As reported here on TG, Van Halen finally played its first gig with Diamond David Lee Roth since 2008, and their long awaited new album, A Different Kind of Truth, is set to go live on February 7.
The first single from the album, Tattoo, will be released this Tuesday, and already a thirty second snippet of the tune is on YouTube.
A Different Kind of Truth will be the first full length album of all new material with Roth since the 1984 album, and the first new album of any new material from the band since 1998’s Van Halen III. According to Blabbermouth.net, Truth includes the following songs: Tattoo, She’s the Woman (an old song from way back in the club days), You and Your Blues, China Town, Blood and Fire, Bullethead, (another old song from the club days), As Is, Honeybabysweetiedoll, The Trouble With Never, Outta Space, Stay Frosty, Big River, and Beats Workin’.
Blabbermouth also confirmed there will be a deluxe version of the album that features a bonus acoustic DVD which the band is calling The Downtown Sessions. This will boast unplugged versions of Panama, You and Your Blues, You Really Got Me, and Beautiful Girls.
It’s certainly been a long time coming for any new Van Halen material, and it’s quite a different world today with what’s left of the music industry. Even if Van Halen’s new album delivers, who’s going to pay for it when they can download it for free, or listen to it song by song on YouTube?
For most artists these days, it’s about how much money they can make on tour with ticket sales and merchandise. Yes, a new tour with Roth should do well – even in these horrendous economic times. But if Van Halen is going to continue on with new material – which Ed has always insisted on – and not be doomed to be a nostalgia act, it all depends on how the album is received by fans, and if people are willing to are pay for it or not.
