"The Definitive Collection." To have a title of this magnitude, the release needs to be something special indeed, and thankfully this
Vandenberg greatest hits CD fits the bill of being exceptional. It may (or may not) come as a surprise that
Vandenberg is one of my favorite bands from the 1980s. In the space of time between 1982 and 1985 they managed to record three positively wonderful records that were packed with some of the best music to come out of Holland, ever. The first disc, the self titled "
Vandenberg" yielded a top 40 hit by the name of
"Burning Heart", a gorgeous ballad that goes down as one of the best ballads recorded in the history of hard rock. Other Dutch bands such as
Vengeance and Helloise attempted to ride the coattails of the success found here, but never matched up to the original breakout Dutch act in the 1980s.
The band was headed by Adrian
Vandenberg, a guitarist who possesses enormous talent in everything he does, not only a six string master, but a top notch songwriter, painter specializing in realism (he painted the covers for "Heading For a Storm" and "Alibi" not to mention the band's unique logo), a great chef in the kitchen and these are just the creative talents that are known about. Unfortunately the
Vandenberg train came to a crashing end in '85, thanks to one David Coverdale, who had been courting the guitarist for his own band, the soon-to-be legendary
Whitesnake, and after "Alibi" failed to gain Adrian's outfit a kickstart launching pad for his own career, he abandoned the fledgling ship and joined
Whitesnake, only to have his talents squandered as Coverdale shoved him in the corner, refused to let time for him to heal after an accident so he could play guitar on the album he co-wrote with Covey ("Slip of the Tongue" which plopped
Steve Vai in
Vandenberg's rightful place).
Thus after 1985 Adrian was not heard from again on a studio recording until a one-off stint with
Whitesnake castaways in Manic Eden from 1993. Then finally in late 90s on the European/Japanese only
Whitesnake release, "Restless
Heart". Luckily singer
Bert Heerink was not met with such a closeted fate, as he found life after
Vandenberg most recently with the progressive act Kayak, and age and experience have only enriched him further. Here, he sounds youthful and energized, laying out the vocal harmonies with dripping expression and heartfelt emotion, all with a very Dutch accented edge. Rhythm section of Jos Zoomer on drums and Dick Kemper on bass is very grounded with lots of room to breathe and just pure pounding away on the rockers.
Which the
Vandenberg albums did, rock that is, and quite hard as well. They were definitely more hard rock than
AOR and many muse that their debut was inspired by UFO. The bridge is certainly there, one that stretches from the 70s stripped rock vibe into the 80s melodic excessiveness. Neither extreme goes overboard but finds a happy medium that rocks like hell while the melodies reach deep into the soul and stay there for a lifetime.
This brings us to the double disc set at hand, "The Definitive Collection" that offers one disc of studio tracks - 18 in total including a newly recorded version of
"Burning Heart", and a second disc that has eleven tracks ranging from never before heard demos to live performances.
Disc One has it all - or most of the essential tracks from the band's career. In fact, almost the entire "Alibi" album can be found here, the only song missing is the 30-odd second acoustic instrumental
"Prelude Mortale". The self titled album is represented by
"Your Love Is In Vain", a laid back rocker with a bitter sentiment and guitar playing so vocal it feels like its talking right to you, more girl troubles with
"Wait", the flurry rocker
"Too Late" and closing out the disc, the classic original version of
"Burning Heart", which remains in my top five songs of all time even to this day. So gentle, beautiful and timeless, it takes the breath away.
"Heading For A Storm" gets the lovely
"Different Worlds", another ballad that rips the heart out and stomps on it as two people who's barriers inbetween won't allow them to connect is illustrated in shades of musical sorrow.
"This is War" is a hard edged rocker that declares that the shit will not be taken anymore,
"Waiting for the Night" has more of a light party vibe, and
"Heading For the Storm" is packed with guitars and is another straight up rock n' roll track that has a feel of urgency, and it seems to be just another tale of lust on vacation but takes a turn that no one would expect from the drinking, chicks and hot sex on the beach that is illustrated in the first half of the song. That's what happens when you mess with Greek gypsy girls I suppose.
The rest is all from "Alibi" including two more ballads that are strong contenders for any "Best of Ballads" countdown, both which brood over love lost in one way or another.
"How Long" is about being strung along by the one you love and wondering if the feeling is being returned, and
"Once in a Lifetime" is about the one that slipped through your fingers and got away, and the realization of the treasure lost came too late for the broken heart of "what could have been" - to be mended. Then there's
"Fighting Against the World" which is a powerful anthem of individuality and struggle against suppressing conformity prevalent in a world that revolves around a pre-installed set of rules and expectations and
"Pedal to the Metal" which is a pure celebration of rock set to the feel of a hard rocker speeding down the race track.
