Van Halen III

Last updated

Van Halen III
Van Halen - Van Halen III.jpg
Studio album by
Van Halen
ReleasedMarch 17, 1998 (1998-03-17)
RecordedMarch–December 1997
Studio 5150 Studios, Studio City, California
Genre Hard rock
Length65:22
Label Warner Bros.
Producer
Van Halen chronology
Video Hits Volume I
(1996)		Van Halen III
(1998)		 The Best of Both Worlds
(2004)
Singles from Van Halen III
  1. "Without You"
    Released: February 19, 1998
  2. "One I Want"
    Released: April 1998
  3. "Fire in the Hole"
    Released: July 1998
  4. "Dirty Water Dog"
    Released: August 1998

Van Halen III is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on March 17, 1998, by Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Mike Post and Eddie Van Halen, it was the band's first studio album in three years after Balance (1995), the band's only studio album to feature vocalist Gary Cherone, and the last to feature bassist Michael Anthony, who only appears on three of the album's songs while the rest of the bass parts are played by Eddie Van Halen; his son Wolfgang replaced Anthony on subsequent tours and recordings. [1] Eddie Van Halen's extensive involvement in the album's production, instrumentation and writing have led some, including Anthony, to consider Van Halen III more of a solo project than a collective band effort. Clocking in at over 65 minutes, Van Halen III is their longest album.

Contents

The album reached No. 4 in the United States and achieved Gold status, but was a relative commercial disappointment for the band, whose previous four albums had all been chart-topping, multi-platinum sellers, though the lead single "Without You" performed well on radio. Critical and fan reaction was also largely negative, with criticism directed at its songwriting, production, band performances and length. The lukewarm reception prematurely halted work on a follow-up album with Cherone, who departed soon after. [1] Van Halen III was the band's last studio album for fourteen years until their 2012 comeback A Different Kind of Truth .

Production

The album's title refers to Van Halen's third recorded line-up, and to the band's first two album titles, Van Halen and Van Halen II . Vocalist Sammy Hagar left the group in 1996, and was briefly replaced by original frontman David Lee Roth. Eventually, Roth departed and was replaced by Cherone who had performed with the group Extreme before their amicable breakup.

None of its material is featured on The Best of Both Worlds , the band's 2004 compilation.

As a producer, Eddie brought his friend Mike Post. The album's final track, "How Many Say I", was an unusual acoustic piano ballad featuring Eddie on lead vocals, and Cherone on backing vocals: Eddie declared he was forced into singing, and added harmonies so he would not perform alone. [2]

Van Halen III makes minimal use of Michael Anthony on bass guitar. Anthony only played bass on "Without You", "One I Want" & "Fire in the Hole"; Eddie Van Halen recorded bass for the rest of the album tracks that feature bass. After Michael Anthony's departure from Van Halen, he confirmed that Eddie Van Halen dictated to him how to play bass on this record.[ citation needed ] Anthony also said by the time of making this album, Eddie was playing the bass more as well as drums. "I don't know if Eddie was basically making a solo record, which is what Van Halen III seemed like to me." [3] In recent years, it has been revealed that Alex Van Halen was absent from sessions on the album due to personal problems at the time and did not play on any tracks. [4]

A track entitled "That's Why I Love You" was dropped at the last minute in favor of "Josephina", with "Fire in the Hole" featuring on the Lethal Weapon 4 film soundtrack.

"I would have preferred to tour with them and then put out a record," Cherone told KNAC. "It would have been a better idea to establish myself first and then hit the studio with the band… There were some great ideas and some little gems but it was not a great record. I had fun but at times it was like being a stranger in a strange land." [5]

The album cover is a still picture from stock footage of Frank "Cannonball" Richards, a vaudeville and sideshow performer known for his act of getting shot in the gut with a cannonball.

Commercial performance

Van Halen III debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 4, with 191,000 copies sold. [6] The album has sold over 800,000 copies as of 2022. The album's only significant radio hit was "Without You", which reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart on the March 7, 1998, issue of Billboard , and remained there for six weeks. Other songs receiving airplay on rock radio were "Fire in the Hole" and "One I Want".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Entertainment Weekly B [9]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]

Reception for Van Halen III was mostly mixed to negative. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic stated the album fails to break away from the formula that Van Halen had exhausted over 20 years and "suffers from the same problems as Hagar-era Van Halen – limp riffs, weak melodies, and plodding, colorless rhythms." [7] Entertainment Weekly gave it a B grade rating, saying, "judging from the renewed intensity of Eddie’s guitar playing throughout much of III, having a merely competent, relatively ego-free singer seems to have reinvigorated his muse" but goes on to say "How Many Say I", a song Eddie sang lead vocals on, was "cringeworthy" and "unintentionally hilarious". [9] Greg Kot from Rolling Stone gave it 2 stars out of 5 noting, "Cherone sounds disconcertingly like Hagar, full of spleen-busting bluster and incapable of understatement", and "When the band plays it heavy, it mires itself in a Seventies tar pit, with only the chorus of 'Without You' achieving any sort of pop resonance." Kot compliments Eddie's vocals saying, "'How Many Say I' finds the guitarist singing in a disarmingly appealing, nicotine-stained voice over a moody piano melody." [11] Billboard reviewer Paul Verna summed up III as "a wasted opportunity to breathe life into a now-tired formula". [13]

Track listing

All songs credited to Eddie Van Halen, Michael Anthony, Gary Cherone and Alex Van Halen.

