"Tattoo" is the first song and single from the album, ''

A Different Kind of Truth ''A Different Kind of Truth'' is the twelfth and final studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released on February 7, 2012, by Interscope Records, this is Van Halen's only studio album on Interscope and its first full-length album of stu ...

'', from American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

. The single was released online and to radio stations January 10, 2012.

History

The song's structure is based largely on a song entitled "Down in Flames", which was written in 1977 and played live by Van Halen during their club days as well as their first world tour in 1978. When the band decided to cover

Clint Ballard Jr. Clinton Conger Ballard Jr. (May 24, 1931 – December 23, 2008) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. He wrote two ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number one hits. The first was " Game of Love" by Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders in 1965. Th ...

's song "

You're No Good "You're No Good" is a song written by Clint Ballard Jr., first performed by Dee Dee Warwick for Jubilee Records in 1963 with production by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It has since been covered by many artists, including charting versions by ...

" for their second album, ''

Van Halen II ''Van Halen II'' is the second studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released on March 23, 1979, it peaked at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200 and spawned the singles " Dance the Night Away" and " Beautiful Girls". As of 2004, it has so ...

'', they incorporated the intro from "Down in Flames" as the intro to their arrangement. A version of the song was worked on during the aborted 2001 reunion with Roth according to Ray Luzier. "Tattoo" became Van Halen's first single to chart on the American ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 17 years, and their 23rd overall.

Music video

The music video was shot at the Roxy Theatre,

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

while rehearsing for their then upcoming tour in late 2011. Their performance was shot in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

and starts with a big waving checkered racing flag and ending with a hail of confetti and balloons. The song also features reverse effects and other computer special effects. It is their first music video with

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

in almost 30 years, their first music video without Michael Anthony, and their first featuring

Wolfgang Van Halen Wolfgang William Van Halen (, born March 16, 1991) is an American musician. The son of guitarist Eddie Van Halen, he performed alongside his father as the bassist for the rock band Van Halen from 2006 to 2020. He also performed with the heavy ...

. The video was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on January 10, 2012, the same day of the single's release.

Release

A 30-second "teaser" clip of the song was posted on January 6, 2012. The official single release was announced as January 10 after Van Halen played an intimate club gig at the Cafe Wha?

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Alex Van Halen Alexander Arthur Van Halen (; born May 8, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the Rock music, rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1972 by Alex Van Halen, his younger brother Eddie Van Halen, Eddie, ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control Van Halen songs 2012 singles Interscope Records singles Songs written by Eddie Van Halen Songs written by David Lee Roth Songs written by Alex Van Halen Song recordings produced by John Shanks 2012 songs