A few months Several months ago my friend Angela published and gave me her book called Backyard Farming on An Acre (More or Less). For a suburban-raised guy like me who’s now living in the country, it’s become my go to book on how we can lead a more sustainable, eco-friendly, healthier lifestyle.

How You Can Get Started

First, buy the book. It’s a quick but detailed read and helps you understand the basics of growing your own food regardless of the size of your property. With a quick trip to the home improvement store I was off an running with a bunch of 2×4, my circular saw, a cordless drill and some screws. For every three pieces of wood, we were able to cut one in half and make a nice raised bed for our 20′ x 20′ garden.

Once you get the hang of it you can literally have a raised bed put together within minutes. I saw kits recently at Home Depot for making raised beds, but it’s cheaper to buy the wood yourself and do it yourself. Plus, it’s not exactly an intimidating project as you’re not building a house or solid structure – you’re just screwing 4 pieces of wood together in a rectangular shape. Simple, right?

My wife and I then plotted out our garden based on the flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables we wanted to grow. A quick drop off of soil from the local nursery and we’re off and running. We’re even giving some vertical gardening a try with a trellis that we picked up for a few bucks from the garden center. It’s also crucial that you pick up heirloom seeds so that you’re getting non-GMO products. Unless, of course, you like those bland, apple-like tomatos.

They say the biggest barrier to getting started is just your will to do it. Hopefully this post shows you it’s a lot easier to get started than you think. And, in a short while, you’ll be able to reap the rewards of a weekend’s worth of work.

Food You Can Trust

As my pal Vincenzo says, if he can’t make it he typically won’t buy it. Growing our own food is just one way we’re teaching our kids about taking responsibility for their actions and specifically the food that they eat. It’s also going to be a treat when they go out back to the berry patch or tomato plans and snag a few out of the garden.

You can DO IT!

Will you give Backyard Farming a shot? If you are and are blogging/tweeting about it, please drop a link in the comments to share your progress!

The X4 Razor from Dollar Shave Club

If you’re not a bearded member of the Duck Dynasty

family, the daily (or for some of us, every-other-day) grind of scraping your face with expensive metal and varying degrees of foamy cream isn’t our favorite part of being a man. In fact, for those of us with less rugged genetics, shaving can sometimes be a painful and burning experience.

That’s why I spend a ton of cash on buying more expensive razor blades like the Gillette Pro Fusion Power, which are thinner and supposedly better for my wussy of a mug. The price for making sure my face doesn’t end up looking like Freddy Kruger: $32 for eight blades. No, that’s not a typo.

Despite the fact it severely impacts my kids college funds, I gladly pay the Gillette man his vig because if I don’t, I walk around with cuts and burns on my face. It’s not pretty and it’s a pain in the ass. Since I’m not a fan of strutting around with little pieces of toilet paper all over my face, I go with what works despite the exorbitant amount the company charges for its products. It had become my new normal.

Now, thanks to Dollar Shave Club, I’m reconsidering my loyalty to Gillette.

Most of the Klout perks I usually receive are not spectacular because I don’t work very hard to “up” the score. Just at 70, most of what I get are smaller perks of free mints or free hamburgers from fast food joints. But this time, the perk from Dollar Shave Club intrigued me so I actually ordered it. In a few days, it arrived in the mail with some blades, a razor and shave butter. Now, being what I’d consider an “old school” man – meaning I don’t wax, I don’t pedi/mani, and I usually don’t fuss with fashion in general, to put something called “butter” on my face took some convincing. But I digress.

I decided to put the DSC to the test. I had been a fan of its irreverent ad campaign and it’s really dialed-in brand voice. Besides loving their marketing, I have increasingly become more interested to actually try their service and products. Klout made that possible for free, so I said “what the hell.”

