HighSierraSmookin' wrote:
Thank you sir!
It is the most ridiculous question. 5150 was a complete flop imho. OU812 had like 3 good songs on it.
After that...well.
Sammy's a decent singer but he's no Roth. These Sammy people need to listen to Everybody wants Some and Panama again(really...the entire catalog w/DLR). DLR at his greatest and VH at their greatest. Anyone that disagrees needs help.
So...now you know where I'm coming from! The avatar kinda sells it all.
A Top 10 concert for me was seeing Van Halen open up for the Rolling Stones in Orlando. THAT was an epic show. Wish there was a bootleg floating out there so I could really say for certain my ears weren't lying. There were cameras...and the Rolling Stones mobile recording rig was there too. There HAS to be something out there that hasn't seen the light of day hiding out at the 5150 Studios. There isn't a single song that Van Hagar did that rivals the epic rock and trash the motel room vibe that the Mighty Van Halen 6 Pack put out. Even the lamest of that material ranks higher than the sappy bull$hit they put out with Sammy. He only played 2 songs on guitar with Van Hagar. 2! I always thought that his playing would've opened up a total palate for EVH to be the dominate lead guitarist he was but he saved that role for Michael Jackson and neutered the band with keyboard playing!!!! It was something that even Roth would take with him as a solo artist...that I wish he wouldn't have...but he was in full on compete mode.
When Roth left the band for solo waters it was a sink or swim moment. He could do all the Vegas show with girls a plenty stuff he wanted with the rockstar cred to back it all up that the rest of Van Halen would never agree to doing. Personally, I was hoping he'd do a movie...a soundtrack...and come back to the band with that out of his system. Instead Leffler shoved Sammy upon Eddie and Alex and it was done. Imagine if Sammy had the balls to actually say "I'ma gonna let Dave be Dave and keep to myself and do my own thing" and allow Dave to reenter the band? No. He wanted it that damned bad. Knowing full well that the brothers went full on attack mode on their former frontman. That idiot had to know they'd do the same thing to him...and they did...TWICE!!!!!
I did grab the Van Hagar stuff and give it a listen. It was laughable. Just terrible stuff. A Hard Rock band that wrote the soundtrack for my late teens and early 20's dominated by Huey Lewis & The News!!! Don't even get me on the ticket sales numbers for each and every tour they did with that schmuck either. The numbers dwindled to the point they were literally giving away tickets to fill the place and moving the stage further into the main floor and curtaining off more wings to make it look like a sold out show! Ever notice you NEVER see Bette Midler and Sammy Hagar in the same room at the same time?
I did follow Dave and his solo effort. I was rewarded handsomely for it too. Radio passed on him and played the living $hit out of Van Hagar songs that couldn't escape the words "Love" or a bunch of "whoos" and "oh yeahs"...lyrically the cryptically philosophical takes on Life were jettisoned for pap. Thank the Lord I lived in the Detroit metro area and the radio stations there didn't listen to the Corporate masters. They did play his stuff! When you went to a David Lee Roth show he paid homage to the Van Halen material...he didn't crap where he ate. If anything he added harmonies that clicked (which they would incorporate when he reentered the band!) and would take the time to tell you as only he could how those songs were written and what they meant! It's a damned shame he couldn't shy off the coke and cigarettes as they ravaged his vocal chords later on. Those vicious yelps and screams that made Van Halen a household name were culled to a Drop D tuned effort that on his best nights he could hit and he'd struggle to get there...smirking and shrugging at the crowd because they knew he already did it...he didn't owe them anything but the honest effort. Songs like "Going Crazy", "Stand Up", "It's Showtime!", "She's My Machine", "Wa Wa Zat", "Drop In The Bucket", "Shoo Bop" and the cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles shows Roth as the contributing member he was the entire time with Van Halen. He was never going to play the blistering lead guitar parts but he knew what he wanted and hired the best of the best to put them out there. These are Hard Rock songs that blew away anything Van Hagar ever laid down but he didn't get the credit, adoration or money for it. He kept on chugging. Took it on the chin when the brothers out and used him for "Me Wise Magic" and "Can't Get This Stuff No More" for a greatest hits package...dangled him out in front of the MTV crowd (which rewarded them with a standing ovation!) only to scuttle him for Gary Cherone and a dismal (but not his fault!) effort. The band bailed on him and when the day was setting...they called him back. They delivered an album that was there for the taking. A slew of songs that the new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen had cherry picked from for them to reinvigorate the brand Van Halen. I loved it when Dave would introduce the members of the band as "3 parts original and 1 part inevitable!". He was right. Dad and son...sharing their love of playing guitar...in front of fans was their passion. Dave just gave them the voice for it...the attitude to deliver it and the swagger to make any blemishes fade like panties in the backseat of a car. I literally cried when Eddie passed. It hit me harder than John Lennon, Frank Zappa, Prince or David Bowie's passing. It was the end of something that mattered. Hard.
i do follow Wolfgang Van Halen and his band. Seen him on each tour so far and he's getting better. I personally believe he's better than his dad. He can do it all. I just wish he'd dust off a couple of his dad's songs and play them. Maybe the time isn't right. All I know is I don't want to ever hear Sammy play them. EVER.
If you like music and not afraid to jump into the deep end...follow the thread
"http://www.cigarbid.com/Forum/c/posts/617323/What-ya-listening-to-". You'll find a slew of ear ravaging songs that...tickle.
