VAN HALEN vs. VAN HAGAR!
My first experience with Van Halen came when I was ten years old. After hearing “Jump” on the radio I borrowed the cassette from my neighbor James. I was a bit shocked to find a nudie pic or a woman in the shower tucked into the cover. I considered it a bonus, ha! 1984 was an incredible album. In fact, it became the standard for me when it came to rock and roll going forward. Sure, the pop music of the 80’s was cool and I loved every single video on MTV, but Van Halen woke up the hard rock beast in me, so to speak. All these years later 1984 is still in my top 10 hard rock/heavy metal albums of all time.
To be fair, I was a bit late to the Roth era, but I experienced every bit of David Lee Roth going forward after that all-time album. In fact, I saw him live in Roanoke, VA when Steve Vai was his guitar player on the Skyscraper tour. I’ve been a huge DLR fan since he started his solo career. Yankee Rose and Sensible Shoes still play in my head to this day. In fact, I’d go so far as to say he is the greatest front man of all time. Hands down! And that’s saying a lot.
But this isn’t about who’s a better front man. Roth wins that argument. This is about the music and the tours and what era speaks more to you after all these years. Van Halen was always a huge band with insanely great live shows. That says a lot about the music and the energy of the band. The band started in 1972 with another vocalist named Mark Stone, but was later replaced in 1974 by David Lee Roth and they released their first full self titled album in 1978. They followed up with some of the best albums you’ll still hear to this day: Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981), Diver Down (1982), and 1984 (can you guess what year?).
Confession: Diver Down is still one of my all time favorite VH albums. Love that freakin’ album.
It wasn’t until Sammy Hagar joined the band and they released 5150 that they had their first number one album! Yep, despite all those amazing hits with Roth, they had never had a number one album. They released a live DVD/VHS recording of the tour with that album called Live Without a Net. This is still one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. Actually, I’ll probably watch it again during the holidays this year.
Hagar and the band turned out some all time great albums that included OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (I saw this tour in Knoxville, TN), Right Here, Right Now, Balance, and the single “Humans Being.” After this, Hagar was out of the band. The end of the greatest era of Van Halen. I saw the following tour with lead singer Gary Cherone as they supported the Van Halen III album. It was a good show, I must admit. I did like the album but it was different. Different isn’t always bad, so yes, I liked the album but it wasn’t Van Halen as I’d grown to love the band. Still, pretty darn good live show in Charlotte, NC at the old Blockbuster Pavilion.
I’m not the kind of guy who gets sentimental when musicians or celebrities die, but when Eddie Van Halen passed that one sort of hit a bit hard. His music defined an era, his playing inspired so much great music and spoke to many. He was a legend for sure. For GenX, he is missed
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