The Fall Of Van Halen

THE LOST, UNFINISHED FALL OF VAN HALEN ARTICLE (1998)

Without You was the biggest aired song ever for Van Halen. It broke airplay records.

...but guess what? Mock3 tanked. It didn't debut at No.1 like the grunts were saying all year. It is not going to go quadruple platinum or even double platinum. It will be lucky to go gold. The gig is over. Van Halen is no longer the huge act that headlined the US festival. Get used to it.

The almighty Van Halen? Just a memory. Some things are better left to memories, but Ed wanted to go for three, and in doing so ruined a once proud band.

It is SOOOOOO OVER!!!!!

Hey Eddie, let's see who is ouching now. The VH name just ain't what it used to be. The people got smart and your shit got old! God bless David Lee Roth for enduring all the bullshit, lies and smears that have come from you the last 13 years. I think too many of Ed's fans act like Ed and that turns a lot of people off. It turns them off to the music and to what they are saying. A campaign of hate was waged by these people and now they are reaping their rewards.

I don't understand these Mock3 fans. They thought it would be a piece of cake. They came in here with their proclamations of a VH debuting at No. 1 and over 3 million sold the first week. It never occured to them that David Lee Roth helped build this band. They reached their climax in 1984 and have fallen steadily ever since. VH used it's last bit of name recognition with Balance. The people wised up. This is not Halen.

Van Halen, in name only, that is all. Not in popularity, sales or musicianship.

A name can only do so much.

Hey, all Eddie-lover's have been saying over the last year this band is bullet-proof. They all said it would *debut* at No.1. WB's delayed it *several* times to try and insure this. If they would have released it on time, it would have done even poorer.

Eddie Van Halen has said chart position is the most important thing. He equated 4 No.1's with Sammy as being "more successful" than the 40 million (twice as many) sold with Dave. It is Eddie who goes by the numbers. It is Eddie who is now dying by the numbers. You can't turn around now and say the numbers are not important.

It is very important... to Ed.

...and right now Ed is ouching, because he screwed himself with his own words and actions.

Tell me this, why keep the Van Halen band name? Eddie keeps saying people shouldn't compare the eras, that now they are no longer a party band, that he is a serious musician and person now etc. If everything has changed, why not the freakin' name? Because of the money and power that the VH band name brings. The name DLR promoted so heavily in his years with the band. The name that Sammy lived off of, the one Cherone now inherits. Eddie gets to keep the band name, so now he can go on and release bad, schizophrenic, experimental music with Cherone, and not worry about sales.

David Lee Roth started with Van Halen playing backyard parties. He took this unknown band to being the highest paid band ever and over 10 million sold with 1984. Sammy Hagar inherited this band. He took this band from 10 million to 3.9 million for a release. They also dropped in popularity and opened for Bon Jovi under Hagar. Gary Cherone now inherits this band, sales will be even less. Do I need to graph it out for ya? This is the true comparison. Sammy and Gary inherited Van Halen, Dave built it.

Sammy and Gary are like the backup QB's who get a shot in the Super Bowl. After the guy who got them there and slugged it out all season goes down in the third quarter with a knee injury, these guys come in chuck a few passes, and collect their rings. Yeah, they worked for it, sure.

That is the real comparison.

How many people bought this album, based on past experience with Dave or Sammy, and say it sucks? DLR has a LOT to do with VH's past and present success. Now that Gary Cherone is totally destroying what is left of the name value of the band name Van Halen, it will soon be a huge burden, instead of the golden goose it has been for them.

Give Mock3 twelve years of negative press and radio like Roth had to endure. Let's see how high and mighty they are then. Only they will sink a lot quicker. Eat'em And Smile is a bigger album than Van Halen 3. Dave's first record did better than VH3's first record. I didn't hear all you Eddie-lovers saying what a huge success it was then. All these years it was all about being No.1 with Sammy etc.

And now you don't want to talk numbers. Now it's, "Oh, well... it did better than Roth!"

