There's something in the water in Florida. That is the only explicable reason for
Tribute to Van Halen: Runnin' With the Devil to have come together. All of the bands here except one, Toronto's
Van Halen tribute band 1984, come from the Sunshine State, and they do their best to deliver the goods on this compilation. In some instances they replicate and honor these songs in a fashion worthy of a tribute album, but in other situations they fall flat, most notably when
Wraith attempts to take on one of
David Lee Roth's finest vocal moments, "Atomic Punk." The lead singer is relegated to sounding like a budget-line Countdown Singer, and some serious consideration should have been made to choose a different song that he was capable of emulating with minor difficulties. While tribute albums flood the markets worse than an overflow of the Mississippi River, this is yet another one of those situations where these tribute bands should have just written a fan letter to Eddie and company. Or, better yet, they should have hired former singer
David Lee Roth to sing the vocals on every track, as they all are from the phase of
Van Halen's career where Diamond Dave was at the helm. ~ Rob Theakston