Good stuff but $8 price is a little stiff

Let’s look at the products I was sent and my experience with each:

1. Dr. Carver’s Shave Butter: Again, the word “butter” on my rotund face isn’t exactly something that excited me. But I figured I’d give it the old college try. When I opened the shave butter, it did smell a lot like many of the lotions my wife keeps in the house. That wasn’t building confidence. I squeezed it onto my hands and then proceeded to rub my face. Although it didn’t lather like my usual gel shave cream, it nicely slicked up my face. Although I was a bit concerned that when I put the blades on my face, I might end up looking like Sissy Spacek in Carrie. Note: having a little one with Celiac Disease, I did notice that the shave butter was not gluten free and included barely and oats – and despite listing the ingredients, if you have Celiac or a gluten sensitivity, this isn’t for you. I hope DSC will change their packaging to include this warning. Retail Price: $8 -not exactly cheap.
2. The 4X Razor: When I pulled out this bad boy, it looked a lot like the Gillette I had become accustomed to. I am sure that’s by design. The razor was nice and well built. I’d recommend it but also found some drawbacks on this model – one of three that DSC offers its customers. The chief drawbacks for me were two-fold: the small length of the razor and it’s too active, 90-degree head. Now, perhaps I’m just shave science ignorant but with a head that pivots too much, it doesn’t feel like I control the razor or its direction enough. The head also snaps back quite a bit and it left me feeling a little concerned. DSC promotes this as the “Lovers Blade” because it can be used by both men and women. While men and women may be equal in almost everything, shaving isn’t one and perhaps their other razors are more in tune with just what a man needs, dunno. The handle was also a bit danti for my liking. Yes, length does matter – at least with razors.
3. The 4X Razor Blades: Built like many of the common multi-blade razors these days, the 4X blades did a very nice job on my three day growth. Working in conjunction with the shave butter, the blades glided over my beard and did a nice job and gave me a very close shave. They include a lubricating strip on the top and the shave was easy and painless. I really didn’t notice a difference between these, which retail for $6 a month for four blades, and the blades usually spend almost three times as much on. Well played Dollar Shave Club, well played.

Up close and personal with Dollar Shave Club…a good shave!

So there you have it. My quick experience with the Dollar Shave Club. So the question is: did they get my business?

Although I am opting to upgrade to the more super-duper Executive razor, my experience with the trial pack Dollar Shave Club sent me has me convinced. I’m going to give it a run and see how it goes. Who doesn’t like a nice, close shave at almost 1/3 the cost? I like the way the products worked and I love the brand voice and how the company operates. In many ways, it reminds me of Warby Parker but without any pretense. I love that brand and, after one shave, I’ve become a Dollars Shave Club member.

Will I buy the $8 Shave Butter? Not sure I’m there yet.

What do you shave with? Would you consider the Dollar Shave Club?

Disclosure: This post was prompted by a free sample of Dollar Shave Club’s products sent via Klout.

The New York Times published a story about daddy bloggers and the recent Dad 2.0 summit. It’s about how daddy bloggers are the new mommy bloggers in a less crowded space.

Personally, I think the story is old news because this daddy blogging thing has been going on for quite some time now. The issue is, brands aren’t capitalizing on those of us who are publishing content online and have influence to the point that it can actually convince people to take an action.

The question is: why have brands hesitated to embrace daddy bloggers in the same fashion that they have mommy bloggers?

My guess is that us dad’s sort of don’t give a rat’s ass.

We’re not in this to make money. A lot of us are working and blog as part of our existing jobs or we do it because we like to write, not “blog” as my buddy Curtis says.

And, because we don’t give a rat’s ass, we might not as publish as much. While we have influence in small circles, we’re not getting the millions of pageviews some of the higher profile mommies are.

Another reason why daddy bloggers are still in the “start-up” phase of word-of-mouth marketing is that brands might not how to market to us, as opposed to at us.

Yea, commercials showing big ass trucks plowing through a bunch of mud, through the woods, while on the job, etc is cool and, sure, it’s manly. Is that going to get us to buy a truck?

Nope.

Yea, commercials with hot chicks in bikinis holding crisp beers are entertaining to watch, but they aren’t going to get us to rush into the liquor store to buy a 30 pack.

