LONG Rolling Stone tribute article

[twonabomber]

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/eddie-van-halen-tribute-1081034/

I won't post the whole thing. I worked last night, stopped at the gym after, and want to go to bed.

Two of my favorite blurbs about the Replacement Singer:

Hagar was a hard-working, unpretentious dude, a naturally melodic songwriter with a likable manner and an undeniably powerful singing voice, a contained howl that always sounded thoroughly commercial, radio-ready. He was armed with some of the best business instincts in rock, but unlike Roth, he was no intellectual — his subtext-free lyrics were often as undercooked as they were crass. (“Wham, bam, oh, Amsterdam,” he would sing, in a dubious celebration of Eddie’s birthplace.)

and

On 5150 alone there was “Why Can’t This Be Love,” with the fantastically insipid line “Only time will tell if we stand the test of time"

FANTASTICALLY INSIPID

[twonabomber]

Sam could use that as the title of his next album! Sammy Hagar's Circle Jerk: Fantastically Insipid!

[Hardrock69]

Nice to see some intellect amongst journalists for a change.

Usually I have to deal with ignorant saps who cannot spell, who get irate when I message them to tell them why their grammar or spelling are fucked, and how they should go cry to their mommy that the bad mans made them spell stuff correctly.

[Vinnie Velvet]

Kind of sad reading that article to be honest.

Eddie went through a lot and clearly had many issues. Drugs and alcohol didn't help.

If it weren't for Wolf, Ed would've been dead much sooner.

[Rikk]

Kind of sad reading that article to be honest.

Eddie went through a lot and clearly had many issues. Drugs and alcohol didn't help.

If it weren't for Wolf, Ed would've been dead much sooner.

I agree. I'm tired of fans shitting on Wolf. Wolf gave his old man happiness. Gave his dad's life meaning. Pushed him to get sober and treat himself better. Pushed his dad back into music. Got Roth back. Pushed him to make another album...and with Dave. Pushed for the old demos to be new Van Halen songs. Pushed for tours. Pushed for the band to dig out old songs like DROP DEAD LEGS and LIGHT UP THE SKY and WOMEN IN LOVE...

"But Mikey's not there!!!" But Ed was happy. Had meaning in his life. He was working again and stopped drinking.

Thank you, Wolfie. We got three tours with Dave, an album, your dad was happy...we got so much. You probably saved your dad's life more than once. I hope he doesn't blame himself for what happened a few weeks ago...nothing would have stopped that after a life of smoking, drinking and drugs. But Eddie sure got a third wind. And as fans, we can all be so thankful that Eddie Van Halen's last tour was not that unsuccessful and embarrassing joke that was the 2004 tour.

Wolf was, just to start, a wonderful son. I'm looking forward to whatever projects (archival) he digs up to celebrate his dad's life and career. Besides new albums, I'm hoping for some kind of awesome documentary or series about his dad's life and career.

And I'll be listening and hopeful when he releases his own album. I don't expect it to sound like the band Van Halen. If it's good music, I'll dig it. He was in a band with David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen for a decade. That's only slightly longer than the 3,187 days since Kristy last got laid. So...Wolf had good teachers.

Wolf saved Van Halen. And for a while, he saved his dad too.

[Terry]

I agree. I'm tired of fans shitting on Wolf. Wolf gave his old man happiness. Gave his dad's life meaning. Pushed him to get sober and treat himself better. Pushed his dad back into music. Got Roth back. Pushed him to make another album...and with Dave. Pushed for the old demos to be new Van Halen songs. Pushed for tours. Pushed for the band to dig out old songs like DROP DEAD LEGS and LIGHT UP THE SKY and WOMEN IN LOVE...

"But Mikey's not there!!!" But Ed was happy. Had meaning in his life. He was working again and stopped drinking.

Thank you, Wolfie. We got three tours with Dave, an album, your dad was happy...we got so much. You probably saved your dad's life more than once. I hope he doesn't blame himself for what happened a few weeks ago...nothing would have stopped that after a life of smoking, drinking and drugs. But Eddie sure got a third wind. And as fans, we can all be so thankful that Eddie Van Halen's last tour was not that unsuccessful and embarrassing joke that was the 2004 tour.

Wolf was, just to start, a wonderful son. I'm looking forward to whatever projects (archival) he digs up to celebrate his dad's life and career. Besides new albums, I'm hoping for some kind of awesome documentary or series about his dad's life and career.

And I'll be listening and hopeful when he releases his own album. I don't expect it to sound like the band Van Halen. If it's good music, I'll dig it. He was in a band with David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen for a decade. That's only slightly longer than the 3,187 days since Kristy last got laid. So...Wolf had good teachers.

Wolf saved Van Halen. And for a while, he saved his dad too.

Whatever one thinks about nepotism, or about the generally negligible talent of children of celebrities (be said celebrities actors, musicians, politicians...whatever), in Van Halen's case it was a bit different.

Different in the aspect that...well, I certainly got the sense that the greatest amount of joy Ed got out of performing for those last three tours was derived from playing with his kid. And it's not hard to imagine that without Wolfgang's participation in the band, Roth rejoining and the subsequent tours/album(s) might well not have happened. At the very least, Wolfgang was both sensible enough to realize that what the bulk of Van Halen fans circa 2006 wanted was a reunion with Roth and - perhaps more importantly - had the clout/influence with Eddie to get that reunion moving forward. I mean, I suppose said reunion may have happened anyway, but as to what actually DID happen...Wolfgang played a huge part in making that happen. And, as you say, along with that came Wolfgang making sure the band dug out deep CVH tracks to essay live.

In the end, Wolfgang performed ably enough far as playing the bass parts went. I'm not gonna say that I still wouldn't have liked to have seen the CVH lineup undertake a tour, but I will say that by the time the ADKOT tour took place, at the show I saw I was barely cognizant that Mike Anthony wasn't there...so, the kid got the job done.

And it probably wouldn't be a stretch to say that all of the 2007-2015 activity helped prolong Ed's life than it otherwise may have had Ed been left to his own devices: Wolfgang in the band gave Ed a purpose. That translated into the Roth tours. And the ADKOT album. Thus, Wolfgang in the band was certainly a net positive from where I sit, considering where the band and Ed were circa 2000-2004. By that point, Mike Anthony wasn't even really in the band anymore, so doubtless his influence with Ed was at the very least far less than Wolfgang's was.