lastdecember said:

Heres the deal, Eddie is the moron of the band, genius on his instrument, worst guy to run a band. ITS CLEAR what an ass he is that he didnt even show to the RnR ceremony, now the BS was that he was suffering from surgery and addictions etc...BULLSHIT, if thats the case, where was his brother to make that statement, another Ass. Eddie refused to go because the show said that SAMMY and MICHAEL had to be included an so did Dave though he declined, because sammy was going, Eddie really looked like a jerkoff on this night. And Sammy showed class in thanking him and the ceremony for including him in it (i mean he only carried the band for a decade where it sold lights years more) but also Sammy showed even more class by thanking Gary Cherone too, another victim of Eddie's BS.

Exactly! And also, Eddie is a lousy liar. Let not forget about that infamous false start reunion with David at the MTV VMA for a couple of years ago.

TonyVanDam said:

JoeTyler said:

Bullshit

The band is doing the right thing: the original line-up (without Michael) creating the final album and then the farewell tour.

Van Halen's last good album was 5150 (despite the sellout production), period, they are basically done, so let them tour for a couple of years and then goodbye. The new album with David will probably suck anyway...

this band is sooooo 78-86

I've always prefer Van Halen with David Lee Roth on lead vocals. Granted, Sammy Hager was and still is a better musician. But David was and always still THE better entertainer, especially during the 1980's.

But having Wolfgang Van Halen on bass instead of original band member Michael Anthony is some straight up bullshit. Yes, Wolfgang is Eddie's son and he is pretty good. But Wolfgang isn't freaking badass like Michael Anthony.

Please quote me!

well, yeah, I agree: the "Van Hagar" era was all technique and good singles but 0% energy, 0% attitude... can you imagine the Stones replacing Mick Jagger with Peter Frampton?????

And as I've said, I haven't seen many videos of the current reunion but I doubt that Wolfgang can sing as good as Michael; I mean Michael is a SINGER, not only a bass player...

SEANMAN said:

JoeTyler said:

Eddie was tired of the "assless" outfit, Dave wanted to keep using it, Eddie "not in this band, not anymore", Dave: "fine, goodbye" and then he released the superb Eat'Em and Smile...

"kiss my ass Eddie" :

Am I the only one who's entertained the thought that Roth might like the peen every once in a while?

I was on some groupie site and it indicated that David COULD be bisexual.

The quote went something like "maybe that's now why he's into California boys."

Isn't this what happens behind the scenes of most groups, a whole lot of drama?

I'm not aware of all the backstage stuff but I know when the Van Halen was at the top of their game is was so obvious that Dave was jealous of Eddie. The boy (Dave) had green stuff foaming in the corners of his mouth. I've always kinda liked Hagar he just seems cool and unaffected, I look forward to reading his book.

Timmy84 said:

SEANMAN said:

Am I the only one who's entertained the thought that Roth might like the peen every once in a while?

I was on some groupie site and it indicated that David COULD be bisexual.

The quote went something like "maybe that's now why he's into California boys."

Teena (yep, Teena!) had a big crush on him around 1984. I seem to recall reading that when it was pointed out that he was wound a little tight she said that she thought he was a "genius" and appreciated his intensity. She had met him a few times and had survived his whirlwind, I guess. hmmnn?

allsmutaside said:

Timmy84 said:

I was on some groupie site and it indicated that David COULD be bisexual.

The quote went something like "maybe that's now why he's into California boys."

Teena (yep, Teena!) had a big crush on him around 1984. I seem to recall reading that when it was pointed out that he was wound a little tight she said that she thought he was a "genius" and appreciated his intensity. She had met him a few times and had survived his whirlwind, I guess. hmmnn?

Hahaha interesting.

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is probably my favourite Sammy era album. 5150 is a little too synth heavy/'80s sounding but I haven't listened to it in years, I'll have to give it another spin.

man, the solos of "Dreams" still bring tears to my eyes ...

I just gave 5150 a listen and it is much better than I remembered it. It seems like a pretty seamless sequel to 1984 and not the huge jump into pop music that I remembered it as and there are plenty of great licks from Eddie. The problem is that the songs are not nearly as memorable as on previous albums and they seem fairly generic. The electronic drums are a bit of a distraction but they would be forgivable if the songs were stronger.

OU812 is up next. I remember even less about this album so I'm not sure what to expect. Of the Hagar era I remember quite liking For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and really disliking Balance, the other two albums didn't leave much of an impression on me.