I think the Times has it right about brands having to get past the “men are morons” thing and really get into the mindset of today’s dad.

We’re busting our ass day in and day out. We’re time starved. We’re trying to maximize every dollar we have because of the economy being in the crapper. Our purchase decisions, typically, impact the family both positively and negatively. We want to do our homework before we slap down $500 bucks on a laptop for our teenagers. We want to test drive that truck to ensure that it’s going to fit all the crap we need to take on our family road trips.

So listen up brands.

If you want us dads to pimp your stuff, ask us. Tell us how your product, service, app, is going to make our daily drivels as dads easier.

After all, it’s always about us, not you.

LOLZ…

That brings us to the current college football season. A season, which saw the rightful return of Notre Dame to the top of the polls, the continued dominance of the SEC, and even a BCS party crasher in Northern Illinois. It’s been one of the best college football seasons to date so perhaps that’s why choosing the one player that stands above all others has been so difficult.

Yesterday, it was announced three finalists for the Heisman had been selected: freshman sensation Johnny “Football” Manziel from Texas A&M, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein. Of the three, only one player in my book stands out as the best in the country and the player who had the most impact on their team: Colin Klein.

Being a rabid Notre Dame fan myself, it’s hard to say as I’d love to see a Domer back with the Heisman Trophy.  Te’o is a great player and his story over perseverance after the death of his grandmother and girlfriend are the stuff of Hollywood movies. He deserves to be in New York but we all know how the votes feel about defensive players: they just don’t vote for them. There have been better defensive players than Te’o that didn’t win the Heisman so I don’t think that will change.

Then there’s Johnny Football. Manziel is an amazing football player who electrified college football with his shootout with 2012 BCS Champs Alabama. That game, and a few others captured the attention of fans, writers and prognosticators throughout the nation. There’s no doubt he’s a great QB who will only get better. But as a freshman – no freshman has ever won the Heisman – I don’t think Manziel deserves it. First, he had a handful of bad or subpar games. Yes, he’s now playing in the SEC but several of those games he significantly hurt his team. No matter what he did on national TV against the mighty Alabama, Manziel is still young and will be a top college quarterback for the next three years. In my view, he doesn’t deserve the trophy for those reasons.  I also believe the writers, even though many are enamored, won’t muster enough votes for Manziel.

That leaves Klein from Kansas State. Yes, the Big 12 is not the SEC. No matter as Klein has elevated his program and his team to a one-time #1 ranking and has been the

most consistent and impactful player of the three who will make the trip to New York.

You’ll read a dozen or so statistical breakdowns of the top three candidates so I’ll spare you that exercise here. What Klein did at Kansas State is remarkable and his past few years will be a resume builder for why he should be voted this year’s best college football player.

Klein is Tim Tebow but with more talent and ability. He’s not a circus sideshow. He’s got size, a great arm (albeit under utilized at K-State) and great speed. He accounted for 37 scores this year and 22 have been via running the ball – the most for any quarterback this year and second to all players this season. Klein became just the fourth quarterback from a BCS school in the BCS era to rush for 20 touchdowns and throw for at least 10, joining Cam Newton, Tim Tebow, and Erich Crouch. I believe he will be a good NFL quarterback and a sleeper in this year’s draft.

To me, the choice is simple. Although you can’t vote on previous seasons, it’s clear that Klein has been consistent in his career, and sans one awful game against Baylor, he’s been the model of consistency. If this was another year where an offensive player had not had a bad game, Klein would be on the outside looking in. But he’s not and this is a thin year.

While everyone focuses on Manziel and Te’o, Klein will win the Heisman Trophy and the honor will be well deserved.

At any rate, grinding out every game for last year’s posts was tedious, to say the least. And after seeing the final regular season BCS standings before the bowl season even begins, I’m ready to pick every game right now.

Here’s no surprise, especially to those down South: The SEC will win every single game it plays. Notre Dame will have their mud shoots literally stomped in by Bama, LSU will decapitate an opponent on a kick return, Florida will score a billion points while allowing negative thirty billion and A&M’s Johnny Football will be christened as New Jesus.

