Originally Posted by
Terry
Well, as near as I can piece together (and none of this is exactly anything unique in terms of original thinking), the Van Halens and Ed in particular once the band became successful started looking at Mike Anthony as someone who wasn't pulling his fair share of the load in terms of getting an equal split with the rest of them. Certainly not on a creative front in terms of songwriting in Ed's mind, whereas Ed would always concede (even after the 1985 split when there was plenty of bad blood) that Roth contributed a great deal to the creative process.
People make the same case about Alex Van Halen or tend to lump him in the same boat as Anthony (hey, what the fuck, Alex was just the drummer), but Alex and Ed cut their teeth/developed their chops together and I can't imagine Ed playing with another drummer BESIDES Alex in terms of them feeding off of one another/each knowing where the other was going when playing. Yeah, it would obviously be physically possible for Ed to play with another drummer, but that level of musical intimacy is something developed over a lifetime. Plus, Alex is blood: who else besides a family member would tolerate Ed's eccentricities? Anthony hung in there much longer than I would have. Especially after his financial percentage was whittled down from the early 1990s through to 2004.
And I think of where Ed was by the time 2006 rolled around, divorced, in the throes of various addictions, no record label, no singer, no prospects beyond wanking around in his home studio and rattling around in his dilapidated mansion. Considering all that, I don't think anyone else BUT Wolfgang could have served as a motivation for Ed to stop dicking around and actually get up and DO something. No bass player outside of Ed's kid could have been that motivating force. And the kid was smart enough to realize that getting Roth back in the band was the only viable move left to make and was the only person on the planet who could tell Ed this in a way that Ed would actually listen to it. Yeah, the only reason Wolfgang ended up in the band was nepotism, but that same nepotism served a positive aspect in revitalizing Ed.
To be sure, the reunion hasn't resulted in a bounty of new ideas on a musical front. It's been a fairly standard reunion, and in what has sadly become a reality for Van Halen post-1996 there are obstacles that have proven insurmountable (and will probably remain so) in restoring the band to what it once was all those years ago. And even if Anthony rejoins the band, it's never going to be what it once was. The best that could be hoped for was a touring unit that on their best nights could perhaps provide fleeting reminders through their set of the brilliance they used to be able to summon at will and sustain for an entire tour with seemingly little effort. That's the feeling I got when I saw them in 2008 and 2012 at certain points during the shows: every so often the pieces of the CVH band that remained, weathered by age and former abuses, would click in at operate at 100% of their capacities and capabilities today and it would give me a nostalgic sensation of re-experiencing a memory of that utter greatness the band had that turned me on way back when.
Saenz could serve up Roth's vocals with Van Halen now better than Roth could ever hope to these days. That's just a factual statement. However, seeing that isn't really something I'd necessarily want to pay money to see. For whatever gripes I have about Roth these days, to boot him out and get a tribute band ringer in there would slot Van Halen into even more of a freak-show element than it was seeing Wolfgang there on the first Roth reunion tour, when the kid looked awkward onstage and just out of place. THAT situation resolved itself somewhat in 2012, when seeing Wolfgang up there onstage felt natural. Not to the point where I wouldn't have preferred Anthony to be up there, but as natural as it would get WITHOUT Anthony there.
Were the band to ditch Roth for Saenz, the net result for me would be the same as if they ditched Roth and got Hagar back in: my interest (what remains of it, which even with Roth there now is very little; short of a miraculous new studio album full of interesting NEW ideas I think the band has gone as far as it can with Dave re: doing anything of interest to me) would be nada. Zip. Ziltch.
Van Halen for me are just basically done, you know? At least in the sense of waiting with anticipation for what will happen next. Even the prospect of a new studio album is something that I'm taking a wait-and-see/"okay, let's see what you got/impress me" attitude toward, rather than "man! I can't WAIT for the new Van Halen album".