The moment I placed this CD in the stereo I couldn’t help but ask why.

Why did they do this?

Why did they start a CD with a soft piano/acoustic guitar instrumental?

Why didn’t they simply quit while they were ahead?

Gary Cherone is a great singer and great showman and I have been fortunate enough to see him live while still in the EXTREME camp. But was this the wisest choice they could have made for this band? When I heard “Waiting For The Punchline” (EXTREME, 1995) I thought that Nuno was attempting to experiment with the whole Grunge thing but now that I have listened to “Van Halen III” I realize that Gary had a little more input than I first thought.

This CD was empty and uneventful and throughout the listen I was praying for a better song. I starting thinking that this was a sad joke that friends had played on me and someone was going to jump out of the closet and scream SURPRISE!! HERE’S THE REAL CD!! But I was sadly mistaken.

Throughout the CD I could hear Gary attempting to be David and Sammy. I wanted to yell “YOU’RE GARY!!!! BE GARY!!” but sadly he wouldn’t hear me. If you are a fanatic and must have everything VAN HALEN recorded then buy the CD but if you are looking for the VAN HALEN III that implies that they are answering the list of VAN HALEN I and II then push on my friends, you won’t find it here. (Online June 30, 2004)