Van Halen or Van Hagar?
- Thread starter The Tradition
- Start date
I don’t really like Van Halen overall, but I would probably go with Hagar, mostly because Roth is/was a douche.
Always liked Sammy going back to his Montrose days and solo career so I give the nod to Van Hagar.
Next summer ... Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony go on tour with Joe Satriani (they found the one guy who can imitate Eddie Van Halen) and Jason Bonham for the Best of Both Worlds tour. Should be fantastic!
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I was getting really excited until they mentioned Loverboy was the opener. Yuk.
Two different bands. I liked them both. When it all went down I was pissed off. Took me a while to get used to the change. But once I realized that if I looked at it in a way of two separate bands, I started enjoying both bands music.
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Exactly the way I look at it. Love them both. Same with AC/DC.
Sammy because Roth is a twat waffle and Sammy's always been one cool dude.
He seems like a fun guy to hang with. DLR has been cringe for 20-plus years.
If you're talking musically speaking, Van Halen didn't get to the R&R HOF on the musical output of the Sammy era.
"Only time will tell if we stand the test of time"? Riveting stuff right there.
Sammy may have been a decent guitar player (Dave is/was too, but was effectively not allowed to actually play other than "Ice Cream Man") which in theory gave them an opportunity to be a bit more diverse/versatile - but he wrote the absolute lightest, lame crap lyrics imaginable given the talent surrounding him. I like to think of him as a "lowest common denominator" lyric writer.
There's really, imho, ONE good Van Hagar song across 4 albums. There's damn near not a single stinker in the 7 albums of the Dave era, and too many to count really absolutely fantastic songs from the Dave era.
I cannot listen to Van Hagar any more, other than "Finish What Ya Started". I can still listen to all 7 of the VH albums start to finish at any time (even Diver Down, imho their weakest effort).
And btw, the real assholes of both bands were the Van Halen brothers. Neither of them could stand the fact that their lead singers "ran the show" so to speak. Eddie loved to drop the term "lead singer disease" on both, but in reality the brothers simply could not stand anybody else in the spotlight over them.
Sammy may be "the nicer guy" versus Dave - Dave's personality has always been "an acquired taste" - but as an artist Dave is the equal of Eddie (which is why that era is so much better) and is amazingly under-rated in that department. Dave is a painter/artist, author, adventurer (he once climbed mountains in the Himalayas if my memory is good, along with exploring the Amazon and New Guinea) - let alone a singer/songwriter. Hell he even once was an EMT for awhile because it was something he always wanted to do. He was/is a "complete motherf*****" as far as individual talents are concerned (those are Eddie's words).
"Only time will tell if we stand the test of time"? Riveting stuff right there.
Sammy may have been a decent guitar player (Dave is/was too, but was effectively not allowed to actually play other than "Ice Cream Man") which in theory gave them an opportunity to be a bit more diverse/versatile - but he wrote the absolute lightest, lame crap lyrics imaginable given the talent surrounding him. I like to think of him as a "lowest common denominator" lyric writer.
There's really, imho, ONE good Van Hagar song across 4 albums. There's damn near not a single stinker in the 7 albums of the Dave era, and too many to count really absolutely fantastic songs from the Dave era.
I cannot listen to Van Hagar any more, other than "Finish What Ya Started". I can still listen to all 7 of the VH albums start to finish at any time (even Diver Down, imho their weakest effort).
And btw, the real assholes of both bands were the Van Halen brothers. Neither of them could stand the fact that their lead singers "ran the show" so to speak. Eddie loved to drop the term "lead singer disease" on both, but in reality the brothers simply could not stand anybody else in the spotlight over them.
Sammy may be "the nicer guy" versus Dave - Dave's personality has always been "an acquired taste" - but as an artist Dave is the equal of Eddie (which is why that era is so much better) and is amazingly under-rated in that department. Dave is a painter/artist, author, adventurer (he once climbed mountains in the Himalayas if my memory is good, along with exploring the Amazon and New Guinea) - let alone a singer/songwriter. Hell he even once was an EMT for awhile because it was something he always wanted to do. He was/is a "complete motherf*****" as far as individual talents are concerned (those are Eddie's words).
You might have an argument if Roth had done anything worth a shit post Van Halen. Dave sucks all around.
I'll take his solo stuff over Van Hagar every time. The DLR Band album from the late 90's fits with any Van Halen album quite nicely - outstanding guitar work all over it and 4 songs better than anything from Van Hagar.
Wow.
Sammy already had cred and was an established artist PRIOR to Van Halen. After the band went tits up he has continued his musical career.
Roth did nothing BEFORE OR AFTER VH that was music related.
If you prefer Van Halen to Van Hagar that is a personal choice and OK, BUT it's comical to think Roth was musically superior to Hagar.
Why not both? They’re both completely different and from different decades. Van Halen was amazing I’m the late 70s and early 80s for males and was less mainstream than Van Hagar would become. Van Hagar was good in the late 80s for for everyone and was radio friendly to say the least. I lean heavily towards Halen for the style of music I listen to, but the power ballads of Hager in the 90s crushed almost everyone but Def Leopard in that category and hold a lot of nostalgia. Halen for the win for me.
Music I like to listen to over music that could get you laid in the late 80s? If on a desert island I’m going with Van Halen.
Not even close. Hagar is a monotone blech singer. His music/voice sounds the same if it his band or Van Hagar.
Eat 'em and Smile is arguably as good as 5150 and probably better than anything after that in Van Halen. I prefer the Roth era, but Sammy is a nice guy and I enjoy the hits from his time in VH. It worked out well, though, Sammy was the right guy at the right time. But he was always a regional thing as a solo act, mainly in flyover country. DLR brought the guys and girls both to the party, from the big cities and small towns, which allowed VH to pop in the first place, with the hotshot guitarist in Eddie.
Sammy Hager also has Montrose, the Circle, and Chickenfoot. Good stuff if you have the time.
IMO, "Rock Candy" is one of the greatest hard rock songs of all time.
I loved Van Hagar. Especially their first few albums. 5150 was awesome.
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