And when I say the SEC will win, it’s not just in the bowl season — I’m talking about all time, forever, in every game it plays. In the event that a SEC school takes a break from beating up on a glorified high school team the week before their final SEC game and schedules another SEC school, the little known NCAA “reverse academic rule” comes into effect whereby their higher ranking academic school, Vanderbilt, will be forced to lose the game by forfeit — not because they didn’t field a team that Saturday, but because they’ll be busy taking all of the final exams for SEC bottom feeder schools like Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Vandy, by default, will then be allowed to play in the “NCAA (cough cough, laugh laugh) Title Game” against whichever felons from Ohio State that aren’t incarcerated in January, with the Commodores undoubtedly skipping their way into the end zone through rival conference’s “top defenses” — whilst reciting sonnets from Shakespeare and Pandya theorem.

Given this inevitable outcome, the SEC is going to make such short work of next year’s college football “schedules” that EA Sports will be forced to put the entire SEC on the cover of the 2015 NCAA Football game. Eventually the NCAA will be forced to do something unheard of in college sports: Split the SEC off into its own NFL D-League. In this new format, every player will be paid slightly more than they already pocket from team boosters while automatically being drafted from 1-253 into the NFL. Other NCAA players will be forced to play for the London Sillynannies in Europe, where Tom Brady will make his triumphant return (he did attend That [pussy] School Up North, after all) to England and lead the Sillynannies to a European Kittens and Girly Things Bowl championship. His team will be awarded matching pink lederhosen, pinky rings and castrations.

Eventually, with the second rate NFL players out of the way, every SEC player will dominate in the “New NFL” and break every record ever held throughout all time: a 50,000-yard rusher, 99-yard field goal records and team defenses that allow negative points will all force the NFL to burn the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio and move it to Buloxi, Mississippi. There, Southerners will take annual pilgrimages to pray at the feet New Jesus and curse at all of the Blue States for even messin’ with their game.

Could the NCAA change their rules to stop God Nick Saban from forcing players to enroll a semester late, only to redshirt them so they’re closer to 23 years of age when they hit the field than 18 year old kids as “Freshmen”? Sure, but we don’t live in a world where an unchecked governing body like the NCAA could put a stop to this… right?

You might be thinking “Well, isn’t this whole scenario just a LITTLE overboard?” — and the answer is “YOU CAN’T SPELL ‘SECEDESCREW YOU’ WITHOUT ‘S-E-C’.”

This blog post is the consumer in me complaining about what has been horrific service by Kenmore and it’s at-home repair arm, Sears Home Services.  It’s been so unsatisfying and uncomfortable, I will never buy another Kenmore branded appliance again. And that’s not an idle threat.

Just to first establish: I have been a loyal Kenmore customer – 2 washers, 2 dryers, a refrigerator, a toaster, etc. Throughout my adult life I’ve invested in the brand and had a pretty good run. The appliances have been reliable and, when needed, the service fine. My brand loyalty was washed away in just a few weeks time thanks to shoddy service, rude technicians and a brand that’s inconsistently responsive.

Long story short: our 2 year-old washer started leaking. As soon as my wife noticed this, she called to have someone come out and look at it. As a family with five growing children at home, we rely on our washer and dryer quite a bit. We maintain it according to the manufacturers standards and had never had any problem with it before.

Once arriving, the tech diagnosed it as a hose leak and replaced the hose. The entire service call was just over $150 dollars and we moved on.

Just a few days after the leak was allegedly repaired, my wife – in the middle of her laundry routine, noticed the washer was leaking in the same exact spot it was before.  It was inconvenient but these things happen sometimes.

