Looks Like The Songs Aren’t The Only Thing Van Halen Reworked For New Album

When Sammy Hagar stated this past November that the new Van Halen album was supposedly full outtakes from the early days, most fans shrugged it off. Now, though, it looks like the Red Rocker might not be so off his rocker.

Shortly after the video for Van Halen’s first single “Tattoo” made its way online, some fans started to claim that it sounded awfully similar to a song the band played often in the early days called “Down In Flames.” Not helping matters is that the “new” song Van Halen played during their Cafe Wha? press show last week “She’s The Woman” was originally recorded as a demo around 1976 (and produced by none other than Gene Simmons). We’ll have to wait and see if the band uses more leftovers on A Different Kind Of Truth when it comes out on February 7 via Interscope Records, but it would appear that songs aren’t the only thing being recycled.

Yesterday, the album cover (as seen above) for A Different Kind Of Truth was officially revealed, though it’s basically the same artwork used in recent promotion. However, as Blabbermouth discovered, Van Halen’s new cover has a striking resemblance to the Commodores’ artwork for Movin’ On, which came out in 1975 via Motown Records. You can check out both album covers back to back after the jump, but the similarities are pretty undeniable.

So how should we respond to both the recycling of album covers and leftover songs (the similarities between “Tattoo” and “Down In Flames” is up for debate, but there’s no argument about “She’s The Woman”)? Well some will obviously be more concerned than others, but one thing is for certain: this certainly adds a whole new meaning to the title A Different Kind Of Truth.

You can check out the two album covers back to back, as well as hear versions of both songs, after the jump.

Here are the covers of A Different Kind Of Truth and Movin’ On: