New album soon

[DONNIEP]

I'll see your Trouble With Never and raise you one EEAS demo...

[DLR Bridge]

Oh, and by the way, this version of the interview is better.

[DONNIEP]

Ed's Fancy Methy Mouth!!

[chefcraig]

Oddly enough, if Ed and Dave did a song together with their speaking voices, they'd sound pretty damn similar. Think about it...

"come on too strong when a little's too much...."
"a Budhist riff for your inner ear...."

It's the same guy!

Sweet, tap-dancing baby Jesus, by all means, NOBODY POST THAT TESTICLE DESTROYING LIVE VERSION OF "HOW MANY SAY I". I swear, I'll jump out a window. Unfortunately, my office is located on the first floor of a one story building, meaning I'd wind up landing in a pile of duck shit. Then again, this would seem almost appealing compared to sitting through that Kleenex forest of misbegotten mush.

[VHscraps]

I've never read or seen Ed's reaction to the CGTSNM lyrics before. Can someone post? Scraps, you have it?

I can't remember reading anything where EVH had something to say about that song, or Dave's lyrics specifically.

But it was a long time ago. Now you have planted the seed of doubt in my head I may well have to check my big box of scraps ...

[PETE'S BROTHER]

[DONNIEP]

I can't remember reading anything where EVH had something to say about that song, or Dave's lyrics specifically.

But it was a long time ago. Now you have planted the seed of doubt in my head I may well have to check my big box of scraps ...

Well, I remember him bashing Dave and how long it took him to get the vocals down. And I think he let somebody listen to the tracks but warned them ahead of time because he wasn't thrilled with them. At least I think I remember this. Hell, we've only talked about it 7 million times so my brain might be pulling stuff from one place and putting it in another.

[DLR Bridge]

At least I think I remember this. Hell, we've only talked about it 7 million times so my brain might be pulling stuff from one place and putting it in another.

Donnie the revisionist. Hmmm. You're lucky that doesn't have a ring to it.

[VHscraps]

Well, I remember him bashing Dave and how long it took him to get the vocals down. And I think he let somebody listen to the tracks but warned them ahead of time because he wasn't thrilled with them. At least I think I remember this. Hell, we've only talked about it 7 million times so my brain might be pulling stuff from one place and putting it in another.

Yeah - you're right about that. I remember Ed saying they (the band, the producer, etc) had to let Dave bring all his exotic plants down to the studio so he could feel at home, and implying that the vocals for one or both of the tunes were done a line at a time and "we had to be very patient with Dave".

But, it's the other stuff that Bridge was interested in that had me thinking that I don't remember anyone saying anything about the lyrical content of CGTSNM.

But given that Ed always said he "never listened to the lyrics"* that wouldn't surprise me.

* N.B. - Although, EVH did listen to Hagar's lyrics latterly, and began trying to rewrite them at some point (with some producer who was working with the band on Twister) and that led directly to Sam leaving / being put in a position where the only thing he could do was leave!!

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Florentine mentioned this interview again, saying how nutty it was that the original interview happened on Labor Day weekend, but somehow now it's "big news"...

He then preceeded to play "As Is" and "Fools".....

[sonrisa salvaje]

Hell, if they would just play As Is for a week on the Boneyard the record would probably sell another 10k units. That song gets in your head man.

[DONNIEP]

Donnie the revisionist. Hmmm. You're lucky that doesn't have a ring to it.

Well, I do have a photographic memory. Somebody spilled beer on the pictures though...

[DONNIEP]

Yeah - you're right about that. I remember Ed saying they (the band, the producer, etc) had to let Dave bring all his exotic plants down to the studio so he could feel at home, and implying that the vocals for one or both of the tunes were done a line at a time and "we had to be very patient with Dave".

But, it's the other stuff that Bridge was interested in that had me thinking that I don't remember anyone saying anything about the lyrical content of CGTSNM.

But given that Ed always said he "never listened to the lyrics"* that wouldn't surprise me.

* N.B. - Although, EVH did listen to Hagar's lyrics latterly, and began trying to rewrite them at some point (with some producer who was working with the band on Twister) and that led directly to Sam leaving / being put in a position where the only thing he could do was leave!!

Yeah, that's it. Maybe he never did address the lyrics. Other than he told Dave ahead of time not to do anything funny with the lyrics - write it so anybody can sing it. Well, that's what Ed said. If he actually did say that and Dave said "yessir!" I'd be shocked. Disappointed perhaps is a better word.

[Terry]

That was the root of the whole problem, confirmed in that MTV interview when Alex said --- "Going on tour with Dave would've been ripping off the fans".

Getting the legendary frontman that EVERYBODY wanted back in VH would've been ripping us off? The Dutch dickheads just spent 10 years with a liquor salesman who helped them achieve four consecutive #1 albums and it made them believe that anyone could front Van Halen and they'd be successful. So no reason to get Roth back in when some new guy would allow them to maintain control and still produce big-selling albums and tours.

Thank goodness Van Cherone was a failure and the mantra of "Dave or the grave" finally sunk into their pea brains.

You know, I could understand the Van Halens not wanting to take (in their minds) a step backward with Dave in 1996 in terms of just going out on a greatest hits tour without releasing a new album first. Because I think for them to do that, regardless of how much the fans may have wanted it, would have been the same thing in their minds as saying that Van Halen was basically a spent creative force only good for nostalgia. What I couldn't get my mind around was why bother doing ANYTHING with Dave AT ALL then. No such thing as a little bit pregnant, and when it came time to lower the boom on Dave after the BOV1 tracks were done, the abortion was typically bloody and messy.

And I bet the Van Halens WERE thinking that they had a high level of success after Roth left with Hagar and that there was no reason to think it couldn't happen again.

I think what the Van Halens failed to realize is that in 1985 people had to either accept Sammy or not, because the Van Halens AND Roth didn't want to work with each other back then. I never really took sides in the 1985 split because it seemed pointless: Roth and the Van Halens didn't want to play together anymore.

In 1996, Roth wanted to play with Van Halen, the fans wanted to see Roth play with Van Halen...the only ones who didn't want to see it happen were Eddie and Alex (Mike, despite all his noise to the contrary, would have went along with whatever the Van Halens decided).

[Terry]

It probably all boiled down to power and control. The Van Halens basically had it for ten years after Roth bailed. After going through a better part of a year struggling (and failing) to get Hagar to do what they wanted him to, Dave might have looked like a good option at first. Then after a couple of months they realized that dealing with Dave would be even more difficult than any of the problems Sammy handed them in the last year: Dave wasn't gonna come back to the band kissing Ed and Al's asses, that's for sure. And why should he? Roth helped them BUILD that band!

It was easier (and probably cheaper in terms of the profit split) to get Cherone in there...or so they thought. I think Ed basically wanted to call all the shots openly from the music to the lyrics right down the line, and there's no way Dave was gonna go along with that.