Wolfgang van halen says sammy hagar era "doesn't get any respect"

[Terry]

Funny enough, I bought EEAS and 5150 on vinyl the same day, long story…

5150 was like a curiosity, my then favourite guitarist with a whole new version and vibe.

EEAS was full of superior playing and writing, with fire and that quirky sense of humour that is uniquely DLR.

By the way, I think it’s really really super lame to pick on anyone because of what their body looks like.
The bottom line (see what I did there?) is does the music move me… apart from the tribute song for his dad, no it doesn’t. Dime a dozen corporate writing by numbers.

A large part of what drew me to the band back in the day was Eddie's playing.

I bought 5150 when it was released. Had only heard the Why Can't It Be Love single in advance of the album. Wasn't thrilled with the single, but I figured I hadn't been all that thrilled with the Jump single either yet ended up liking much of the 1984 album: 5150 had 3/4's of Van Halen in it, thus the chances were good that something on the record would appeal to me the way the 6 albums with Roth had.

Nope.

Conversely, I wasn't thrilled with the CFTH EP. The promo videos were entertaining, but strictly in terms of the music not what I wanted from Roth. Still isn't...it's not as if I ever have a yearning these days to revisit Coconut Grove.

A few months after 5150 came out, EEAS was released. EEAS overall (I'm Easy has always been utterly disposable to me) was much more in tune with what I wanted to hear than 5150 was and it only took one spin of EEAS for me to conclude that Roth was the one who was gonna continue to conjure up the fire and fury of Van Halen. Van Hagar were going the route of synth pop combined with hard rock tracks that couldn't stand up against what the band had created when Roth was in it.

[Terry]

The band made it clear on stage over the 2007-2015 period in the set lists, and I don't remember Ed ever evoking Van Hagar during those years, anyway.
So why would Wolf deplore that it doesn't get enough respect, otherwise than in terms of royalties?... No respect = no sales = too little money in his own pockets.

That statement of his is odd as well in that he was supposed to have had some big influence on Ed in favor of Dave's comeback within the band.

Wolf looks more and more uncool.

I'll give the kid credit - not that it took a genius to realize this - for being sensible enough to realize people wanted to see Roth back in the band and sensible enough with each Roth tour to suggest throwing in different deep cuts along with the standard CVH live tunes. Apparently, Eddie's main interest in doing those last three tours was the enjoyment he got playing with his kid. Would have preferred Anthony instead of Wolfgang, but seemingly Wolfgang being in the band was a deal-breaker re: Eddie reforming with Roth (or Eddie doing anything other than sitting around his house drinking Smoking Loon and smoking himself into oblivion a la crystal meth).

Now that Eddie has passed, the only thing Wolfgang has to retain my interest is the music HE makes. His comments on the offstage relationships the members of Van Halen had (or have) isn't of any particular interest to me because Van Halen is over. If Wolfgang's music is gonna continue along the lines of the first Mammoth album, his relevance to me will be none.

At the end of the day, the music is the thing.

[Rikk]

...that LRHRN album - even by Van Hagar's diminished standards - still sucks...

Indeed! It's really pathetic...because they already weren't NEARLY the band they had been with Dave. But that live album is such a joke. You take a classic band that hasn't had a live album before and then put out this bloated, boring, lazy live LP with a REALLY dull setlist (for God's sakes, it has practically every song from F.U.C.K., which is in my opinion VH's worst-ever album). And even the individual solos on this album are the pits. Just boring arena rock crap without any of the fun that happened during the Dave tours.