My wife, once again called Sears Home Services to let them know the repair did not work and that the original diagnosis was incorrect. We expected they would send out a tech post-haste to fix a problem we had already paid them to fix once with out any success. We were told at that time we had to “get in the back of the line” and wait 10 days for their first available appointment for it to be fixed. Clearly the man on the phone didn’t have five kids or know what it takes to keep their clothes clean

When I started to lose my patience, I asked him if they held back appointments for situations like this. There has to be times when the original diagnosis is wrong and they just have to come out again and make it right. He answered no and that anytime it happened your only recourse was to get the first available appointment.

I even vented in social media and was responded two once asking if my problem had been resolved. I answered no and never heard from them again there or on Facebook. That’s not surprising as their social properties are littered with negatives with no or little response.

Ugh.

So let me get this straight: a brand like Sears and Kenmore do not leave for the possibility that the job isn’t done right the first time. And, if after having an appliance down for sometime, and having paid hard-earned money to repair it, and said device is still malfunctioning, their answer is simple: sorry, go to the end of the line and wait your turn.

How ridiculous is that?

But what else could we do? We took the first available appointment, which was a week later. That’s right: seven MORE days without the use of our washer. Imagine how my kids would smell if we didn’t have the means to wash the clothes elsewhere.

So we now had waited in line twice. We were also told that when the technician came out, if a new problem wasn’t discovered we might have to pay for the service call again. You heard me right: Sears Home Services and Kenmore wanted me to pay AGAIN for them NOT fixing my washer the first time.

This is where my wife put it to them and refused to pay anything until the original problem was fixed. So the numskulls at Sears at Home relented and scheduled for the repair guy to come out again. And we waited.

The day finally arrived and the service technician came to fix the washer. Upon arriving he asked my wife – again – what the problem was. My wife told him and despite her insistence, and the fact he had said before he diagnosed it as a hose leak and fixed it wrong, that he could see no evidence of the leak. My wife lifted up the wet towel after she had run the machine the night before to which he gave her a blank stare.

He than to basically tell my wife there was nothing wrong with the washer. My wife insisted he try and diagnose the issue but he could not replicate while he was there. So he left without doing anything but pissing my wife off for basically telling he she as imagining the leak.

Three hours later, guess what happened? The washer started leaking.

So now we find ourselves at the “back of the line” for a third time with no remedy in sight. We spent significant money on our washer and dryer and now have waited weeks for a problem to be fixed and it’s no closer to being fixed than the first time. We’re out $150 and all we’ve received is bad service.

In a world where consumers are more connected than ever before, the world needs to know how poorly this brand treats its paying customers. They can’t be bothered with “getting it right.” Instead, they put you through a repeatable cycle of inept customer service reps and unprepared repair technicians.  That’s as broken as the washing machine I paid them for.

At the end of the day there is little they can do to win me back as a customer. Having children ages 15 to 1 year old, I’ll be at this appliance thing for a long time. I’ll buy more washer, dryers, toasters, refrigerators, vacuums, etc. What I will never do again is buy Kenmore or Sears. It’s no wonder Sears is a shell of its former self. When you treat your paying customers like nuisances, they tend not to buy things from you.

Goodbye Kenmore and Sears. May your demise be quick and may other customers pay heed to my tale of caution.

At any rate, my neighboring town of Highland, NY passed a law banning the practice of hydrofracking in their town the other day. This joins several other towns in our county who’ve agreed that a quick, temporary fix for the local economy at the price of contaminating our water and air forever isn’t worth it.

“The concept of jeopardizing our surface waters and aquifers is entirely repugnant to me. I strongly believe that a community has the right of self-destiny, also known as ‘home rule’ and it is abundantly clear that this community overwhelmingly wants to ban fracking from our borders. On a personal level, for the past 50 years I have spent an enormous amount of time in the woods, on lakes, and in streams and in rivers. Fighting to make sure this legacy is insured is what a sportsman is about.”

Councilman Scully posed the question, “For those of you who think that we are taking away your rights to make money and have rights to your minerals… what makes that right more important than the rights of the people of the Town of Highland to have clean water and land to pass on to their children?”

And that’s exactly what it comes down to. I have a right to clean air and water. I have a right, as do my kids, to not be poisoned because you want to make a buck (drug dealers and pimps could make the same argument re: “let me use my land to make money!”, btw).

