VH III - Cherone - What went wrong ???

[DABSR]

O.K. ...besides the obvious, the boys not having Diamond Dave up front, I'm serious.

For anyone who caught a VH III tour show ... I'm sorry but he blew Sammy Cabo Blabo out of the fucking water !!! O.K. ..so for you people who were at Great Woods, were supposedly Gary got too "nervous" and had to continue the show the next night ......really.....he kicked it up several notches.

Pulled off the classic stuff great ...had great energy ....but in the studio....how did they come up with that stuff ???

I mean ...it was still Van Halen, doing what others aren't, but was there anything better they could have put on there instead of "Primary", "Ballot or the bullet" or ....."How many say I" ??? Which i have to say Edward had something to say and I give him credit fro trying to sing it.

Other than that, there were some good, less-commercial-than-Sammy stuff on there, which is why I like most of it.

O.K. knuckleheads I know you'd like to have a field day with this one, but what are your thoughts ? BESDIES the fact that YES ..this world needs Diamond Dave and the rest of Van Halen to do what brothers do ...have a knock down drag out fight ... get up, shake hands and give the world what it needs .....the original line up of Van Halen. But for now ........talk to me

[charles1328]

i agree, i liked alot of the material - thought it was different but in a good way. definately missed mike's backing vocals, something ed said he didn't want too much of on the cd. who knows what happened, more likely than not ed probably had some hissy fit to get rid of him - STABILITY IS TOUGH WHEN YOUR AN ALCHY.

[DavidLeeNatra]

what went wrong with ga y cherone? hm...good question...how about EVERYTHING?

serious...cherone is a nice guy, got strong pipes...fine...but he just has NOTHING what it takes to carry the spirit of =CVH= (nor did osammy bin hagar, but he had the cheesy songs at least)

so that guy was the worst choice...and while the turn from dave to sambo was like going from speedballs to milkshakes the turn to cherone was from the milkshakes to green tea and a discussion circle...

[DABSR]

Sammy had predictable lyrics at best and althoguh lasted longer than Gary, it was still great ot hear some of the classic tunes live ...you know, the ones Sammy never did or should i say ..couldn't do.

Sorry, but live, Gary was a much better choice than Sammy ... in my opinion. He had energy and did his best to bring some life back into those classics that Sammy Fagorita shelved.

[DavidLeeNatra]

Originally posted by DABSR
Sorry, but live, Gary was a much better choice than Sammy ... in my opinion. He had energy and did his best to bring some life back into those classics that Sammy Fagorita shelved.

yeah...but fingering your own butthole or getting fucked in the ass by ypur guitar player might not be the best choice for the stage act...

[Casemeister]

I love VH3. I'll take it over most of Van Hagar's stuff, for sure. Live -- from what I've heard through various songs and whatnot -- Gary tried his hardest with everything. He tried with the Sammy stuff and he tried really hard with the Dave stuff. Sammy never tried at all with the Dave stuff. Gary is a class act. He wanted to win the respect of both the Dave AND Sammy fans. He gave it his all. The band treated him as poorly as many of the fans did, IMO.

The guy was willing to sing anything. He brought out stuff like Romeo Delight and Mean Street for the first time since Dave was in the band. I'm a big Gary and Extreme fan, so maybe I'm biased, but I think he did a great job with all the songs.

IMO, the problem with the Gary era was that Ed had complete control. Gary is such a nice guy that he didn't want to do anything that would annoy Ed, I think. That's why the songs had guitar passages that went on for far too long and whatnot. Ed called all the shots. The second album with Gary would have been brilliant, IMO. I love VH3, but that second album with Gary... whoa... I think it would have won a lot of people over. If they'd stuck with him beyond that initial period, they could have won a lot of fans. Gary is such a versatile songwriter. Had he and Ed worked together a bit more, VH probably could have gone into a whole new era that would have won new AND old fans alike. Gary is twice the songwriter Sammy Hagar will ever be.

