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I have been browsing this forum for quite some time but never have posted until now. The main reason for this is i am not a Pro Roth Van Halen fan, i am a Van Halen fan more importantly an EVH fan, because i am a fan of his ground breaking guitar work on the original Van Halen albums. To give credit where credit is due....YES! DLR most definitely was PART of the reason the original VH was so successful, but anybody on this board that thinks VH wouldn't have been successful in the beginning without Roth is sadly mistaken.
In 1978 the Guitar God was as important to rock music as it ever had been. Enter Van Halen FEATURING Edward Van Halen, with that Guitar style and sound there is NO WAY! the world of rock music and guitar playing could have ever overlooked VH. Let there be no mistake about this fact, it would not have mattered who was singing for the band. But i stated above credit should be given where credit is due. DLR was then and is now a Showman, an Entertainer and a ROCK STAR. And a DAMN! fine one at that. His contribution to VH and his One of the all time great rock n roll frontmen status is the stuff that legends are made of.
But more importantly so is EVH...by a long shot....The shadow casted by this legendary guitarist is enormous, there is a reason why EVH is consistently cited as a major influence on countless guitarists since his arrival. There is a reason he continues to this day to top the greatest guitarists of all time polls. This same reverence for Roth and any other member of VH does not exist....Only on Pro Roth forums such as this, and the occasional greatest frontmen of rock n roll poll....
PERIOD!
Yes it is a fact the Roth era VH record sales are greater than the Van Hagar era. Yes it is a fact that the Guitar playing of Eddie Van Halen was at it's most potent and virtuosic during this time. NO! it is inaccurate to cite Sammy Hagar as the sole contributing reason that his era with VH is considered more mainstream and POP oriented. Just go back and listen to Diver Down all those covers of classic pop hits was an attempt by the record label, Ted Templeman and DLR to help VH score more serious hits. If VH would have contnued in this direction i can assure you they would have died off alot faster than 1996. Because they would have become a huge joke and a parody of themselves.
The real turning point though in the mass mainstream appeal version of VH came in the form of 1984. Can anyone say JUMP, PANAMA, HOT FOR TEACHER, and I'LL WAIT. All very popular and mainstream tunes, albeit some rocked more than others and more than some future VH hits. Of course there was still more energetic and experimental tunes on 1984 just as there are on 5150, OU812 and so on. Lets also not overlook the huge part DLR played in making those songs the big hits they were, mostly because of the entertaining videos and DLR's image. But the musical direction was charted out by EVH himself, just as it had always been, with the exception of the cover songs on diver down. Ed hated that album more than any other VH record, and so do i....Even more than 3.
What Sammy Hagar allowed VH to achieve was a continuation after DLR jumped ship. Hagar allowed the band to be more versatile with songwriting and to score more hits and platinum records and to keep the band alive another 10 years. But Hagar most definitely was not the reason for VH's increased mainstream appeal, EVH was. I can guarantee that if DLR would have stayed with VH and they would have continued in the ridiculous direction as DLR did in his solo career they would have died off well before 1996, just as DLR's mainstream appeal did.
With all this being said....who really cares which era sold more records. Who cares who is responsible for the mainstream direction. Who cares which frontman is considered the best. Who cares who is at fault for the downfall of the Mighty Van Halen. They all were responsible for the success and failure of VH....PERIOD!
VH did not rock more becuse of DLR, they rocked harder because of the INTENSE! guitar playing of EVH. VH did not go mainstream because of Hagar, it is because of the change in musical direction of EVH. Sammy Hagar simply came into the band at a time when it could have collapsed and helped them carry on when DLR no longer cared. VH 1 and 1984 have continued to sell because of their legendary status. And Hagar allowed those records to continue selling because he helped the band continue. Who knows if VH had disbanded when Roth left if these records would have continued to sell and who really cares.
VH is not about numbers, it is about great rock n roll music, and some of the most innovative guitar playing ever. I for one wish EVH would pickup the original FRANKIE and plug into a MARSHALL again and get that tone back, and use that as the foundation to build their future on. I don't give a CRAP! who is at the mike, i don't care if it sells 500,000 copies or 10 Million. It's all about the music to me, and i don't mind a ballad or two along the way.
When you have a guitar style and sound like EVH had in the early days why in the hell he would ever want to abandon that is beyond me. His sound was every bit as important as was the tapping, and the floyd rose dive bombs. He needs to go back to square one and evolve from there. There was pure magic in the guitar tone of VH 1 and Fair Warning.
If they Decide to reunite with Roth and record a new album it will be huge no doubt, and if they decide to tour with Roth that will be huge as well, and i will be there to buy the CD and see the show. If they do the same with Hagar or another singer ( my suggestion for a new singer would be Jeff Scott Soto) i will be there to do the same, because i love VH.
