More Van Halen "News"

I personally don't think many of the Van Hagar ballady/mid-tempo stuff holds up well, but the rockers still kick ass.

As far as VH3 goes, I boycotted that record for the longest time and finally bought a used copy after Gary got sacked and it was worse that I thought! I actually ran into him at a Steve Vai show about 3 weeks after he got fired and took a photo with him. I used it on a ton of those drug store Christmas cards that have your personal photos on them and (no lie) had the clerk print on them (instead of Happy Holidays blah, blah, blah) "Where The Heck Is David Lee Roth?"

 

3 isn't THAT bad. Sure, some songs suck... but "Neworld," "Without You," "Fire In The Hole," "Dirty Water Dog," and "How Many Say I" are good, from what I remember. "One I Want" isn't terrible, and I think I remember something cool about "Year To The Day" (I'll have to check on that one).

I got OU812 a little while ago, and the only tracks I go back for are "Finish What Ya Started" and sometimes "When It's Love"....

Can anyone honestly remember how "In 'n' Out" goes without thinking for a few minutes.... or more? Could you hum me "Take Me Back (Deja Vu)" or "Feelin'"? I heard those songs two nights ago and can't remember them. Let's face it, the Hagar era produced its fair share of pretty crappy songs and albums. I mean, I don't even listen to all of 5150, which is meant to be the best Van Hagar album. I skip a few tracks every time. In fact, I really only listen to "Dreams" and "Why Can't This Be Love?" OU812... I've discussed that one already. F.U.C.K. is quite good. RHRN is... well... see: F.U.C.K...... except Sammy treats the Dave songs like dirt. Balance is also pretty good. The Dave-era stuff, however, is much more consistent and unique, whereas the Sammy stuff is more generic to me.

I think VH3 wasn't given a chance. Eddie built it up to be AMAZING, sure, and it could never live up to that... but it wasn't as bad as it's made out to be. 5150 was quite different from 1984. VH3 was quite different from Balance. Van Hagar got a chance. Van Cherone didn't really.

 

One I Want is the best song on the album.....How Many Say I is an embarrassment!

AFU (Naturally Wired) absolutely cooks! The problem with that album was Don Landee's and VH's horrible production.

Yep, I can....and if I had my guitar here, I'd even play them for you! Love those songs!

No....it was WORSE!

 

Maybe that's what happens when you let Mike Post produce your record. The guy is known for writing TV themes and producing Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers records.

I actually have some of the rockers loaded up on my IPOD like, "Source Of Infection" (which musically could have easily been a DLR-era song.

I have several friends that think this is the best song Van Hagar ever did. I had to go back and find it on the CD to listen to what they were talking about. I still don't get blown away by it. "Seventh Seal" from that record is (in my opinion) one of Van Hagar's best songs, but the rest of the record shows cool guitar riffs go into a tail spin when choruses like "Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do" immediately follow them.

 

I guess some people like their music formulatic, safe and predictable (i.e. the Rot(h) era). Not that there's anything wrong with that...I just thought that they grew out of a rut, where the songs were simpleton-like vehicles for Roths ******* antics.

 

I love 5150, OU812, & For Unlawful... Balance doesn't hold up as well though.

VH3 should be wiped from existence.

 

I may be one of the few people that like the Sammy years more than the Dave years.

 

Eddie Van Halen can't go back... Van Halen is history (IMO)

 

I liked the first album the best. For me, the rest of the Roth albums were nonsense, as I tired very quickly of his schitck. With 5150, they left Roth behind and began a new era. They matured and grew out of the cartoon act.

The main problem with VH was the lack of a really good songwriter or collaborator. The playing was there alright, but they lacked the talent and creativity to hammer out a killer album like Led Zeppelin could. They got close with the first record, but unfortunately, unlike Zep, they made a bad choice for a vocalist/lyricist IMO.

 

5150 DEFINITELY had some Roth stylings leftover from the Diver Down/1984 days. "Hello Baby?" Sammy has never said anything campy like that before or after that album. Also, that song "Inside" makes a few subtle drug references. They still had some fire on that record amongst "Dreams" and that other stuff. But, I feel that literally EVERY song from the Dave era holds up, while all the keyboardy, mid-tempo stuff from the Sammy era just passes off as dated 80s pop. I am not saying that I didn't like it then, nor am I saying I don't like it now, but I just don't think some of those tracks stand up like anything from the Dave era.