IMO, it's the fact that the songs were actually deep that annoyed most typical VH fans. Songs like Josephina are actually very cool and very deep. Most VH fans don't care for that kind of thing, though. They just want headbanging rockers or Sammy's blatantly obvious love songs. I say "blatantly obvious" because Sammy doesn't seem to be capable of writing a love song that uses metaphors or anything. With him, it's all out there for everyone to see. (Eg: "How do I know when it's love? I can't tell you but it lasts forever," etc.) With Sammy, you don't need to figure anything out. At least Gary can make you think.

(For those who are interested, Josephina is about his mother. Study the lyrics; it's a brilliant song.)

IMO, if they'd stuck with Gary, they'd have won everybody's respect by now. People would respect the band for sticking with a singer who wasn't Dave or Sammy. The band might even have singles still spinning on the radio. Instead, what are they doing now?!

[DABSR]

Yea ....that's why I'm glad we're not talking about ANY of the 80's hair bands that tried to emulate the mighty Van Halen

[DABSR]

Sorry ...I was replying to D-natra. Still laboring and learning about using the Forum and it's tools, like the quoting

[DABSR]

Originally posted by Casemeister
The guy was willing to sing anything. He brought out stuff like Romeo Delight and Mean Street for the first time since Dave was in the band


Originally posted by Casemeister
IMO, it's the fact that the songs were actually deep that annoyed most typical VH fans. Songs like Josephina are actually very cool and very deep. Most VH fans don't care for that kind of thing, though

Exactly. Sammy played the vocally "safer" songs in my opinion. Whenever Gary and the boys tore into "Romeo Delight" ...I thought i was dreaming.

And Van Halen was never about anything other than being Van Halen. And songs like "Once" and "Year to the day" ...were a mix of the future and the influences of Van Halen. "Once" is a trippy surreal tune that was still done like no one else could do whereas "Year ..." was a trip to the past ..a blues burner.

But you're right, after being under Dave's thumb for so long then Sammy's idea of "joining" a band but remaining a solo artist was too much and Edward took his frustrations out on Gary wielding his power when it wasn't needed.

it's too bad really .... and I hope I used the quote thing correctly :p

[thome]

Since vids set the tone( too bad) to They were to in your Face Fresh!

Cherone is a good vocalist wrong fit Van Halen.

Ill bet its also Dave or The Grave for 75% of the world so how are
you going to satisfy.Gary was used probably to fill out Eds final
debt of contractual Albums Due .?

Seems like to me the singers have a underlying Roth wannabe
forced competition look about them.

Be yourself, a Fake Diamond is pretty but it wont hold up under close
examination.

[Wonder Twins]

I thought some stuff on VH3 was decent. Thought The single Without You was as good as of a song they did in a long time. The tour was actually quite enjoyable. Even though it was a imitation of the classics, I still think that it was goo dto hear. I just think that Ed is way to far gone to create any new material that is worth hearing at this time.

[Dirty Duck]

I think what went wrong was that nobody can stomach a 3rd lead singer...especially after Sammy left. I remember seeing that video (the first,and only,single from MACH III) on MTV with my buddies and laughing our ass' off! Remember the JESTER hat that Eddie wore? The scene was all ICE? Soooo cheesy. The song sucked too. Gary Cherone? My God...I would have stomached the rumor it would be Coverdale Or Sabastian Bach instead! VHIII had absolutly NO chemestry....It made me (and the real VH fans) miss Dave even more..

[DABSR]

Really Duck-man ? That's cool. I know so many Van Halen (I will never tolerate "Van Hagar" or the like ... it's sooo weak) fans that after Dave left, they literally stopped listening to anything from the band from that point on.

I also know a lot of scattered fans across the board with varying opinions and feelings on things. I weed out the 5th grade comments and go from there.

But your comments on the jester cap for example ...I agree. Couldn't have been a worse choice of apparel given the band's situation, past and then ..current.

IF there were no video, I think people might liek the song better, in my opinion. I think it rocks.

