i86hotdogs' Hot Take of the Day: Van Halen Edition

"i86hotdogs" (i86hotdogs) 10/07/2020 at 09:20 • Filed to: None

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In light of the recent passing of legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen (RIP in peace), I’d like to drop an opinion of mine that has been unanimously disagreed upon. It received enough backlash that I tend to bite my tongue frequently when Van Halen is discussed (which is an abnormal amount for a kid like me).

Just like the undercover cop posing as a record producer (RIP in peace Harold as well) in the cult classic movie “Airheads”, I too like Van Hagar a little more than the David Lee Roth era.

Make no mistake, DLR is a phenomenal vocalist with a distinct sound that anyone can recognize. Producing great jams that even non-classic rock/hard rock fans still bob their heads to. 

But for me, Sammy Hagar stands out as a heck of a vocalist for the band. Bringing a little more control to the classic VH sound. While DLR loves to bounce around between singing and literally having conversation mid songs, Sammy cleans it up a little bit and lets his voice do the talking.

I can listen to the entire 5150 album through it’s entirety and not be bored. Jams like Dreams, Why Can’t This Be Love, 5150, are powerful head banging tunes that will stay stuck in your head.

Flame suit is already on. I am ready for the backlash.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 09:28

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Is that Jay Z? Poor Beyonce.

i86hotdogs > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 10/07/2020 at 09:30

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I don’t know about that, Jay Z just broke the billion dollar net worth recently. They are a very rich and talented duo.

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 09:48

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I like them both equally.  I can’t actually pick one over the other.  Hell, I even kind of liked Gary Cherone.  There was some really good guitar work on VH3

Cash Rewards > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 09:50

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Trick question, lemmy is god

i86hotdogs > Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! 10/07/2020 at 09:54

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That’s similar to my take as well. There isn’t a BAD Van Halen. But if you handed me the albums 1984 and 5150, I’m taking 5150.

i86hotdogs > Cash Rewards 10/07/2020 at 09:54

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seriously underrated movie

McMike > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 09:56

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I was terrified in 1985 when I heard the first single of off 5150. OMG, where are the guitars??? VAN HALEN IS RUINED!!!

Dave was a better frontman, and was perfect for a post-70s huge rock arena show. Dirty, sexy, decadent, etc.. He was over the top, and it was great. I just wish he cared enough to sing on stage instead of turning it into a lounge act. It worked, they sold out arenas, but I think he fell short singing live.

IMO Sammy was the better songwriter, better singer, and allowed VH to evolve out of that decadent “hide your daughters” rock band identity they created with Dave - which is what I think they benefited from.

Dave’s antics might have worked for another record or two (See Eat ‘em and smile & maybe Skyscraper..... maybe Skyscraper ) but that’s about it. I doubt they would have evolved with Dave still on board. Nobody likes an aging rock star in satin tights fake masturbating with a bottle of jack.*

Nobody talks about Gary. Poor Gary.

i86hotdogs > McMike 10/07/2020 at 10:00

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Great description of the two. Dave was probably more fun to see live compared to Sammy. B ut when it came to production, Sammy is the outright leader.

I wish I could have seen VH live at any point. Closest I’ve gotten was seeing Hagar and Michael Anthony’s Chickenfoot (with Joe Satriani and Chad Smith of the peppers). At the time, Chickenfoot had one album out, so they played through that, then went to some Montrose jams like Bad Motor Scooter, THEN ended with a little compilation  of Van Hagar.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 10:02

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Van Halen is the rock version of the Miata. DLR Era is the NA Miata. Van Hagar is the NB. Gary Cherone... well, that’s the NC. The most recent era with Wolfgang and DLR is the ND.

The first iteration got the people going. They liked what they saw, and it dug itself into the public consciousness. Then, the second iteration came out and it was an all-around better version than the second- better sales, more mass appeal, suddenly your mom thought it was cool. Then the next round came around, and it’s looked back on with disdain. Finally, we come to present day- looking back fondly on the first generation, listeners and drivers desired something closer to the first time around. But no longer could it do what was once beloved- popups were a no go, and Diamond Dave can’t do cartwheels anymore. But it was still light and pretty fast, yet a little more refined.

I wonder if we’ll get an NE.

i86hotdogs > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 10/07/2020 at 10:05

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I’ll volunteer front the NE era of Van Halen.