TonyVanDam said:

I've always prefer Van Halen with David Lee Roth on lead vocals. Granted, Sammy Hager was and still is a better musician. But David was and always still THE better entertainer, especially during the 1980's.

PREACH!!!

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

man, the solos of "Dreams" still bring tears to my eyes ...

I just gave 5150 a listen and it is much better than I remembered it. It seems like a pretty seamless sequel to 1984 and not the huge jump into pop music that I remembered it as and there are plenty of great licks from Eddie. The problem is that the songs are not nearly as memorable as on previous albums and they seem fairly generic. The electronic drums are a bit of a distraction but they would be forgivable if the songs were stronger.

OU812 is up next. I remember even less about this album so I'm not sure what to expect. Of the Hagar era I remember quite liking For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and really disliking Balance, the other two albums didn't leave much of an impression on me.

my favorite track off 5150 is the title-track, Best of Both Worlds and Good Enough are also excellent and Dreams features some amazing guitar licks and solos . The rest of the album is good, I even dig Inside (I do admit, though, that Get Up is pretty silly ) , lol. I can understand why some old school fans couldn't swallow the synths/electronic drums/keys sound, but I still think that 5150 was better than OU812 (very pedestrian) and Carnal Knowledge, which sounds slighty dated for 1991 (it sounds like an early-1990 hair-metal album)... Balance was DREADFUL

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

I just gave 5150 a listen and it is much better than I remembered it. It seems like a pretty seamless sequel to 1984 and not the huge jump into pop music that I remembered it as and there are plenty of great licks from Eddie. The problem is that the songs are not nearly as memorable as on previous albums and they seem fairly generic. The electronic drums are a bit of a distraction but they would be forgivable if the songs were stronger.

OU812 is up next. I remember even less about this album so I'm not sure what to expect. Of the Hagar era I remember quite liking For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and really disliking Balance, the other two albums didn't leave much of an impression on me.

my favorite track off 5150 is the title-track, Best of Both Worlds and Good Enough are also excellent and Dreams features some amazing guitar licks and solos . The rest of the album is good, I even dig Inside (I do admit, though, that Get Up is pretty silly ) , lol. I can understand why some old school fans couldn't swallow the synths/electronic drums/keys sound, but I still think that 5150 was better than OU812 (very pedestrian) and Carnal Knowledge, which sounds slighty dated for 1991 (it sounds like an early-1990 hair-metal album)... Balance was DREADFUL

Just finished OU812. Eh, I kind of like "Finish What Ya Started," at least it's something slightly new for them. The last time I heard this album I was unfamiliar with Little Feat and the original "A Apolitical Blues," kind of funny how close the Van Halen version is to the original. Otherwise nothing is too memorable. I guess that "When It's Love" is an ok ballad but it's not what I want to hear from Van Halen. The drums sounded marginally better on this album than on 5150.

I don't think you, or anyone else, mentioned III. I've never heard it but if I can find it cheap I'll probably get it. I loved Extreme but when III was released I didn't have any faith that it was worth getting plus cd's were a bit more expensive then and after Balance I was not eager to shell out for a new disc based on loyalty.

Anyway, on to For Unlawful Carnage Knowledge! This was my first Van Halen album so I'll always have a soft spot for it. I probably haven't listened to it in about thirteen years, I hope it's as good as I remember it.

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

my favorite track off 5150 is the title-track, Best of Both Worlds and Good Enough are also excellent and Dreams features some amazing guitar licks and solos . The rest of the album is good, I even dig Inside (I do admit, though, that Get Up is pretty silly ) , lol. I can understand why some old school fans couldn't swallow the synths/electronic drums/keys sound, but I still think that 5150 was better than OU812 (very pedestrian) and Carnal Knowledge, which sounds slighty dated for 1991 (it sounds like an early-1990 hair-metal album)... Balance was DREADFUL

I guess that "When It's Love" is an ok ballad but it's not what I want to hear from Van Halen. The drums sounded marginally better on this album than on 5150.

Exactly

I don't think you, or anyone else, mentioned III.

Man, avoid that album, avoid like the plague! yes, is THAT bad Cherone sucked SO hard that sometimes, while listening to the album, I thought that he was singing bad ON PURPOSE lol That album is not worthy at all , not even for 2,95 $

Anyway, on to For Unlawful Carnage Knowledge! This was my first Van Halen album so I'll always have a soft spot for it. I probably haven't listened to it in about thirteen years, I hope it's as good as I remember it.

