Looks like Sammy Hager is back w/ Van Halen (1 Viewer)

[Dave Morton]

I'll let you guys buy the cd if it comes out and then decide from there, just like the last VH Cd that I never bought

 

[ElevSkyMovie]

Eddie did have hip replacement, at the end of 1999, I believe.

After the VHIII debacle, they started working on a new album with Cherone. Warner Bros. wasn't happy with the new songs and after about a year, Cherone left. Eddie had his hip replaced, then they tried again with Roth in 2001. Eddie has had the tongue cancer for a long time, but it got bad in 2001. Nothing came of the time they worked with Roth, and I don't think they'll ever try to work with him again (unless the RRHOF comes calling). Eddie and Val split up in 2002, mostly because after Eddie got a clean bill of health, he started drinking and smoking heavily again. They are still separated, no divorce yet. Supposedly, Ed and Al have been working on and off this whole time ( almost 6 years now! ) and have a whole mess of riffs for someone to come in a piece together into songs.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Meh, it just feels like maybe they should be done. They gave us some great rock 'n' roll, they've been away so long (and, yes, I really only like the Roth stuff a lot). The only people they can reach out to now are hardcore VH fans, which may be fine with them, anyway.

Haggar seems to be having fun with his solo stuff and his Tequila, he should stick with that. I wonder if Eddie knows about producing- I could totally see him doing that. Alex could be a studio drummer or work for Eddie and/or Sammy. Michael Anthony should be doing cable TV shows like Dweezil Zappa and Chris Isaac, he's a funny guy.

See, they don't need Van Halen.

 

[ElevSkyMovie]

Eddie said if Cherone didn't work out, VH was done. Eddie might be able to produce other people, but many people blame III's production on him. Most people consider it an Eddie solo record.

Mike, you may be right. Ed seems to be rehashing the same licks over and over now. He played some on Steve Lukather's (Toto) christmas album and his solo sounded like someone trying REALLY hard to imitate him, with all the squeeling and dive bombing. He has retreaded the same concert solo since '86 on the 5150 tour.

I would like to see them come back. It would be nice if they aren't able to do arena tours because I would love to see them up close in a club.

 

[Zen Butler]

"flexing MORE creative muscle with Hagar"?

Hmmm

Van Halen 1- hmmm the Beethovenesque "Eruption",
Blues swagger of "Ice Cream Man"

Van Halen II - Flameco style of "Spanish Fly", the wind chimes of "Women in Love"

Van Halen- Women and Children First- Ragtime sassy "Take your whiskey home", Hawaiianesque "Could this be Magic?"

Van Halen- Fair Warning- the bass-style slappin' "Mean Streets", the out of time harpsichord gallop of "Dirty Movies", the very fusiony "Push Comes to Shove" (one of Eddies best solos, Dave, great lyrics, alien bass sounds etc.

early VH was a potpourri of dozens of styling over-tones, pretentious yet fearless in its' emulation of other styles outside the rock realm.

 

[Danny Tse]

Isn't all this ripe for a MTV "reality" show??

 

[gregD]

How 'bout taking a big left turn?

How 'bout ditching the vocals altogether, and reuiniting as an instrumental-only trio?

How 'bout that?

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Kyle- Great info, thanks.

 

[Felix Martinez]

I had the pleasure of meeting Dave at a recognition dinner/party for the late, legendary engineer/producer, Tom Dowd, circa 1997-1998. This was just after the whole debacle over Dave rejoining the band, the MTV Awards, the fallout, etc., etc.

I recall the VH brothers tearing into Dave during media interviews during this time, and at this particular event, everyone's initial impression was to treat Dave like a leper: "oh my God, there HE IS!"

Well, being a long-time VH fan, I was one of the few who approached Dave, and he was an extremely gracious and funny guy. Little by little, other guests approached him when they realized he wasn't going to turn into a goat or something. One lady, who was an elementary school music teacher, was fascinated by his interest in music education for kids and I overheard them working something out so he could go to the school and speak to the kids. On the other hand, one smart ass guy asked him point blank: "what about the Van Halen shit?! What do you think about Eddie," etc. Dave responded very graciously that those were some of the best years of his life and he never once bad-mouthed the brothers.