Nothing > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 10:08

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I’m with you. I never saw any DLR shows live, but I did get to see Van Hagar a couple of times, and they were great shows. There’s plenty from both eras of the band to like, but I’d go with the VH2 stuff if forced to choose.

JustAnotherG6 > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 10:29

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I’ll go one step further. VH is just okay & even with Diamond Dave (sorry he was the best and most memorable of their singers) as front man they only had a handfull of songs worth remembering.

That is not to say that Eddie wasn’t a great guitarist just that their music was ‘meh’ at best.

i86hotdogs > JustAnotherG6 10/07/2020 at 10:37

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I see your point. I’d counter that those memorable songs are gigantic, though. 

McMike > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 10:37

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I saw them in ‘86 with Sammy when I was in high school. Was too young to see them with Dave. Wish I would have.

I did see the Dave and Sammy tour, and it was very interesting. The stage show could not have been any different. Sammy was in board shorts, had margaritas delivered to him on stage, and it looked more like a Buffett concert than a Rock show. He must have had eight people on stage with him, as well as a small riser with fans (maybe lucky radio contest winnsers?) on it.

Then middle-aged Dave c ame out with three piece, cheesy one-liners, and a bottle of jack .:) It was almost like a parody of himself.

Da ve did crank through a bunch of his Van Halen material, which was cool. His band was really good, and he actually sang.

Enjoyed the show, and I’m glad I went.

Cash Rewards > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 10:38

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Hugely underrated.

wafflesnfalafel > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 10:40

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no flame suit needed - 1984 is the best album ever made, but Hagar has better vocals and better live.  Live Hallelujah is spectacular.  

RacinBob > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 11:24

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I saw Van Halen in ‘78 at a live outdoor concert in Bay City Michigan. Bay City is a very Polish Catholic town, so much so that most of the kids went to Catholic scholls and the votors basically put the public schools on a starvation diet. The result was there wasn’t enough funding in the school system for sports so they they held a outdoor rock concert to raise the annual funding.

I was there as a summer coop student at GM Saginaw Steering Gear plant and I and the other guys went to the concert. Heck of a show; Van Halen, Bob Segar, and Cheap Trick. Unfortunately Cheap Trick’s drummer as I recall it was sick but Segar and Van Halen put on a show. DLR was swinging th mike. I will always remember the moon coming up behind Bob Segar as he sang Night Moves. Here’s a link - https://www.mlive.com/entertainment/saginaw/2011/03/post_32.html

Hmmm. I suppose the Bay City high school athletic department putting on a rock concert would be a pretty good basis of a movie plot;

i86hotdogs > RacinBob 10/07/2020 at 11:37

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That an awesome show! I lived outside D etroit for a few years, and have been to Bay City once or twice as well as played against Saginaw Valley in college. Crazy seeing big names play in smaller venues, especially high schools!

RacinBob > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 11:48

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Those summers were fun. There was about 12 of us living in the Saginaw Valley dorms getting paid to work at GM. It was there that I decided that industrial engineering in a plant was not for me.

One year, probably ‘78 was the last year of the big FWD Eldarodo. Anyway Saginaw made the front drive axles and the plant was over sold. Well you can’t sell a car without axles so the guys were stuck in the middle of a pile of reject CV joints with micrometers checking the CV Jointd OD’s to reclaim the least defective ones. I bet you that a lot of the late production Eldarados leaked tranmission fluid.... An education.

Another time I remember we were w alking through the plant and my supervisor said it looked like the plant manager was behind on production. I asked him how he knew and he said he knew because of all the raw materials in the aisles and at the stations. He said a factory is like a beast of nature. There is no beast that has an allegator’s mouth and a tweety bird’s ass. If you shove enough in, something asd got to come out.... An other education...

lone_liberal > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 12:21

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There was a certain edge to VH with Dave that was missing with Sammy. I say this as someone who saw Sammy in concert before he was with Van Halen and only saw Van Halen with him (in 1986) so I’m not anti-Hagar. Could they have continued with Dave? Probably not given his desire to turn VH in to a campy lounge act, but I will always think those first albums are better than the stuff with Sammy.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > i86hotdogs 10/07/2020 at 18:26

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They were two different bands that just happened to share the same chug-a-lug rythmn section.

Personally, I prefer OU812 and Balance as albums of the Van Hagar era. Fair Warning and 1984 take the biscuit for the DLR era with bonus points for the ‘Me Wise Magic’ single and the heroically flat singing on the Tokyo Dome live album.