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Serious question. Not a joke. I put it here because it's somewhat VH-worthy.
This may be sacrilege...especially coming from someone who started the PEN...but I mean it. What has the man done that is worth praising, directly or indirectly?
What VH songs with him were actually any good?
Or solo or anything else in his career?
I start this for debate.
And I'll start it off. I will say I think the first MONTROSE album is actually pretty damn good. It's simple 70's rock...but some neat guitar-playing (though not mind-blowing and certainly not Eddie). ROCK CANDY and BAD MOTOR SCOOTER don't really look ahead to the world of drivel that would eventually spill from the mouth of one Samuel in the future.
Solo-wise, there's nothing I think I've ever really enjoyed. Some here have told me that pre-Van Halen he was actually more passable than post...but I haven't really heard anything. I do know that I hate ONE WAY TO ROCK and I CAN'T DRIVE 55 more than I hate girlfriend break-ups or open-heart surgery.
He did one song after Eddie threw him out called LITTLE WHITE LIES that I remember thinking was actually okay, mostly because it was nice hearing this while I hated the brothers Van Halen so much after the '96 debacle.
Okay, during Van Halen...
I think SUMMER NIGHTS and GET UP had some good riffage and music...I think Dave would have killed 'em. Shame that Shambo ruined them with moronic lyrics and very cheesy middle-of-the-road 80's style hard rock singing...but at least the band was there. I've never understood the appeal of WHY CAN'T THIS BE LOVE to housewives everywhere. It sounds so...generic. There's a reason JUMP was a No. 1 hit and this wasn't.
I will say I have a guilty pleasure for BLACK 'N' BLUE. Again, some of the stupidest lyrics put to paper, but it's damn catchy. I guess I would also say the actual song CABO WABO is definitely less offensive (musically) than most of the other Van Hagar output, but again, the lyrics offer absolutely nothing. To just sing about a partying place without any twist in the lyrics...no story...just listing stupid drinks you can have at the...ahem...Cabo Wabo...stupid. But it's catchy.
There's pretty much nothing off FOR UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE I find enjoyable. I cannot believe there are "Van Halen fans" (y'know, the kind that still think Van Hagar was better...the housewife and lobotomy-ridden populace) that think this was their best album. It downright stinks. POUNDCAKE is an embarrassing turd. TOP OF THE WORLD and RUNAROUND make me want to buy a gun and kill a random blonde beach bum just so I can feel like I kinda killed Hagar. Man, RUNAROUND really sucks. That video, with the spinning drums or whatever...Jesus fucking Christ. Either the choreography or the music should have made everyone present on the set vomit projectile, yet somehow it didn't happen. And MTV aired this shit while great songs like A L'IL AIN'T ENOUGH, IT'S SHOWTIME and SENSIBLE SHOES got barely any notice.
I do remember thinking BALANCE was slightly less offensive. But by that point, the ship had sailed and the brothers soon realized it (before fucking everything up again). There was one tune off that album I remember thinking was pretty smoking (again, at least musically...the lyrics would embarrass a five-year-old) in AFTERSHOCK. I will also say that I always considered HUMANS BEING probably the best thing the band did with Cheesehead before they finally threw his fat ass out of the band.
The "reunion" songs from 2004 were beyond turd-composition. Holy shit. I would venture to offer that UP FOR BREAKFAST is possibly among the very worst rock songs ever written by anybody, anywhere. Proof that Eddie was drunk or desperate, letting Hagrid sing breakfast/sex connotations over...oh, wait a minute...the music sucked too.
Thoughts? Be honest.
This may be sacrilege...especially coming from someone who started the PEN...but I mean it. What has the man done that is worth praising, directly or indirectly?
What VH songs with him were actually any good?
Or solo or anything else in his career?
I start this for debate.
And I'll start it off. I will say I think the first MONTROSE album is actually pretty damn good. It's simple 70's rock...but some neat guitar-playing (though not mind-blowing and certainly not Eddie). ROCK CANDY and BAD MOTOR SCOOTER don't really look ahead to the world of drivel that would eventually spill from the mouth of one Samuel in the future.
Solo-wise, there's nothing I think I've ever really enjoyed. Some here have told me that pre-Van Halen he was actually more passable than post...but I haven't really heard anything. I do know that I hate ONE WAY TO ROCK and I CAN'T DRIVE 55 more than I hate girlfriend break-ups or open-heart surgery.
He did one song after Eddie threw him out called LITTLE WHITE LIES that I remember thinking was actually okay, mostly because it was nice hearing this while I hated the brothers Van Halen so much after the '96 debacle.
Okay, during Van Halen...
I think SUMMER NIGHTS and GET UP had some good riffage and music...I think Dave would have killed 'em. Shame that Shambo ruined them with moronic lyrics and very cheesy middle-of-the-road 80's style hard rock singing...but at least the band was there. I've never understood the appeal of WHY CAN'T THIS BE LOVE to housewives everywhere. It sounds so...generic. There's a reason JUMP was a No. 1 hit and this wasn't.
I will say I have a guilty pleasure for BLACK 'N' BLUE. Again, some of the stupidest lyrics put to paper, but it's damn catchy. I guess I would also say the actual song CABO WABO is definitely less offensive (musically) than most of the other Van Hagar output, but again, the lyrics offer absolutely nothing. To just sing about a partying place without any twist in the lyrics...no story...just listing stupid drinks you can have at the...ahem...Cabo Wabo...stupid. But it's catchy.
There's pretty much nothing off FOR UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE I find enjoyable. I cannot believe there are "Van Halen fans" (y'know, the kind that still think Van Hagar was better...the housewife and lobotomy-ridden populace) that think this was their best album. It downright stinks. POUNDCAKE is an embarrassing turd. TOP OF THE WORLD and RUNAROUND make me want to buy a gun and kill a random blonde beach bum just so I can feel like I kinda killed Hagar. Man, RUNAROUND really sucks. That video, with the spinning drums or whatever...Jesus fucking Christ. Either the choreography or the music should have made everyone present on the set vomit projectile, yet somehow it didn't happen. And MTV aired this shit while great songs like A L'IL AIN'T ENOUGH, IT'S SHOWTIME and SENSIBLE SHOES got barely any notice.
I do remember thinking BALANCE was slightly less offensive. But by that point, the ship had sailed and the brothers soon realized it (before fucking everything up again). There was one tune off that album I remember thinking was pretty smoking (again, at least musically...the lyrics would embarrass a five-year-old) in AFTERSHOCK. I will also say that I always considered HUMANS BEING probably the best thing the band did with Cheesehead before they finally threw his fat ass out of the band.
The "reunion" songs from 2004 were beyond turd-composition. Holy shit. I would venture to offer that UP FOR BREAKFAST is possibly among the very worst rock songs ever written by anybody, anywhere. Proof that Eddie was drunk or desperate, letting Hagrid sing breakfast/sex connotations over...oh, wait a minute...the music sucked too.
Thoughts? Be honest.
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