New Blender Article on BOBW

[Full Bug]

:D

[Figs]

Thanks for posting, ALMOSTsaved.

Brutally honest, and true!

[Warham]

For the people who can't read scanned pages:

Van Halen
The Best of Both Worlds
Warner Bros.
Release Date: 7/20/2004

How did America’s greatest hard-rock band turn into bores?
Reviewed by Jonathan Gold


Eddie Van Halen, a girl recently told Blender, keeps his hip in a freezer, wrapped in ice. She had held it while visiting the guitarist after his hip-replacement surgery. Eddie’s hip, she said, was inert, outdated and very, very cold. It’s a great metaphor for the superior Los Angeles hard-rock band Eddie named after himself.

At a time when their hometown had nothing but punk bands, Van Halen announced themselves in 1978 with “Eruption,” 102 seconds of controlled freak-out. It was a new kind of guitar, sinuous and lyrical, distorted in a manner that suggested windows shivering in their frames, a rush of overblown riffing and whammy-bar whoops, down-stroke flurries and lightning hammer-on lines, all bass and chilly treble. It was ridiculous, it was the most influential guitar solo since Jimi Hendrix played “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Woodstock and it inspired a generation of what 50 Cent might call guitar wankstas playing increasingly fast.

On album and at early shows, “Eruption” segued into a cover of “You Really Got Me,” an overdriven version of the Kinks’ raver that represented Van Halen’s other influence: the intelligence and simplicity of the British Invasion bands, which in turn were influenced by music-hall traditions as well as Chuck Berry. But on The Best of Both Worlds, Van Halen’s second attempt at a greatest-hits package, “Eruption” leads instead into a charmless pud-pounder, “It’s About Time” — one of three consecutive unmemorable new songs from the reunited band — and the disconnect may be violent enough to propel your hand toward the eject button barely two or three seconds into the song.

The two worlds of the collection’s title are the opposite phases of VH’s career: the David Lee Roth Era, through 1985, and the Sammy Hagar Era, which started the next year, after Roth left for a solo career he’s still hoping will pan out. (There was a third era featuring Gary Cherone of Extreme, but the less said of it, the better.)

The mocking tone of Roth’s voice and the hammy irony of his lyrics owed more to vaudevilleans like Louis Prima than they did to any metal precedent. Roth was simultaneously a hard-rock singer and a hipster winking at the idea of being a hard-rock singer. He reveled in the benefits and glories of being a long-haired, Spandexed rock god and also understood that heavy-metal singers are one tube of lipstick removed from circus clowns.

Hagar was a journeyman howler who took his job too seriously. Both guys sang almost exclusively about sex, but where Roth was a rascal, complicated and compassionate, Hagar was just a pig incapable of subtlety or charm: His best song, “Finish What Ya Started,” with great hesitant picking from Eddie, is about an uncompleted blow job.

Under Hagar, VH lost speed and wit (unless you’re among the dozen or so people who think “only time will tell if we stand the test of time” is a good lyric), and as Eddie replaced guitar with synthesizers, they turned into a progged-up version of Journey, damp and ballady. The “Van Hagar” albums may have as many fans as the early, funny ones, but they are assuredly different fans. And unfortunately, this compilation essentially alternates tracks from the two singers, instead of arranging them coherently or chronologically.

Van Halen fans often debate a chicken-and-egg question: Did Hagar cause VH to suck, or was he a symptom of the suckage? Even those who prefer Roth’s sly Dean Martin–goes-to–Pasadena High approach might think this two-CD set’s back-and-forth exonerates Hagar. “Jump,” the biggest hit of the Roth era (it hit number 1 in 1984), marked the beginning of VH’s synth fixation. After that, Eddie occasionally mixed tough riffs with keyboards, notably on “Why Can’t This Be Love.” But most of their Hagar songs were built around glossy studiocraft instead of sheer malevolent glee.

A compilation of hits from the Roth years would be something close to a public service. As nicely remastered as it is, The Best of Both Worlds is unlistenable without easy access to the skip-track button on your Discman.

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Someone please post that article over to the links, the sheep need a large dose of the truth. Great article!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone finally tells it like it is. FUCK VANHAGAR, bring back the Diamond One!!!!!!!!!! unfortunatly the Bore Tour continues.

[hotdog@ a shake]

Roth was a rascal.

Hagar a pig.

I'm still pissin' my pants...LOL

the truth speaks volumes...

all hail CLASSIC VAN HALEN!!!

1974-85

DAVID LEE ROTH
EDWARD VAN HALEN
ALEX VAN HALEN
MICHAEL ANTHONY

[hotdog@ a shake]

Roth was a rascal.

Hagar a pig.

I'm still pissin' my pants...LOL

the truth speaks volumes...

haven't we been saying this for 20 years???

all hail CLASSIC VAN HALEN!!!

1974-85

DAVID LEE ROTH
EDWARD VAN HALEN
ALEX VAN HALEN
MICHAEL ANTHONY

[hotdog@ a shake]

Roth was a rascal.

Hagar a pig.

I'm still pissin' my pants...LOL

the truth speaks volumes...

haven't we been saying this the "PIG" boarded the bandwagon???

all hail CLASSIC VAN HALEN!!!

1974-85

DAVID LEE ROTH
EDWARD VAN HALEN
ALEX VAN HALEN
MICHAEL ANTHONY

[hotdog@ a shake]

Roth was a rascal.

Hagar a pig.

I'm still pissin' my pants...LOL

the truth speaks volumes...

haven't we been saying this since the "PIG" boarded the bandwagon???

all hail CLASSIC VAN HALEN!!!

1974-85

DAVID LEE ROTH
EDWARD VAN HALEN
ALEX VAN HALEN
MICHAEL ANTHONY

[Warham]

Excited Hot Dog? Heh

[Bad Muthafucker]

awesome review!

[Matt White]

It is gratifying to see THE TRUTH so eloquently stated in PRINT!!! It's exactly the same opinion that gets stated here ALL DAY EVERY DAY!!! And it looks like the tide is turning, with several reviews in HIGH PROFILE magazines backing up the fact that...DAVID LEE ROTH IS VAN HALEN!!!!! Let the SISTERS AND THE SHEEP SUCK ON THAT!!!!

[mikethemartian]

I thought that was a great article. It said it. The difference between real VH with Dave and Van Hagar is that Dave's Van Halen had an energy and edge to it. It was full of enthusiasm.

[5150Clown]

this man speaks our language and have voiced our cry. Can someone forward it to the Van Halen website? I mean....do the sisters have a clue?

[bueno bob]

Originally posted by 5150Clown
I mean....do the sisters have a clue?

No.

[Figs]

Did Hagar cause VH to suck, or was he a symptom of the suckage?