Ed get that sound back you MORON!
Let the flaming begin, i don't give a crap...the truth is the truth....
In 1978 the Guitar God was as important to rock music as it ever had been. Enter Van Halen FEATURING Edward Van Halen, with that Guitar style and sound there is NO WAY! the world of rock music and guitar playing could have ever overlooked VH. Let there be no mistake about this fact, it would not have mattered who was singing for the band. But i stated above credit should be given where credit is due. DLR was then and is now a Showman, an Entertainer and a ROCK STAR. And a DAMN! fine one at that. His contribution to VH and his One of the all time great rock n roll frontmen status is the stuff that legends are made of.
But more importantly so is EVH...by a long shot....The shadow casted by this legendary guitarist is enormous, there is a reason why EVH is consistently cited as a major influence on countless guitarists since his arrival. There is a reason he continues to this day to top the greatest guitarists of all time polls. This same reverence for Roth and any other member of VH does not exist....Only on Pro Roth forums such as this, and the occasional greatest frontmen of rock n roll poll....
PERIOD!
Yes it is a fact the Roth era VH record sales are greater than the Van Hagar era. Yes it is a fact that the Guitar playing of Eddie Van Halen was at it's most potent and virtuosic during this time. NO! it is inaccurate to cite Sammy Hagar as the sole contributing reason that his era with VH is considered more mainstream and POP oriented. Just go back and listen to Diver Down all those covers of classic pop hits was an attempt by the record label, Ted Templeman and DLR to help VH score more serious hits. If VH would have contnued in this direction i can assure you they would have died off alot faster than 1996. Because they would have become a huge joke and a parody of themselves.
The real turning point though in the mass mainstream appeal version of VH came in the form of 1984. Can anyone say JUMP, PANAMA, HOT FOR TEACHER, and I'LL WAIT. All very popular and mainstream tunes, albeit some rocked more than others and more than some future VH hits. Of course there was still more energetic and experimental tunes on 1984 just as there are on 5150, OU812 and so on. Lets also not overlook the huge part DLR played in making those songs the big hits they were, mostly because of the entertaining videos and DLR's image. But the musical direction was charted out by EVH himself, just as it had always been, with the exception of the cover songs on diver down. Ed hated that album more than any other VH record, and so do i....Even more than 3.
What Sammy Hagar allowed VH to achieve was a continuation after DLR jumped ship. Hagar allowed the band to be more versatile with songwriting and to score more hits and platinum records and to keep the band alive another 10 years. But Hagar most definitely was not the reason for VH's increased mainstream appeal, EVH was. I can guarantee that if DLR would have stayed with VH and they would have continued in the ridiculous direction as DLR did in his solo career they would have died off well before 1996, just as DLR's mainstream appeal did.
With all this being said....who really cares which era sold more records. Who cares who is responsible for the mainstream direction. Who cares which frontman is considered the best. Who cares who is at fault for the downfall of the Mighty Van Halen. They all were responsible for the success and failure of VH....PERIOD!
VH did not rock more becuse of DLR, they rocked harder because of the INTENSE! guitar playing of EVH. VH did not go mainstream because of Hagar, it is because of the change in musical direction of EVH. Sammy Hagar simply came into the band at a time when it could have collapsed and helped them carry on when DLR no longer cared. VH 1 and 1984 have continued to sell because of their legendary status. And Hagar allowed those records to continue selling because he helped the band continue. Who knows if VH had disbanded when Roth left if these records would have continued to sell and who really cares.
VH is not about numbers, it is about great rock n roll music, and some of the most innovative guitar playing ever. I for one wish EVH would pickup the original FRANKIE and plug into a MARSHALL again and get that tone back, and use that as the foundation to build their future on. I don't give a CRAP! who is at the mike, i don't care if it sells 500,000 copies or 10 Million. It's all about the music to me, and i don't mind a ballad or two along the way.
When you have a guitar style and sound like EVH had in the early days why in the hell he would ever want to abandon that is beyond me. His sound was every bit as important as was the tapping, and the floyd rose dive bombs. He needs to go back to square one and evolve from there. There was pure magic in the guitar tone of VH 1 and Fair Warning.
If they Decide to reunite with Roth and record a new album it will be huge no doubt, and if they decide to tour with Roth that will be huge as well, and i will be there to buy the CD and see the show. If they do the same with Hagar or another singer ( my suggestion for a new singer would be Jeff Scott Soto) i will be there to do the same, because i love VH.
Ed get that sound back you MORON!
Let the flaming begin, i don't give a crap...the truth is the truth....
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