And VH III ... you're right, there was no chemistry, it didn't flow. But I dug a lot of it and the individualism of the songs. But it was all over the place.

[Dirty Duck]

Dabsr...to start off It's good to hear from you brother. I also wanted to say what a pleasure it is to be able to share your opinion with someone without all the bullshit that comes along with it! You're cool in my book my man! Anyhow..yeah VHIII just wasnt my cup of tea. When you had a lead singer as cool as Dave it was just hard to stomach how far they've come. VH used to rule the worl and airwaves...now...it's just..sad.

[DABSR]

Good hearing from posters like yourself Duck. I don't mind opinions that are opposite of mine, it's the grammar school stuff that I don't have time for.

Yes, I'm positive everyone within these forums wants the original line up back ...how can you not ?!?!?! Their impact on music is unretractable ... they started a new road like no other after Jimi's road ended.

But I hear ya, VH III is ...different to say the least. But it is Van Halen ....just another incarnation, albeit a weaker one.

[DLR_EngineRoom]

Originally posted by DABSR
O.K. ...besides the obvious, the boys not having Diamond Dave up front, I'm serious.

For anyone who caught a VH III tour show ... I'm sorry but he blew Sammy Cabo Blabo out of the fucking water !!! O.K. ..so for you people who were at Great Woods, were supposedly Gary got too "nervous" and had to continue the show the next night ......really.....he kicked it up several notches.

Pulled off the classic stuff great ...had great energy ....but in the studio....how did they come up with that stuff ???

I mean ...it was still Van Halen, doing what others aren't, but was there anything better they could have put on there instead of "Primary", "Ballot or the bullet" or ....."How many say I" ??? Which i have to say Edward had something to say and I give him credit fro trying to sing it.

Other than that, there were some good, less-commercial-than-Sammy stuff on there, which is why I like most of it.

But for now ........talk to me


FINALLY

Someone who can see Gary Cherone for what he really represented in VH.

Listen to VH I.
Listen to VH II.

Listen to Extreme I.
Listen to Extreme II.

Now you know what I was expecting VH3 to sound like.

That's right, nothing but pure Funky Shred material.

Not to say that I was disappointed entirely w/VH3.

It's the best non-DLR album VH put out, ever.

And Gary's a Roth fan. Belongs here on this site.

Only played ONE TOKEN HAGAR SONG PER HAGAR ALBUM because Eddie insisted.


Love Extreme, specifically 1 & 2.

VH2 was underrated. Just listened to it last week. Freakin' love that album. Straight from the heart, poetry put to music.

On tour in 98, Ed was amazing...chugging out the classics like he just wrote 'em yesterday. I had forgotten that he still had that magic in him, what with all the Hagarita garbage for 10 years.

The way I see it, if they're too stubborn to get Dave back, at least get a Dave fan to sing.

They shoulda played some Extreme - specifically from 1st two albums.

That woulda made it perfect

[Unchainme]

VD3 was the only listenable Non-DLR album, VH has ever put out. BUT, I Still think they wrote some of the stuff for Dave, Fire In The Hole most defintly sounds like a Song Dave would have done perfectly. Also The cool thing about Cherone is that he only wanted to Do VH stuff that he grew up with, CVH!!!!, No Shitty-one-shiity-one, Just CVH. I have No doubt in my mid that he was a HUGE Roth fan back in the day.

[Dirty Duck]

Van Halen II is barnone one of the BEST rock albums out there...

[Mezro]

Nobody questions how much of a Roth fan I am, so I have no problem admitting this: I saw Van Cherone in 98 and Gary sounded amazing.

People get so hung up on his style, his stage presence etc, but Gary Cherone and the Brothers put on one hell of a show. Ed was on fire; he just tore it the fuck up. Ed still had it then...too bad he and Roth couldn't have been back together...they would have ruled the universe once again.

Mezro...so for all you "Gary is a fag" idiots I say this: grow the fuck up and dislike Gary if you don't like his voice, not because of what he wore or what you think his sexual preference is...

[Big Troubles]

Originally posted by Wonder Twins
I thought some stuff on VH3 was decent. Thought The single Without You was as good as of a song they did in a long time. The tour was actually quite enjoyable. Even though it was a imitation of the classics

seriously?

wow. I bet you knew everyone at the show too eh? :D

I guess if I had to pick a good song off VH3, Id go with Dirty Water Dog. That's like, IF I HAD TO CHOOSE IT... like over death or something.

[Big Troubles]

Originally posted by Mezro
Mezro...so for all you "Gary is a fag" idiots I say this: grow the fuck up and dislike Gary if you don't like his voice, not because of what he wore or what you think his sexual preference is...

If I think someones sexual preference is same sex, and he dressed like the guys from Will & Grace. Gary was a good singer. But everyone looked at him and screamed homo. It's unfortunate but true. It also illustrates an approximate amount of homos currently listening to it. :D

[Big Troubles]

and aren't you from San Fran? :D

double burn.

[Terry]

VH3 was kinda doomed from the get-go, because people were getting pumped during the summer of 1996 to see a full blown CVH reunion, Roth wanted to be there and do it, and Ed and Al basically took the approach of telling everyone that they didn't give a shit what people WANTED to see. They were going with Gary, and if anyone had a problem with that, too bad.

VH3 the album had a bad sound, production-wise. The first single, Without You, sounded like a Van Hagar song (Cherone sounded so much like Hagar that I thought it was a Van Hagar track). Guess I can see where someone would give a degree of credit for trying How Many Say I, but it just didn't work. Primary and Ballot Or The Bullet were so-so, far as the music went. Cherone's lyrics just smacked of college freshman sociology/poli-sci 101. There were a few ideas that sounded like they could have been developed into something interesting. Releasing the album a year and a half after the whole BOV1 hype (which was probably the most attention paid to the band, media-wise, since Roth split in 1985) had subsided kinda begged the question as to why it took VH3 so long to come up with stuff that came across as a bunch of tossed off, half-baked ideas. Even with Ed's hip replacement thrown into the middle of it, still came across as a lot of time used to come up with a less-than-astounding album.

Was cool that VH3 live wasn't wary of essaying more CVH tunes other than the 3 to 4 that Sam Halen beat into the ground, but people wanted to hear those tunes sung with Roth on vocals. Can't believe the Van Halen fanbase, such as it was in 1998, was dying to hear Unvhained as sung by Cherone. And that MTV live show from Down Under, showing Gary simulating how he fingers his own ass really didn't help matters any.

Dunno if Ed and Al were thinking that getting Dave back for the two BOV1 tracks would elicit interest in the band and get people interested enough to make the Cherone transition smoother. Seems like many were just put off by CVH failing to go all the way in 1996, placed the blame at Ed and Al's feet, and just said 'fuck it' far as VH3 went.

[Nitro Express]

I went to a VH3 show and Eddie played like a motherfucker. He was spot on that night. It was great to hear some of the old songs live like I'm The One. I didn't mind Gary's singing so much but his stage presence is 100% limp wrist and Eddie was trying to work the stage with that. It just was gay as hell. Gary was just the wrong singer. At least the dude gave it his best and heck, I really enjoyed hearing Ed shred some shit that night.

[rustoffa]

I've never even heard that record.

That's right, not once. If some song was played on the radio from it, and I heard it, I don't remember it.

I don't want to hear that record. Why would anyone even listen to it? Hey, there's some love for Ed somewhere in the hollow vaccum that makes up my psyche, but not enough to make me want to hear that record.

So there's a few good songs on it? Fine.

I don't want to hear them. I've heard a few of the Van Hagar records, and there's a few marginal songs on them...marginal=varginal.

If the Van Halen3 record fell from the heavens above and landed on my lawn, I'd run it over with my lawn mower. If it appeared in my mailbox in compact disc format, I'd throw it on the skreet and do a burn-out on it with my motocycle.

