New Michael Anthony pic with "Van Halen"

[DLR Bridge]

The Foos have 3 between '07-'14.

[DONNIEP]

Hell, I'd say it's a priveledge to be in demand

And there's the rub: VH ain't in all that much demand anymore. A lot of the shows on the last tour were heavily papered. There will always be people in every major city who show up to see any big name band that comes through town. Unfortunately those numbers just don't transfer to record sales with VH.

Remember when the word came out that Dave was gonna be in charge of all the promotion for ADKOT? They threw up one billboard on the side of a building and had one sign on NYE that flashed up the album cover and had a little VH in the corner. The only people who even knew what it was were those of us on a couple message boards. And everybody said "Van Halen doesn't have to promote the record", and they were partially right. Selling a couple hundred thousand right out of the box ain't nothing to sneez at these days. Regardless, it costs money to make a record and distribute it. Doesn't make much sense to do it in the conventional sense unless you're gonna get your investment back.

Of course, Ed has a studio and Dave has a studio. So they could cut something on the cheap and distribute it digitally and crank out some hard copies for those of us who like to have something tangible. But really, how many copies would it sell?

VH could do just a few things and excite their fan base and maybe even grow it a bit past all us old fucks and a handful of young people. But they won't, mainly because they're lazy as hell and the pirate ship ain't gots no captain. This is what happens when Ed is in control. It's not that much different than when Mike finally got tired of sitting around and started playing with Sam. The difference is Dave is doing exactly jack shit. He had a shot with the EEAS show. But instead of showing up early for the gig he shows up with one of the other guys, makes sure everybody sees him in the car, then has the driver circle the block so he can pump his ego. Then he goes home and does nothing.

Honestly, unless they can pull something off something astounding, there's not much left to look forward to from the Van Failin Family Of Retards. Will Dave do something, anything? Well, if his stupid song about a plastic chair is any indication, it sure ain't gonna be what most of us expect from Dave. The Roth Shows were hit and miss. A few were great. Most of them were boring as shit. And there ain't no way I'm gonna struggle through three or four hours of another crappy radio show. And besides, Dave's always admitted he was a one trick pony. And if he doesn't get back to performing that trick to the best of whatever his abilities are at this point, the future ain't looking too bright.

[DLR Bridge]

Even a dwindling demand is still demand. There are acts out there, like the often referenced King's X, who have never been able to elevate themselves above cult following status, but they work their tails off for the club sized crowds they've always had, AND they don't shit on each other for dabbling with solo and side projects. The Van Halen dilemma is not new and only they can solve it, or should have solved it by now. It's not in their best interest.

[DONNIEP]

Even a dwindling demand is still demand. There are acts out there, like the often referenced King's X, who have never been able to elevate themselves above cult following status, but they work their tails off for the club sized crowds they've always had, AND they don't shit on each other for dabbling with solo and side projects. The Van Halen dilemma is not new and only they can solve it, or should have solved it by now. It's not in their best interest.

The Van Failin brothers don't want to do anything more than what they've been doing. Dave? Who knows. I guess we'll see this year.

Ya know, VH could take a lesson from ol Slappy. That sumbitch puts out records records and books and TV shows and plays a lot of shows. Sure he's not playing to 10,000 people at a show. And sure he doesn't move a lot of records. But he's out there giving back to his fans. He sure as hell cant be making much cash off them since he's playing to small venues mostly. There's no reason VH couldn't do the same thing. They just choose not to. Or Ed chooses not to, I should say.

And I think that's one of the reasons some of us could really care less about VH these days. The live shows are fun, but it's really just the same old show we've seen before. And that's why I didn't pay for a ticket last go 'round. Then you toss in the fact that the band really couldn't give a shit about the fans, people say well fuck it then. Dave's RS interview at least showed that he really wants a proper reunion. And that would at least be giving something to the fans and it wouldn't cost Ed much. Matter of fact he could pay Mike less than what The Wolfichrist was making.

Honestly, unless they crank out a killer record AND tour to support it, there's not much left for the band to do. Dave, on the other hand, could do all sorts of stuff. No, he wouldn't be playing to 10,000 people every nite. But that didn't stop him back when he was killing with the DLR band.

Ah, fuck it. I'm going to The Walmart and then I'm gonna have some coldies and watch the debate tonite, yell LIAR at the tv a bunch of times while my kid is blaring the Cato DVD on her system in her room. She's watched that damn thing more than I have.

[DLR Bridge]

Hate to agree with your McSlappy remark, but I do. That dope has put out product for his following alright.

[Terry]

Had they been able to pull off the alleged vaulted stuff instead of the Tokyo bullshit would have been huge..

That's all I really want from the band.

In point of fact, I'd gladly trade everything they've done with Roth since 1997 (tours, albums) for cleaned up CVH 'vault' stuff.

What they've done with Dave for the past 8 years has been okay. More than I expected they were capable of by the time 2006 rolled around. None of it in any way equals CVH.

[DONNIEP]

Hate to agree with your McSlappy remark, but I do. That dope has put out product for his following alright.

Yep.

