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Best of Both Worlds- A Tribute to Van Halen's David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar (Street Date: May 21, 2003). The first of its kind, this tribute celebrates Van Halen's glory days back in the 1980s, along with the hey day of cassette tapes, back when music fans could buy two albums by their favorite band on one cassette tape. With that concept in mind, we decided to package this release as not only a tribute to Van Halen, but also to both of the band's frontmen, Diamond David Lee Roth (1976 - 1984) and Sammy Hagar (1985 - 1996), spanning the band's entire 25 year history, as well as giving fans a taste of both band and solo material from each artist's catalog. Featuring current former members of , this record has been a strong seller for us this year, we believe because it appeals to several fan bases at once, giving any music buyer the maximum bang for their buck! This title was also our first to be picked up by Walmart, and has been a great success there. As Van Halen plans a reunion tour in 2005 with Sammy Hagar, following up on the momentum created by the success of 2002's co-headlining arena tour with Diamond Dave and the Red Rocker, Halen's fan base remains devoted and revitalized in the same time! We hope this release has made a credible contribution to the band's amazing legacy!
Track Listing:
Diamond Dave Side:
1. Panama- Richard Kendrick/Jimmy Crespo
2. Shy Boy- George Lynch, Tony Harnell & Jason McMaster
3. Yankee Rose- Enuff Znuff
4. Ain’t Talking Bout Love- Jet Black Joy
5. Tobacco Road- Corey Craven
6. Take Your Whiskey Home- American Dog
The Red Rocker Side:
1. Mas Tequila- Full Tilt
2. Why Can’t This Be Love?- Gravity Pharm
3. I Can’t Drive 55- Shane ‘The Impaler’ Volk
4. When Its Love- Richard Kendrick
5. Right Now- 5150
6. There’s Only One Way to Rock- Steve Whiteman
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Reviews:
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Electric Basement
Just like rap music, tribute records were predicted to be short-lived by many critics, but, in the end, the thumping beats and cover songs still stand, even if they both walk hand in hand, fading slowly into the night. Here we have one big concept, perhaps influenced by the SAMMY HAGAR/DAVID LEE ROTH tour from last year. Who knows. I do not immediately dismiss tribute records because there is a built in curiosity to listen to each song at least once to see how "they" did it. The highs? AMERICAN DOG acts as backing band to RICHARD KENDRICK on "Panama" and it is an excellent choice as lead off track, for it spanks and does do the song justice, even if the indie trib album trademark of smallish sounding drums is there. "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" actually has a big sound and American Dog take complete hold of "Take Your Whiskey Home" with MICHAEL HANNON threatening to sing and without being doused with reverb. God Bless him! WOOF! "I Can't Drive 55" initially sounds off-assedness but it turns out the Dog is helping out here too, forgoing the studio musician aesthetic of the original and adding a "swamp"-ish character. Cool. But how does one drive over 55 in a swamp? The not-so-highs..."Shyboy" is handled by Lynch but it is not as, hmm, I don't know. It doesn't breath as much. "Why Can't This Be Love" was never a song I cared for, so points deducted right there. "Mas Tequila" was always a shining example of how not to steal from others. Do not rip off a hockey arena anthem riff because EVERYONE, including your f-ing grandmother will notice. Gary Glitter must be rolling in his...well, he's till alive, right? It's covered okay, but doesn't that mean, in a way, it is a cover of a not so readily admitted riff rape? All in all, a reasonable collection done mostly well by pretty good musicians. Can't complain. Still can't drive at all in a swamp. Not with my Corolla anyway.--Brian Coles
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www.nehrecords.com Review
TRIBUTE TO VAN HALEN
"Best Of Both Worlds"
Description: Largely faithful, unimpressive, and mis-titled tribute
Score: 68
Buy it here - more info.
It's time for another crack at every record label's favorite game, Messin'
With The Classics! This time, Versailles Records has packaged up "Best
Of Both Worlds: Tribute to Van Halen"; as the liner notes imply, however,
the full title of the CD should be "A Tribute To Van Halen's David Lee
Roth and Sammy Hagar." Only half the songs on it are from VH; the other
half are from DLR or Hagar solo.
The problems with this album, however, extend beyond the title. Most of the songs add little to fans' appreciation of VH, DLR, or Hagar. The covers are generally faithful, although key players often fall short of the idols (Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar) that they attempt to emulate. Guitar mega-hero George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) sounds awesome on his cover of Diamond Dave's "Shy Boy," but his fretboard frenzy sometimes overpowers the melodicism of Vai's original leads. Melodic superstars Enuff Z'Nuff sound almost nothing like themselves on their cover of "Yankee Rose." The modern-feeling increases in axe intensity on tracks like "Panama" and "I Can't Drive 55" muddle the dynamics of the originals more than improving them. American Dog's snarling "Take Your Whiskey Home" is the exceptional highlight on this generally unimpressive tribute.