If someone gave it to me for Christmas, I'd stoke the yule log with it.

I don't care about that record.

[Bill Lumbergh]

I'm with Terry and Rus on this..........oh, and Gary's a fag...........

[Romeo Delight]

I must admit, I even have a copy of VHIII.

I haven't listened to it in many years, and Rustoffa's last post here explained why ...No one cares.

Sure I appreciate some of Ed and AL on cd, but it is overwhelmingly empty, in the end, devoid of soul.

What we all love about CVH is that it was a living, breathing force that could not be ignored.

[Jérôme Frenchise]

"VH III" is WACF; the thingammagig it is about here is called "VH 3"...
And yes, it's still (a little) better than worse. I remember "The one I want" and "Fire in the hole" (:D), it was just a bit less ridiculous than "Mine all mine" and "When it's love"...
I also remember a riff on a track that sounded a lot like one of the Jackson Five's. I can't recall the title though.
As for Cherone on stage, I can't tell, as I never heard anything they did back then. I read that he "sounded like the young David Lee Roth", which got me mad... That was an incompetent journalist's idiotic statement, I thought.:rolleyes::cool:

[DavidLeeNatra]

Originally posted by Mezro
Nobody questions how much of a Roth fan I am, so I have no problem admitting this: I saw Van Cherone in 98 and Gary sounded amazing.

People get so hung up on his style, his stage presence etc, but Gary Cherone and the Brothers put on one hell of a show. Ed was on fire; he just tore it the fuck up. Ed still had it then...too bad he and Roth couldn't have been back together...they would have ruled the universe once again.

Mezro...so for all you "Gary is a fag" idiots I say this: grow the fuck up and dislike Gary if you don't like his voice, not because of what he wore or what you think his sexual preference is...

but that's the problem! I can't dislike him for his voice, he's a good singer...but =CVH= wasn't only about the music and I became a roth/VH fan because of the "we take no prisoners"-attitide in the music and the show...and I don't want to see it changed into a "the prisoners bend over for the soap in the shower room" attitude...sorry...

and the show they did for hardly 2.000 fans in germany (right before the tour got cancelled) was shit...ed was hammered and the best thing were the "we want dave" chants...

[Mezro]

Originally posted by DavidLeeNatra
I became a roth/VH fan because of the "we take no prisoners"-attitide in the music and the show...and I don't want to see it changed into a "the prisoners bend over for the soap in the shower room" attitude...

Oh, it looked strange live; Gary did not fit in...but it sounded great.

Mezro...in the end, it was just the wrong gig for Gary...tell you what though, I would take Gary vocals over Sam any day of the week...

[Terry]

Originally posted by Mezro
Oh, it looked strange live; Gary did not fit in...but it sounded great.

Mezro...in the end, it was just the wrong gig for Gary...tell you what though, I would take Gary vocals over Sam any day of the week...

The vocals on their own didn't sound that bad, agreed. Didn't care much for the lyrical content.

From what I saw of that 1998 MTV show, the band did sound pretty good, agreed. Cherone's peculiar antics to one side, it sounded a bit more (dare I say) inspired than Van Halen with Hagar ever did.

Am not a strict CVH constructionalist that I am unable to appreciate decent moments in both the Van Hagar and Van Cherone lineups. Most of those had to do with instrumentation than anything else. Problem is, CVH was so consistently excellent that it only tended to illustrate post-Roth shortcomings all the more. In many ways, Ed's a victim of his own legacy. There was little doubt that even if none of the 1996 flirtations with Roth hadn't happened, in the end VH3 was going to be compared with CVH and come up short.

[DavidLeeNatra]

Originally posted by Mezro
Oh, it looked strange live; Gary did not fit in...but it sounded great.

Mezro...in the end, it was just the wrong gig for Gary...tell you what though, I would take Gary vocals over Sam any day of the week...

amen to that!!! cherone was one of the best singers at the freddie mercury tribute for example...he really got a strong live voice and sounds good on record. but it takes much more to be THE singer for van halen...at least you need to have an ego ;)

[Loons The Great]

III is birdshit. 'Nuff said.