To be honest, a live album just made from the New Haven show they filmed for LIVE WITHOUT A NET would have been a much better live album. It was still nowhere near the level the band had shown on the VAN HALEN II, WACF, FAIR WARNING or 1984 tours...but at least it had some good performances ("5150"). But F.U.C.K. took all the very worst elements of Van Hagar and spread them out over a bloated 2-disc mess and basically, I'm sure, made new fans who decided to check it out take a listen and say, "Uh...I don't get it. Why is this band so celebrated?" You know you're in trouble when the very few Dave-era songs on this album are just terrible. The performance of JUMP on LIVE: RHRN is embarrassing. It's such a shitty, awful performance that makes me want to punch Hagar in the face over and over again. The way he keeps yelling, "Jump on..., jump on..., jump on..." JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU OBVIOUSLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT MADE THIS A GREAT SONG!! YOU RUINED IT, YOU CHEESE-HEAD SON OF A BITCH!!

[Rikk]

EEAS was full of superior playing and writing, with fire and that quirky sense of humour that is uniquely DLR.

SHYBOY alone kills anything on 5150.

The bottom line (see what I did there?) is does the music move me… apart from the tribute song for his dad, no it doesn’t. Dime a dozen corporate writing by numbers.

That's exactly what I think. Yeah, I thought the music video he released for that first single (sorry, I forgot the name) was moving...seeing all this old footage of Eddie living his life with his kid. That was kinda cool...but the song was terrible. I actually turned the sound off halfway through and just watched the footage.

NONE of the songs are remotely memorable. It BLOWS MY MIND that this man lived with Eddie Van Halen. He grew up practically INSIDE 5150 STUDIOS and ended up a very uninspired, talentless songwriter. Eddie used to rave, "Wait 'til you hear this kid! He's an incredible musician!" Well, I waited and hoped it would be something special.

I was SHOCKED at how poor the music was. If anyone in my band brought me ANY of these songs and said, "Can we try this one?", I would literally laugh and say, "No fucking way you're going to get me to sing this shit."

It's exactly what you said: corporate, rock-by-numbers crap. This kid learned NOTHING playing classic Van Halen songs for 10 years. He learned NOTHING about what makes a great song, what makes a dynamic rhythm section, nothing about what makes exciting and innovative guitar-playing.

The apple falls VERY FAR from the tree. And this fat son of a bitch who does not know how to make good music on his own IS NOT going to tell me what I should consider good taste. HE HAS NONE HIMSELF.

[Rikk]

Van Hagar does not even stand the test of time... So yes, I think I gave Van Hagar a fair shot.

That's just it. Chubby Wolf thinks this is some sort of issue of dumb fans just insisting on Dave or nothing without having done their research. Trust me, Wolfgang: we've inspected and tried this music the same way you inspect and devour an 18-inch loaded pizza by yourself.

We're not just idiots who choose Dave because we're following some sort of crowd-with-pitchforks mentality. I have almost never met a fan on here that doesn't have a similar story of hoping for the best after Dave left and ending up disappointed or even disgusted after hearing inferior album after inferior album Van Hagar album in Dave's glorious wake. WE ALL TRIED. And Van Hagar failed to impress. And some people kept the circus going because their girlfriends loved WHEN IT'S LOVE or whatever or because they just wanted to hear Eddie play.

But while I still run into people all the time who tell me FAIR WARNING changed their lives, I DO NOT run into people who tell me that FOR UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE changed their lives. It's polished mediocrity. Nothing more.

[Rikk]

Wolf looks more and more uncool.

Indeed. I defended Wolf while lots of fan refused to go to Dave reunion shows because Mikey wasn't there. I viewed Mikey as a traitor, running off into the sunset with Cheese-head. I didn't care. I was just glad that Dave was back. And I loved A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH and still do. I think there's a lot of truth to the idea that Wolfgang kept the band going by pushing his dad and keeping Ed & Dave together. I saw three amazing VH shows with Dave over those years and they're great memories to me because I was too young (10 years old) when they broke up originally.

But the band happily (and thankfully) didn't touch ANY of the Van Hagar material during all those years playing with Wolfgang.

