Love him or hate him, Can you honestly say that Van Halen has ever been better than the years that they had Diamond Dave out front? Sammy Hagar was good but not better than Dave. OK, he has a big mouth but you know that is what made him the legendary frontman in the first place. He's aging and is funny enough to clown himself with his thinning hair. I saw him on that late night show that Carson Daly does and he can still do the karate kicks! Go put on Fair Warning...

I agree with you. The only real Van Halen was the one with Dave.

Dave the original ego-maniac IceCream Man wearin a Yankee Rose ruled in 86 with style and class!! This was the made-for-video superstar that made Van Halen one of my favorites until he left. