EVH: Billboard Mag Cover Story Sneak Peek Via VHND

[lesfunk]

As much as I dislike Sammy Hagar and his horrible cliche filled lyrics, he is 10000% correct! Mike Anthony is the classiest member of Van Halen and fuck Eddie for disrespecting him in such a hurtful classless way.
Eddie sound like such a bitter loser, no wonder Roth doesn't want to hang.
I'm so glad that I am NOT giving that traveling shitshow any money this summer.
Ed should have died after fair warning. He would have been revered like Hendrix or Rhoads, instead of the bitter ,old delusional cunt he became
Van Halen needs to go away. I don't know which is worse, Roth destroying their legacy on stage or Ed destroying it in print.

[FORD]

Only if Roth can call the fight with his sumo wrestling buddy... they can play "How Many Say I" as Edward enters the ring and Sam can enter to that horrid ditty he did to the Stallone arm wrestling movie

You would have to call the fight before it even started, because after being subjected to those two songs back to back, the audience would kill both of them!

[Jetstream]

Behold! Kneel before The Guitar God!!!

I wanted to watch this and laugh but it is really fucking sad to see a guy wasted beyond control unable to respect and use the very gift he has

[Jetstream]

As much as I dislike Sammy Hagar and his horrible cliche filled lyrics, he is 10000% correct! Mike Anthony is the classiest member of Van Halen and fuck Eddie for disrespecting him in such a hurtful classless way.
Eddie sound like such a bitter loser, no wonder Roth doesn't want to hang.
I'm so glad that I am NOT giving that traveling shitshow any money this summer.
Ed should have died after fair warning. He would have been revered like Hendrix or Rhoads, instead of the bitter ,old delusional cunt he became
Van Halen needs to go away. I don't know which is worse, Roth destroying their legacy on stage or Ed destroying it in print.

It is hilarious when the Hagar fans claim how Sam saved Van Halen after Roth left. Total bullshit, if they would have disband Van Halen right there, then their legacy would have been legendary much like Zeppelin... that material was classic and would have stayed relevant because that music endures today and it was the addition of Hagar that actually has tarnished the band along with all the soap opera

[chuckjitsu]

Couple of questions for everybody. How much did Mike come up with the bass riffs for songs on his own? I could see Ed making suggestions - hey try this in this part -, but outside that, did Mike have the freedom to develop the bass lines himself? Secondly, did Mike have the green light/encouragement to bring in riffs and ideas that he came up with? My understanding is that Ed brought in the musical riffs, ideas, etc. Was Mike ever asked or encouraged to bring in his own stuff? I ask because I don't remember reading or hearing anything about Mike being asked or encouraged to bring his own ideas to the table.

[FORD]

Behold! Kneel before The Guitar God!!!

Honestly, if I didn't already know what a trainwreck Ed was on the Velveetapalooza 2004 tour, I would swear this was one of those fake videos on YouTube with the dubbed in horrible "shredding" parts.

Sadly, it's not.

And what's with the failed drumstick tapping? Was Meth-Ed trying to copy something he saw Randy Bachmann do at the SARSstock concert the previous year??

[FORD]

Couple of questions for everybody. How much did Mike come up with the bass riffs for songs on his own? I could see Ed making suggestions - hey try this in this part -, but outside that, did Mike have the freedom to develop the bass lines himself? Secondly, did Mike have the green light/encouragement to bring in riffs and ideas that he came up with? My understanding is that Ed brought in the musical riffs, ideas, etc. Was Mike ever asked or encouraged to bring in his own stuff? I ask because I don't remember reading or hearing anything about Mike being asked or encouraged to bring his own ideas to the table.

Probably comes down to Eddie exaggerating the argument to one extreme, and Sammy exaggerating it to the other.

