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Van Halen, “A Different Kind Of Truth”
Interscope
Rating: ★★½ (out of four)

David Lee Roth is back! Van Halen has a new album!

Hooray! Right?

Well, sorta. In my opinion, Diamond Dave is the true frontman of Van Halen even though Sammy Hagar's stuff with the band was pretty good. (But let's not even talk about Gary Cherone.) This album is the first Van Halen record with Roth at the mic since "1984."

But it's not an amazing and triumphant return to form. Roth only half-sings on most of the verses. He barely ever hits a big note and you never feel like singing along. Eddie Van Halen's guitar work is electric, naturally, but nothing soars quite like "Jump" and nothing is quite as catchy as "Why Can't This Be Love."

The first track, "Tattoo," is also the album's first single. For me, the song is the perfect representative of the rest of the record: Roth half-sings, half-talks his way through the song while Mr. Van Halen plays lightning-fast guitar riffs. It's sort of catchy — at least catchy enough for me to not turn the dial when it comes on the radio.

But it's also sort of goofy. When Diamond Dave puts all of his voice into the words "sexy dragon," I can't help but laugh.

Do yourself a favor and skip ahead to "Blood And Fire." I also recommend avoiding, at all costs, "Stay Frosty."

— Kevin Coffey