W. V. H.
Based on the title, today's treatise could be a trip back many years, and the topic could be the art of Messrs Werich, Voskovec and Horníček (based on the initial letters of the protagonists). But this is not the case. Under the initials WVH lies the talented son of a successful father. That successful parent is Eddie Van Halen, the son of a Dutchman and a Javanese. The letter double vé stands for Wolfgang. A somewhat less common name for an American boy, "Wolf" was named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the parents have thus added more musician genes to the newborn's bounty. The tradition of the name Van Halen is linked to the hard rock band of the same name, which released thirteen studio albums during its tenure. Eddie, the hard-working and skilled guitarist is sadly now deceased, but his blood runs in multi-instrumentalist Wolfgang. The link between the generations is further completed by the name of the first album and the performing band, namely Mammoth. Indeed, between 1972 and 1977, Van Halen were called Mammoth. The album released this year (June 11, 2021) has been in the works since 2013. And when asked why it took so long, the answer was, "Because it could have taken so long". Wolfgang plays all the instruments on the fourteen tracks, and he also does all the vocals. Records that feature only one artist instrumentally and vocally have been made in the past, such as Mike Oldfield - Tubullar Bells. The risk of such ventures is that some of the important instruments tend to be audibly less imaginative. In W. V. H.'s case, it's more the vocals, which seem to be of high quality and carrying in the first few tracks, but gradually become only well done technically, without the necessary charisma. Wolf's favourite drums are well paced and colourful enough. The bass lines draw on experience gleaned from live performances with Tremonti's band, and of course the guitar parts come from his father's school. The album, with almost an hour of running time, is a bit unbalanced. The opening seven tracks promise a rock, even hard rock experience. The guitar riffs, tempo and arrangements match it. After Mammoth (No. 7) comes the reassurance in the form of Circles, spiced with layered vocals. The following Big Picture still fits into the announced hard/pop rock format. But the ten track Think It Over is essentially a pop song, while the eleven track You're To Blame has a grunge/prog rock character more belonging to LA's Tool. The following Feel has a good chorus, while the six and a half minute Stone seems a bit clueless, despite an interesting rhythmic backing. The closing Distance is a dirge for a dead father. The album, aptly titled Mammoth WVH, fulfils the attributes of a solid debut, but young Van Halen has to add more to say he's successfully following in his father's footsteps.
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