Tuesday, April 1, 2008

LET THE PARTY BEGIN!

Tomorrow evening I head off to Aspen for five days of skiing in the southwestern corner of Colorado. Days hunting for powder followed by Van Halen parties on the pass - McClure, Independence, Red Mountain, Molas and Wolf Creek Passes. WOOHOO! My liver will be screaming for mercy at the end of the trip.

I picked up the remaining Van Halen CDs from Second Spin at discount prices. "5151" (released March 26, 1986), "OU812" (released May 24, 1988), "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (also known as the F.U.C.K. album, released June 17, 1991), "Live: Right Here, Right Now" (released February 23, 1993), and "Van Halen III" (released February 24, 1998), each of which kicked off one of their world concert tours. I now have the pleasure of listening to them all, grooving on "brand new" music from the band. Although I had heard some of their post-Diamond Dave tunes, I now look forward to really enjoying their later music, song by song, following their slow evolution, you might even say maturation. I've already listened to a couple of the Sammy era albums (5150 and OU812) and have begun to appreciate his contribution to Van Halen - I sense they're more serious about the music, better lyrics, Sammy's voice is strong and a "tighter" feel overall. Whatever it was, it worked well because it brought the band their first number one record on the charts, followed by three others. I'm gonna really enjoy the next few days as I join the screaming crowds across the world enjoying the boys in concert.
Sammy takes the stage
Shares the spotlight with Eddie
Band reaches new heights

Eighty four is past
It's fifty one fifty time!
Red Rocker kicks ass

Ed's lost interest
Diamonds no longer sparkle
His Red Rocker shines!

High on the music
Jose's push over the edge
In-tox-i-ca-ted

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