Van Halen - Hair Metal or not?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Uly Gynns, Jun 19, 2015.

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  1. bare trees

    bare trees Senior Member

    I voted "Yes". Van Halen's music was heavy yet there was a melodic, poppy element in their sound that attracted many listeners who normally wouldn't gravitate toward heavy rock.
     
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  2. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    Same here, based on their wretched hit remakes, I'd label them the worst cover band of all time. Their original mateiral was more tolerable but only because there wasn't already a superior version to compare it to.
     
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  3. Tom Infinit

    Tom Infinit New Member

    well, any Hardrock to Heavy Metal band in the 80s that was styled for success and attempted to have some chart hit could be called hair Metal, it was a thing of the times rather than a distinct style.
    but I recently discovered what a great album 1984 is when you just skip Jump. it´s really varied, even uncommercially weird at certain places, and the R/S Alsdorf pressing is sounding incredible on vinyl. sad they didn´t include this on the LP:
     
  4. dino77

    dino77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Yes. They had the hair and the mantights.
     
  5. progrocker71

    progrocker71 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Me. Or I wouldn't have posted my comment in the first place. Should be rather obvious.
     
  6. broccolid

    broccolid Trickologist

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    I've always said the holy trinity of hair metal influences are as follows:
    1) Van Halen--Biggest contributions: guitar technique, frontman persona, background vocal style.
    2) KISS--Biggest contributions--stage design and pyrotechnics, lyrics about decadent rock lifestyle, template for making heavy songs poppy.
    3) Cheap Trick--Biggest contributions: outlandish guitar designs, strong pop melodies, adding mugging goofiness to heavy rock, prototypical "pretty" blonde male singer.

    Other major influences in creating the style would include Aerosmith, AC/DC, New York Dolls, Sweet, and of course Led Zep and Deep Purple.
     
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  7. anti PC.

    anti PC. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Twin Cities MN.
    I had no idea hair could play an instrument or sing.
     
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  8. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    You're right. I shouldn't have said that. Now it's too late to edit. I hope the rest of my post gave you thought, at least.
     
  9. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    With Eddie being the way he is, I can't believe he wouldn't have used that against Mike if it were true. Earlier this year when he said he had to show Mike what to play , what he didn't say was "Yeah, I played half of that stuff anyway." So, I think that shows that Mike played all the bass on those records.
     
  10. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    I didn't know metal could, either.
     
  11. progrocker71

    progrocker71 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    It did and I understand. But just because something has come into common usage doesn't mean I have to agree with it.

    I really don't like over-classifying music, I'm not anti-genre, but I think we only need about 10% of the ones that already exist, let alone creating new ones. It's just grown to laughable proportions in the age of the internet. When a form of music like heavy metal ends up with 100 friggin' subgenres it's time to take a step back from the painting, cause we're standing too close to see it.
     
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  12. morgan1098

    morgan1098 Forum Resident

    Ha! Don't be distracted by Eddie and Dave. Look at Michael Anthony... no member of Motley Crue would have ever come onstage dressed like that. And even Eddie and Dave are more flirting with the hair metal look than embracing it.

    As for the poll, I'd say NO, Van Halen were not hair metal, although I agree they influenced it and maybe even started it. But I wouldn't put them in the same category with Motley Crue, Warrant, Poison, Dokken, Whitesnake, etc etc.

    In terms of in-concert shots, this shows a better contrast. Again, Michael Anthony robs them of any "hair metal" look they might have been going for:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2015
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  13. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Poodle Rock
     
  14. Blender

    Blender Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oakland
    Yeah, I have only read speculation and rumors. Still, the intro bass line to Dirty Movies sounds more like Ed than anything Anthony plays on other tracks.
     
  15. progrocker71

    progrocker71 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Another meaningless term.
     
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  16. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Well, they looked like poodles and they played rock in quite a prettyfied way. Get it?
    I'm not putting them down because there was a sense of humour in what they did and I really like those early albums.
     
  17. Extra Dry

    Extra Dry Forum Resident

    So Mean Streets is Ed. VH playing then. Wow! Thanks I did not know that.
     
  18. tkl7

    tkl7 Agent Provocateur

    Location:
    Lewis Center, OH
    They were glam metal.
     
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  19. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Whatever you call them, this guy still rules!

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. Olompali

    Olompali Forum Resident

    Glam Metal is a tolerable term. Hair Metal is completely crucifying.
    Perhaps, some day, a writer will refer to Punk as Snot Rock and have that linger for decades.
    Dave was all over the map style wise.
    Eddie was Venice Beach.
    The other two are the typical rock rhythm section.
     
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  21. zen

    zen Senior Member

    Strange, I always thought of VH as hard rock.
     
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  22. broccolid

    broccolid Trickologist

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Maybe, but I would go further and say that VH may be to metal what the Velvet Underground was to alternative rock. They literally launched several sub-genres of metal on their own. There were very few viable metal acts prior to VH's first album. Within 3-4 years, metal was all over the place, with most of the bands bearing much more of a resemblance to VH than Black Sabbath, although many of these acts that followed also owed a heavy debt to Judas Priest.
     
  23. progrocker71

    progrocker71 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Van Halen inspired the US metal stuff; Motley Crue and their ilk. They also inspired a legion of guitarists. Their influence remained on all the hard rock/glam rock/hair metal/stuff to get your girlfriend wet stuff the major labels and MTV loved.

    But the REAL influence on metal was still British. Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Venom, Motorhead and rest of NWOBHM which inspired the thrash movement and offered a much needed dose of the real, a nice contrast to the makeup and hair ******** coming out of the Sunset Strip.
     
  24. steveharris

    steveharris Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    It doesn`t matter because the music is greater than whatever trend or category they may or may not be in or how much hairspray they used.
     
  25. danielbravo

    danielbravo Senior Member

    Location:
    Caracas. DC
    Van Halen Hair Metal ? Nah ! Van Halen= Supersonic Rock & Roll with a turbocharged engine
     
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