31st July 2009

Text with 1 note

“runnin’ with the devil”: the day internet soundboards lost their innocence

My relationship with Van Halen’s “Runnin’ With the Devil” is a tumultuous one. Sure, it’s a classic track by the boys from Pasadena: screaming vocals, soaring guitar solos, and plenty of gratuitious Van Halen-esque pomp and sound.

I know, I know; a fantastic track. I thought the same.

However, the romance wouldn’t last. “Runnin’ With the Devil” would lead to my worst karaoke experience of all time.

One night in college, my buddies Jason and Kevin and I were at karaoke at our local watering hole when we agreed that “Runnin’ With the Devil” would be a “sweet” and “impressive” karaoke song, one that would “really get the crowd going.” So, we attempted to sing this beast of a song. We thought we could handle David Lee Roth’s screams, grunts, yells, falsetto exclamations, fast-paced mumblings, and many other vocal “isms” throughout the song. We were wrong. Dead wrong.

We tried. We failed. Badly. It was a travesty of proportions no one will forget. And by no one, I mean most of the people that were there. Except not me.

Ever since that fateful night, every time I hear that song, my mind is immediately ushered back to that tiny stage in West Philadelphia, and I re-live the cataclysmic karaoke performance that ensued there.

—

Years later, as I opened an email from my friend Will, little was I to know that my relationship with the song would soon be changed. For the better. Forever.

Someone - some visionary - apparently acquired the master tapes to “Runnin’ With the Devil.” He then proceeded to isolate David Lee Roth’s raw vocal track, pick out all the best moments from the song, and put them up on a soundboard for everyone to hear.

This, my friends, is that soundboard:

—>thetyser.com<—

Take your time and enjoy the insane vocal prowess of one David Lee Roth. I can’t tell you which sounds to choose to listen to; that’s at your own prerogative (but I will mention that it’s possible for the soundboard to play the first verse in its entirety).  However, I will INSIST that you select the very bottom button over and over again. It’s obvious why.

Enjoy the true potential of the Internet realised. Yeah, the British “realised.”

Thanks, as always.