don’t come back with something fresh, new, and still sounding aggro like they did in ‘77. He does. It’s actually a relief to hear him play this well.

5. Alex Van Halen hits the bell of a ride cymbal like no-one else. I fucking love that sound and especially the snare which sounds deep but pitched up with a nice, full crack to it.

6. It’s sounds like VH. They aren’t trend hopping, trying to cop to the latest whatever, etc…it’s classic VH. At no point on this album do they sound like they hate being over 50 or that it’s a hinderance.

Yeah, it’s not as irreverent or playfully lewd as the old days, but it also doesn’t sound like a bunch of singles written for AOR radio like the Hagar-era did. It’s got a bit of a the “party rock” thing, but with maturity. It doesn’t insult or pander to radio except for “Tattoo” which is why it sounds so out of place.

As a old VH fan some songs of the Hagar-era, like “Summer Nights” on 5150, really grated. Hagar, late 30’s in ‘86, was trying to sound like a 16 yo kid which I found disingenuous. Contrast that to “Blood and Fire” on the new album which is about all the shit they’ve seen and lived to tell about it.

CON:

1. Ed’s tone is over processed. There’s a bit of his mid-late 80s sound in there when he ditched his Marshalls and went rack with a Harmonizer in tow. Ugh. Hated it then, hate it now.

2. The bass playing is unbelievable, which makes me wonder who played it. If it is indeed Ed’s son Wolfie then the kid a virtuoso on the Billy Sheehan/Stu Hamm level. There are some crazy runs the bass does within the grooves on a number of songs that sound like the vocabulary of an old school session guy and not a young kid.

3. No Michael Anthony bg vocals. While there are songs with stacked bg vocals it’s DLR that has to carry the weight and that’s not good. Without Michael Anthony’s voice on the tracks you realize how much he carried DLR in the past and was integral to the classic VH sound.

The Verdict?

Overall I’d give it an 8 out of 10. .5 of that is sentimental, the rest they earn. Fave tracks after 3 listens: “Chinatown” & “Bullethead’ (which may be VH’s first shot at a political song.)

Hopefully they’ll play alot of these songs on their upcoming tour!

Check out this vid of them playing “You Really Got Me” acoustic in their rehearsal space.

http://vimeo.com/35143278