Eddie Van Halen, Guitar World, Feb 2014

[78/84 guy]

Last one for now ...

That's interesting ! Have to pick this up.

[Edwards3rdWife]

Gawd. That hair. That face. The only thing to make this shot better would be if Edward were in his overalls, showing me those sexy biceps.... among other things. Have mercy.

[Seshmeister]

From what I've read, 1984 was along the lines of Ed and Al cooking up the music and recording the tracks which were then given to Roth on a cassette which he then played in his car as he drove around town and would think of lyrics

But also crucially the vocal melodies.

My understanding is that in a courtroom a song consists of the chord progressions, the vocal melody and the lyrics meaning Roth wrote 2/3rds of the Van Halen songs.

[Terry]

But also crucially the vocal melodies.

My understanding is that in a courtroom a song consists of the chord progressions, the vocal melody and the lyrics meaning Roth wrote 2/3rds of the Van Halen songs.

I have little doubt that Roth wrote all the lyrics for Van Halen's originals. Maybe Templeman helped him edit them, or Ed would suggest Roth use one set of lyrics for a bridge rather than a verse. Probably Roth and Templeman would also suggest to Ed that a certain piece of music in a song would be better served as a verse part rather than a chorus.

I have a feeling that many times the instrumentation developed from Ed and Al jamming. Anthony was free to play what he wanted, but he usually ended up following Ed's lead.

[Seshmeister]

I think when you say lyrics you mean vocal lines as well?

By 1984(and on ADKOT) Roth was getting a tape of music and had to write the vocal melody over the top. The lyrics are the easy bit.

This IMHO is Roth's greatest talent, writing vocal melodies over existing music it's really difficult to do well and the failing of many if not most rock bands.

Very few people could take 'Ripley' and turn it into 'Blood and Fire.'

As I've posted before, imagine the music to Jump with no vocals, now imagine what Hagar would have done with that...

[twonabomber]

As I've posted before, imagine the music to Jump with no vocals, now imagine what Hagar would have done with that...

Plenty of "Woo!" "hey!" and "oh yeah!"

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Plenty of "Woo!" "hey!" and "oh yeah!"

Dig it ya'll !!

Ow !!

Come on !!

[Satan]

Throw in a "love" here and a "tequila" there, and it's pretty much done.

[Satan]

You look at the VDIII album and Ed had some decent riffs there, but just couldn't structure them properly into a song, and Cherone was in no place to tell him how to do so.

If Ray Danniels hadn't been in the way, there might have been one HELL of a Van Halen album - with all 4 original members- around mid 1997 or so.

[Zing!]

I have a feeling that many times the instrumentation developed from Ed and Al jamming. Anthony was free to play what he wanted, but he usually ended up following Ed's lead.

Which, it seems to me, is what Ed wanted all along - a bass player that just stayed the hell out of the way and did what he was told. So I don't really get the ten years of MA bashing from him, saying Mike brought nothing to the table and didn't contribute. He didn't contribute because you told him NOT to, remember Ed? Besides, with Dave and EVH in the same band (not to mention the greatest drummer in rock), how much input are you going to have on bass guitar? He should have recognized MA's importance after handling the bass duties himself on VDIII.

[DLR Bridge]

I remember reading somewhere that Ed and Al didn't even have Mike in their monitors live. That's kind of fucked up.

I get the fact that there were no VH songs where the bass line drove the bus, but that doesn't render the contribution not worth hearing at all while playing. I think on all live recordings of CVH that I have, Mike does a great job of fleshing things out.

[VAiN]

If Ray Danniels hadn't been in the way, there might have been one HELL of a Van Halen album - with all 4 original members- around mid 1997 or so.

Agreed.. Those songs would have made a nice backdrop for Dave's writing. I always thought that 'ballot or the bullet' had a 'House of Pain' feel to it.. Oh, what could have been...

[sonrisa salvaje]

I always thought Fire in the Hole was a cool song riff wise. Dave would have turned that song into a beast.

[Heater]

Which, it seems to me, is what Ed wanted all along - a bass player that just stayed the hell out of the way and did what he was told. So I don't really get the ten years of MA bashing from him, saying Mike brought nothing to the table and didn't contribute. He didn't contribute because you told him NOT to, remember Ed? Besides, with Dave and EVH in the same band (not to mention the greatest drummer in rock), how much input are you going to have on bass guitar? He should have recognized MA's importance after handling the bass duties himself on VDIII.

He contributed those backing vocals which are sorely missed and were as much a part of the CVH sound as the guitar.

[vandeleur]

He contributed those backing vocals which are sorely missed and were as much a part of the CVH sound as the guitar.

The backing vocals were important but as important as the guitar , really ??
The mikey backing vocals on the Jackson single ??? The generations of copiest backing vocalists ?? The covers of every backing vocal magazine for the last 30 years . The total original approach to backing vocals .
:D