"Can't Get This Stuff No More" is a song on

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

's 1996 compilation '' Best Of – Volume I''. The song was one of two new songs recorded exclusively for the album (the other being "

Me Wise Magic "Me Wise Magic" is a song by Van Halen that appears on the rock band's 1996 compilation album ''Best Of – Volume I (Van Halen album), Best Of – Volume I'' and became the band's 13th No. 1 Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, ''Billboard'' Mainstream R ...

").

Recording

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

and

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Known for his wild and energetic stage persona, he was the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen for three stints: from 1974 to 1985, during 1996, and from 2006 to when ...

got in touch again due to the upcoming compilation, Eddie decided to invite Roth to perform on two new songs. The music for this song was based on a track called the "Backdoor Shuffle" which was originally part of the sessions for the ''

Balance Balance may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance, as in equality (mathematics) or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * Balance (1983 film), ''Balance'' ( ...

'' album. "Can't Get This Stuff No More" is also Eddie Van Halen's only use of a

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the so ...

, which was actually operated by guitar technician Matt Bruck as Eddie felt "it just sounded like a wah-wah" when he used it himself. There's also a faint sound of a Hammond-sounding organ during the second verse.

Release

The song was written and recorded by the reunited original members

Alex Van Halen Alexander Arthur Van Halen ( , ; born May 8, 1953) is an American musician who was the drummer and a co-founder of the rock band Van Halen, which was formed in 1972 by Van Halen and his younger brother Eddie Van Halen, Eddie under the name "Ma ...

and Michael Anthony, and subsequently released on

's 1996 compilation ''Best Of – Volume I''. The reunion fell apart a month before the release of ''Best of Volume I.''

References

1996 songs 1997 singles Van Halen songs Songs written by Michael Anthony (musician) Songs written by David Lee Roth Songs written by Eddie Van Halen Songs written by Alex Van Halen Song recordings produced by Glen Ballard Warner Records singles {{1990s-metal-song-stub