If you need need new, subtly heavier revisions on Hagar and DLR cuts, this "Best Of Both Worlds" may suit your tastes, but it lacks both the creativity and the performance firepower needed to make it a worthy listen for most Van Halen fans.
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Hard Radio Reviews
By: Martin Popoff
Various Artists - Best Of Both Worlds: A Tribute To Van Halen
(Versailles Records)
Versailles continues to tap into a bewildering assortments of unknowns
and slightly knowns for competent versions of rock starry rock songs, this
latest distraction offering six Dave tracks and six Sammy tracks - three solo
and three VH from each. As usual, American Dog wins, Hannon crocodialing his
way through Take Your Whiskey Home. Elsewhere, it's sort of surreal seeing
Full Tilt (huh?) covering Mas Tequila (double huh?) and a Van Halen tribute
band called 5150 do a dead-on identical version of Right Now. Closes with
Steve Whiteman from Kix in front of a steamrolling version of There's Only
One Way To Rock. In total, not embarrassing but a) no one cares about any
of these guys - and it's not like they are demonstrating their personalities
or interesting reworkings and b) three quarters of the songs aren't any good
AS ORIGINALS.
Rating 5 out of 10
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Classic Rock Revisited
Various Artists: Best of Both Worlds: A Tribute to Van Halen
Versailles Records
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
By Jeb Wright
Website: www.versaillesrecords.com/
Versailles Records has taken on the mother of bands to pay homage too. The CD is split into two eras called sides (trying to appeal to us old farts that own vinyl). The first ‘side’ is dedicated to David Lee Roth and the second ‘side’ to Sammy Hagar.
A tribute to Van Halen should include both of these artists yet it should also include musicians who can actually pull off the music. A tribute to Van Halen should not include each singers solo material. This is where the confusion begins. The spine label shows that this is a Van Halen tribute but the CD cover says “Van Halen’s David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar.” The latter proves to be the case as half of the albums 12 tracks are solo artist’s covers. That being said some of the versions are great while others are embarrassing. On the DLR side, “Shy Boy” with shredder George Lynch rocks hard and hardly seems like a cover but “Yankee Rose” by Enuff Znuff is horrible. The vocals are so far off that the entire song is ruined. The Sammy side has high moments such as “When Its Love” by Richard Kendrick but also contains sucko songs as well, most notably “I Can’t Drive 55” by Shane Volk.
The Sammy songs are much better proving that the DLR era of Van Halen and the Eat Em & Smile band were more technically difficult than the Sam Halen era or the Red Rockers solo stuff. In the end, it was a great marketing idea capitalizing on both Van Halen’s lack of output and the recent Sam & Dave tour. The end result, however, will not keep you coming back for more.
Visit the Rock Shop To Buy This CD Today!
Email your response to this review to me here! We would love to hear from
you!
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Van Halen Vault.com - Best of Both Worlds - A Tribute to Van Halen's "Diamond"
David Lee Roth
& "The Red Rocker" Sammy Hagar
Executive Producer: Jake Brown for Versailles Records
*Note: Rating system/comments are just the opinion of the webmaster (me)...who
am I really to judge. =)
Nice work to all involved, I recommend this cd. -Jerel
Panama 3:21 (rating 9 out of 10)
The guitarist, a former member of Aerosmith, known as Jimmy Crespo, rips this
one up. Richard Kendrick does a A+ job on the vocals. This group adds their
own favor to the song. It's one of the best songs on this cd.
Shy Boy 3:18 (rating 8)
Another All-Star guitarist George Lynch makes this song his own. Tony Harnell
member of West World and Jason McMaster share the energy in the Lead Vocals.
This song was also contributed to the album "Lords of Karma: A Tribute
to Vai/Satriani".
Yankee Rose 4:23 (rating 7)
Chicago based Enuff Znuff takes over on Yankee Rose. This track is the album's
lead single.
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love 3:45 (rating 8)
These guys are having fun, and plain out rockin'. Jim Yelenick leads Jet Black
Joy's vocals duties
Tobacco Road 2:21 (rating 9)
Corey Craven, singer of Slo Annie, does the vocals and guitar - and does a
very nice job of it.
Take Your Whiskey Home 4:23 (rating 10)
I was personally impressed with this song. Way to go American Dog! American
Dog also did the backing tracks for the following tracks on this cd: Panama,
I Can't Drive 55, and There's Only One Way To Rock.
Mas Tequila 3:59 (rating 6)
Musically this song was good. But it felt like David Lee was singing...
Why Can't This Be Love 3:49 (rating 8)
Gravity Pharm catches the energy on this. Very realistic compared to VH's
version.
