A Different Kind of Truth

When I first heard that most of these songs had their origins as castoffs from David Lee Roth’s original tenure with the band, I rolled my eyes. But after hearing the album, I realized what a smart move it was. With Dave back in the fold after nearly thirty years (though sadly not Michael Anthony), dusting off old, unused songs was the closest they could come to picking up where they left off at the end of their most vital period. And for the most part, it works, at least in the way that a compilation of B-sides and rarities can work. Dave pushes awkwardly against the boundaries of his limited range pretty often, but after years of Sammy Hagar abuses, it’s great to hear his voice in this context again (especially when he belts out the chorus’s introductory “Ooh yeah!” in “Blood and Fire”), and the rest of the band shows no signs of its age. In a nutshell, it doesn’t stack up against their most important work, but for an unnecessary record, it is surprisingly good.