No.TitleLength
1."Neworld" (Instrumental)1:45
2."Without You"6:30
3."One I Want"5:30
4."From Afar"5:24
5."Dirty Water Dog"5:27
6."Once"7:42
7."Fire in the Hole"5:31
8."Josephina"5:42
9."Year to the Day"8:34
10."Primary" (Instrumental)1:27
11."Ballot or the Bullet"5:42
12."How Many Say I"6:04
Total length:65:22

Personnel

Van Halen

Additional personnel

Production

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ) [31] Platinum200,000^
United States (RIAA) [32] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Halen</span> American rock band (1973–2020)

Van Halen was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and for the virtuosity of its guitarist, Eddie Van Halen. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Anthony (musician)</span> American bassist

Michael Anthony Sobolewski is an American musician who was the bassist and backing vocalist for the hard rock band Van Halen from 1974 to 2006. He performed on Van Halen's first 11 albums and was their longest-tenured bassist. Following his 2006 departure, Anthony has collaborated with fellow former Van Halen bandmate Sammy Hagar for the supergroups Chickenfoot and Sammy Hagar and the Circle. In addition to his music career, he markets a line of hot sauces named Mad Anthony and related products. Anthony was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extreme (band)</span> American rock band

Extreme is an American rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1985, that reached the height of their popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They have released six studio albums, two EPs and two compilation albums since their formation. The band was one of the most successful rock acts of the early 1990s, selling over 10 million albums worldwide.

<i>5150</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Van Halen

5150 is the seventh studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released on March 24, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records and was the first of four albums to be recorded with lead singer Sammy Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth. The album was named after Eddie Van Halen's home studio, 5150, in turn named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person. The album hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, surpassing the band's previous album, 1984, which had peaked at number 2 behind Michael Jackson's Thriller album, on which Eddie made a guest appearance.

<i>Women and Children First</i> 1980 studio album by Van Halen

Women and Children First is the third studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on March 26, 1980, on Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Ted Templeman and engineered by Donn Landee, it was the first Van Halen album not to feature any cover songs, and is described by critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "[the] record where the group started to get heavier, both sonically and, to a lesser extent, thematically."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Hagar</span> American rock singer (born 1947)

Sam Roy Hagar, also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a successful solo career, scoring a hit in 1984 with "I Can't Drive 55". He enjoyed further commercial success when he replaced David Lee Roth as the lead vocalist of Van Halen in 1985, but left in 1996. He returned to the band from 2003 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Cherone</span> American singer

Gary Francis Caine Cherone is an American rock singer and songwriter. Cherone is known for his work as the lead vocalist of the Boston rock group Extreme and Van Halen.

<i>Fair Warning</i> (Van Halen album) 1981 studio album by Van Halen

Fair Warning is the fourth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released on April 29, 1981, by Warner Bros. Records, the album peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200, while the single "So This Is Love?" failed to reach Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 110 on the Bubbling-Under list. The album sold more than two million copies in the United States, but was still the band's slowest-selling album of the David Lee Roth era. Despite the album's commercially disappointing sales, Fair Warning was met with mostly positive reviews from critics. It was listed by Esquire as one of the "75 Albums Every Man Should Own".

<i>OU812</i> 1988 studio album by Van Halen

OU812 is the eighth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in 1988 and is the band's second album to feature vocalist Sammy Hagar. Van Halen began work on the album in September 1987 and completed it in April 1988, one month before its release.

<i>For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge</i> 1991 studio album by Van Halen

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is the ninth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released on June 17, 1991, on Warner Bros. Records and is the third to feature vocalist Sammy Hagar. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and maintained the position for three consecutive weeks. The album marked a record in the band's history, seeing seven of its eleven tracks released as singles.

<i>Live: Right Here, Right Now</i> 1993 live album by Van Halen

Live: Right Here, Right Now. is the first live album by American rock band Van Halen, released in 1993. It is the band's only live album featuring Sammy Hagar and the only live album by Van Halen until the release of Tokyo Dome Live in Concert in 2015.

<i>Balance</i> (Van Halen album) 1995 studio album by Van Halen

Balance is the tenth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on January 24, 1995, by Warner Bros. Records. The album is the last of the band's four studio releases to feature Sammy Hagar as the lead singer. It is also the final Van Halen album to feature bassist Michael Anthony in its entirety. Balance reached number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 in February 1995 and reached triple platinum status on May 12, 2004, by selling more than three million copies in the US. "The Seventh Seal" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.

