A Statement Of Fact Regarding Roth Army And The Mighty Van Halen.....

[Matt White]

Watching Gary is just painful...even though he is SO much better than Spammy...............

[DONNIEP]

The band did sound great - especially with Mikey singing Somebody Get Me A Doctor. Gary, not so much. But really, it's hard to be objective about seeing/hearing anybody else sing Dave's songs. And it would be an impossible gig for any singer, well, except maybe for Ralph.

[chefcraig]

The pisser is, that despite the fact that Cherone sang in the same gargling-battery-acid manner that the Red Sap Sucker used (a style that Cherone has never displayed in his entire career, before or after his stint in VH), he still managed to display the class of a true fan by not only acknowledging, but embracing the Dave-era.

Yet really,the less said about his original musical contributions to VH III, along with his goofy mannerisms and astoundingly bizarre stage craft, the better.

[DONNIEP]

The pisser is, that despite the fact that Cherone sang in the same gargling-battery-acid manner that the Red Sap Sucker used (a style that Cherone has never displayed in his entire career, before or after his stint in VH), he still managed to display the class of a true fan by not only acknowledging, but embracing the Dave-era.

Yet really,the less said about his original musical contributions to VH III, along with his goofy mannerisms and astoundingly bizarre stage craft, the better.

That's just too fucking funny...

[ThrillsNSpills]

The pisser is, that despite the fact that Cherone sang in the same gargling-battery-acid manner that the Red Sap Sucker used (a style that Cherone has never displayed in his entire career, before or after his stint in VH), he still managed to display the class of a true fan by not only acknowledging, but embracing the Dave-era.

Yet really,the less said about his original musical contributions to VH III, along with his goofy mannerisms and astoundingly bizarre stage craft, the better.

Looks like he autodigested his head, chest and stomach and was in the process of pooping out a hand.
This wasn't in the middle of Bottoms Up was it?

[chefcraig]

This wasn't in the middle of Bottoms Up was it?

Even worse (and I could be mistaken), I vaguely recall it taking place during the introduction to "Fire In The Hole" on that Live From The 10 Spot MTV show filmed in Australia.

[Zing!]

As a full-time arm-chair quarterback for the band's direction over the years, I still cringe that 'Van Halen III' was an official album from the band. As this is clearly an 'Eddie Van Halen Project,' it should have been released as such. Mike basically wasn't involved, Cherone was a hired hand, Al simply appeased his brother. By titling it as such, the already sullied history of the band might not have been dragged down even further. Ed has repeatedly made mention to the fact that he was profoundly inspired by Peter Gabriel's album 'So.' This more or less was his attempt at emulating that sound - but he should have embraced it fully rather than try to cram some Hagar-era left-overs onto the album in order to make it a 'Van Halen' album.

Unofficially, I still consider it an Ed solo album and have yet to actually listen to the entire disk front to back (although I've heard snippets of it here and there over the years). A horrible sound quality, embarrassing art design, Cherone's grating Boston voice, and lyrics that try to be 'contemporary' make this one the black sheep of the family - no matter HOW well Ed was playing at the time. The Live At The 10 Spot show was pretty much the last part of the Titanic we got to see before Van Cherone sunk beneath the waves - and even Ed seemed to know this well in advance, if you've ever seen him on that interview promoting 'III' in which he and Al and Mikey did the meet and greet with the super Van Halen fan and the kid's mom. Ed looks like he would rather be on another planet than doing the interview - his face looed like he just got done sucking a giant lemon, particularly when the kid was telling him how great the new album was...

[FORD]

The pisser is, that despite the fact that Cherone sang in the same gargling-battery-acid manner that the Red Sap Sucker used (a style that Cherone has never displayed in his entire career, before or after his stint in VH)

I remember reading Nuno Bettencourt's comments at the time. Obviously he knew Cherone's voice better than anybody, and he couldn't figure out why they were trying to "make him sing like Sammy".

Or as a radio DJ put it at the time, "Like Sammy Hagar with a really bad stomach ache"

[Terry]

I think part of the problem could be Ed has lost his ability to play consistently. I think the guy has problems with his hands and maybe some nervous system damage. I think he knows it and frankly is scared of going out or even making a record. They might have some good songs in the can but how much and can Ed do it all the time?

Seeing him play three-odd years ago, it was noticeable particularly on his solo spot, where the camera was focused solely on him and projecting images of him playing and displaying it on a large screen; his right hand looked clenched and cramped. He also looked half in the bag, which clearly wasn't working in his favor, either. But yeah, it looked like he was physically having trouble coordinating his picking with his fretting. Same deal when it came to the solo in Ice Cream Man and the Hot For Teacher intro. You could see he knew what the notes were, but just couldn't quite get it together.