I was pretty impressed with "Right Now" and I truly like "Poundcake" but the other rockers left me cold...

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

I guess that "When It's Love" is an ok ballad but it's not what I want to hear from Van Halen. The drums sounded marginally better on this album than on 5150.

Exactly

I don't think you, or anyone else, mentioned III.

Man, avoid that album, avoid like the plague! yes, is THAT bad Cherone sucked SO hard that sometimes, while listening to the album, I thought that he was singing bad ON PURPOSE lol That album is not worthy at all , not even for 2,95 $

Anyway, on to For Unlawful Carnage Knowledge! This was my first Van Halen album so I'll always have a soft spot for it. I probably haven't listened to it in about thirteen years, I hope it's as good as I remember it.

I was pretty impressed with "Right Now" and I truly like "Poundcake" but the other rockers left me cold...

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is done and dusted. A fair bit of filler but as far as singles go this is my favourite Hagar era album. "Poundcake," "Runaround" and "Top of the World" are all good, but not great, rock songs, which is more than I can say for the singles released from 5150 and OU812. I was never that fond of "Right Now" but I do like it a little more than their '80s ballads and, from what I remember, it's better than the singles from Balance. The sound of this album is just a little too clean and polished but as someone pointed out the drums sound pretty good. The non singles seem very interchangeable, "Man on a Mission" had some jazzy guitar at the beginning and "316" is an acoustic instrumental, but otherwise it's just a bunch of generic rock songs. At least the ballads are kept to a minimum.

You sound pretty negative about III (which I guess is a common opinion), were you a fan of any of the albums that Gary Cherone did with Extreme? A lot of their stuff, particularly the first album, was very influenced by Van Halen so he seemed like a good fit. Obviously things didn't work out but at that time I don't think they could have done anything to remain relevent.

I'm on to Balance now. I didn't think I would get through all of these in a single day but they seem to be flying by pretty quickly. I'm sure that I've only heard this one a handful of times so it's almost like a brand new album.

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is done and dusted. A fair bit of filler but as far as singles go this is my favourite Hagar era album. "Poundcake," "Runaround" and "Top of the World" are all good, but not great, rock songs, which is more than I can say for the singles released from 5150 and OU812. I was never that fond of "Right Now" but I do like it a little more than their '80s ballads and, from what I remember, it's better than the singles from Balance. The sound of this album is just a little too clean and polished but as someone pointed out the drums sound pretty good. The non singles seem very interchangeable, "Man on a Mission" had some jazzy guitar at the beginning and "316" is an acoustic instrumental, but otherwise it's just a bunch of generic rock songs. At least the ballads are kept to a minimum.

oh, yeah that was a bonus

You sound pretty negative about III (which I guess is a common opinion), were you a fan of any of the albums that Gary Cherone did with Extreme? A lot of their stuff, particularly the first album, was very influenced by Van Halen so he seemed like a good fit. Obviously things didn't work out but at that time I don't think they could have done anything to remain relevent.

hehehe listen to that album... I can't wait for your reaction

or perhaps you'll dig it, who knows; If I remember well, III was a very experimental record, so if you're looking for something uncommon, perhaps you'll like III better than any Van Hagar album...

JoeTyler said:

rialb said:

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is done and dusted. A fair bit of filler but as far as singles go this is my favourite Hagar era album. "Poundcake," "Runaround" and "Top of the World" are all good, but not great, rock songs, which is more than I can say for the singles released from 5150 and OU812. I was never that fond of "Right Now" but I do like it a little more than their '80s ballads and, from what I remember, it's better than the singles from Balance. The sound of this album is just a little too clean and polished but as someone pointed out the drums sound pretty good. The non singles seem very interchangeable, "Man on a Mission" had some jazzy guitar at the beginning and "316" is an acoustic instrumental, but otherwise it's just a bunch of generic rock songs. At least the ballads are kept to a minimum.

oh, yeah that was a bonus

You sound pretty negative about III (which I guess is a common opinion), were you a fan of any of the albums that Gary Cherone did with Extreme? A lot of their stuff, particularly the first album, was very influenced by Van Halen so he seemed like a good fit. Obviously things didn't work out but at that time I don't think they could have done anything to remain relevent.

hehehe listen to that album... I can't wait for your reaction

or perhaps you'll dig it, who knows; If I remember well, III was a very experimental record, so if you're looking for something uncommon, perhaps you'll like III better than any Van Hagar album...