[DABSR]

Wow ... got some great feedback on this one, both for and against Cherone with the band.

And as usual, can't help but add some knucklehead comments like Gary being gay. Yea yea yea ...like David didn't look like a fucking pipe cleaner in the "...Paradise" video (especially near the end of it !!!) with a band he put together to try and replace the band HE just left ?!?!?!

And believe me, I realize this is a pro-Roth site, but although he was THE front man to end-all front men, he wasn't innocent in the decline of the original mighty Van Halen. And as I stated in other threads ... there's only 4 guys who know exactly what happened and it just so happens those are the only four who can ever bring everyone what they want ...THE Reunion.

C'mon guys ...so what ? Growing up listening to the Who and Priest ....did you guys throw all their albums out once you found out about Pete and Rob's preferences ???

Exactly. Didn't matter with them ...and doesn't matter at all.

And I know in the end (no pun intended) we all want the same thing. But either way, like it or not, even if the classic line up stayed together a few more years or longer, it would have evolved into something else.

OF course it would have still been better than ANYTHING Sam or Gary would or could have put out with them, that's a no-brainer.

But it would have changed.

Dave still likes doing covers here and there (15 or so since leaving Van Halen), likes the occasional mellower tune "Damn good" etc.. And the boys in Van Halen like doing originals including a live cover here and there, some mellower tunes and some surreal tunes.

But it would have changed.

Thanks everyone ....for the most part, good and bad ...(not the kindergarten stuff) it's fun to get things going because it keeps the memories of those classic days alive. If we didn't bitch moan and continue this banter with each other ... some of you would listen to "Diver down" every so often at best or begin forgetting about those truly monstrous stages when they owned the planet !!!

I listen to them everyday, something from the first 6 albums ... everyday. Have for 27 straight years. (Minus 10 days when I didn't bring a radio/cd/tape player on my honeymoon ...dammit)

just sayin'

[fryingdutchman]

I admit to owning a copy of VHIII.

There are parts that are ok, and then there are (many) parts that are just abominable and make you wonder how it ever got released. ("How Many Say I.")

Unfortunately, Cherone had baggage coming into it, and was known primarily as the "More Than Words" guy....a song that everyone had grown so sick of because of overexposure that nobody wanted to hear Cherone anymore!

I've seen some videos from the "3" tour, and the live show looked great. Eddie was flawless. Made me wish I hadn't thrown in the towel on VH and mustered up the guts to go see it. But after listening to the CD I couldn't justify spending the $$$.

They should have just said "fuck the album...let's bill a tour as a night of Classic Van Halen with Gary Cherone" and then thrown in "Without You" and "Fire in the Hole" to the setlist for good measure.

[DavidLeeNatra]

Originally posted by DABSR
Wow ... got some great feedback on this one, both for and against Cherone with the band.

And as usual, can't help but add some knucklehead comments like Gary being gay.

just sayin'

http://www.forumspile.com/thread-gay-1950s.jpg

[rustoffa]

Originally posted by DavidLeeNatra
http://www.forumspile.com/thread-gay-1950s.jpg

:D

[Dirty Duck]

VHIII was just a shame. Now to start off, yes, I am one of the biggest Roth fan's out there and to me nobody can do it better. When you see a band with the chemestry Roth and the boys had It's hard to swallow a 2nd lead singer. But many accepted it and life went on. when a 3RD singer is introduced to the mix It's almost like the response is : Are you fucking kidding me or what!? " That's exactly how I felt back in 97'. It was already enough that I had to deal with Hagar in the band now Gary...Cherone? I'm sure he sounded great...but so did Sammy in many peoples eyes. I wanted a frontman who could work the crowd and breathe eat and shit Rock and Roll..I'm sorry but To me Gary has never been rock n roll. Great voice...yes. But there is a lot more to being a front man. I know some guys who went to those shows who were Sammy fans and said that a) The venues were 1/2 full
b) It was like watching someone
trying out for a lead singer contest.
c) There was absolutly NO VH magic
Now since I did not attend those shows I dont want to be biased. I respect all opinions but I'm sorry guys I dont care how great Gary sings...he was not made for Van Halen.

