Supermallet

I think OU812 stands up with the better Roth material. 5150 has too much filler to really be called great, and everything after OU812 goes from hit or miss to boring.

KnightLerxst

I loved the Sammy era. I think the band got better and better...although I do wish every other song with Sammy didn't have "love" in the title. Anyway I actually think F.U.C.K. was the weakest from the Sammy era...some great hits on that album but the rest felt like filler to me. I actually think Balance was the most solid album from the Sammy era.

lordzeppelin

I agree on Balance...or it's at least on par with OU812. "Don't tell me what love can do" is one of the heaviest VH songs ever recorded, up there with "Judgment Day" and "Seventh Seal".

I understand people didn't like Sammy...I do. I liked him before VH, I liked him during, and I like him after. I've liked Dave with VH, and after. "A Little Ain't Enough" is one of my fave songs... But really, to write off an entire decade and a half of good music from a band because it's a different lead singer is foolish.

B5Erik

I prefer the Roth era by a mile. NONE of the Hagar albums come close to VH, VH II, Women and Children First, Fair Warning, or 1984. Hell, even Diver Down has higher entertainment value than any Hagar era album, and kicks more ass to boot!

That said, 5150 is a very well written album, but suffers from a bad guitar tone (NO bite or crunch at all), OU812 is good, but has only a couple great songs (and a muddy mix). For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is (for me) the highlight of the Hagar era. Serious ass kickery, strong songs, and an attitude closer to the Roth era than anything else they did with Sammy. Balance is a criminally underrated album - better than either 5150 or OU812.

But not one of them is as good as the Roth era material, IMO. Which is why I'm really hoping to see a new album with Dave.

nodeerforamonth

I thought all the albums since 1984 suffered from bad guitar tone!

B5Erik

To a degree that is true. Eddie had this thing about a dual sound in the Hagar era - one clean, one distorted, and then blended in the mix. Unfortunately, for 5150 it was mostly clean (no bite, no crunch). F.U.C.K. and Balance had pretty good guitar tones - but nowhere near as good as Eddie's tone on VH or Fair Warning (or even Diver Down).

I thought the guitar tone on 1984 was a little too mid-rangey (not enough highs & lows), but not horribly bad.

Bottom line - the Roth era material SMOKES the Hagar era material on all levels.

Which is why they need to do a new album with Dave.

cdollaz

The only things on Balance I care to hear are Can't Stop Loving You, Amsterdam, and Big Fat Money. Maybe Aftershock also. The rest is crap.

I like 5150 the best of the Hagar-era stuff. It has a couple of songs I don't like, but it had many of their best Hagar songs. Where it is good, it is really good.

OU812 has 3 classics - Mine All Mine, Source Of Infection, and Sucker In A 3 Piece. The rest is OK

FUCK is pretty solid as well. Poundcake, Judgment Day, In N Out, and Dream Is Over are my favorites.

The BEST Hagar-era song, though, is Humans Being.

cdollaz

A recent backstage pic. Wolfgang looks more like his mom than Eddie.

Mordred

I could not disagree more.

Rogue588

I know nepotism's in full effect there..and he might actually be a good bass player, but there's just something wrong with that picture. Almost like a "One of these things just doesn't belong" Sesame Street skit..

The Cow

Agree. Just like Dave is a huge part of making classic VH work, it's just not the same without Michael Anthony.

And why does Eddie continually feel the need to not wear a shirt? Back in the day it was okay, but now, eek.

Whatever vices Ed has succumbed to are what killed what could have been a long time once great band.

johnbook

That is not Van Halen..Wake up people who think it is...

No Michael..No Sammy..And only a mediocre Dave means no interest from me, i know i would have been more pumped for this reunion if Michael was in the band still, with Wolfie in there it totally ruined it for me, the 2004 tour kicked ass. And by the way i love Sammy & Dave equally in the band doesn't matter, i'm glad it happened the way it did tho because we got alot of great solo stuff from Dave, i own every VH cd (along with VH3, love "Fire in the Hole") along with all of Dave and Sammy's solo stuff.

zombiezilla

And I say that anyone who loves "Sammy & Dave equally in the band" has no clue as to what Van Halen was originally about. They lost their balls when Sammy joined. Each VH release after 5150 sold less and less; this shows that the "Van Hagar" band was just a novelty. A novelty that OCCASIONALLY could fire on all cylinders, but never did consistently, as they did with Dave.

KnightLerxst

I could not disagree more with your disagreement

Humans Being is my favorite track from the Hagar era hands down. I was pretty bummed that they broke up around that time because I really liked the direction they were going with Balance and then Humans Being. I just dig the darker heavier sound which is where they seemed headed.

Anyway you look at it I think we have missed out on some killer music over the years because of Eddie and Alex's egos. Oh and I agree that without Michael Anthony it is not Van Halen. His harmony vocals are a signature part of the band's sound.

Jason

Just heard on the radio that the next seventeen tour dates have been postponed. No other info, and the DJ said livenation wasn't updated yet.

I'm betting this is the end of the road for the reunion tour.

dek

National Enquirer is claiming Eddie is back in rehab after Wolfgang found him drunk. EVH destroyed a amp rather than hitting his son, and checked into rehab later.

Now sources tell the National Enquirer the 53-year-old guitarist checked himself into a clinic near San Antonio, Texas, so he could detox for a week after a furious backstage bust-up in Florida with his 17-year-old son and bandmate Wolfgang.

An insider says, "It was the big what-if of the tour - whether Eddie could stay sober.

"Wolf hates it when his dad drinks. He knew Eddie was drunk onstage that night, and was acting cold to him, which set Eddie off. Eddie went beserk and started yanking guitar cables from the pedal boards and throwing cigarettes around onstage.

"At the end of the concert, Eddie was so mad at Wolf, he punched the amp speaker, knocking it over".

nodeerforamonth

This is uncanny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTxZs-pRZ_M

B5Erik

That is AWESOME! Whoever edited that together did a really nice job. Great stuff!

emanon

Ed's temper was showing earlier in the tour - look no further than the 11/3 East Rutherford show, Jamie's Cryin' performance, for proof.

Of course, I might get like that after a few days without drinking, too.

zombiezilla

That youtube mash-up was the best thing I ever fuckin' saw. It was fun, clever, and cool. And it rocked!

johnbook

[QUOTE=emanon]Ed's temper was showing earlier in the tour - look no further than the 11/3 East Rutherford show, Jamie's Cryin' performance, for proof.





Is there a Youtube clip of this???

ultimatejim

What happened to zombiezilla?!? Why's he suspended?

dvduser6

Still no word on if any shows have been professionally filmed? While the performances have sometimes been spotty, I would love to see this reunion documented properly. At least give us a live CD, guys!

Dubya

The Beatles mash up was good, but I liked the one with Marvin Gaye better. It doesn't start off good, but it kicks in about a minute in....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKOZISrSHBU

emanon

[QUOTE=johnbook]
I'll see if I can turn one up...