I don't think anybody is going to rank Michael Soblolewski in the same class of bass players as John Entwistle, Billy Sheehan, Geddy Lee, etc. But he was obviously not Sid Vicious or Stuart Sutcliffe either. The records speak for themselves, as do the few live bootlegs that exist where you can actually hear a bass being played (as opposed to the muddled mess of the audience recordings). Mike's harmonies were his best contribution to the signature Van Halen sound, but his bass playing was good, for the type of band he was in.

Arguably, Dave had a better bass player on Eat Em and Smile, but look how long that lasted.

[DONNIEP]

Honestly, if I didn't already know what a trainwreck Ed was on the Velveetapalooza 2004 tour, I would swear this was one of those fake videos on YouTube with the dubbed in horrible "shredding" parts.

Sadly, it's not.

And what's with the failed drumstick tapping? Was Meth-Ed trying to copy something he saw Randy Bachmann do at the SARSstock concert the previous year??

What's worse is that the video I posted was from the 2007 tour, not the Alex Cash Grab tour...

[chuckjitsu]

I wanted to watch this and laugh but it is really fucking sad to see a guy wasted beyond control unable to respect and use the very gift he has

Ed had multiple truly terrible moments on that '04 tour. I remember seeing best of both worlds and there's a part where he's having trouble pushing a foot pedal- he's standing there in front of the pedal swaying and it takes him 3-4 tries to step on the correct pedal. Meanwhile, he's fucking up the song because he can't step on the pedal.

[FORD]

What's worse is that the video I posted was from the 2007 tour, not the Alex Cash Grab tour...

Yikes! I should have noticed he didn't have the Pebbles Flintstone hairdo.

Well, he sure as Hell played better than that in Seattle, that's a fact.

[Jetstream]

Couple of questions for everybody. How much did Mike come up with the bass riffs for songs on his own? I could see Ed making suggestions - hey try this in this part -, but outside that, did Mike have the freedom to develop the bass lines himself? Secondly, did Mike have the green light/encouragement to bring in riffs and ideas that he came up with? My understanding is that Ed brought in the musical riffs, ideas, etc. Was Mike ever asked or encouraged to bring in his own stuff? I ask because I don't remember reading or hearing anything about Mike being asked or encouraged to bring his own ideas to the table.

I will say this, and Ed brought this up but in a very tacky way but in reality the main harmonies in Van Halen have their foundation in Ed's mid back vocals. The tongue restricted guitar legend is the main ingredient to what made the backing vocals work. Now I am not saying Anthony did not make a crucial contribution to those back vocals by his singing in on top of the harmonies but not what makes Van Halen sound like Van Halen. This is one of the reasons Wolf can still give a decent suggestion of what once was. Actually, Roth does not sound like shit either in the backing vocals securing the lower level which Hagar could never do right (again, Hagar can sing at a higher level but basically that level only and in the definition of the word has no range) and I guess more than one signing with him helps him not get tone deaf when he chooses to sing the chorus. Truthfully, I personally cannot hear one song by Hagar since he departed with Anthony that would make me think Anthony is singing back vocals, or more important backing vocals that suggest Van Halen. I can still recognize some of the famous Van Halen backing vocals to an extent because Ed really is the most important part of them harmonies but since he is a guitar 'god', people never think about it much. I think what Ed tried saying about soul was just a wrong use of words, what he meant to say is that Anthony has no depth to his vocals. Anthony completes that unique backing vocal sound but he is not the main reason. Ed is like some British guy with a heavy East London accent who you cannot make out when he talks but the fucker (and he is a rude fucker) can sing back vocals exceptionally.... there is my different kind of truth

[DONNIEP]

[QUOTE=FORD;1887714]Probably comes down to Eddie exaggerating the argument to one extreme, and Sammy exaggerating it to the other.

Mike's harmonies were his best contribution to the signature Van Halen sound/QUOTE]

Gotta agree on both points. Especially Mike's vocals. I'm not saying he's lead singer material, but you know it immediately when he's not there. And for Ed to say "that's a blend of our voices" is horse shit. I could drink a 12 pack of cheap beer, smoke a cigar, two packs of Marlboro reds, swallow half a box of Cap'n Crunch without chewing it at all and I'd STILL sound better than Ed. Hell, just about anybody here would sound better than Ed. Even Warf!

