Could Edward have made it big without Dave?

[Cathedral]

Fate is a fucked up thing and the more we try to manipulate it the more unpredictable the results.

But in all honesty, would Edward Van Halen have found the success he has enjoyed on guitar prowess alone?
The singer debate has spawned all sorts of "What If" scenarios, but if you really look at Van Halens humble beginnings you cannot disagree that "humble" is the exact term that describes their climb to the top.

They opened for everyone under the sun before they became a headliner as admitted by Dave himself.
It is a well known fact that Dave sold Van Halen and basically refused to be denied, but success was not instant for them, just read Crazy From The Heat and this you will find to be true, accoring to the Diamond one.
Edward has admitted to not ever speaking his mind, he was the silent chub that was lifted to icon status from the chants of "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie" that i heard everytime i saw the original line-up.
But that is where the question comes in.

Would he really have even been on that stage if it weren't for Dave?

I know a few guitarists personally that at the time could have given Ed a run for his money that are still working a day job and enjoying modest club success.
I think that if it weren't for the bombastic attitude of DLR getting in our faces, Edward wouldn't have made it.
Dave was the first thing i ever saw about Van Halen and if it wasn't for him i wouldn't have even listened to Van Halen I........

[DLR7884]

Ed would have made it big without Dave, but he wouldn't have made it as big if it weren't for Dave.

DLR7884
He'd probably be in KISS right now.

[Cathedral]

That's makes sense, but a part of me likens it to the tree falling in the woods question.
If not for dave would anyone, even KISS, have known who he was or ever heard him in the first place?

Remember that it was with Dave that Edward even became known to Gene Simmons in that club.
No dave, No club for Gene to check them out.

But that is where fate steps in. maybe they were all destined for success no matter the vehicle at the time.

[Igosplut]

I think that Dave was a larger part of making Ed well known than vise-versa.

But it was still the combination of them that made it happen on the scale that it did.......

[DavidLeeNatra]

they needed each other to become big in the beginning...and now they need each other again to make it really BIG for one last time...no dave no ed no ed no dave...

[Cathedral]

Sad but true, at this point i agree 100% with that statement.

Spammy won't do it for them, but i see it being good enough to make the cheese lovers buy product.

[YankeeRose]

no.

"I once heard somebody say to the Van Halens..'you guys make the music..the Jew sells it!!' Well your goddamn right, and now that I'm gone, Van Halen sucks!" DLR - CFTH

[Cathedral]

And he speaketh the truth...Nobody finds where you live if they don't have a map, lol.

[Dave IS VH]

I agree, If Eddie got a new head singer, and start Van Halen 4, it would do bad, like Van Halen 3.
A Van Hagar reunion would have some success, but not like a DLR reunion. Dave will never see the success like he once did, at less he reunites with VH.

So, I guess they both really do need each other.

[Panamark]

Unfortunately they are all getting really old. I think theres only one window of oppurtunity left. Seems like they are going to waste it on one of the replacement singers. That, is terribly fucked up.

[ELVIS]

Yep...

If there was no Dave.. Ed would have become a drunken recluse twenty years earlier probably due to some bar band firing him or some local stripper leaving him...

[S.P.G]

would roth have been as big if it wasn't for eddie? i doubt it! dave is grate, but without van halen now, his solo career has gone down the plug hole slowly, so without having eddie in the first place, this website wouldn't even be here!

[chuckg34]

Originally posted by S.P.G
would roth have been as big if it wasn't for eddie? i doubt it! dave is grate, but without van halen now, his solo career has gone down the plug hole slowly, so without having eddie in the first place, this website wouldn't even be here!

It's a two way street. I don't think there could be one without the other. Creating the classic VH music was possible from the chemistry between all four members. It really could not have happened any other way.

[AndyChad]

For me VH was always Dave and Ed...without Dave they became an ordinary rock/metal whatever band with a class guitarist and not much diversity in their music. I think Dave was instrumental in getting them noticed just by being the extrovert. But Eds' playing was something else back then, so you've got to say they needed each other to make to make it work. Right place, right time.

[dtuna]

Anything Dave and Ed do apart from each other pales in comparison to what they create together.

Having said that, of course Eddie would have been big without Dave. He truly was the greatest guitarist anyone had ever heard at that time. While it probably wouldn't have had the same monstrous power and influence that VH did, there's no way Eddie wouldn't have been successful with a different band.