So is that how you measure the success of Van Halen 3? If it "beat Roth"? You all said Roth was nothing, why are you sweating Roth? If one week at number 4 is so great, why are you sweating at all? What happened to the super band Van Halen? What happened to the No. 1 debut? The multi-platinum album? The most antcipated album of the century? The record-breaking airplay of WOY?

...all you guys have to say now is "It beat Roth's last album"?

Sad.

The DLR Band is on the rise, Mock3 is free-falling.

Did you know that EAS charted better than VH3. It made it to No.4 and stayed in the Top 10 for a few weeks. This is another blow to the VH myth, that DLR would never have a bigger album than Van Halen.

Mock3 Sheep: VH3 will debut at No.1 - FALSE

Mock3 Sheep: VH3 will go multi-platinum - FALSE

Mock3 Sheep: A DLR album will never be bigger than a VH album - FALSE

(So that's what "3" means - 3 Eddie-lover lies!)

I would also add that Skyscraper was in the top 10 longer.

If VH dares to make another album with Gary, it is all over. They are fading big time. The next album won't even sell half as much. I can't imagine all these people being fooled twice. But again, I still can't understand how Van Hagar was a commercial success. I guess it was all those syrupy love songs, but Mock3 isn't even a pleasant listening experience.

Also, most importantly, Eddie is now regarded as one of the biggest assholes in rock. Sometimes the music doesn't matter, if the public don't like you, you won't sell. Back in the '80's Eddie painted DLR as the asshole and the public bought it. Well, it's 1998 now and we all know who is the real asshole.

I've been a Roth fan from the beginning. I know what I'm talking about. All I can say to you Mock3 fans is get used to it. Eddie's reputation is shot. The biggest kicker is that he has done it to himself. Roth's image has been revived somewhat, surprisingly by the hate campaign that the VH bros. waged against him over the last year. It back-fired this time. They exposed themselves for the rotten human beings they are.

Remember Axl Rose and Kevin Dubrow? Meet Eddie Van Halen.

I don't understand how some people just won't accept that VH3 isn't the huge success they thought it would be. I mean, they get all pissed off because Dave had better selling and charting records. Is it a crime for Dave to do better than VH? Is it against the law or something? Is it some kind of sin against their religion?

"If you don't like it, why get on the internet and piss and moan about it? Just ignore it and not buy it." - E. VanHalen

Hey Eddie, if you don't like Dave or Sammy, why go public and in every interview piss and moan about them? Just ignore them and don't talk about them.

You start it, we finish it.

Hey VH3 fans, DLR fans have never said:

His album will debut at No.1. He will go multi-platinum. His album is the most anticipated of the century. A VH record will never outsell a DLR record. We are not the braggarts and the boasters. We are *not* the ones that said it doesn't matter who's singing, VH will sell with anyone.

VH failed by *your* standards, not ours. That is why you are the only ones that most be able to admit VH3 is a failure. We have nothing to defend. We never took things for granted. Quit dragging the good name of David Lee Roth into this mess. This is *your* bed of disaster, *you* sleep in it. *You* deal with it.

Van Halen did well with Dave and Sammy, *not* Gary. They are using the VH name. They are no longer the huge act that they once were. Quit living in the past. DLR is in a whole new band.  Dave has a band of  high energy now. The sky is the limit for the new and mighty DLR band, so quit living in the past.

Somebody wrote:

....they bravely held to their musical convictions knowing that it was going to piss some fans off. If  that dosent imply youthful and new energy, I dont know what does.

(should read): ....they cowardly held on to the Van Halen name, while releasing bad, new age, experimental, schizophrenic music knowing that it was going to piss the fans off. If that doesn't imply greed and cowardice, I don't know what does.

The last 2 Van Halen albums:

Gary Cherone/VH - A full album of new songs. A new Video. Most aired song of all time: Debuts at #4 with 190,000 sold.

David Lee Roth/VH - Only 2 new songs. No video. Only a 1/4 of 3's promotional budget: Debuts at #1 with 233,000 sold.

Case closed.