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Van Halen III (1998)

Where the lyrics of Van Halen III take you, and where it was really made.

Van Halen III is the only album with Gary Cherone on vocals, and it was the band's last studio album for fourteen years.

Key places

Recorded at 5150 (1998)

Recording site TRS Studios — The album was recorded at 5150 Studios, which is listed in the release credits. The point is placed at the city centre of Studio City. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Westwind Studios (1998)

Recording site The Enterprise (Burbank) — Westwind Studios in Burbank is credited as a recording location for the album. The point is placed at the city centre of Burbank. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Van Halen III: eleventh studio album by the American rock band Van Halen
• Released March 17, 1998 by Warner Bros. Records
• Produced by Mike Post and Eddie Van Halen
• First studio album in three years after Balance (1995)
• Only studio album with vocalist Gary Cherone
• Last studio album with bassist Michael Anthony
• Over 65 minutes long, the band's longest album
• Last studio album for fourteen years, until the 2012 comeback A Different Kind of Truth

Background

• The title refers to Van Halen's third recorded line-up
• The title also echoes the band's first two album titles, Van Halen and Van Halen II
• Sammy Hagar left the group in 1996
• David Lee Roth briefly replaced Hagar before departing
• Cherone came from Extreme, which had split amicably
• Eddie Van Halen's heavy involvement in production, instrumentation and writing led some, including Anthony, to view it as more of a solo project than a band effort

Recording

• Eddie Van Halen brought in his friend Mike Post as producer; Post is a veteran songwriter known for television themes
• Anthony played bass on only three songs
• Eddie Van Halen played bass on the rest of the album
• Alex Van Halen was absent from the sessions due to personal problems and did not play on any tracks

Cover

• The cover is a still from stock footage of Frank "Cannonball" Richards, a vaudeville and sideshow performer

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

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

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

• Reception was mostly mixed to negative
• AllMusic: Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the album fails to break away from the formula Van Halen had exhausted over 20 years, and that it suffers from the same problems as Hagar-era Van Halen
• Entertainment Weekly: gave it a B grade, saying the guitar playing's renewed intensity seemed to have reinvigorated Eddie's muse
• Entertainment Weekly: called "How Many Say I", the song Eddie sang lead on, "cringeworthy"
• Rolling Stone: Greg Kot gave it 2 stars out of 5
• Rolling Stone: Kot wrote that Cherone sounds disconcertingly like Hagar
• Billboard: reviewer Paul Verna called III a wasted opportunity to breathe life into a now-tired formula

Records

• Debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 4, with 191,000 copies sold
• Reached number 4 in the United States and achieved Gold status
• Relative commercial disappointment, since the previous four albums had all topped the chart and sold multi-platinum
• "Without You" reached number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and stayed there for six weeks
• Sold over 800,000 copies as of 2022

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

Trivia

• The track "That's Why I Love You" was dropped at the last minute in favor of "Josephina".
• "Fire in the Hole" was featured on the Lethal Weapon 4 film soundtrack.
• Cherone said he would have preferred to tour before recording, and that the record was not a great one.
• Eddie Van Halen was declared to have been forced into singing "How Many Say I", and added harmonies so he would not perform alone.
• Some releases carry the title 'Van Halen 3' on the spines and CD.

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

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