 

"The Seventh Seal" ROCKS. I like it. Many people call it a "Poundcake" rip-off. While it does have a slightly similar vibe, it's a totally different song. "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)"... I agree with ya, man. The song before it is pretty good, though, even if it is fairly standard Van Hagar pop.

BTW, all: perhaps OU812 does have more good songs than I gave it credit for, but the point I was trying to make is that I'm NOT eager to go back and listen to it to find the good songs. I'm actually listening to "Right Here, Right Now" now, and you won't believe what song has just started: "In 'n' Out."

I don't totally hate Van Hagar. Some great songs are:
Why Can't This Be Love
Dreams
5150
Finish What Ya Started
Cabo Wabo (forgot to mention that one when I talked about OU812)
Poundcake
Judgement Day
Man On A Mission
Right Now
Top Of The World
316 (the live solo one)
The Seventh Seal
Can't Stop Lovin' You
Aftershock

But I could probably make a list that long for the Dave era using just the first two albums.

And, yes, "3" does sound TERRIBLE at times. Ed's guitar sounds bad, and I seem to recall Al's drums being a little average sounding. I quite like Cherone as a singer, actually. He's not Dave, and he's not Sammy... but he's Gary. Unfortunately, he never got a chance to show us what he could do with a second album.

 

I agree. Go into any used store, most likely you'll see only the Sammy VH albums in the VH section....and VH III of course. I hardly ever hear Van Hagar on the radio (maybe the occassional soft rock tune), whereas the airwaves are flooded with many different DLR VH tracks.

 

All our "classic rock" station plays is Sammy Halen, other than Panama, which I just heard, and Dance the Night Away. I can't believe nobody has not mentioned how good Fair Warning was. In my opinion, which does not mean much, admittingly, the best Van Halen album. Unchained, So This is Love?, Dirty Movies, Mean Street. One Foot Out the Door always reminded me of One Way Out. It eclipses anything Sammy Halen ever did. Everything from 5150 on was written for the radio. I cannot imagine sitting there and listening to any of those albums in one sitting. They all sound the same to me. Fine radio songs, much like AC/DC and Aerosmith. Maybe it's due to my age (born in '70). I listened to a lot of VH from 80-84, but then went on (I won't say "progressed") to harder rock when Sammy Halen became limp on 5150. C'mon and flame me!

 

It wasn't just the great songs that made VH Mk1. a lot of the appeal of this era is the showmanship, charisma, and attitude that Roth brought to the table. Not that Sammy is bad at all, in fact I enjoy a lot of the MK 2 stuff, it's just that he didn't have that certain something that Roth had.

 

I totally agree... David Lee Roth was Van Halen! It's the same like Black Sabbath and Ronnie Dio. Dio is a great singer but he hadn't the charisma like Ozzy. Same goes for Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest etc...

 

No flaming necessary...that's why we are here....to give opinions!

I think my biggest problem is Eddie's tone completely died after 5150.....that great unique guitar sound turned into just another typical overdriven mess. I wonder if it was the Peavey amps?

 

We all figured as a general consesus that it was great, so why bother mentioning it.

 

Those amps and guitars didn't appear until the Balance album/tour. I don't think he had his Ernie Ball guitar until F.*.C.K. I think the tone got a little weird on 5150 because of his Steinberger that he broke out. I've been told that is the guitar he used on the intro to "Me Wise Magic" with the whammy bar accents because all the strings stay perfectly in tune with each other.

If you listen to the last couple Dave-era records, you can hear Eddie toying with the effects (like Chorus), but it is much more subtle and raw than 5150. I think Drop Dead Legs for example has a hint of the effects that would show up later.

 

A killer guitar player friend of mine said he thinks Ed may have gone straight to the board on 5150. I HATE his 5150 tone. It's that stupid Eventide Harmonizer contraption. Because of that, that album could NEVER sound good. 5150, OU812, and F.U.C.K. are all fairly average sounding albums.

 

It's a bad sound.....and Alex using those Simmons Drums....Oy Vay!

 

I wouldn't put a lot of stock into anything Sammy Hagar or David Lee Roth had to say about Eddie Van Halen. All that I have ever heard out of those 2 egomaniacs is pure bile. My dream is to hear Eddie do a kick ass jazz rock CD with people like Tony Levin, Les Claypool etc.

 

After firing three different singers from the band (does anyone really think Sammy Hagar left on his own?), it's pretty clear to see who the egomaniac is.

Not to mention the brothers are now not on speaking terms with Michael Anthony because he played with Sammy on the Sam and Dave tour. Can anyone say control freaks?