Look, I don't dig the lovey dovey stuff. Or his songs with stupid lyrics, like "her thunder thong around your neck". Oops, sorry - wrong singer guy. Take Standing Hampton for example - take off the love crap and it's a pretty good record. And some of the Van Hagar songs are pretty good too. It ain't Van Halen good, but then it wasn't Van Halen. So some of his stuff ain't too bad. Regardless, the guy does have fans. And for those people, he slings more shit at them than they can keep up with, including playing shows. People can say what they want about him slapping together groups left and right. But for his fans it's a fuckin constant supply of product.

VH could have been doing all this same shit for years. But when you a got a guy with ZERO work ethic running the show, a guy who would rather sit in his studio and jerk off all day, for decades at a time, a guy who couldn't even put down the bottle and the blow long enough to come down to his studio to work on the follow up to 1984 when he's got the biggest motherfucking rock star in the universe sitting down there wasting his time while the fans are literally ready to throw money at Dave to put out anything - there's little hope of him ever doing much of anything.

[DONNIEP]

That's all I really want from the band.

In point of fact, I'd gladly trade everything they've done with Roth since 1997 (tours, albums) for cleaned up CVH 'vault' stuff.

What they've done with Dave for the past 8 years has been okay. More than I expected they were capable of by the time 2006 rolled around. None of it in any way equals CVH.

The problem with that is Ed didn't properly store what he has. He said just that. Same probably goes for the other guys in the band too. But I have to think there would be at least enough stuff for a decent box set.

[Terry]

Not so sure about that..... Seems that all rock bands over 40 these days (and there aren't many actual rock bands left that aren't) average about 5 years between albums. So maybe in the 9 years since the VH reunion was first announced - February 2007 was the Rolling Stone cover - they might have made 2 albums, but 3 is unlikely even if the band was a fully functional creative unit. And of course, the "Tattoo You" like results of ADKOT (old songs refreshed with new lyrics & vocals) certainly suggest they are not.

Final result was still a damn good album, of course. But I really wish they had been able to make an album from scratch.

Yeah, ADKOT kinda WAS a bit like Tattoo in the cut-and-paste revamps of all those old demos.

In some ways it was a surprise because the result ended up being better than I would have thought the band were capable of by the time 2012 rolled around. It was also a smart move to have half of the album use those old, previously unofficially released demo tunes as templates. What easier way to recapture the old CVH vibe?

But it didn't really give off the feeling that there was going to be a prolific creative future for this version of Van Halen. I mean, shit, the first full-length Van Halen album in, what...14 years by the time ADKOT was released? And the first full-length album of original material by Roth in 14 years? And half of the album is remakes?

The upside was that the new material on ADKOT was, for the most part, compelling as well.

It's just useful for me to bring a lowered set of expectations for the group to the table now. I can't use the CVH years as the metric standard of output, live or in the studio, for what the group are doing these days. Mostly because it has been all to evident that they just can't match their past. It's not even realistic to expect them to try, although admittedly hearing Chinatown made me nod my head in somewhat amazed approval.

[chuckjitsu]

although admittedly hearing Chinatown made me nod my head in somewhat amazed approval.

That's why i was hoping we could squeeze another album out of them before they call it a day. i thought the new stuff on ADKOT was pretty good. i'd love to see what they can do for at least one more album with 10 or so tracks and no more than a couple using recycled riffs. i believe it could be done with good results, but i just don't think the interest is there, which i think is a general feeling, not just toward a new album.

In the meantime, Dave just needs to say fuck it and roll with the EEAS lineup, release the John 5 album, etc. He's got nothing to prove and time's a wastin'.

[Terry]

That's why i was hoping we could squeeze another album out of them before they call it a day. i thought the new stuff on ADKOT was pretty good. i'd love to see what they can do for at least one more album with 10 or so tracks and no more than a couple using recycled riffs. i believe it could be done with good results, but i just don't think the interest is there, which i think is a general feeling, not just toward a new album.

In the meantime, Dave just needs to say fuck it and roll with the EEAS lineup, release the John 5 album, etc. He's got nothing to prove and time's a wastin'.

If they [Van Halen] could put out an album of originals with songs as strong as Chinatown and As Is, I'd love to hear it.

I mean, I don't give a shit what the band name is: there will always be an interest on my part with what Ed and Dave can come up with, either together or apart. That's not to say that I'll by default thing everything they do is brilliant. Both of them had their fair share of tracks or projects that didn't work well post-1985. However, even within the nadir of the post-1985 output, there was always something of interest. Even Van Halen III had several interesting instrumental ideas.

For sure more rather than less and sooner rather than later would be better far as I'm concerned. I suppose the reality of it is there is little interest on the part of a record label in releasing anything unless it is under the name 'Van Halen'. I mean, if you owned a label, would you be so hot to sign up Roth as a solo act and release a new solo album from him, considering what his last couple solo efforts sold?

[DONNIEP]

So long as Dave ain't writing songs about Japan or chairs, I'm down for it. Just write some cool rock songs. Or just tour and do mostly solo stuff including some of the DLR band record and maybe a handful of VH songs. And call Mike's hair guy.

[ZahZoo]

Could definitely use some new Roth material about wrestling masks, sheep dogs and his tough white boy takes on Japanese gangstas films...

[PETE'S BROTHER]

and red bull and pop tarts

[ZahZoo]

Only with Bunny Jammies™...