Tweet
Van Halen ceased to be years ago. Van Halen always was Roth, Ed, Al and Mike.
The four people going out on the road this spring under the name Van Halen are Van Halen in name only. The same was true in 1986, and 1998, and it stands today.
There are plenty who want to see Eddie play under any circumstances. Easily understood. Explains why Halen had a lot of initial success in the mid 80s after Roth left. But you Eddie grunts and Red Troll lovers will always have to live with the fact that Van Halen Mach 2 inherited most of that success off the back of the original, classic lineup and proceeded to slowly piss it away.
Before Sammy starts in with his fried cheese platter full of bullshit at the first press conference and the Eddie lovers lap it up let's get the record straight from the outset:
a) Halen's record sales dwindled from an all time high off the 1984 album to slightly over two million by the time Balance was released.
b) The biggest publicity boost Van Halen got aside from Roth's departure in 1985 was Roth's temporary reunion in 1996.
c) Sammy Hagar's version of Van Halen has sold half of the what the classic lineup did.
d) Sam Halen did not sell 60 million records.
e) Roth was the one who had the balls to go out under his own name after the 1985 split, and was doing so with original solo material long before his present incarnation of the Van Halen tribute show featuring David Lee Roth. He could have kept the name Van Halen, had just as much right to as Ed, Al and Mike (maybe even more so since he was the one that gave the band that name in the first place), but he always gets the nod from me for not taking the easy road.
f) Van Halen's biggest concert in terms of attendance was the 1983 US Festival
In terms of Sam and Eddie fans giving Roth diehards shit for not accepting this sham version of Van Halen heading out on the road, let me remind you that you are on a site dedicated to the classic lineup of Van Halen and David Lee Roth. Sam wasn't in that classic lineup, and will always be remembered as "the first guy who attempted to replace Roth on vocals". Remember where you are when you come here telling us how your love for Sam Halen is driving you crazy, and stop bitching and moaning when you get slapped down to size.
Finally, if Halen is going to put out a Best Of Vol 2, how about releasing the following on a Best of Vol 2 video companion:
Promo 'live' lip-synch videos for Running With The Devil, You Really Got Me and Jamie's Crying from the late 1970s
Live Don Kirschner's Rock Concert series vids for You're No Good, Dance the Night Away and Bottom's Up! from 1979
" " Hear About It Later,
Unchanied and So This Is Love? from 1981
Pretty Woman promo vid
I only ask because they gave the classic era a shafting with the Best of Vol 1 vid, giving us only Jump, Panama and Hot For Teacher then following that with more Sam Halen vids than I thought even existed.
Hey, Ed! Better yet, give us a DVD of Oakland 1981 in it's entirety.
Dave, don't give this Mach 2 reunion biz a second thought. Van Halen has been washed up for longer than even you might care to admit. Just sit back and laugh with the rest of us. As Ed said in 1996, some things are better left to memory. I, for one, am glad you're not getting back together with the Lying Dutchmen and Nyuck Nyuck the bass player. Those three would have dragged you down the tubes and tarnished the legend.
The four people going out on the road this spring under the name Van Halen are Van Halen in name only. The same was true in 1986, and 1998, and it stands today.
There are plenty who want to see Eddie play under any circumstances. Easily understood. Explains why Halen had a lot of initial success in the mid 80s after Roth left. But you Eddie grunts and Red Troll lovers will always have to live with the fact that Van Halen Mach 2 inherited most of that success off the back of the original, classic lineup and proceeded to slowly piss it away.
Before Sammy starts in with his fried cheese platter full of bullshit at the first press conference and the Eddie lovers lap it up let's get the record straight from the outset:
a) Halen's record sales dwindled from an all time high off the 1984 album to slightly over two million by the time Balance was released.
b) The biggest publicity boost Van Halen got aside from Roth's departure in 1985 was Roth's temporary reunion in 1996.
c) Sammy Hagar's version of Van Halen has sold half of the what the classic lineup did.
d) Sam Halen did not sell 60 million records.
e) Roth was the one who had the balls to go out under his own name after the 1985 split, and was doing so with original solo material long before his present incarnation of the Van Halen tribute show featuring David Lee Roth. He could have kept the name Van Halen, had just as much right to as Ed, Al and Mike (maybe even more so since he was the one that gave the band that name in the first place), but he always gets the nod from me for not taking the easy road.
f) Van Halen's biggest concert in terms of attendance was the 1983 US Festival
In terms of Sam and Eddie fans giving Roth diehards shit for not accepting this sham version of Van Halen heading out on the road, let me remind you that you are on a site dedicated to the classic lineup of Van Halen and David Lee Roth. Sam wasn't in that classic lineup, and will always be remembered as "the first guy who attempted to replace Roth on vocals". Remember where you are when you come here telling us how your love for Sam Halen is driving you crazy, and stop bitching and moaning when you get slapped down to size.
Finally, if Halen is going to put out a Best Of Vol 2, how about releasing the following on a Best of Vol 2 video companion:
Promo 'live' lip-synch videos for Running With The Devil, You Really Got Me and Jamie's Crying from the late 1970s
Live Don Kirschner's Rock Concert series vids for You're No Good, Dance the Night Away and Bottom's Up! from 1979
" " Hear About It Later,
Unchanied and So This Is Love? from 1981
Pretty Woman promo vid
I only ask because they gave the classic era a shafting with the Best of Vol 1 vid, giving us only Jump, Panama and Hot For Teacher then following that with more Sam Halen vids than I thought even existed.
Hey, Ed! Better yet, give us a DVD of Oakland 1981 in it's entirety.
Dave, don't give this Mach 2 reunion biz a second thought. Van Halen has been washed up for longer than even you might care to admit. Just sit back and laugh with the rest of us. As Ed said in 1996, some things are better left to memory. I, for one, am glad you're not getting back together with the Lying Dutchmen and Nyuck Nyuck the bass player. Those three would have dragged you down the tubes and tarnished the legend.
Comment