Did Michael Anthony play bass on every classic Van Halen song?

[Yount]

5150 over III? Urgh I detest Hagar more.
I do not give him ANY more respect than Cherone because Cherone had far superior lyrics to that tripe Hagar serves up for popularity only.
Cherone is at least half a musician.
Hagar is majority businessman.

III's OK! Except the last song should have been changed from HMSI to TWILY

[Terry]

I gotta tell you, despite his rather fey gyrations onstage with the band, I actually felt kinda embarrassed for Cherone.

Realistically, he couldn't turn down the offer to join the band (even if he flat-out told Eddie "it's crazy to have anyone other than Roth sing for you guys at this point", Cherone probably realized Eddie was bent on getting someone - ANYONE - other than Dave, and the only thing that would have accomplished was Cherone not getting the job). While the timeline of when Roth contacted the Van Halens vs. them booting Hagar out vs. Roth recording with the band vs. Cherone auditioning is still not established with precision re: actual dates, even if there was overlap SOMEBODY should have realized that doing a couple of tunes with Roth was gonna get people amped up for a full-fledged CVH reunion. Cherone found himself in this situation where he really couldn't refuse, but now he has to overcome an additional hurdle with the dashed expectations of the fanbase when the Roth Debacle unfolded. Like, it was gonna be tough enough for him to establish himself in Van Halen as it was WITHOUT the band reuniting with Dave for a quickie after Hagar left.

When I watched the interviews the Van Halen 3 lineup gave right after after the album was released, there's Eddie blathering on like everything is fine, and more often than not Cherone has this distant look on his face like he finally realized the game was over before it even started. It must have been abysmal for him to undertake that tour with the band and see the crowds dwindle. While the Van Halens pulled the roof in on themselves, Cherone seemed like a decent guy who (unlike Hagar) was respectful of what CVH had accomplished, and I still don't bear the guy any harsh feelings for taking a shot. He just got caught up in a shitstorm, and what must have seemed like a dream gig in theory got turned into a nightmare in reality...I actually suspect the Van Halens WANTED to reunite with Roth in 1996 for an album and tour, but wanted him to work on a reduced percentage like Mike Anthony was at that point. They wanted to call the shots. Financially, musically...even in terms of lyric content and publicity. Once it was clear Dave wasn't gonna accept that, they went and found Cherone, who was so blown away by the fact that he was even THERE to begin with that he wasn't gonna say shit.

Hagar claims in his book that Eddie had played bass on some of the tracks on various Van Halen albums even before Hagar was in the band. Hagar doesn't specify which albums/songs, and Hagar has been prone to telling a few porkie pies in his day (or at the very least exaggerating the truth). It'd be interesting to hear what Anthony has to say about the subject. I can't recollect if Anthony has ever been asked about the albums when Roth was in the band in terms of Eddie overdubbing bass parts...or, if so, such a response was talked about in another thread.

[DONNIEP]

And this was the version of Van Halen that Ed tried to tell us was the best...

[chefcraig]

That album jacket pissed me off. it was them all trying to show how much fun they were having as a band messing around & stuff. I didnt buy it for a second.

The best part of the CD's tray liner is the fact the band photo appears to include a guy other than Michael Anthony. And people were pissed a few years later when the guy was airbrushed off of a couple album covers at the VH site.

[Zing!]

Tickets were $10 which included entrance to the fair AND Van Halen.

[NIN1211]

Holy shit!! So lame. I had a chance to see them in Vegas at The Hard Rock and I passed. I could not believe the small clubs and fairs they were doing. Thank god they did not do the follow up album.

yep...I witnessed this mess in Chicago. Shit u could walk up to the stage...must have been 4,000 or so people there. Still better than Spam Halen IMHO.

[SNIPER]

And worst part?

My girlfriend at the time just HAD to see "Van Halen". Despite my best efforts to explain this was not VH she got her way. So I bought 2 tickets from ticketmaster for I think $32.50 each. Due to really poor sales the day of the show at the fair? Tickets were $10 which included entrance to the fair AND Van Halen.

Fuck me!

Holy shit!! So lame. I had a chance to see them in Vegas at The Hard Rock and I passed. I could not believe the small clubs and fairs they were doing. Thank god they did not do the follow up album.

[sadaist]

That is a very sad tale, brother. Must have been a heartbreaker.

And worst part?

My girlfriend at the time just HAD to see "Van Halen". Despite my best efforts to explain this was not VH she got her way. So I bought 2 tickets from ticketmaster for I think $32.50 each. Due to really poor sales the day of the show at the fair? Tickets were $10 which included entrance to the fair AND Van Halen.

Fuck me!

[SNIPER]

I did see this tour at the Del Mar Fair. THE FUCKING FAIR!! Van Halen? WTF!? We left 2/3 through. I remember walking to the car & hearing Panama. I was sad.


The high point of the night was the caramel apple I ate.

That is a very sad tale, brother. Must have been a heartbreaker.

[loucap81]

at least the background vocals are awesome!

I never thought about this, but I wonder if he came up with those harmonies himself while they worked on songs in the studio, or if Dave or Ed wrote those too.

[sadaist]

I did see this tour at the Del Mar Fair. THE FUCKING FAIR!! Van Halen? WTF!? We left 2/3 through. I remember walking to the car & hearing Panama. I was sad.


The high point of the night was the caramel apple I ate.

[sadaist]

at least the background vocals are awesome!







/sarcasm

[gbranton]

I just watched those videos, I'd never seen them before and won't watch them again other than to demonstrate to my wife how far Van Halen had sunk.

I noticed the house lights are so dark you cannot see the crowd, I am thinking it is because they are just sitting there gobsmacked by how bad this is. Once or twice you do get a small glimpse of people down front and they are just standing there.

There is a pool ball painted on the floor, but I am afraid it was the wrong one. Tthe one I have in mind is about five balls higher and if you asked that ball if this music should have seen the light of day, the answer would come back "not on your fucking life".

[SNIPER]

Go easy on me here I won't be playing either album BUT. If I had a gun to my head I would rather ruff it through 5150. But that won't happen thank god.

[SNIPER]

And then there was this.