The fact is that the Catskills are beautiful, natural and pristine and that’s the way of life those of us who’ve chosen to move or vacation here want. We moved up here to give our kids the space they need to be kids, a way of life that doesn’t involve purchasing everything in order to survive, and one that will teach them about living a sustainable life. We moved here to be a part of a community. We moved here because, even if some opinions are different than ours on issues, the core of why we love the Catskills is the same. Why would anyone want to take the risk of ruining it for a quick buck?

My wife: “I do.”

Me: “What that the group of fat guys from Tennessee?”

My wife: “No, you’re thinking of someone else.”

Me: “But we watched them on YouTube that one time. Remember?”

My wife: “No.”

[clicks over to YouTube, checks Search History only to find that I disabled it]

Fail.

For starters, you, sir (or ma’am), are an asshole. Your product that consists of space age polymers that transform from tiny beads into spongy, water orbs are quite possibly the messiest, most frustrating product my kids have received. I say “received” because no parent in their right mind would purchase these for their own child or children. That said, after last night’s birthday party I am seriously rethinking our status and relationship with several of my child’s friend’s parents as they clearly must hate my fucking guts. No person with any shred of remorse or respect for friendship would knowingly send your horrible invention into our home. It’s like that Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk bangs an alien and then impregnates a tribble, because clearly only the Shatt’s sperm could cause such an annoying creature to reproduce an infinite number of times. Or something like that. I’m pretty sure that episode aired when I was a kid during the 70′s and my Dad would leave his rum and Diet Pepsi on the counter and I’d chug it when he wasn’t looking. But I digress…

We first encountered your demonic product after receiving it a few years ago — surprise — as a gift. I don’t even remember what the purpose of the toy was other than your product, like bed bugs, would multiply and wind up in a lot of places they didn’t belong: under the sink, smashed into carpet, under my sheets and I believe at one point I may have even had to extract one from our infant son’s butthole.  It was at this point that I decided I would never purchase refills of Orbeez for my children, however the product’s similarity to anal beads made me wonder if there might be a different, more suitable application in the adult toy market for this product.

That theory was quickly disproven when, after multiple attempts to pick up Orbeez, the product refuses to remain an orb and instead disintegrate into a mash of castaway plastic from the Chinese factory it came from, slipping and squirting from my fingers, a broom and the vacuum.  These tiny, destructible bouncy balls end up under furniture, in drawers and in many other places they don’t belong. Did I mention my infant son’s butthole? Places like that.

You can't even wash these things down the fucking sink

Additionally, these toys serve no actual purpose other than to make parents like me frustrated. The original incarnation of Orbeez literally sat in a vertical maze, akin to a plastic ant farm, whereby they would roll or bounce out of the bottom tray onto the floor. And until the recent toy donation laws changed, ridding ourselves of Orbeez wasn’t problematic. However, your latest incarnation of the toy takes your level of assholery to a new level: Shooting Orbeez from a machine gun. So not only do the microscopic pre-soaked beads roll everywhere, but they’re actually encouraged to be shot around one’s house via a military grade launching device. Fabulously fucking evil on your part.

I’m looking forward to releasing my own product, specifically target marketed at you and your company’s employees. It’s going to be a container of round, brown, shit-smelling beads that come in finger paint containers. And like Crayola Color Wonder paints, they’ll only work when your child smears them on your face and yells “YOU’RE AN EVIL MONKEY FUCKER!” repeatedly. That’ll be the game, and the kid that smears the most turd on their parents face wins. I’ll even work some connections to make sure an online gallery is created that recognized facial features and tags you on Facebook so your friends will all know what an evil bastard you are.

Sincerely,

dave

Van Halen's First Studio Album With David Lee Roth since 1984

Ok, so anyone that knows me absolutely knows I am a Van Halen fan. To me, no band better represents 1970s and 1980s hard rock and roll like Pasadena’s finest.