NOW...he wants to re-write history and tell us (as if he's some sort of authority) that we have to accept how great that material actually is? No. I'm not like some fans, who claim the band did not have one good moment during all those years with Hagar. I don't buy that. But it was a HIGHLY-INFERIOR band that severely DID NOT work in the vocal department. If they went back to those four albums and had Dave put all new vocals on those songs, I'd actually be pretty excited (obviously, that's a pipe dream...I don't expect it to happen...I'm just saying it hypothetically).

One day, Wolf will wake up and realize that just because he's Eddie's son does not mean the lion's share of Van Halen fans DO NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT HIS MUSIC and we DO NOT GIVE A SHIT WHEN HE TELLS US WHAT MUSIC HIS DAD MADE THAT WE HAVE TO APPRECIATE.

[Rikk]

Wolfie really thinks I should "respect" THIS???

I can't believe this is the same band that wrote LOSS OF CONTROL...one of the coolest, more ferocious songs ever conceived.

(And I'm someone who defends LIVE WITHOUT A NET as having some good moments from Eddie.)

[Rikk]

I'll give the kid credit - not that it took a genius to realize this - for being sensible enough to realize people wanted to see Roth back in the band and sensible enough with each Roth tour to suggest throwing in different deep cuts along with the standard CVH live tunes. Apparently, Eddie's main interest in doing those last three tours was the enjoyment he got playing with his kid. Would have preferred Anthony instead of Wolfgang, but seemingly Wolfgang being in the band was a deal-breaker re: Eddie reforming with Roth (or Eddie doing anything other than sitting around his house drinking Smoking Loon and smoking himself into oblivion a la crystal meth).

Now that Eddie has passed, the only thing Wolfgang has to retain my interest is the music HE makes. His comments on the offstage relationships the members of Van Halen had (or have) isn't of any particular interest to me because Van Halen is over. If Wolfgang's music is gonna continue along the lines of the first Mammoth album, his relevance to me will be none.

At the end of the day, the music is the thing.

The one thing Wolfgang could do that would make me VERY interested would be to finally go through his Dad's archives and start putting together great quality archive releases. Tons of studio outtakes, live releases both from the original band (tour for the first six albums) and even a Blu-Ray release of the reunion band.

And frankly, since so much of the music in Eddie's archives is instrumental material, I hope he doesn't wait too long. I think one way he could put together an exciting new Van Halen album would be to take 10-15 top quality instrumental tracks that Eddie and Alex jammed out, overdub his own bass and backing vocals...and then GET DAVE INTO THE STUDIO (God knows, I'm sure this would be hard, but maybe he could pull off convincing Dave to come down) to lay new vocals on this unfinished instrumental material. Voila, new Van Halen album. There's enough verification that there's a SHIT-TON of material that could be whipped into shape with editing, overdubbing and remixing. But if he tried to put together an all-instrumental LP...or (even worse) if he got Cheese-Head down to do the vocals...I would love interest right there.

I love Eddie. But if they put an archive material album together, he needs Dave. That's the only way he would get fans (and the rock market in general) excited would be to piece this together into a cohesive new album with Dave singing. It's totally feasible. But he needs to stop sitting on his ass, releasing his own shitty music.

Dave isn't going to live forever.

[Nitro Express]

I can't believe this is the same band that wrote LOSS OF CONTROL...one of the coolest, more ferocious songs ever conceived.

(And I'm someone who defends LIVE WITHOUT A NET as having some good moments from Eddie.)

That song is Woke as fuck.

[Nitro Express]

Why is Wolfgang relevant to anything? By the time daddy’s sperm found mommy’s egg Van Halen had been in a devolved stage of shame for years. The kid never experienced anything good. It’s why he’s fat, lacks charisma and is boring as fuck. He grew up on Van Hagar music. The kid never had a chance. He’s a dreg of waste from a sad situation. Dad got fagged up with Sam and became a lame example for the youth. Sam pollution. It’s completely devastating. Greta should be pointing her finger at Sam yelling how dare you! You have destroyed the planet!

