Van Halen – Best of Both Worlds (2CD)

Allo !

Here’s to one of the best compilations I’ve ever heard.

Eddie Van Halen (EVH) is one bloody heck of a guitarist. I don’t even know how to start describing him. He rocked to stardom in 1978, starting off his self-titled album with Eruption. Yes, Eruption, the song that always comes up in all top 10 lists of all time solos. Guess what, he was just fooling around in the studio when his producer liked what he heard and just recorded it. Viola! Eruption! The song that revolutionized guitar playing technique, the song that introduced to the world how tapping should be done.


And so eruption kicked off the CD. David Lee Roth, VH’s famous front man who sang for them till 1986 before pursuing his solo career, lends his wonderful voice on most of the tracks here. Most of EVH’s early guitar magic can be found on this disc … classics include “Aint talking about love”, “Jump” and “Can’t stop loving you”. VH was also known for their EXCELLENT covers of songs, which include a rockish version of “pretty woman” and “you really got me” by the legendary The Kinks.

The 2nd disc mostly contains Sammy Hager songs, who came in for Roth after he left. So this album is kind of a tribute to both their singers and hence the aptly named “Best of Both Worlds” title. Favorites include “Panama”, “Running with the devil” and “Why can’t this be love”. VH experimented more with keyboard sounds on this album and it must be said he was stepping more into the pop genre from his initial hard rocking sounds. 3 live songs at the end, Roth songs sang by Hager no less, sounding superb, showcasing the geniuses of EVH and the charisma of Sammy Hager.

On a more technical note, I do advise all guitar players to listen to a bit of EVH, even if his hard rock sound is not your cup of tea. His use of techniques, though not invented by him, is very well fused into the songs he plays. If you could, get a live concert or a video of him playing, watch him play, tap, dive the whammy, and smoke cigarette puffs. And notice that the band usually plays with him on guitar only ie no rhythm guitar. Or himself at the keys. Heh. It’s fantastic. With all due respect to Hendrix and Page, EVH is IMO the best guitarist to ever play. [But of course this is so subjective]

Van Halen is :
Eddie Van Halen (god of guitar)
David Lee Roth / Sammy Hagar (vocals)
Alex Van Halen (drums)
Michael Anthony (bass)


I just cant stop loving this album. Listening to VH just reminds you how cool rock and roll used to be. I just hope every year that EVH gets inducted in the to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for he truly deserves a spot in there.

Song Title
1. Eruption
2. It's About Me
3. Up For Breakfast
4. Learning To See
5. Ain't Talkin' Bout Love
6. Finish What You Started
7. You Really Got Me
8. Dreams
9. Hot For Teacher
10. Pundcake
11. And The Cradle Will Tock...
12. Black And Blue
13. Jump
14. Top Of The World
15. (Oh) Pretty Woman
16. Love Walks In
17. Beautiful Girls
18. Can't Stop Lovin' You
19. Unchained

Song Title
1. Panama
2. Best Of Both Worlds
3. Jamie's Cryin'
4. Runaround
5. I'll Wait
6. Why Can't This Be Love
7. Runnin' With The Devil
8. When It's Love
9. Dancing In The Street
10. Not Enough
11. Feels So Good
12. Everybody Wants Some!!
13. Right Now
14. Dance The Night Away
15. Ain't Talkin' Bout Love (Live)
16. Panama (Live)
17. Jump (Live)

Nirvana – With the Lights Out (3CD compilation)

Hey all,

It’s been a while eh? Sorry , been very busy with my school work, and rarely do I have a day as free as today. So, it’s about that that I wrote another review.

Now, to disappoint all “best-of” fans, this is NOT a best-of compilation of Nirvana’s strongest… no doubt they have enough material to pump out a 3CD compilation. But this is different. Oh yeah.

Its like a story book, it chronicles Kurt Cobain and his band’s influences since they started off in 1987. By the way, Cobain died in 1994 (murdered by gunshot. Some say assassinated, some say suicide. Its still one big mystery)

So in this short span of 7 years, Nirvana has managed to storm into the music scene, introducing their then unique grunge punk-rock style (Pearl jam fans may argue here). Most decent rock listeners will know how Nirvana’s introduction into the music scene totally destroyed 80s hair metal, [which was already on the wane anyways], and opened up a whole new genre for rock, so much so that nowadays much of 90s, 00s rock bands have similar grungy, alternative sound that is such a trademark of Cobain’s. Rarely do we find really good solos, or superb hard-rockish playing that dominated the 70s and 80s. Yes, whether you like them or not [and there are many Nirvana haters], but it just proves one thing – they owned the 90s.

Enough about them, let’s get on with the CD. If you’re expecting studio recordings, be very disappointed. There are none. All the songs here are demos, live, solo acoustics and a couple of B-sides. No nice clean post-production sounds, all you get are as good as a jam studio recording. Obviously many of the songs have been remastered, but the whole album does sound disjointed at times.

But why does this album stand out? Because it gets you thinking about how Nirvana made it to where they are. It makes you wanna go to the jam studio right away and make noises like Cobain did. To make you go: “hey I do sound like that in the studio too!”

Their 1st song happens to be their first live performance too. “Heartbreaker” [A Led Zepplin Cover] kicked it off (I had initially thought I put on the wrong playlist when it sounds like LZ. But its quite different tho) Early versions of “Polly”, and “About a girl” litter the track, while there are some which I’ve never heard before, quite possibly unreleased tracks. “Polly” stands out most in this disc. Cobain is really good singing and playing live on acoustic.