I Can't Drive 55 5:46 (rating 7)
A Straight forward rocker by Shane "The Impaler" Volk
When It's Love 5:37 (rating 7)
I loved the music, but the vocals just didn't seem to fit. The guitar was
excellent. I've got to hand it to Richard Kendrick...he does the vocals, backing
vocals, guitar, bass, and the keyboards! Drums are handled by Blayne Coupel.
Right Now 4:43 (rating 10)
Musically, this is one of the top songs on here. Scott Szeryk is a Eddie Van
Halen Clone on this one. The Band "5150" is the best Sammy Era Tribute
band out there. I liked the way they recorded this track too (sounds close
to the real VH).
There's Only One Way to Rock 4:07 (rating 10)
There's only one way to end this album... and they picked it. Nice job Steve
Whiteman, and again kudos to American Dog who did the backing track.
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THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS - A TRIBUTE TO VAN HALEN
Versailles Records
I'm spoilt here, three pieces of VH releated material in under one week, first the new Sammy Hagar live disc, then the new excellent David Lee Roth disc and now a new VH tribute disc. If your a Van Halen die hard nut case like me who likes everything that the band release, inside and outside of the band, then your just gonna love this new tribute which is miles better than the tribute CD from 2000. This album runs like a party jukebox and is fun all the way and one of the better tribute albums of late.
You got a mix of the Roth and Hagar years as well as choice cuts from each artists respectful solo careers and there are some great versions here. Kicking off on side one the "Diamond Dave Side" with one of my fave VH's songs 'Panama' where we witness an unknown singer called Richard Kendrick who steals the show, he does an amazing job and if VH need a new singer then this guy is their man, period, he pulls everything together and does not mess up. Kendrick is joined by Jimmy Crespo, a blinding cover version with a great production.
Next up is a Roth number from "Eat 'Em And Smile", the classic 'Shy Boy', with TNT's Tony Harnell on the mic. Harnell is joined by George Lynch and Jason McMaster. This is followed by another classic 'Yankee Rose', it's somewhat slower than the original version which features Enuff Z'Nuff's Donnie Vie doing a god awful version of the song, his vocals sound rougher than usual, and they simply ruin the song. Vie sounds more like Lemmy than Dave Lee Roth.
'Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love' is next and performed by a band called Jet Black Boy whom are an unknown band from Denver, they sound a little like Xyz and I would love to hear more material from these guys, not bad at all. This is followed by 'Tobacco Road' performed by Corey Craven, who like Richard Kendrick has a great Roth like voice and does a good job on this classic. American Dog pop up next with their rendition of 'Take Your Whiskey Home', another good version that the band pull off well, adding a little of their own punch to the song without ruining it.
And then we hit The Red Rocker Side, Sammy Hagar was amazing when I saw him with VH twice, and it's a pity he left the VH camp, at least he went out in style with the stunning "Humans Being" from the "Twister" film. Anyway The Red Rocker Side, gets into full drive with an excellent version of Sammy's own 'Mas Tequila' performed by another unknown band called Full Tilt from Canada, good version and another interesting band. The world-wide smash hit single 'Why Can't This Be Love' follows and is performed by Gravity Pharm, a difficult song to copy as it was one of the highest songs Hagar sang for VH, and unfortunatley GP don't carry the song off so well.
'I Can't Drive 55' is next, who can forget that video eh? remember? go on think, remember Hagar in that court room? Anyway a gentleman called Shane "The Impaler" Volk, covers this one and does a good job, and here we go with one of my all time personal songs, the stunning 'When It's Love', and hey good old Richard Kendrick is up on the mic again, he doesn't do so well on this one as he did on the Roth number, but he still a great singer, think I will go about seeing if we can interview this guy.
The Grammy award winning 'Right Now' follows, performed by VH cover band
5150, and it's a great version, they get it right, right down to the keyboard
arrangements and that deep bass sound. Good version, production could have
been better though. The singer is good.
The CD ends with 'There's Only One Way To Rock' performed by ex Kix man Steve
Whiteman and he does a good job indeed.
Overall then, a good little tribute to all era's of the Van Halen clan,
from VH to solo projects. A neat little jukebox of nuggets to feast upon until
VH get there shit together and put out a new album. Until then check this
out and revel in the glory days, will we ever see them again?
www.versaillesrecords.com
Nicky Van Baldrian
www.aordreamzones.com
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Brave Words/Bloody Knuckles -
Best Of Both Worlds
A Tribute To Van Halen (Versailles Records)
Best Of Both Worlds is your typical tribute album. Band completists will track
it down for their collection and the casual fan will prefer the real deal.
Overall, this is a satisfying album that blends solo era material with classic
Halen tracks.
Numerous guest musicians make this tribute slightly more interesting than
the average garage band homage. They include Jimmy Crespo (cameo in Aerosmith),
Enuff Z Nuff, George Lynch (ex-Dokken) and Steve Whiteman (ex-Kix). Enjoy,
but pull out 1984 when done!
Mitch Lafon 7
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