[Rikk]

On a similar note, the Sunset Sound YouTube channel (which has really interesting stuff) had a video in which one of their engineers described an entirely-finished, mixed & compiled 4-CD archive release put together completely from outtakes from the first six albums. It was FOUR FULL CD'S FULLY MIXED AND FINISHED.

The guy said there wasn't a TON of unreleased songs in there...but there were a handful. There were also some interesting studio jams, some alternate takes of tracks like ERUPTION, CATHEDRAL, etc. And some really interesting alternate takes (a completely different and interesting alternate take of LITTLE DREAMER, a totally different version of the final master of HOT FOR TEACHER with the entire opening guitar intro doubled with Eddie's bass and a totally different vocal/lyric part by Dave for this song, etc.).

Additionally, he found the original 24-track multi-track masters to the 1977 WARNER DEMOS (26 songs). He proceeded to remix them from scratch, using the sound of the debut album's final mixes as his reference point on how to mix the '77 demos. He said they sounded beautiful. Years later, Eddie claimed they were trying to release the '77 DEMOS as a new release to promote with their 2015 tour but they couldn't find the master tapes, so they released TOKYO DOME instead. But Eddie was super-mistaken. While they didn't have the master mixes made in late '77, they had all 26 demos completely remixed by this Sunset Sound engineer from 2005 or so and could have simply used those. And Eddie forgot and communication with Warners was apparently not very good at the time.

For this set, Wolfgang doesn't even need to take time away from his shitty music or his 15 meals he eats every day. He just needs to literally give the thumbs up to finally release this amazing set...with all the outtakes, alternate takes, unreleased songs and the complete Warners '77 demos. Again, it's completely mixed and finished. The engineer was sent into the studio by Warner Bros. to compile this set in the mid 2000s (2004-2005) to do this set, completed the work and he sent finished CDs of his work to all the band members. And the band decided they didn't want this out at the time because they were still in the process of doing reunion work with Hagar and didn't want a Dave archive set "confusing the issue." So it was delayed indefinitely.

If Wolfgang gave the thumbs up to release this now, it would be one of the most exciting things to happen to Van Halen fans in ages. Since...since...since A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH came out 11 fucking years ago.

[Rikk]

That song is Woke as fuck.

LMFAO. Yeah, LOSS OF CONTROL is so "politically-correct."

I played LOSS OF CONTROL for my eight-year-old daughter recently (big VH fan and she honestly told me that "the other singer sucks"). As I played LOC, her eyes widened and she said, "This song is crazy!" Then she started thrashing around the room.

I was so proud.

[Rikk]

It’s why he’s fat, lacks charisma and is boring as fuck.

Seriously, I often wonder: WHY IS HE SO FAT?

Seriously...Wolfgang is so fucking fat, joggers take laps around him for a serious work-out.

[Nitro Express]

That's just it. Chubby Wolf thinks this is some sort of issue of dumb fans just insisting on Dave or nothing without having done their research. Trust me, Wolfgang: we've inspected and tried this music the same way you inspect and devour an 18-inch loaded pizza by yourself.

We're not just idiots who choose Dave because we're following some sort of crowd-with-pitchforks mentality. I have almost never met a fan on here that doesn't have a similar story of hoping for the best after Dave left and ending up disappointed or even disgusted after hearing inferior album after inferior album Van Hagar album in Dave's glorious wake. WE ALL TRIED. And Van Hagar failed to impress. And some people kept the circus going because their girlfriends loved WHEN IT'S LOVE or whatever or because they just wanted to hear Eddie play.

But while I still run into people all the time who tell me FAIR WARNING changed their lives, I DO NOT run into people who tell me that FOR UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE changed their lives. It's polished mediocrity. Nothing more.

I think Sammy Hagar music is why there are so many gender confused people these days.

[twonabomber]

Eddie used to rave, "Wait 'til you hear this kid! He's an incredible musician!" Well, I waited and hoped it would be something special.

Playing and writing are two different things.

All the chops in the world mean nothing if the songs stink.