Look, fortunately you kind of get used to it. What I’m talking about, of course, is what everybody is talking about, namely David’s nutty art installation set up center stage to aggravate the three members of this instrumental band. Break it down, and it’s a fascinating car wreck of all-new vocal melodies, ducked notes, high notes gone for and various approximated or missed where there weren’t any before, conversation with ghosts, drop-outs for a dance move, musings and observations somewhere between conversation and new lyrics, flats, sharps, eccentric yelps, exclamations, interruptions, omissions... but just when the rubber band is about to snap, Roth revisits the root, or sings good. And unlike Vince, you never get the feeling that he’s forgotten the lyrics or would rather be at a strip club. I guess Dave’s a one-man Led Zeppelin (or Living Colour) concert up there, ain’t he? But my point is, you kinda settle in and accept it, along with realizing that the guy is working, he’s fully invested in some weird way, the only flaw of logic being that perhaps there needs to be two of him, the second being the straight man. Plus he’s mixed properly in the thick of the glorious musical stew stirred up by Eddie, Wolfie and Alex, who cook up chemistry personified.

This is jazzy heavy metal effortlessly poured into 4/4 pop format, gorgeously recorded very lively. Sweet set list too, which is embarrassingly easy to draw up when you excise the mostly insipid Van Hagar material. In essence, one can do no wrong, and although the list ain’t exactly obscure, I’m happy for the three songs from the friggin’ very cool A Different Kind Of Truth slab. Elsewhere, there’s “Romeo Delight”, “Mean Street”, “I’m The One” and “Somebody Get Me A Doctor” to keep the deep fan engaged. Plus I’ve always dug “I’ll Wait” and opening with “Unchained” is pretty six-string wicked. No, across the large, loud scope of the thing, Dave becomes less of a distraction, and he almost wins you over despite his insanity, with the suspicious back-up vocals becoming sort of as much of a talking point. Sure, crap album cover too, but once the ship sails, call this full-time, all-my-life Van Halen fan cracking a smile and glad for the surprise dropping of this monster, along with the equally surprise plans for a world tour.