<i>The Best of Both Worlds</i> (Van Halen album) 2004 greatest hits album by Van Halen

The Best of Both Worlds is the second greatest hits album by American rock band Van Halen, released on July 20, 2004, on Warner Bros. The compilation features material recorded with lead vocalists David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, but omits Gary Cherone's three-year tenure with the band. Prior to The Best of Both Worlds's release, Hagar reunited with Van Halen, and the band recorded three new tracks to include on the release.

<i>Best Of – Volume I</i> (Van Halen album) 1996 greatest hits album by Van Halen

Best Of – Volume I is the first greatest hits album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released on October 22, 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreams (Van Halen song)</span> 1986 single by Van Halen

"Dreams" is a song by Van Halen released in 1986 from the album 5150. It was the second single from that album, and it reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year. It was released in 7" and 12" single formats. The 7" single features the album version, while the 12" features a slightly extended one. Nine years after its original release, "Dreams" introduced the band to a new generation of fans when it appeared in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and on its soundtrack album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Halen discography</span> List of recorded material released by the US rock band Van Halen

Van Halen was an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1972 by the Dutch-born American brothers Eddie Van Halen (guitar) and Alex Van Halen (drums), plus singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony. The band's discography consists of 12 studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, and 56 singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Tour 2004 (Van Halen)</span> 2004 concert tour by Van Halen

The Van Halen Tour 2004 was a North American concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen. It was the band's first tour since 1998 and saw the return of lead singer Sammy Hagar, who left the band in 1996 after tensions with lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

The III Tour was a concert tour by American hard rock band Van Halen, in support of their eleventh studio album, Van Halen III. It is the only concert tour to feature vocalist Gary Cherone.

<i>Chickenfoot III</i> 2011 studio album by Chickenfoot

Chickenfoot III is the second studio album by American hard rock band Chickenfoot, released on September 27, 2011. Despite the title, it is not actually the band's third album; other rumored titles that were mentioned include Chickenfoot IV (four). The first pressing of the album was packaged with a 3-D cover; it was later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package at the 2012 ceremony.

<i>A Different Kind of Truth</i> 2012 studio album by Van Halen

A Different Kind of Truth is the twelfth and final studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released on February 7, 2012, by Interscope Records, this is Van Halen's only studio album on Interscope and its first full-length album of studio material with lead singer David Lee Roth since 1984. Likewise, A Different Kind of Truth was Van Halen's first studio album since 1998's Van Halen III, as well as their only studio album recorded without bassist Michael Anthony, who had played bass on all of the band's previous albums; Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang replaced Anthony for the album, making this his only studio album with the band. It would also be Van Halen's final studio album before Eddie's death and the group's subsequent disbandment in 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 "Gary Cherone Reflects on his Three-Year Stint In Van Halen". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  2. ↑ Evans Price, Deborah. "Van Halen Revs Up with New Singer", Billboard, 21 February 1998
  3. ↑ Rolling Stone, September 2009, Issue 694, "Quick and Dirty with Michael Anthony" by Rod Yates, page114.
  4. ↑ Sevinc, Bihter (June 8, 2024). "It's Not Eddie Van Halen's Fault That Gary Cherone Album Was A Failure, VH Producer Explains". Rock Celebrities. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  5. ↑ Carr, David; KNAC.com; 16 July 2009
  6. ↑ Between the Bullets
  7. 1 2 Van Halen III at AllMusic
  8. ↑ Kot, Greg (March 8, 1998). "Wastes Of Talent". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  9. 1 2 Sinclair, Tom (March 20, 1998). "Van Halen III Review". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  10. ↑ Masuo, Sandy (March 15, 1998). "Album Review". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  11. 1 2 Kot, Greg (March 2, 1998). "Van Halen III". Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  12. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David, eds. (2004). "Van Halen". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide . Simon and Schuster. p.  842. ISBN   9780743201698.
  13. ↑ Albums
  14. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Van Halen – Van Halen III". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Van Halen – Van Halen III" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Van Halen Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Van Halen – Van Halen III" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Van Halen: Van Halen III" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Van Halen – Van Halen III". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Van Halen – Van Halen III" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2001. 32. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  22. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN   4-87131-077-9.
  23. ↑ "Charts.nz – Van Halen – Van Halen III". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  24. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Van Halen – Van Halen III". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  26. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Van Halen – Van Halen III". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  27. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Van Halen – Van Halen III". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  28. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  29. ↑ "Van Halen Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1998". Billboard. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – Van Halen – Van Halen III" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan . Retrieved February 27, 2020.Select 1998年3月 on the drop-down menu
  32. ↑ "American album certifications – Van Halen – Van Halen III". Recording Industry Association of America.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.