Well, Van Halen was half right...they have reunited the band, almost. Diamond Dave has returned to lead the big haired, tight pants, face melting guitar riffs, and 3 minute drum solos of Van Halen. The band has replaced bass guitarist and back up vocal man Michael Anthony for Eddie's son, Wolfgang Van Halen. The band no longer has the long, big hair or the tight pants, nor parties like the old days but they still can play. I think its cool David Lee Roth has returned to sing the lead vocals for the band but I am a favorite of Sammy Hagar. With Hagar as the front man, Van Halen produced 4 multi-platinum albums. I'm sorry for all you Diamond Dave fans but I'm a sucker for Dreams, Right Now and Top of the World. Granted, I wasn't around in the late 70's and 80's to fully experience or appreciate what is Van Halen but as a music fan I feel "Van Hagar" was better. Although I love Hagar, I would have loved to go see Van Halen at the Schott. My only question is how do they cover their songs that had Hagar as lead man? Hope this was o.k. for my first blog on RHT...
-Kip
-Kip
Kip in the house! nice post buddy, but i have to say i totally disagree.. while the hager era van halen had much sucess, it just never had that wild edge to it that dlr brought to the table.. personal preference i guess.. that old school van halen was the epitome of a rock band, on and off the stage..
ReplyDeleteplus hagger looks too much like the singer for nickelback, the worst fucking band on the planet..
he makes some bomb tequila though!
ez
Good question about who sings lead . . . did Hagar do "Jump" when he took over? . . . Doesn't seem right . . . can't imagine Dave doin' "Right Now" either . . . gotta agree with Kip though, I always thought dave was more Broadway than Rock 'n' Roll . . . not so with Sammy.
ReplyDeleteI completely, totally agree with you Kip. I much prefer the substance of Sammy over the style of Diamond Dave. Roth has become somewhat cartoonish after the late-80's wave of hair-band copy-cats. Sammy insulated VH from that genre, then Eddie & Alex stabbed he & Anthony in the back. When 5150 came out after Roth left I was skeptical, but once I heard it it was like "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out." Then Diamond Dave goes off & does "Just a Giggolo" & "Yankee Rose."
ReplyDeleteA band I once greatly treasured, I will not financially support them any longer - much as I have not supported The Eagles after Don Felder was unceremoniously booted by Frey & Henley a few years back over $$.
wow.. you sure can hold a well-researched grudge mr. johnson.. don't knock "just a gigolo", one of my favorite 80's songs.. great to karaoke to in vesey's basement i might add..
ReplyDeleteez
"just a gigolo" is a great follow up to "I'm too sexy", for those of you who want to follow my lead.
ReplyDeleteI cut my teeth w/VH on 1984. DLR was great on "Hot For Teacher" (aka the Miss Miele anthem) and I always loved "Panama", but then i liked the Hagar stuff later too. I think DJ hit the nail on the head when he talked about Hagar bringing some legitimacy to the band after DLR kinda lost his mind.
The Red Rocker Forever,
ReplyDeleteDavid Lee Roth Never.
Sammy or DLR? this is not even a question. Its Van Hagar or nothing at all. Here is a taste for you supervesey. I suggest you have a look
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-tKjNgtBGA
just copy and paste that, its sammy doing panama. And why not here is sammy doing jump for ya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pmkevcEuxk&feature=related
And as for Sammy looking like the dude from nickleback. Sammy came first. And he doesn't need a perm to look that way. Diamond Dave was and still is a joke. He need to go back to begin a pot smoking EMT. I am sure everyone would love to wake up and see him shaking his yellow and white gloved hands in there face. And as DLR said,life should and will go on without him
Man, Eddie looks like hell in that picture. Yikes.
ReplyDelete