[conmee]

Mez... did you see VDIII in Concord when they hit the Bay Area in '98? I just couldn't do it... I was to disgruntled by that time... but I remember the commercials on the radio... they played Concord and Sacramento and San Jose if I recall.....

Icon.

[conmee]

P.S. There must be some kind of way that we can make it right..... but I just can't do it all without you.... lmao

Icon.

[ThrillsNSpills]

An interviewer who had a cassette of the album before it was released asked Ed what happened because the CD sonically sounded like shit compared to the cassette. (not speaking of the material here folks, but the quality of the sound) . The mass-produced CD version sucked any of the brown out of Ed's tone.
The integrity of the sound was fucked in the digital conversion process.
You can't compromise when you have a distorted guitar based situation or it will be shrill sounding and unlistenable, which Ed said he was going to give Sony a hard time about but said you can't fight that kind of corporation.

[Carmine]

Here's my take on Cherone's days in VH.


He was better than Hagar!

Now, I honestly just heard my first Van Cherone a week ago courtesy of the bootleg from Hershey, PA in 98.

First off....Ed did sound AMAZING on that tour, at least that particular show. Pulling out ROTH classics was a good move as well. Gary IS a classic VH fan, no doubt there and the dude did try his best. In the end, the failure to reunite with Roth in 96, the shitslinging that followed from VH and Dave...doomed VH3 and Cherone before it was recorded. I harbored that hatred for the last 7 years...but others saying "it didnt sound bad, ED was very good..etc..etc...I had to check it out.

It isnt bad...granted, it aint ROTH...but it was certainly better than Hagar.

[guwapo_rocker]

Ed can't write good great songs without Dave there to

structure them.

[Dave's Bitch]

Everything....imo

[Big Fat Sammy]

Originally posted by conmee
There must be some kind of way that we can make it right..... but I just can't do it all without you.... lmao


That right there says it all regarding my opinion of VH3

Gary does make a great Jesus though...:D

[conmee]

The Tai Chi savior....


Superman... he lookin' for Lois.... lol

Pizza man just wanna slice...


He might claim to be a red-blooded heterosexual, but good lord, his lyrics were on the bad side of bad... who thought Fire In The Hole is a good song title... and what sober and conscious person would purposely let How Many Say I onto the album?>!>!> I cringe, and cant listen to that song, I feel embarrassed for Edward. Jesus... if he's looking to send a message, use Western Union or Hallmark, but not a fuckin' track on an album.... there are alot of bar bands that have better original material than HMSI....

And I didn't think it could get worse until Up For Breakfast and that trio of turds that Sammy and the band put out.... Jesus... .by comparison, Gary wasn't so bad.

Icon.

[Mezro]

Originally posted by conmee
Mez... did you see VDIII in Concord when they hit the Bay Area in '98? I just couldn't do it... I was to disgruntled by that time... but I remember the commercials on the radio... they played Concord and Sacramento and San Jose if I recall.....

Icon.

Here is how it went down:

Was home in Philly visiting family when a friend decided to "surprise" me with Van Halen tickets. The problem is, she didn't know I was a CVH fan and thought any Van Halen would do...LOL.

So what to do right? We head down to the Spectrum and the fucking show is almost sold out. I mean it is packed. People are pretty amped.

The band comes on, they open with Unchained and the place goes nuts. Ed sounded fucking perfect, the tone was right and here comes Gary; I was shocked how good he sounded live.

And so it goes - they play Mean Street, Romeo Delight, Dance The Night Away, SGMAD (Mikey), ATBL, Panama and Jump. Then they fucking close with I'm The One! I mean, I'm The fucking One!

Why VHIII did not work: the CD was spotty at best. Had a real producer worked on it, they may have had something.

Gary's image - the guy was dressed completely metrosexual right down to the cropped caesar cut. He looked like any trendy San Franciscan...but that does not fly for a hard rock audience. If he had long hair and some torn jeans things would have been much different.

And the major problem: the Dave fallout! Nothing could have followed the '96 fiasco successfully...nothing! Gary was doomed from the start.

Mezro...and there you have it...check out any boot from '98...you may just be surprised...

[Soul Reaper]

Actually, I am a big fan of Extreme, but not sure if I'd get VHIII....I've heard too much bad stuff about it....I might download it on Allofmp3, so at least I can delete it if I don't like it....

[rustoffa]

Originally posted by Big Fat Sammy
http://www.rotharmy.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=723214


That's fucking funny....
:lol:

[ELVIS]

Originally posted by Soul Reaper
Actually, I am a big fan of Extreme, but not sure if I'd get VHIII....

Perfect example of why it tanked...


:elvis:

[Big Fat Sammy]

Originally posted by rustoffa
That's fucking funny....
:lol:

That's not photoshopped, he played the lead role in Jesus Christ Superstar. :D No shit.



Originally posted by Mezro
Gary's image - the guy was dressed completely metrosexual right down to the cropped caesar cut. He looked like any trendy San Franciscan...but that does not fly for a hard rock audience. If he had long hair and some torn jeans things would have been much different.


Metrosexual :D :D :D

[DavidLeeNatra]

Originally posted by Big Fat Sammy
Metrosexual :D :D :D

mezrosexual?

[Big Fat Sammy]

Originally posted by DavidLeeNatra
mezrosexual?

Damn...thats what I meant to say! Thanks...lol

[allanshort]

I saw the show in Berlin Germany. I didnt notice that ED was drunk but I will say that Gary pranced around way to limpo wristed for me. I loved hearing the old tunes live once again though...

[4moreyears]

Easy Dave was not in the band.

[thome]

Since this is up I wanna change my post to:

I would pay good money to see Gary sing Van Halen tunes without Ed Alex and Mike .Its not Van Halen without Dave and the CVH line up.

Thats what I meant to say. I like the Dudes Voice. I wish i didn't know some peoples, Lil Secret. He's a good musician.

Thank you ,Roth On!

[Mezro]

Mezrosexual?

ROTFLMFMEZROAF!

Mezro...I like that...I am going to use that!...

[Northern Girl]

Originally posted by Mezro
Mezrosexual



I'd like a definition of that. :D

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by ThrillsNSpills
An interviewer who had a cassette of the album before it was released asked Ed what happened because the CD sonically sounded like shit compared to the cassette. (not speaking of the material here folks, but the quality of the sound) . The mass-produced CD version sucked any of the brown out of Ed's tone.
The integrity of the sound was fucked in the digital conversion process.
You can't compromise when you have a distorted guitar based situation or it will be shrill sounding and unlistenable, which Ed said he was going to give Sony a hard time about but said you can't fight that kind of corporation.

So what was Ed' escuses wtith all of the VAN HAGAR material that sucked balls soundwise, as well as qualitywise?

Edweirdo is full of shit. That may have been the case in the 80's and up into the 90's, but with the introduction of high resolution CD technology, there should have been no problem getting the most out of the recording. Here's the REAL reason, they went cheap on the CD recording, so they could crank out millions for the expected sales generated by the buzz of a new Van HALEN release. VHIII probably thought that they'd get to press a second "remaster" edition with better sound to market, like the six-pack...But alas, when you barely go gold, it's not going to happen. I've always thought VH was a band that didn't take great care in presenting the best possible product, they somewhat rectified that with the six-pack release, but this is a band that will not take chances, not put the work in to maximize their catalogue of recorded ROTH era material (as in the numerous live soundboards that exist).

CD recordings had improved dramatically since 95.' There are no excuses.