There are too many memorable riffs in the Van Halen catalog to list out here, but if we were to make a shortlist of Eddie Van Halen‘s best guitar solos, “Eruption” would definitely be at or near the top of the list. This instrumental track features Eddie’s patented two-hand tapping method, and is widely considered to be one of his most difficult solos to replicate. (Even Eddie himself would agree!) However, a 14 year-old girl named Tina posted this electrifying cover of “Eruption” to her YouTube page yesterday, and we have to admit — it’s prettayyyy, prettayyyy, prittay good!
AMERICA’S HARD 100 – Vote To Determine The Greatest Hard Rock Song Of All-Time
Welcome to of the final VH1 Classic America’s Hard 100 Countdown Poll! Over the past 10 days we’ve asked YOU, the FANS to help us sort our list of essential hard rock and heavy metal tunes and the response has been incredible! Since this is the final list, we’ll be keeping it active for a few days to make sure we have enough time to record all your votes. And, due to popular demand, keep your eyes open for a one final poll featuring those songs which got the most votes for our all-time Top 10!
IMPORTANT NOTE: You can vote AS MANY TIMES and for AS MANY SONGS as you want, simply click on “Return To Poll” after your initial ballot and if your favorite songs or bands are missing from today’s list please check one of our earlier polls, which are all still open for voting, to see if you can find it.
Today Van Halen’s bad boy classic “Hot For Teacher” takes on Cliff-era Metallica’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” “Wild Child” by nasty L.A. glam-masters W.A.S.P. and Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” among others.
AMERICA’S HARD 100, Day 7 – Vote To Determine The Greatest Hard Rock Song Of All-Time
It’s Day 7 of the VH1 Classic America’s Hard 100 Countdown Poll and we’ve got another batch of classic hard rock and heavy metal tunes that need sorting! We’ve put together a list of 100 essential rockers but we need you to vote on them to let us know where they should fall in the America’s Hard 100 Countdown when it airs this November.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You can vote AS MANY TIMES and for AS MANY SONGS as you want, simply click on “Return To Poll” after your initial ballet. If your favorite hard rock jam is missing from today’s list please click on one of the previous days polls which are still open and keep checking back daily as we add new songs to new lists.
Today Nirvana’s grunge anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit” goes up against Metallica’s breakthrough hit “Enter Sandman,” Zeppelin’s epic “Kashmir” and classic tunes by Van Halen, Def Leppard and more!
That Metal Debate: The Top 5 David Lee Roth Era Van Halen Songs
Last week on That Metal Show, we were joined by the one and only Sammy Hagar (Chickenfoot) who stepped in as our first ever guest host. He brought us rum and helped us debate the TMS Top 5 this week. Also, joining Hagar as guest was his Chickenfoot bandmate, Michael Anthony, and guest musician John 5, who blew us all away every time we went into a commercial break. (Yes, we are working on getting him full-time.)
Let’s Talk Top 5. We know it could be a bit controversial when mixing David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar in the same sentence with Van Halen, and it’s time we all move on from that. The Red Rocker/former front man for the iconic group helped us determine the Top 5 David Lee Roth Era Van Halen Songs. He’s perfect for the job, especially when you consider that he did sang all of those songs in front of thousands of people before, so he knows exactly which songs get the fans going. (Unlike Jim Florentine, who just sings them in the shower.) Here is what the guys and Sammy came up with:
THE TMS TOP 5 DAVID LEE ROTH ERA VAN HALEN SONGS
1. “Panama”
2. “And The Cradle Will Rock…”
3. “On Fire”
4. “Mean Street”
5. “Unchained”
That Metal Debate: Top 5 Bass Riffs Of All-Time
We kicked off the season premiere of That Metal Show this weekend with Russell Allen and Mike Orlando of Adrenaline Mob, along with David Draiman of Disturbed fame, and rocked out with TMS veteran Mike Portnoy on drums.
In the Season 11 premiere episode, we debated the Top 5 Bass Riffs (not players) with signature lines in songs. You know, when you heard the first few seconds of a song and immediately start banging your head because you know exactly how to play it on air guitar bass and you immediately get excited cause it’s your favorite song or cause it just rocks that hard? Yeah, that.
Could Van Halen Be The 2013 Super Bowl Performers?
Performing for the Super Bowl halftime show is major, and an honor only bestowed on a select chosen few. The gossip mill was spinning with rumors that Van Halen was set to perform at next year’s Super Bowl. Despite the group’s mega success with over 56 million albums sold, people were apprehensive about the selection of a rock band doing the Super Bowl in 2013. According to Rolling Stone, lead singer David Roth addressed the rumor on the fan’s website. “That honor has not been bestowed upon us at this time though it is one we would accept in a NY minute,” Roth writes. But perhaps the loud chatter will put the group on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s radar. Read more…
Van Halen Cancels Slew Of Tour Dates, Is Almost Certainly Broken Up Again
When we saw Van Halen perform in front of an audience of 300 people at the tiny Cafe Wha? back in January, there didn’t seem to be any noticeable tension between Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth. The duo appeared to have put their legendary differences aside in advance of the release of A Different Kind Of Truth, the reunited group’s first studio album since 1984, and the massive North American tour that they had planned. Fast forward five months and change, though, and now it appears that the second third honeymoon between Diamond Dave and Eddie has come to a crashing halt.
