WHAT ROTH ADDED TO VAN HALEN

I am not there at 5150, but generally a song is written like this. When Eddie writes a piece of music, Alex will provide the beat and Michael will add the bass lines. They will continue to rehearse it till it moulds together. At this point, usually, they have maybe a general idea of what the vocal line will sound like, but not really. Give a piece of music without any vocal accompaniment to 5 different lyricist and you will usually have 5 very different songs. It all depends on how close they want to follow the guitar or the bass notes.

It's not the best example, but remember when MC Hammer ripped off Rick James song "Superfreak" and re-did it to "U Can't touch this"? The same guitar melody only the vocal line had been changed. See how the song changes? I think Rick James version was much better. But you see, this is what the lyricist, the singer, adds. I know some of you Eddie diehards want to give him all the musical credit for all the VH songs, but it simply is not so.

However much of a goof-ball or buffoon SOME of you may think Dave may be, every time you sing, "We're getting funny in the back of my car, I'm sorry honey but I took you just a little too far yeah. A too-too far yeah". That is a melody Dave wrote. Listen to what the guitar does during that sequence. A few guitar chords sustained. You take away the vocal melody and the song is missing a lot of music. That is Dave's music you like too. The early stuff has Dave's style on it as much as Eddie's. Just think of the human vocal cords as another instrument.

Dave did a lot better job with the vocal accompaniment, in my opinion, than Sammy. Let's take 2 pop songs. In "Jump" Dave sings the words "might as well Jump" and then the synth kicks in. In the song "When it's love" Sammy sings "How do I know when it's love, It's just something that will last forever" almost note for note along with Eddie's keys. So in those songs, Dave wrote the words and vocal melody, and Eddie wrote the keyboard accompaniment. In Sammy's case he wrote the words (not adding anything melody-wise) and Eddie wrote the vocal melody and keyboard accompaniment.

Those are just 2 songs and not representative of all the music Van Halen and Van Hagar made. Roth sometimes copied Eddie's lines too (i.e. Hang'em high) and sometimes it is the only thing that works for a certain song. But I think Roth brought a lot more music melodies to the table, added a lot more to the Van Halen sound, then did Sammy. Sammy, too often, just put Van Hagar into cruise control and followed Eddie's lead.  Sammy is a singer that sings mostly in the same range.  He can hit a higher note than Dave, but that is it.  The guy has no bottom-end in his voice. It's boring to listen to. When it comes to creating music or melodies, he is a dilettante. Roth, while not being able to go as high, has much more dynamic range and is much more creative musically. His lyrics also put Sammy's moon/june lyrics to shame. Thus songs in Roth's era have more longetivity then Hagars, because they have a lot more stuff  happening musically.

Watch, time will tell, and in many instances, it already has. So to all of you who think Eddie had just a better "twang" or "tone" when Roth was around, that is only part of the story. David Lee Roth, my fellow Van Halen friends, played a very important role in the Van Halen sound. Songs you love, "Runnin' with the Devil", "Unchained", "Feel your love tonight", "So this is love", "Jump" to name a few, would have been markedly different, and I'm talking about more than words. A voice may age and change, but musical instincts are there forever.

Don't take my word for it though, listen to the music. Listen to what Sammy adds and listen to what Dave adds. Gary Cherone has an average voice, how much will he bring musically to 5150? I don't know. But I tell you what, we all have missed and will continue to miss the input of David Lee Roth. Shame on you who call him a no-talent. Shame on you. Study music theory and appreciate what this man has done for Van Halen.  When you do appreciate what Dave has done, then you will join me, and long for, and demand for, the return of David Lee Roth to Van Halen, and you will reject the new Van Halen, and you will want a little more then just what Eddie decides to give us. You will want more fulfilling music formed by four people, instead of three and a half.

It's only my opinion.

...and no, you won't have to DEAL WITH IT!!! Because we all already have

...since 1986 to be exact.

 

RATING VAN HAGAR

I was at The Wherehouse the other day and I went through their used CD section. I moved over to the VH section and they had 2 of  "Balance" at $6.99 and "For U.C.K." at $5.99. They also had RHRN, but NO original VH. I have never seen original VH used yet. I know there must be times, but I haven't seen it yet.

Anyway, I see they have this 30 day return policy. So I say, "What the hey!" and pick up "Balance" and "For U.C.K.". Here are my honest, unbiased impressions of the Van Hagar albums:

F.U.C.K.

This album plain sucks. It should have been named "S.U.C.K." What happened to "Eddie the guitar hero"? A Malmstein or Vai would never release something like this. It sounds very uninspired. "Poundcake" is over-rated. It is like "Black and Blue"; sounds heavy, feels heavy, but it sucks. It never quite gets there. "Spanked" is cool, only I think I heard these lyrics in a Gloria Estefan song before. "Runaround" gets annoying hearing Sammy repeat himself. Is "Round and round" the best word he can think of here? "Man On a Mission" has it's moments. "Right Now", Sammy's "Jump", is a good pop song with a dumb lyric. "Top Of The World" is like a "Dance The Night Away". Everything else is either avg. or sucks. Where are the flaming guitar solo's? This is a VH album?!! VH is nothing without DLR.

I'm going to return this and get back my $5.99.

Balance

"The Seventh Seal", another heavy sound that doesn't quite make it. It's okay, nothing special. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" is the pits. Terrible song. Not VH's style AT ALL. "Don't Tell Me" is like going to the dentist, Sammy is as irritating as the noise of the dental drill. Sammy screws up "Amsterdam" too. It had potential. "Big Fat Money" Gawd!! It sucks except for the end when it has every concert tune ending Ed is famous for. There is "Not Enough" Frampton/Beatles influences in this song to make it work. It's cool, but Sammy's lyrics/melody is "Not Enough" to save it. Aw, "Aftershock" the best Van Hagar song of them all. Dave could have taken this one to the next level and made it into an anthem. It is still good, even with Sam. Great song.

"Baluchitherium"... Sammy couldn't come up with lyrics for this?!! I had a vocal melody going the first time I heard it. Sam fumbled hear. It sounds like a Steve Vai song I heard before. "Take Me Back" sounds like it belongs on MTM. Sam ruined "Feelin" (see the dentist appointment above).

Better than F.U.C.K., but not by much. I might keep it just for "Aftershock" since they no longer play it on the radio. Sammy deserved to be fired for "Baluchitherium", Ed was right on that one. Sam was just lazy.

The top 6 Van Hagar albums:

1. 5150

2. Balance

3. Twister Soundtrack

4. OU812

5. F.U.C.K.

6. RHRN

The Top 5 Van Hagar songs:

1. Aftershock

2. 5150

3. Humans Being

4. N/A

5. N/A

Hey, it's just my honest opinion.

What happened to VH? They were a hard rockin' band at one time. This band died. DLR played a big role in their sound. The tone, the riffs, they just are not there. Take away Sam's voice even, VH is not a guitar hero like so many of you profess. You all are right, it doesn't matter who has been singing on these albums, they suck regardless. There is nothing here, except those 3 songs above, that come even remotely close to the original VH.

Give it up man. Your guitar hero died in 85. It's over. Get Real.

Bring back Dave. CGTSNM and MWM blows all this stuff away.

Get real man. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's only going to get worse with Cherone. Remember, you read it here first.

 


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