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David Lee Roth put it best when he said, “Van Halen is the ‘get the fuck off the sidewalk if you don’t like our driving’ kind of music.”

In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Van Halen was just that: an in-your-face, wheeling-and- dealing, steal your girlfriend right off your arm rock ‘n’ roll band.

There were no frills or gimmicks — just a hefty amount of sex, drugs and general debauchery.

And, oh yeah, they were pretty good at making hits, too.

Now, after years of tormenting their fans with sub-par vocal replacements like Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone, Eddie Van Halen and the crew have reconciled with David Lee Roth and presented a new album called “A Different Kind of Truth.”

After listening to the album, one thing is certain: This is a different kind of Van Halen.

“A Different Kind of Truth” is riddled with the feeling that Eddie and the boys are trying to make up for lost time, which gives the listener the impression that they are just trying too hard.

On the song “Honeybabysweetiedoll,” Eddie rips into a riff that is slightly reminiscent of a nu-metal sound, which, not surprisingly, doesn’t work for the band.

On the lead single, “Tattoo,” Eddie Van Halen’s guitar part sounds like something that could have been a bonus track on a re-release of “1984.”

With the chorus, “Tattoo tattoo/ Sexy dragon magic/ Tattoo tattoo/ So very autobiographic,” Roth’s lyrics are convoluted metaphorical references to tattoos and could very well be the product of a Ricky Bobby, Lou Reed collaboration.

In the backdrop of the track, “Stay Frosty,” (which is an obvious homage to their song, “Ice Cream Man”) Eddie Van Halen bestows upon the listener a blues infused style acoustic guitar riff.

Although Roth continuously pleads for us to “Stay Frosty,” by the end of the song, you’ll feel more frostbite than chills.

Even with all of their miscues on the record, when Van Halen gets it right, it’s enough to forget about all the missteps.

On tracks like “She’s the Woman,” “Blood and Fire,” and “Big River,” the group finds that unmistakable, irreplaceable sound they had in the ’80s: A sound that is equal parts catchy and hard, pop and rock.

Plus, getting to listen to Eddie Van Halen play guitar is always a delight that shouldn’t be passed up, even when he is trying to branch out his sound.

“A Different Kind of Truth” won’t go down in history like “Van Halen” or “1984,” but it’s worth the listen just to hear Roth beingbacked by great musicians again.

One thing is for sure, Van Halen have matured past their party-rock days of the ’80s and are attempting to deliver more of a message with their sound.

To quote the enigmatic “Diamond” Dave once more: “A lot of bands mature, which means they start delivering messages. Hey, you got a message, use Western Union.”

My thoughts exactly.