Rolling Stone reports that Van Halen has “abruptly postponed” 30 North American tour dates that were recently added to the the original schedule that was announced back in December. The tour’s promoter, Live Nation, did not comment on the matter, but a source told Rolling Stone that Van Halen’s members are “arguing like mad” and “hate each other.” Not surprising news, exactly, but definitely disappointing for fans of huge riffs and karate kicks. Speaking of which…
Van Halen Postpone Summer Tour Dates [Rolling Stone]
[Photo: Getty Images]
A Reunited Van Halen Debuts Their New Single, “Tattoo”
After last week’s blistering Van Halen reunion show at Cafe Wha?, the band confirmed a number of details about their 2012 plans that had, up to that point, simply been rumors: The band would release their new album, A Different Kind Of Truth, on February 7; the band would be embarking on a four-month, 45 date North American tour; and, amazingly, Kool & The Gang would be their opening act (!!!). Cellll-ebrate good times, C’MON!
Thanks to last week’s uniformly praised comeback set, anticipation levels for Van Halen‘s first tour with David Lee Roth since 2007 are off the charts. However, as we all know, when a “classic” band decides it’s that time of the concert for them to play their “new” material, a lot of fans decide that’s the time to visit the, um, facilities. Grantland’s Chuck Klosterman wrote about this dilemna last week, stating “I will never understand why classic rock bands feel a moral obligation to write new songs that nobody wants. That’s like working at McDonald’s when you’re 80 instead of cashing in your war bonds. Van Halen has nothing to prove to anyone. Just blow us away.”
It remains to be seen how fans will react to Van Halen’s first studio album with David Lee Roth singing lead vox since 1984, but today the group released their first single off A Different Kind Of Truth, a song called “Tattoo” (which also comes with an accompanying music video). And you know what? It’s a real grower! Not only does it feature a blistering, 35-second guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen, but David Lee Roth scatting and squealing his way through some non-sequitur come-ons (“Best believe that needle hurt you”) to characters like Swap Meet Sally and the Tramp Stamp Cat, as well as a hilarious description of MILF-y groupies who get inked late in life (“Mousewife to Momshell”). And thanks to Dave’s repeated screams of “Sexy dragon magic!”, we have a feeling that this is the kind of song that both Van Halen fans AND the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo will surely approve of.
Welcome To The World Of Famous Musical Offspring, Blue Ivy Carter! (PS: Here’s How Fast Your Peers Got On Stage)
This weekend, the world welcomed baby Blue Ivy Carter, the offspring of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and possibly the most important baby on earth right now (or ever, who knows?) into its open arms. After months of speculation, second guessing, and red herrings, the baby girl is finally here and now we’ve got a whole new set of questions to deal with. For starters: When are we going to see baby Blue Ivy? Do you think she’s made of gold or magic or sparkles? Does she have super powers? Will she grow up to fulfill Mom and Dad’s musical legacy? And if so, how long do we have to wait to hear the chosen one’s voice on a record?
With all these questions in mind, we tracked down some other famous babies with musician parents, found out how long it took them to get from the womb to the recording studio, and employed the law of averages to try and figure out when we can expect Blue Ivy’s first number one song. According to the following cross section, we’re expecting Blue Ivy to lay down her first album by age 11…
- Sean Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In 1981, at the age of 5, Sean recited a story on his mother’s album Season of Glass.
- Hailie Jade Mathers, daughter of Marshall Mathers a.k.a Eminem. At age 6, Hailie’s vocal was featured on Eminem’s “My Dad’s Gone Crazy”.
- Chloe Lattanzi, daughter of Olivia Newton John. At age 8, Chloe provided backing vocals for “The Way Of Love” from Olivia’s 1994 album Gaia.
VH1′s Top 20 Most Anticipated Albums Of 2012
Now that we’re done with reflecting on 2011, it’s time to start projecting into 2012. With the reign of Adele perhaps taking a brief hiatus, and buzz building around several newcomers, some legendary reunions and highly anticipated sophomore albums, 2012 is already shaping up to be a year filled with some pretty amazing music. We’ve put together a list of 20 of our most anticipated albums for 2012 — what are you looking forward to in 2012?
Lana Del Rey – Born To Die (Expected Release Date: 01/27): Possibly the most hyped artist of 2011, we’re excited for the record to finally come out so we can stop judging the hype and start judging the material! She landed a highly coveted spot as the musical guest on the January 14th episode of Saturday Night Live, so expect the clamor to grow.
Van Halen – A Different Kind Of Truth (Expected Release Date: 02/07): Aside from a couple of songs that made it onto the band’s 1996 Best Of set, the band hasn’t cut any new material in the studio with original lead singer David Lee Roth since 1984, so anticipation for this project is through the roof. After a blistering reunion set at Cafe Wha? in New York City last night, there’s a good chance the boys still have it in ‘em.
Sleigh Bells – Reign Of Terror (Expected Release Date: 02/14): After Sleigh Bells’ killer debut with Treats, we’re biting our nails to find out whether their sophomore effort will be just as good. If the release of the first single off the new album, “Born To Lose”, is anything to go by, we won’t be disappointed.
Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (Expected Release Date: 02/14): Since Nicki Minaj Tweeted that the new album will feature all new material (as opposed to a re-release), we’ve been painting everything pink in anticipation. Barbz at the ready!
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