A theory for classic VH lovers

[Thetruthbaby]

This is a theory on why a significant number of fans remained sheep and stuck by a sup par version of VH. When Dave letft in 1985 I believe VH fans were crushed. One thing I noticed in the rock press was that Eddie&Alex were constantly slamming Dave, blaming him for everything and calling him a egomanic/asshole while painting a picture of themselves as being victims of seeming torture and unfair treatment. They always tried to diminish Roth's huge contributions to VH's immense popularity. Dave on the other hand (aside from a few jabs) basically took the high road and avoided getting into a war in the late 80's with the brothers. I always thought this was a mistake and Dave should have stood up for himself more but whatever. I believe many fans (like my brother for instance) bought Eddie's story hook, line, and sinker and began to blame Dave for evrerything. By the early 90's when Dave started to fight back more it was too late basically. In 96' though when Bozo the clown was fired many fans started to see that maybe Eddie wasn't a saint like they had believed. I alwyas knew Eddie had a colossal ego. Whether it was telling people he invented tapping (year right) or trying to negate A Frehley's influence on a generation of guitarists in guitar magazine interviews it was apparent to me Eddie had deep seeded problems and was a total egomaniac himself. Not to mention his long standing drug/alcohol problems. Unfortunately many fans are still sheep and refuse to admit they were wrong about Eddie Van Halen and in turn still blame Roth for everything that went wrong back in the early 80's. Most people can not admit when they're wrong and these (in my opinion) are the same lackeys that are buying tix for this sham tour going on right now. Deep down I truly believe they all know who the REAL VH is. If you listen to the first 6 albums and then everything after it's no contest. Unfortunately their are many that still cling to Eddie's balls and can't let go. The bottom line is that VH's legacy will always be with ROTH, because the material is superior in every way. And even the VAN HAGAR fans know it. It just kills them to know they followed something so blindly that in the end had very little impact on the rock world so they cling to the notion that VH improved with Hagar. They know the truth though. I highly doubt they lay in bed at night and think to themselves that 5150 is better than Van Halen I or Fair Warning. For any person that isn't suffering from brain damage it's just not possible.

[Warham]

I agree that some people can't see that Ed is a lieing sack of shit.

I blamed Dave mostly for the VH split before '96. After '96, I swung 180 degrees and have always thought after that it was Ed's problem. Nothing could reverse that after what's went down the last eight years.

[Don Corleone]

I met Ed once, the guys a right tit.

[Terry]

Not that I bought what Eddie was selling in the press about Roth in 1985, 1986 and 1996 (the three years that stand out in terms of Eddie and Al taking shots at Dave).........

BUT


..........even if every single thing Eddie said about Dave WAS true, still don't matter, because in the end the music stunk and what VH put out after Roth left sucked big-time.

The music is what matters in the end. If Van Hagar's music were half as good as what the classic lineup put out, then the focus regarding Van Halen wouldn't be on the soap opera angle of rotating band members. That's pretty much why virtually everybody is fixated on what Eddie has said in the press since 1985, rather than the music he's come up with, because recounting barbs in the Roth/EVH-Sam Halen press wars are far more interesting than listening to anything put out under the name Van Halen since 1984.

[smaz]

I wasn't around when VH split up, but if Dave remained silent and didn't stand up for himself against the VH brothers, maybe fans lost faith in him??? Also after reading the bit about the MTV show in Crazy From the Heat, you can tell Ed is a self centered idiot. And it also proves that people wanted Dave.

[street_lethal]

Eddie seems like he definitely has an ego. Dave defintely seems like he has an ego. Put both together and you get great music but alot of problems obviously. They both seem to be hard to deal with, not that I would personally know, just going by various interviews with both I have read and heard.

As far as Eddie inventing tapping, he didn't. I don't think he ever claimed he was the first to do it. He was asked if he ever saw anybody do it before and he said no. I never read about Eddie dissing Ace, but he did have a habit of dissing players when he was younger so I wouldn't doubt it.

This guy if the first guy known to tap

http://www.geocities.com/websterfiles/webster.html

And he did it in the 50's! Plus he went way beyond the simple tapping with one finger deal, he did independent bass lines and chord melodies, i.e Stanley Jordan type stuff.

[Terry]

Everyone in 1996 wanted Dave back in the band.

Didn't hear one person complaining about Hagar being gone, just as I didn't hear one person looking forward to Cherone joining with enthusiasm.

On Stanley Jordan, Ed said "I don't care to take it [tapping] as far as he has. What he does is so special it's not special, you know what I mean?"

Jordon did things with two hands on the neck Ed could only dream about. Ed may be the most popular tapper, but he was nowhere near the most accomplished. Shit, Jeff Watson from Night Ranger was doing 8-fingered tapping sequences, whereas Ed usually stuck with 4 or 5 at most.

[GAR]

Originally posted by Don Corleone
I met Ed once, the guys a right tit.

or a Left Labia Lip. Carcinogenic or filtered, he's more a cunt than a nipple.

[Fabulous Shadow]

I am a total ED-Head but if one thing is certain it's that Ed is a fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy. He says things without thinking!
Dave is family! Sammy is my musical soul-mate. We're working with Dave and the music is better than ever. Gary is brother, if it doesn't work with him I'm quitting VH and playing the cello. Sammy is where it's always been.

EDDIE! Learn to quit talking! Here I've always thought Dave was the one who didn't know when to shut his yap!

[FIRELITE]

I was able to read between the lines when they split. I didn't buy what Ed was saying about Dave and I always thought it was low of Sam to knock Dave. My take was that they always disagreed but they compromised and it got to where nobody wanted to compromise anymore so Dave left. I don't know if he did the right thing or not - maybe he should have stayed even if things went down hill a little. Maybe they would hit a few low spots and then come back strong again - we'll never know what would have been if Dave stayed.

At first I thought the music was most important so I went with VH because even when their music is not so great you have to admit they sound better than anybody else out there - they are such a great band. But when OU812 came out I started to realize how much Dave contributed. You never know on this end if it's just showbiz stuff or if the singer is really in charge. It became clear that Dave was definitely the boss in that band. Ed writes great music no question but Dave was the one to put it all together and keep everything on the right track - we're not doing that song cuz it don't fit or this is too long or this is too short or whatever - he was the director as he put it in a recent interview.

As far as the tapping goes - I don't care how many fingers Ed puts on his neck he sounds better than anybody else because he plays with such feeling. What he said about Jordan was that he had taken it to a level where he did not need a band and Ed said that was not his idea - he still wanted a bass and his brother.