Disc 2 will sound familiar to most of us. Many of their “In Utero” songs could be found here…. Songs like “Lithium”, “Dumb” [ 2 yrs b4 it was studio released] and of course their triumphant “Smells like Teen Spirit” pre-studio recordings. You really get to listen to their songwriting process, find out the little bits of changes between these demos and the studio releases and appreciate the genius that is Kurt. [BTW one rarely gets to hear other musicians because its 80% acoustic. Kinda like a Cobain tribute]

Disc 3 is, not surprisingly, moodier than the previous discs. “Rape me” starts off. In fact 2 versions, the solo acoustic and the demo, pave the way. I really think, by this time, Cobain’s voice has degenerated quite badly. I’m not sure if it was his drugs or his health, but it was quite apparent that he is not the force he was 4 years ago. And there was this tinge of regret and depression in his singing… just listen to “Rape me” [solo acoustic version] to get what I mean. Other outstanding tracks on this disc include “All apologies”, “you know you’re right” and “Do Re Mi”. (All of which recorded in 1994 months before his death)

If you are a huge Nirvana fan, wait no longer. Never mind the constant lawsuits between Dave Grohl [front man of Foo fighters and ex drummer for Nirvana] and Courtney Love [widow of Cobain], put your heart into this compilation to witness the magic that is Nirvana and one of music’s greatest icon – Kurt Cobain.


Aside: “with the lights out” is a lyrical reference to their flagship song, if you were ever wondering.

Aside 2: Nirvana’s unplugged in New York is the bomb. If you need to watch the vids of his marvelous, soulful performance in New York, drop me a msg. IMHO, it’s the best unplugged performance ever.

Track listing:

Disc: 1
1. Heartbreaker [Live][#]
2. Anorexorcist [#]
3. White Lace and Strange [#]
4. Help Me I'm Hungry [#]
5. Mrs. Butterworth [#]
6. If You Must [#][Demo Version]
7. Pen Cap Chew [#][Demo Version]
8. Downer [Live][#]
9. Floyd the Barber [Live][#]
10. Raunchola/Moby Dick [Live][#]
11. Beans [Acoustic][#]
12. Don't Want It All [Acoustic][#]
13. Clean Up Before She Comes [Acoustic][#]
14. Polly [Acoustic][#]
15. About a Girl [Acoustic][#]
16. Blandest [#][Demo Version]
17. Dive [#][Demo Version]
18. They Hung Him on a Cross [#][Demo Version]
19. Grey Goose [#][Demo Version]
20. Ain't It a Shame [#][Demo Version]
21. Token Eastern Song [#][Demo Version]
22. Even in His Youth [#][Demo Version]
23. Polly [#][Demo Version]

Disc: 2
1. Opinion [Acoustic][#]
2. Lithium [Acoustic][#]
3. Been a Son [Acoustic][#]
4. Sliver [Acoustic][#]
5. Where Did You Sleep Last Night [Acoustic][#]
6. Pay to Play [Demo Version]
7. Here She Comes Now [Demo Version]
8. Drain You [#][Demo Version]
9. Aneurysm [Demo Version]
10. Smells Like Teen Spirit [#][Demo Version]
11. Breed [Rough Mix][#]
12. Verse Chorus Verse [#][Outtake]
13. Old Age [#][Outtake]
14. Endless, Nameless [#]
15. Dumb [#]
16. D-7 [#]
17. Oh the Guilt
18. Curmudgeon
19. Return of the Rat [Outtake]
20. Smells Like Teen Spirit [Butch Vig Mix]

Music that I can't forget

I guess everybodies' life have some official soundtrack. This whole array of songs that really sings that life. Some people, like me, have various soundtracks for different parts of their lives. Was reading through my notes during a random Spring Break day and these songs of my NSF soundtrack came back and broke the silence. [why the silence?! cos my ten bucks speaker retired prematurely.]

Its the one-third that contains angst and frustration. Pre-recorded as the 2nd half on my MD and usually i'm on the train towards Yishun or walking to the ADA camp. But more often than not, Zoe Jane sooths me down and somehow made me feel better about booking in. Music breaks into the silence when I'm alone in my small cubicle, or 2 men bunk in camp. Most of the time i live alone in the 7th floor. All stayed out, officially or riskily. Cars swooshing by on the main road. human contact seemed so near yet so far. so apt. so near yet so far.

Its the one-third thats happy. I rarely listen to happy [at least on the surface] music. Cos theres little happy alternative music out there. especially in UK. I usually associate happy music with punk[usually the band members like to take off their shorts and flash their butts i don't understand why they feel butt-cheeks are worthy of display] or bubblegum-pop. Even though I sorta only like the 1st half of the album, its charming enough to outplay any other albums i have. "Babies" "Do you remember the first time?" "lipgloss" "disco 2000" - all my favourites. Its the type of music I'm not ashamed to sing along [softly] while walking, especially "Babies".

The remaining third that makes me feel all-powerful, rebellious and at times defiant. The music will just reach out for you and make a connection to you out of nowhere when you withdraw yourself from the office politics fray, or any other remotely similar circumstances. Usually starts with the groovy bass from "Reptilia". and then comes and chorus to blow you inside out.