I'm a little scared to admit this but I kind of enjoyed Balance. Maybe it's because my expectations were at rock bottom but...it wasn't horrible. I liked the variety and the sound of the album was surprisingly good. It's just a shame that they didn't bother to write any songs. I'm not a huge fan of the guy but with Bruce Fairburn producing this could have been their Pump. Of course the album was hardly a flop and in retrospect it's rather shocking that it made it all the way to number one.

Unfortunately this is the end of the line for me, I don't have III and probably won't be getting it anytime soon. However, I encourage you to give it another listen with some fresh ears. It can't possibly be as bad as it's reputation, you might find that it's your new favourite album.

The last thing I am curious about is the live album (Right Here, Right Now: Live). I've heard nothing but bad things about it, what are your thoughts? I think I can get it for less than five bucks but the last thing I need is another cd that I will listen to one time and then put away on the shelf never to listen to it again.

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

I'm a little scared to admit this but I kind of enjoyed Balance. Maybe it's because my expectations were at rock bottom but...it wasn't horrible. I liked the variety and the sound of the album was surprisingly good. It's just a shame that they didn't bother to write any songs. I'm not a huge fan of the guy but with Bruce Fairburn producing this could have been their Pump. Of course the album was hardly a flop and in retrospect it's rather shocking that it made it all the way to number one.

Unfortunately this is the end of the line for me, I don't have III and probably won't be getting it anytime soon. However, I encourage you to give it another listen with some fresh ears. It can't possibly be as bad as it's reputation, you might find that it's your new favourite album.

The last thing I am curious about is the live album (Right Here, Right Now: Live). I've heard nothing but bad things about it, what are your thoughts? I think I can get it for less than five bucks but the last thing I need is another cd that I will listen to one time and then put away on the shelf never to listen to it again.

I do agree that Balance probably has the best sound/production of the whole Van Hagar era, but surprisingly, as you've said, the songs are not there. It's hard to describe but somehow the songs don't flow and the melodies/riffs are barely recognizable. And I hate the fact that the best-known song is that bland uptempo AOR ballad (Can't Stop Loving You), then again not a horrible song but not the kind of stuff I expect from Van Halen...

III, hmm, I have Spotify so I'll probably give it another chance but the last time I heard that album (2001) I thought it was horrible, with Cherone underperforming, some (for me ) failed experiments, bad sound/production (again) and a bunch of pedestrian/forced rock numbers...

The live album Right Here, Right Now is nothing special, professional sound and competent performances, but nothing wild or truly exciting, and it features too many songs of Carnal Knowledge, HELL, if I remember well, only 316 isn't featured I can't recommend it...

JoeTyler said:

Van Halen's last good album was 5150 (despite the sellout production),

Not true! "Balance" is a much better album than 5150! I think it's the best of the Hagar Era!

JoeTyler said:

man, the solos of "Dreams" still bring tears to my eyes ...

Which is my favourite Hagar era song though!

rialb said:

I'm a little scared to admit this but I kind of enjoyed Balance. Maybe it's because my expectations were at rock bottom but...it wasn't horrible. I liked the variety and the sound of the album was surprisingly good. It's just a shame that they didn't bother to write any songs. I'm not a huge fan of the guy but with Bruce Fairburn producing this could have been their Pump. Of course the album was hardly a flop and in retrospect it's rather shocking that it made it all the way to number one.

Like I said, my favourite Van Hagar album... great sound and great songs (Seventh seal, Don't tell me, Not enough, Feeling) and great fun songs (Amsterdam, Can't stop loving you, Big fat money)... really there is not one song I don't like on that album.

The last thing I am curious about is the live album (Right Here, Right Now: Live). I've heard nothing but bad things about it, what are your thoughts? I think I can get it for less than five bucks but the last thing I need is another cd that I will listen to one time and then put away on the shelf never to listen to it again.

I like it that one quite a lot... this year that's the cd I listened to most (mainly Disc 1).

JoeTyler said:

man, the solos of "Dreams" still bring tears to my eyes ...

Which is my favourite Hagar era song though!

PatrickS77 said:

JoeTyler said:

Van Halen's last good album was 5150 (despite the sellout production),

Not true! "Balance" is a much better album than 5150! I think it's the best of the Hagar Era!

My two fave Hagar-era VH songs: