Originally Posted by
Terry
I think it's like Von, 78/84, Va Beach, Sesh and twona said.
By the time 1984 rolled around, the rest of Van Halen were just sick of Dave and Dave was just tired of dealing with them.
If you read and watch interviews Dave and Ed gave as the band became more and more successful, a lot of the remarks each gave about the other were sort of diplomatically complimentary while at times barely masking a thinly concealed contempt. The whole making of the 1984 album was a disjointed experience in terms of how the band was interacting. And now you read in Van Halen Rising how while the Van Halens had a grudging respect for Roth's abilities as an entertainer and performer, they had nowhere near that level of respect for Roth's abilities as a singer from the beginning. And it wouldn't be a shot in the dark to suggest that by the time 1984 rolled around, Ed was plain tired of being told where the band had to record, what songs to play (a la Diver Down's multiple cover tunes), what type of music to play ("hey, man, nobody wants to hear you play keyboards"), when to tour and how long, when and what type of music videos to do, and on and on. And by the time 1984 rolled around Ed had won every music magazine poll in the world for top rock guitarist and had doubtless read more than a few critiques of the band which flatly stated that Roth was a goofball clown showoff and him fronting the band would always relegate Van Halen to little more than a party rock band with a great guitarist.
And I'll bet by the time 1984 and 1985 rolled around, Roth was getting tired of dealing with the Van Halens and feeling like he was the only one pulling the load in terms of designing the stage sets, designing the wardrobe, designing the tour programs, designing the t-shirts, choreographing Mike Anthony's bass solo, giving the bulk of the interviews to non-guitar mag outlets all the while having to play with these guys who he doesn't even get along with and never did. Once the CFTH vids started getting heavy rotation and he was at the peak of his own personal celebrity with a potential movie deal in hand, probably the thought of having to continue dealing with the rest of Van Halen and all the tension that entailed was less than appealing. Maybe all of that could have been surmounted if the 5150 rehearsals were heralding promising new music, but even the musical direction was no longer satisfying to Roth at that point.
Roth bailed in 1985. He quit. No doubt about that.
I mean, back in 1985 it felt like a shame the band was breaking up because it felt like there was still plenty of good music left to come. The reality, looking back now, is perhaps a bit different in that it feels like the band were lucky to have lasted as long as they did. They had 6 productive years together from the release of their first album, and that life span is pretty much what a lot of rock bands have in terms of the definitive lineup(s) producing really exceptional music that defines the best of a band's career, give or take a few years.