As far as his playing when he was in Van Halen...I'd guess that Ed really did want Mike to keep it simple so he could do his thing. Ed likes to tell everybody that he doesn't like the spotlight. Yeah, that's a fuckin lie too. He couldn't do anything to keep Dave from screaming like a banshee and from being, well, Dave. But he probably did try to keep Mike as buried as possible. That's evident from the albums. You listen to the audio from the second tour on those three or four live songs/videos and you can hear Mike's playing LIVE, loud as shit. Sure, it ain't nothing earth shattering. But do you really want Mike over there dweedle dweedlin' all over the place while Ed's dweedle dweedlin' all over the place over here? Don't think it would have worked out so well.

I'll be interested to see if Mike even responds to this load of shit. It'd be nice to see him post something akin to what ol' Slappy did, including a nice big Fuck YOU to Ed. Ed's never done anything but bash the guy for 30 plus years so I'm ready to see Mike finally tell him to fuck off. And don't anybody think for a minute that Mike's reluctance to do so in the past, perhaps as a way to keep the tiniest bit of hope alive to ever play in Van Halen again, is because the guy needs the money. He don't. And it's pretty evident now that Ed's never gonna let him back in. So let 'er rip, Mikey!

[DONNIEP]

Yikes! I should have noticed he didn't have the Pebbles Flintstone hairdo.

Well, he sure as Hell played better than that in Seattle, that's a fact.

Oh he burned the arena down in Charlotte. And on all of the '07 boots I have his playing was great. Maybe not perfect but who cares? But that? Holy hell, that was a train wreck of epic proportions. And honestly, I was listening to it while I was working this morning, not even half looking at it while he was sitting down. And when he stands up he's staggerin' around and can't play a damn thing. And I was thinking...has he got his hair all tied up and I just missed it? And then Dave comes booming out of the speakers and I was literally astounded it was from that tour. I honestly thought it was from the '04 tour.

[FORD]

Full truth be told, Ted Templeman deserves some credit for the vocal harmonies as well. No, he didn't sing them, obviously. But he shaped them into that "signature" sound.

For example, here's what Van Halen sounded like pre-Templeman (from the Chaim Witz demo)......

There are harmonies on the tape, but they just aren't as "present" as they are on the album. Ted made the difference, in that respect.

Ironically, Ed also bashed him in the article. Which apparently explains why he wasn't involved in either ADKOT or the new live album.

[DONNIEP]

I will say this, and Ed brought this up but in a very tacky way but in reality the main harmonies in Van Halen have their foundation in Ed's mid back vocals. The tongue restricted guitar legend is the main ingredient to what made the backing vocals work. Now I am not saying Anthony did not make a crucial contribution to those back vocals by his singing in on top of the harmonies but not what makes Van Halen sound like Van Halen. This is one of the reasons Wolf can still give a decent suggestion of what once was. Actually, Roth does not sound like shit either in the backing vocals securing the lower level which Hagar could never do right (again, Hagar can sing at a higher level but basically that level only and in the definition of the word has no range) and I guess more than one signing with him helps him not get tone deaf when he chooses to sing the chorus. Truthfully, I personally cannot hear one song by Hagar since he departed with Anthony that would make me think Anthony is singing back vocals, or more important backing vocals that suggest Van Halen. I can still recognize some of the famous Van Halen backing vocals to an extent because Ed really is the most important part of them harmonies but since he is a guitar 'god', people never think about it much. I think what Ed tried saying about soul was just a wrong use of words, what he meant to say is that Anthony has no depth to his vocals. Anthony completes that unique backing vocal sound but he is not the main reason. Ed is like some British guy with a heavy East London accent who you cannot make out when he talks but the fucker (and he is a rude fucker) can sing back vocals exceptionally.... there is my different kind of truth

Pass that doob over this way. Cause you gots to be smoking some goooooood shit