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I have my Van Halen music, fights is what I am talking about now. I mean some real fights, and none of this pussy name calling crap. I want to see Edward fight Alex, geetar versus drum stick. I want to see shy Wolfie fight drunk uninterested Anthony and then I want to see David beat all the fucking love and dreams out of Hagar's ass... I want to be entertained!
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I got lost in the... -
Not me. I wanna be front row and live streaming the shit out of it if they bring Slappy back. Last time it drove Ed so nuts he took to writing all over himself with a Sharpie. I'm hoping this time he goes full on insane.American by birth. Southern by the grace of God.
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Last edited by Nitro Express; 12-19-2015, 12:11 AM.No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
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Ha! ha! Then he will get on the Smoking Loon (Perfect description of Ed) and meth and start looking like that Tales from the Crypt dude.No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
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Any potential EEAS reunion isn't gonna matter much to me in terms of the potential effects on the current incarnation of Van Halen. Mostly because 'Van Halen' doesn't really have much of a future that is of interest to me, regardless of what they do.
I'm pretty much as big a fan of what Van Halen meant and was as anybody here. Having said that, I've sat out the last few years of what the band has been up to. 'Sat out' being defined as willing to spend significant amounts of time or any money to keep up with their activities. Had no interest in the Tokyo Dome live album in terms of actually purchasing a copy. Had no interest in their 2015 live work to the point where I was willing to part with any money to see it. And looking back, even if Mike Anthony had been in the band I doubt I could have been bothered to get more involved as a fan than I did. Mike Anthony rejoining wasn't somehow going to make the band sound any better than it did. In 2007, maybe.
The recent rash of media sniping between Eddie and Hagar is just illustrative of the general notion that this band has over the last 2 decades become known for all the wrong things. When internet speculation and gossip, ex-members bitching about each other in interviews and gawking at what a train wreck the group has devolved into surpassed the actual musical output of the band, the name 'Van Halen' slowly but surely became devoid of meaning for me. Certainly when contrasted with what the name meant to me back when CVH were active. Back when they were kings.
If Dave gets ejected from the band (or quits) and temporarily reunites with the EEAS band and Hagar/Anthony rejoin Van Halen, so be it. Roth leaving Van Halen, particularly considering what the group is NOW, won't be even NEARLY the massive bummer it was 30 years ago. It WON'T be 1985 all over again. When Roth left in 1985, there was some sense on my part that the band had more creative juice in the tank. That was the shame of it. That there may have been unfinished business on a musical/creative level. Well, now in 2015 after close to a decade back together, Roth and the Van Halens have had ample time to complete that unfinished business. Apparently, that unfinished business amounted to what were essentially 3 greatest hits nostalgia tours, a substandard live album and a decent-to-good studio album that was more than 50% reliant on reworking 35 year old demos to create a full-length record. Virtually all of which I would have traded for a massive box set of CVH restored live dvds.
As for Dave, after close to 40 years of following his career, the level of entertainment he brings to his live work for me now while basically in line with what one can reasonably expect from someone his age just doesn't quite do it for me anymore. His routine has become perhaps both far too familiar and a bit tired for me to elicit any response other than "I've seen all of this before many times...and done much better." I will say he is still capable of giving good interviews, but the interviews used to be just the icing of what he had as an entertainer and not the whole cake. Yeah, I'd be interested to hear what Roth and the Van Halens could come up with in the studio. Shelling out good money for another greatest hits gig, even if Mike Anthony was in the band? Nah.Scramby eggs and bacon.Comment
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Another great post, Terry, thanks... again!
Your disillusion is very understandable.
My biggest regret for the last 3 years is that the band delivered the goods gloriously, safe Dave. They even improved between 2012 and this year, while Dave's singing was always below. While he kicked so much ass in 2007-08... I'm sadly resigned that it can't be Van Halen fully anymore musically.
The Van Halens hiring Hagar again would piss me off like hell, I couldn't be indifferent to it.Last edited by Jérôme Frenchise; 12-20-2015, 01:24 PM.posted by Ellyllions Men say, "I'll never understand women." That's a very lonely place to be if you're a woman because we don't understand half of what we do either.posted by ALinChainz Katy, Pipe down, pump off, and fly back to your cave you old bat.Comment
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I was pretty jilted back in the 8os when Hagar joined the group and they started putting out synth-driven wuss rock.
It was pretty irritating to not see the band reconstitute for a full-length album and tour in 1996. Those two BOV1 tracks showed a lot of promise and potential for a creative future.
Now, in 2015, it's not going to matter much if the band gets back together with Hagar. It's not going to feel like that would be an obstruction to a productive creative future with David Lee Roth. They've had Roth back in the band for, what, 8 years? Possibly it was that all of them waited far too long before they came to their senses, and the creative well had pretty much dried up by the time 2007 came around. ADKOT was better than I thought it would be, and it makes a decent bonus addition to the 6 pack...2 or 3 of the tracks were quite good, but on the whole it's not really up to what the band did. A couple of the tracks are disposable and a couple sound like tracks that wouldn't be out of place buried in the middle of one of Roth's lesser solo efforts. I mean, ADKOT really isn't even quite up to the level of DD or 1984 in terms of greatness, much less Fair Warning.