I found him to be a great guy and I hope to hear more music from him!

Cheers,

 

[ElevSkyMovie]

He released an album recently of loungy cover tunes.

Look here.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I always felt that Dave might not be the best singer, but man, you could tell he always had fun with VH on stage. The ultimate party guy. I think he is a better showman and performer than Sammy is, but Sammy's obviously got the musical chops down.

Too bad Dave and Steve Vai didn't last longer...

 

[Craig: Mclaren]

I'm going to see David lee Roth live here in Glasgow on the 26th February. Should be a great night!

 

[michael_mo]

Of note, the DLR "Diamond Dave" disc of covers has incredible production and very deep bass. The 4th track is a Steve Miller cover and is the jewel of the disc. I use this disc to show off the power of my SVS sub. The bass on this disc is so powerful, yet clean.. better than any of my old Public Enemy cds with the poppy-deep bass.

 

[Brian L]

Don't forget Bissonette and Sheehan as well. That was THE quintessential "I am going to put together the best f*ckin' band I can find and show my old bandmates that I don't need 'em any more" band. And it succeeded brilliantly.

Eat 'Em, Skyscraper, and Your Filthy Little Mouth (although not with the classic line up) were all good, with hardly a bad track in the bunch.

The synth bass notes on skyscraper will test you rig, no question about it

Saw them after Skyscraper came out, and seeing DLR rappel to the stage at the beginning of Skyscraper was extremely cool.

Saw them again after Vai and Sheehan left. El sucko.

BGL

 

[MickeS]

I agree, I saw them on tour after the first album, and that was one of the best concerts I've seen. The only problem was that it was at a small sports arena, would have been better at a Vegas hotel.

I don't really care one way or the other if VH reunites now, but if they did, it would make more sense to do it with Sammy on vocals. He's done some terrific material the last few years.

 

[Jim_C]

The Roth years are definitely the best VH, IMO but I didn't mind Hagar. It wasn't the same but I could listen to it and be happy.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I guess I'll be the one to stand up in defense of Gary Cherone here. While the songwriting wasn't great on VH3, Cherone's vocals are outstanding. Seeing them on that tour was a dream for an old VH fan like me. Hearing "I'm The One" live was awesome since it's my favorite VH song, and they had never performed it at any of the concerts I had been to previously (since 84). Also, they dug out gems like "Mean Street", "Somebody Get Me A Doctor" and "Romeo Delight". His voice on the old songs was better than with Dave or Sammy (although Sammy's was damn good).

I liked all 3 lineups, although for the studio stuff, I gotta go with the Dave era. The Dave era was the worst for seeing them live. His vocals were godawful when I saw them on 7/6/84.

Jeff

 

[ElevSkyMovie]

The setlist for the III tour was voted on by the fans at van-halen.com. I think it was very cool for Gary to step up and sing all eras of the band, and from all acounts, the band really smoked on that tour.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

They did. I'm still not sure what went wrong with that lineup. Part of it was the lackluster songwriting of that album, part of it was probably Cherone not having anywhere near the notoriety that Dave or Sammy had. Sammy was pretty much peaking with his solo career at the time he joined VH, whereas Extreme was on its way down. Also, VH's demographic was probably 10 years older than Extreme's and thus Cherone was written off as a "hair-band" singer before he ever had the chance to prove himself. Most of my friends had disowned VH long before the III record came out. I think if Cherone had done a few more records with them, perhaps he would have gradually gained some respect. With 5150, Sammy had some incredible material to work with. It's my 2nd favorite VH record.

Jeff

 

[ElevSkyMovie]

When Eddie found out the fans wanted to hear "I'm the One", he had to go back and re-learn how to play it. I read an interview were he talks about how hard it was.

There was no hit single from III, so that made it hard for Cherone to stick around, especially with the pressure WB was putting on them to write a hit. I think that, plus the fact that many fans were less than gracious to him, is why Cherone left. I would have liked to hear the follow up to III. The band described it as their next Fair Warning.