Then came 1985 and David Lee Roth’s ejection from a band that, at the time, was reaching the apex of its fame. After the whopper of an album that was “1984,” The Van Halen brothers went and fired the best front man in the history of rock and roll and replaced him with Sammy Hagar.

I’m not here to go back and forth on the Van Halen vs. the Van Hagar era – I’m also a Hagar fan. Instead, I’m hear to talk about Van Halen’s first studio album with Roth since the release of said “1984.” That’s right, the late 50s aged rockers finally came to their senses and reunited with Mr. Showman himself and the results are pretty damn good.

Released last week, Van Halen’s “A Different Kind of Truth” has catapulted to No. 2 on the Billboard album charts. Had it not been for the emotional return of Adele, the VH boys would have landed their first No. 1 album since “1984.”

The album itself is a rolicking adventure complete with some 30 year old tunes refreshed and recorded for release for the first and some new tunes. The overall feel and direction of the record gets us a little closer to what everyone has been clamoring for since the band last recorded as part of a doomed reunion back in 1996. It’s old-school Van Halen with riffs, screams, and a driving rhythm section (now filled out with Eddie’s son Wolfgang) that has me ready to return to the days of Reagan, AquaNet, and spandex pants.

A note: many fans and critics have derided the band for recording a few songs that first appeared on a demo produced by Kiss leader Gene Simmons back in 1976. Dubbed “The Zero Demos,” the recording was meant to capture the ears of record labels to help the yet-to-be-signed young Van Halen. Two tracks off that demo – “She’s the Woman -1976” and “Big Trouble – 1976” – were rerecorded for this new CD. Since they were never originally released officially, and because they’re old school Van Halen, I appreciate them.  Many have taken what Sammy Hagar said in the months before the release of the album, a criticism of the band for not writing new music, and remain dismissive of these old songs. Rift aside, I like the tunes. One note: on the new CD “Big Trouble” has been rebranded “Big River – 2012” with some lyrical updates. Here’s the new version of “She’s the Woman.”

Outside of the re-recorded tunes from 1976, the new CD strikes the chord that it needs to. Songs like “Beats Workin’” and “Honeybabysweetiedoll” also kick you in the head with traditional VH testosterone and even sound like Eddie perhaps put down his new Fender EVH Wolfgang in favor of the old Kramer. Call me crazy, but the tone on a few of the tunes matches the early era Van Halen records while some of the other tunes sound more sterile. Either way, it’s the best Eddie has sounded in years and it generally appears he’s having fun and staying sober and healthy. That’s a good thing for us fans.

The reunited VH on stage

As for Roth: he’s still the man. Gone are some of the signature high-ptich screams of the early 1980s but the DLR charm and wit are still alive and well. I’ve also heard some criticism of Diamond Dave but he’s still doing a great job. Who at 58 has the same vocal range they did 30 years previous? Could Hank Aaron still hit a 450 foot home run? No way. Roth has aged, and so has his voice, but it’s still distinct and delivers a nice punch. Criticized early in his career for often going on stage intoxicated and sloppy, the elder Roth is the consumate showman and it shows on the new record. One can only wait with excitement to see him prancing across the state on the band’s current tour.

I’ll let the music writers breakdown the entire CD; I only wanted to share my thoughts. I was fully ready to be disappointed by a CD 14 years in the making. Yet, after initially not liking the first single “Tattoo,” which is by far the weakest tune on the release, I’ve come to really love and enjoy “A Different Kind of Truth.”

Also, a recommendation: pick up the Deluxe Version which includes “The Downtown Sessions,” and unplugged and intimate set of tunes the boys play while sitting around Diamond Dave’s home. It’s pretty cool and filled with a DLR/Michael Jackson story…sort of.

I’m a 42 year old Dad who saw the original Van Halen, the lighter Van Hagar version, and now am ready to enjoy seeing the boys live into my third decade of being a fan.

I highly recommend the CD and expect the tour to do well.

Let’s hope they’re back together for good and continue making music for at least a few more years.