It's just this odd juxtaposition Van Halen holds for me these days:
1. Indeed, Roth and the Van Halens have nothing left to prove.
2. It's just as well, because they don't really have what it takes anymore to prove it anyway. They have managed, and not without a considerable amount of struggles and misfires, to put together a nostalgia show that almost manages to at times capture the essence of what the band once was. Should Van Halen Mk 4 decide to pack it in, it may well be less a case (as it was in 1985) of pulling the plug on a rock band still firing on all points than an opportunity to fold tent before the whole biz becomes totally lame and laughable. I mean, looking at what the band has been up to in the past year, Van Halen is no longer special. The music they MADE decades ago with Roth is timeless. What they're doing now is past the sell-by date for me in terms of quality. Thus, I don't care if Hagar replaces Dave now. I don't have to listen to it.Scramby eggs and bacon.Comment
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Yes . . . . . but the book "My Uncensored (and untruthful ) Life In Rock" was released in 2011, which as we know Spammy wrote some major personal shit about Ed and his addictions, etc. That may have been the last straw for Eddie
. That and Spam's continued shit talking to this day. Never say never in Rock N Roll and even with them rehiring him in 2004, I'd still be a little surprised.
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To me, the Sam era represents an inferior version of VH, so there's zero reason for me to ever want to see that lineup again. The Dave era songs are better and Dave is/was a better frontman. Plus, the world doesn't need to see a 70 year old man in capris bullshitting around onstage. I have zero interest in anything this lineup could give, whether it was a tour or studio album.
Dave's 2nd act with VH may be coming to a close, but I sure as fuck don't want to be slathered in Sam era velveeta again, which I would be even if I chose to completely ignore it.Comment
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Possibly, although all Hagar did was confirm what many suspected just by Eddie's appearance and performances in 2004 alone (confirmation that Eddie was pretty fucked up). Even if Hagar hadn't written the book, it's not like fans wouldn't have been aware of Eddie's condition otherwise. Possibly the Van Halens are still pissed more about Hagar revealing the various business machinations behind-the-scenes from 1993 through 2004. Possibly the Van Halens just didn't even give much of a shit one way or the other when Hagar's book came out, since by that point they had already been reunited with Roth and were in the midst of recording ADKOT and planning the tour to support it.Yes . . . . . but the book "My Uncensored (and untruthful ) Life In Rock" was released in 2011, which as we know Spammy wrote some major personal shit about Ed and his addictions, etc. That may have been the last straw for Eddie . That and Spam's continued shit talking to this day. Never say never in Rock N Roll and even with them rehiring him in 2004, I'd still be a little surprised.
I mean, you look at the all the things Roth said about the Van Halens from 1985 to 2005 - none of which were any worse than what Hagar did in his book - and when it finally came down to having no other options other than to reunite with Roth, the Van Halens did it. Should Roth leave the group, what other options would they have besides reuniting with Sammy if they wanted to tour? Yeah, everybody says get Ralph in there. I'd be interested in seeing that happen rather than another round of Hagar, but what are the chances Van Halen can pull off what Journey has?Scramby eggs and bacon.Comment
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Honestly I'd rather see Ralph and Russ and Mike and whatever great drummer than I would see Ralph up there with OBC and Wolfie and Spock. Wolfie would probably enjoy it cause he seems like the only normal guy in the whole insane asylum that's his family. But I really don't care anything about seeing Ed onstage ever again. The dude just has zero stage presence and basically, like the old vampire he is, sucks the life out of the room.
You bring up a good point with Journey but I don't think VH could achieve the same level of success that they did by hiring a singalike. Journey had pretty much been out of the spotlight, aside from the yearly tours. Plus their singer had become a recluse and refused to sing, ever. Then they lost their replacement singer and really didn't have many options. Neal lucked out finding Pineda on YouTube and the band was really excited about making a serious comeback. They went so far as to re-record the hits with the new guy and put a lot of effort into the release. And it was a fucking smash hit. Even if VH hired Ralph, Ed and Spock would put absolutely zero effort into it. I could see them re-recording the hits just so they could cash in and screw Dave and Warner real good. But I don't think they'd sell in the numbers that Journey did or generate the heat they did. But what the hell do I know? Maybe if they announced a tour with Ralph people would go nuts. I would eat my own words and buy a ticket and see at least one show, probably more than one. I mean, from the middle of the floor seats of you squinted your eyes it would look like Dave and it damn sure would sound like Dave. Plus the guy has the entire routine down, not just the vocals.
But I think Ed's only real option is bringing back Sam. I know it would sell tickets, at least for the early shows. But I've sat through video of entire shows from the 2004 tour - because I fucking love watching Ed stagger around. And Slappy put zero effort into the two shows I've seen, probably because every nite was a train wreck so why bother? I mean, it's kinda hard to sing the songs of the damn guitar player is over there playing God knows what when he's supposed to be playing Jump or any of the Van Hagar songs. So IF they brought Sam back they'd have to really try and kill every nite or it would be a complete failure. Which would be great for me because I would love it.American by birth. Southern by the grace of God.
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You guys are assuming Edtard even knows who Ralph is.Comment
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I see it like this, rock stars are the most insecure people on the planet. Roth listens to every damn thing Hagar does and Hagar listens to everything Dave does, and Edward is no freaking different regardless of what he might say. Like when they hired Cherone and he said he had never listened to him in Extreme which is total bullshit for anyone who is making a weak ass attempt to sound disinterested. Remember Edward said the last LP he bought was Peter Gabriel's "So"... which sits right next to his awful "Circle" live album lolI got lost in the...Comment
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