Bit sad, really. By this point, it may well be just as much a function of his age...maybe the cumulative effects of many years of drug and alcohol abuse just exacerbating a certain amount of physical deterioration that naturally comes with age anyway.

[Terry]

It's a shame you missed the VH III tour... the record stunk and Cherone was a tool... but that was the top peak of Ed's playing ability and it's doubtful he'll ever perform at that level again. What made it even better was they pulled out several CVH tunes that hadn't been heard live in over a decade and Ed, Mike & Al smoked em like it was yesterday...

Ed was playing really well on that tour.

The real shame of it all was how good it all could have sounded had Roth been there...and how Ed wasted what were probably his last best years live touring behind a record full of half-baked ideas and shitty production values, simultaneously bringing these great CVH warhorses out of mothballs to essay them with Cherone on vocals.

Yet I don't hold a grudge against Cherone...he clearly had a great deal of respect for what CVH was, and didn't feel the need to talk shit about Roth to boost his own mediocre abilities. If anything, I'm just amazed that Cherone didn't take a good, hard look at the fallout from the 1996 debacle, have a close, honest listen to what he and Van Halen were recording and realize there was virtually no chance that Van Cherone was gonna be successful. If the well had been poisoned by the Van Halens in 1996 prior to Cherone recording a note, Van Halen 3 wasn't gonna be the antidote that made many fans say, "Wow! Now THIS music was definitely worth not reuniting with Roth for!!"

[sadaist]

Yet I don't hold a grudge against Cherone...he clearly had a great deal of respect for what CVH was,

Cherone was the guy who chose to play all the old 6-pack tunes that had not been heard live since Hagar came in. And he knew which were untouchable (Ice Cream Man comes to mind). I don't blame Gary for doing the VH thing. Hell, who would turn down that opportunity? All blame goes to Eddie & Alex. ALL OF IT. Just like in Daves book..."Eddie did it".

I actually dig Cherone........in Extreme. Just like I dig Sting in The Police or Colin Hay in Men At Work. Just don't want them fronting VH.

I saw that tour though. And it still leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. Was at the Del Mar Fair. The GOD DAMNED FAIR! VH does not play fairs. I also left about 2/3 through it. Just didn't sound like VH to me. I remember walking through the parking lot & I could hear Panama being played. Was a sad moment for me indeed.

However, as sad as I was at that very moment can not even compare to the elation of the 2007 tour when the lights went down & suddenly I saw David lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen on the same fucking stage.

/tears of joy

I'll take a sloppy Ed with Dave over a perfect Ed with anyone else.

Roth on brothers! Eat much turkey tomorrow and I hope you all have something to be thankful for.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Yup, I saw VH III too...

I wasn't excited to see them AT ALL, but my good buddy had never seen VH, so he was pumped....

I clearly remember how Cherone's gyrations were so over-the-top, it was embarrassing just to watch....

[Blaze]

Rolling Stone Readers Select Ten Favorite Van Halen Songs
RollingStone.com
... readers to learn their ten favorite Van Halen songs. The results aren't shocking. It's 80% David Lee Roth era, 20% Van Hagar and 0% Gary Cherone era. That feels about right. Click through to see the results. By Andy Greene

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/rolling-stone-readers-select-ten-favorite-van-halen-songs-20111123

[Hardrock69]

I saw that MTV Australia broadcast by sheer accident. Was checking out the viewer guide on cable, and was like "Van Halen? Live from Australia?"

It was pathetic. I watched about 20 minutes of it, and could not handle it anymore and changed channels.
Had not even considered buying VHIII (what a stupid tool-like name), and wanted nothing to do with it. Even tuning in at that moment was one of those morbid fascination routines....sorta like watching a Faces Of Death video.

Ugh.

[Nitro Express]

Yup, I saw VH III too...

I wasn't excited to see them AT ALL, but my good buddy had never seen VH, so he was pumped....

I clearly remember how Cherone's gyrations were so over-the-top, it was embarrassing just to watch....

I went to a show on that tour. I guess is was curiosity but I always enjoyed Ed's playing. The whole band was right on the money and Ed played great. The only weak link was Gary. Man, too bad Dave didn't make that go around. Ed was on his game and the whole band really sounded great. Whoever did their house sound was tops too. Everything was good but Gary basically.