"Kamikaze" is the only full length instrumental that Adrian
Vandenberg recorded, and its a pleasant addition to this greatest hits compilation, for it shows that while he can shred and so forth, Adrian always has one foot securely grounded to make sure that its a
song and not just an excuse for wild and crazy guitar pyrotechnics. Sirens in the distance open
"All the Way" as it simmers before kicking up into a full throttle hard rocker. The chorus is pure bombastic 80s fair and the verses are punctured by delicious guitar riffs. Its easy to see the maturing that went on between the partying vibe of "Heading For a Storm" and the more matured "Alibi" where the band started to really come into their own, finding their own wings...then the wings were sliced off and they called it a day.
Almost everything else is from "Alibi" that is. There is the one song that many have been waiting for with heated anticipation,
"Burning Heart 2004", the first recording that
Vandenberg (as a band) has made in almost 20 years. And the results are very nice indeed. The song has been modernized with here in the now
AOR studio touches including ambient sound effects, violins that swell for dramatic moments and a fresh recording of Bert's vocal performance. He sounds magnificent, perhaps even better than on the original recording, range and depth-wise. Then of course Adrian, whose guitar is not as crisp and clean as before but goes for a more natural feel on the acoustic that gives the track a different dimension. Overall I like it very much, there's not a lot they could do to ruin this one, and having an alternative version is nice, but really it doesn't hold a candle to the original recording which was so emotive, even with all the studio tricks here, the purity of emotion is not pulled together as tightly as before.
Disc Two has demos for an assortment of songs, including
"Nothing to Lose" which is not found here in studio form, for shame! Its awesome hearing the band in their raw unpolished state, and analyzing the differences between the two forms of the song, but the original is one of the band's best tracks and its non existence here is disturbing.
"Back On My Feet",
"Ready For You" and
"I'm On Fire" all make appearances as well and are exciting to hear in their work-in-progress forms. The other three demos are never heard before
Vandenberg tracks,
"Out in the Streets",
"Out of Cash" which sounds like a standard rocker that could have been a working pick for the "Heading For a Storm" album and the long winding ballad
"Help Me Through the Night" which has a lengthy acoustic intro and some inspiration from late
Led Zeppelin music with an earthy yet mystical feel in place.
Three live tracks are offered, all great songs.
"Friday Night" is a peppy piece that came off of "Heading For a Storm" about making it through the weekday just to live for the weekend. Surprisingly
Bert Heerink comes off great live, and the guitars are pumping and all ingredients gel perfectly. The energy given off is amazing and continues into
"Welcome to the Club", another catchy as hell
Vandenberg staple that grabs you and doesn't let go.
"Roll Through the Night" is a special treat, the previous two were recorded to an appreciative Japanese audience, but this one was caught in the USA but what really seperates it from the others is the fact that its a never before heard tune! Its a scathing hard rocker that plays to the crowd and sounds like it might have surfaced during the writing process for the first album since it seems to lack some of the polish from the latter releases. Still its an absolute miracle for fans of the band to get their hands on this much "new"
Vandenberg material after a twenty year drought.
"Burning Heart" surfaces for a third time, this go-round as a freshly recorded acoustic ballad that is nice easy listening and like
"Burning Heart 2004", is a cool addition to be able to experience it in yet another setting.
This is a fantastic compilation without a doubt, that appeals to the casual fan, the hardcore collector fanatic alike as well as serving as the perfect launching pad for a
Vandenberg newbie. Two discs, almost the entire "Alibi" session, demos, live bits, newly recorded tunes - twenty-nine tracks in total. Its a value almost too good to pass up. This was a no-frills, song centered hard rock band that knew their hooks and had a guitarist that was an absolute virtuoso yet knew the necessities of keeping within the confines of a song - which made him all the better musician for it. My quibbles for the disc are few, but exist which keeps it from achieving the highest scores possible. First off,
"Welcome to the Club" and
"Nothing To Lose" were on the first greatest hits released after the band's demise in the 1980s for a reason, those two are among the band's elite, and while they are included, as demo and live tune respectively, deserve to be seen here in their studio forms as well. Obviously they weren't too concerned with song duplication since the charting track,
"Burning Heart" appears a total of three times in various incarnations. Number two, it would certainly have been nice if they had extended their studio stay by a day or so and offered a couple of more tunes. Obviously they had a few that never surfaced, since four newies appear here, and it would have been a mind blowing experience to have these gussied up and ready for prime time in the current day. Especially
"Help Me Through the Night", this could have turned into a magnificent prog/
AOR hybrid with the structure already in place. Its a shame this didn't happen.
Other than musing of what-could-have-been, this double disc set is near perfect, and a necessary purchase for anyone that's missing out on one of the best and most original sounding bands to crawl out of the over populated metal and hard rock atmosphere of the 1980s.
Written by
Alanna Tuesday, June 22, 2004
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