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A Different Kind of Truth (2012)

Where the lyrics of A Different Kind of Truth take you, and where it was really made.

Van Halen's final studio album was the first made without Michael Anthony on bass, with Eddie's son Wolfgang taking his place.

Key places

Recording at Henson Studios, Hollywood (2012)

Recording site A&M Recording Studios — Most of the album was recorded at Henson Recording Studios, where the band moved in by mid-January 2011 with producer John Shanks. Roth's vocals were all recorded there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• A Different Kind of Truth: the twelfth and final studio album by American rock band Van Halen
• Released February 7, 2012 by Interscope Records, the band's only studio album on Interscope
• First studio album with David Lee Roth on lead vocals since 1984
• First studio album since Van Halen III (1998)
• Only studio album recorded without bassist Michael Anthony, who had played on all previous albums
• Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie's son, plays bass here, his only studio album with the band
• Seven of the 13 songs are reworked demos from the late 1970s and early 1980s, never officially released
• Final studio album before Eddie Van Halen's death and the band's disbandment in 2020

Background

• 2007 reunion with Roth for a North American tour, which added Wolfgang on bass
• The reunion tour: 74 shows from September 2007 to June 2008, over $93 million gross
• In 2009 Eddie was reluctant to record new material with Roth; Wolfgang's enthusiasm changed his mind
• Wolfgang found unreleased demos in the band's archives
• The first reworked track, She's the Woman, was completed by August 2009
• Roth suggested John Shanks as producer; Shanks chose the songs together with Wolfgang
• Roth persuaded the band to record at Henson Recording Studios, where he had recorded for over a decade

Recording

• By mid-January 2011 the band had moved into Henson Studios with Shanks
• Instrumental tracks were completed within three weeks
• The final mix was done at 5150 over six weeks in summer 2011, with engineer Ross Hogarth
• Roth's vocals were all recorded at Henson, without compression

Cover

• Cover designed by Smog Design of Los Angeles, following a concept sent by Roth
• Image: a New York Central Railroad J-3A Dreyfuss Hudson steam locomotive, photographed by Robert Yarnall Richie
• The image was taken from the Southern Methodist University photo library

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Formation

• Van Halen was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972.
• The brothers Alex (b. 1953) and Eddie Van Halen (b. 1955) were born in Amsterdam, moved to Pasadena in 1962, and began playing together in the 1960s.
• The band went through the names Broken Combs, Trojan Rubber Co, Genesis, and Mammoth before becoming Van Halen in 1973.
• David Lee Roth joined as lead vocalist in 1972 and Michael Anthony joined on bass in 1974.

Members

• Eddie Van Halen (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Alex Van Halen (drums), David Lee Roth (lead vocals, 1974–1985), Michael Anthony (bass, 1974–2006).
• Sammy Hagar replaced Roth in 1985 and Gary Cherone replaced Hagar in 1996.
• Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie's son, replaced Anthony on bass in 2006.

Career

• The self-titled debut album (1978) reached No. 19 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified Diamond by the RIAA.
• The album 1984 (1984) produced 'Jump', the band's only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.
• With Hagar, the band released four U.S. number-one albums, including 5150 (1986) and OU812 (1988).
• Eddie Van Halen died of cancer on October 6, 2020; Wolfgang later confirmed the band had ended.
• The band has sold more than 80 million records worldwide.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Positive reviews from music critics upon release; several writers called it a return to form
• The Guardian gave four stars out of five, calling it a frequently thrilling return
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave four stars out of five
• The A.V. Club's Steven Hyden said the album matters as a reminder of why the band mattered
• Rolling Stone gave 3.5 out of 5 stars; critic Rob Sheffield called it a real Van Halen album
• Guitar International's William Clark gave a positive review, praising Eddie's guitar playing
• USA Today's Jerry Shriver gave 3.5 out of 4 stars
• Metacritic average of 73 from 21 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews
• Guitar World picked the album as the best album of 2012
• Rolling Stone readers ranked it the fifth best album of the year

Reappraisal

• USA Today's Edna Gundersen listed the album among the overrated albums of 2012 in the paper's year-end retrospective
• Gundersen also noted the album was shut out of Grammy Award nominations
• After its removal from streaming platforms in October 2022, Wolfgang Van Halen accused Roth of holding up the streaming renewal
• Roth responded with a mocking video and said that none of the streaming services would pay what he and Alex Van Halen asked
• The album returned to streaming platforms in June 2024

Records

• Entered the US Billboard 200 at No. 2, selling 188,000 copies in its first six days
• Became the group's 14th consecutive top ten album in the US
• By the end of 2012 had sold 411,000 copies in the US, the 71st best-selling record of the year
• Third highest-selling hard rock album of 2012 in the US
• Debuted at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart with 14,040 first-week sales, the group's highest-charting album in the country
• Debuted at No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon chart; finished at No. 89 on the year-end tally with 79,517 copies
• Reached No. 26 in France
• AnyDecentMusic? aggregate score of 6.9 out of 10, based on 16 reviews

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Seven of the 13 songs were reworked from demos that were never officially released.
• The second track She's the Woman reworks a song the band recorded in 1976, with changes mainly to the guitar solo.
• This is the first album on which Wolfgang Van Halen played bass, after touring with the band since 2007.
• Wolfgang replaced Michael Anthony, who had played bass on all earlier Van Halen studio albums.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

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