Van Halen

Van Halen is an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. From 1974 until 1985, the band comprised guitarist Eddie Van Halen, vocalist David Lee Roth, drummer Alex Van Halen, and bassist Michael Anthony.

The band went on to become major stars, and by the early 1980s they were one of the most successful rock acts of the time. 1984 was their most successful album. The lead single, "Jump", became an international hit and their only single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The following singles, "Panama" and "I'll Wait", both hit number 13 on the U.S. charts. The album went on to sell over 12 million copies in the U.S. alone. In 1985, the band replaced lead singer David Lee Roth with ex-Montrose lead vocalist Sammy Hagar. With Hagar, the group would release four U.S. number-one albums over the course of 11 years. Hagar left the band in 1996 shortly before the release of the band's first greatest hits collection, Best Of – Volume I. Former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone was quickly recruited as lead singer to replace Hagar, and Van Halen III was released in 1998. Cherone left the band in frustration in 1999 after the tour due to the poor commercial performance of the album.

Van Halen II

Van Halen II is the second studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released on March 23, 1979. It peaked at number 6 on the Billboard charts and spawned the singles "Dance the Night Away" and "Beautiful Girls". To date, it has sold over five million copies in the United States. Critical reaction to the album has been positive as well, with the The Rolling Stone Album Guide praising the feel-good, party atmosphere of the songs.

Background and recording

Recording of the album took place less than a year after the release of the band's eponymous debut album; the process was completed in three weeks. Many of the songs on Van Halen II are known to have existed prior to the release of the first album, and are present on the demos recorded in 1976 by Gene Simmons and in 1977 by Ted Templeman, including an early version of "Beautiful Girls" (then known as "Bring on the Girls") and "Somebody Get Me a Doctor".

In the band's licensed game, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, four of the ten tracks of this album are available for play: "Dance the Night Away", "Somebody Get Me a Doctor", "Spanish Fly" and "Beautiful Girls".

Van Halen III

Van Halen III is the eleventh studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released on March 17, 1998 on Warner Bros. Produced by Mike Post and Eddie Van Halen, it is the band's only studio album to feature lead vocalist Gary Cherone, and the last to feature bassist Michael Anthony before he left the band in 2006. Work on a follow-up album with Cherone commenced in 1999, but never advanced past a few demos.

Van Halen III was the band's last album for nearly a decade and a half, and their final album of the 20th century. It was also the final album the band released on Warner Bros. When they returned in 2012 with A Different Kind of Truth, it would be with Interscope Records.

History

The album's title refers to the fact that it was Van Halen's third recorded line-up, and the band's first two albums having been titled Van Halen and Van Halen II. None of its material is featured on The Best of Both Worlds, the band's 2004 greatest hits compilation.

The album's only significant radio hit was "Without You", which reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart on the March 7, 1998 issue of Billboard, and remained there for six weeks. Other songs receiving airplay on rock radio were "Fire in the Hole" and "One I Want". The album's final song, "How Many Say I", was an unusual acoustic piano ballad featuring Eddie on lead vocals with Cherone on backing vocals.

Believe Me

Believe Me may refer to:

No Dice

No Dice is an album by British rock band Badfinger, issued by Apple Records and released on 9 November 1970. Their second album under the Badfinger name and third album overall, No Dice significantly expanded the British group's popularity, especially abroad. The album included both the hit single "No Matter What" and the song "Without You", which would become one of the most successful compositions of the rock era.

History

Although this was the band's second album released under the Badfinger name, the previous album, Magic Christian Music, was originally recorded as The Iveys but released as Badfinger. It was the band's first album recorded after new guitarist Joey Molland joined the group, replacing bassist Ron Griffiths. Molland's addition caused Tom Evans to switch from rhythm guitar to bass. Badfinger would release five albums, generally their most successful recordings, with this line-up.

No Dice peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. Widely praised in music reviews at the time, Rolling Stone magazine opined that it represented what the Beatles would have sounded like had they retained their initial formula.

Aglio e Olio (EP)

Aglio e Olio is an EP by the Beastie Boys, released in 1995. On it, the Beastie Boys return to their punk rock roots.

Recording and release

The EP was released after the band realized that they had written too many hardcore punk songs for their next record. Michael "Mike D" Diamond later said, "When we first started working on Hello Nasty in New York, Awol [Amery Smith] was around helping us get set up. Along with the usual bunch of experimental jamming/sampling etc., we started playing a bunch of hardcore, putting song arrangements together really quickly. Then I started writing vocals. Soon we realized that we had way too many hardcore songs to possibly put on the next album, so we decided to release them all together as an EP."

"Aglio e Olio" means Garlic and Oil in Italian, a reference to one of the simplest pasta dressings used in Italy. According to Mike D, the title was chosen "to let the kids know, it's eight songs but only ten minutes. It's important to let the people know".Aglio e Olio was the first album released by the Beastie Boys since their 1982 EP Polly Wog Stew to feature entirely hardcore punk songs. Almost all of the songs contained on the EP are almost under two minutes in length; each song is played quickly in the style of punk rock. Initial pressings of the CD and Vinyl release came with a small adhesive label affixed with the following warning to music buyers: "Only 8 songs, Only 11 minutes, Only cheap $."