Not only did Ultimate Classic Rock list ‘A Different Kind of Truth’ as the very best album of 2012, they now have proclaimed Van Halen’s “Outta Space” the very best song of the year! From their article, here’s their intro and their Number One pick:
2012 has turned out to be the year in which everything old is new again. From the triumphant returns of Van Halen and Bruce Springsteen, to new material from classic rockers as diverse as Aerosmith and Rush, it’s as if we’ve been transported back the glory days of classic rock. But it hasn’t been just a bunch of bands looking backward — a surprising number of classic rockers put out viable, forward-thinking new songs this year, making our list of the Best 2012 Songs a series of difficult choices.
#1 Song of 2012: “Outta Space” by Van Halen
The first single from Van Halen’s comeback album, ‘Tattoo,” may not have been the best re-introduction for longtime fans, but there’s plenty of classic material on the rest of the record. It’s an album chock-full of old-time Van Halen goodness that was exactly what the doctor ordered, but the spectacular drum and guitar interplay on “Outta Space” may just be the coolest thing on there. It’s nice to see Van Halen not only back to work, but rocking with a vengeance.
You can read their full top 10 list of ‘Best 2012 Songs’ here.
Listen to “Outta Space” on youtube here.
Earlier this year, VHND had our own poll in which fans picked their three favorite songs on the new album. Interestingly, “Outta Space” was voted people’s sixth favorite song out of the thirteen songs – which is pretty much right in the middle between people’s favorite and least favorite songs. Note that even the two songs with the least amount of votes (“Tattoo” And “Bullethead”) still had tons of votes. This just shows how strong the album is – with all 13 songs receiving thousands of votes each, and hundreds of fans proclaiming it “impossible” to pick only three “favorite” songs in our poll. Well done, Van Halen!
Now, if A Different Kind of Truth can just win “Best Rock Album” in Guitar World’s 2012 Readers Poll! You can vote on that here.
Here’s David Lee Roth’s artwork and handwritten lyrics for “Outta Space”:
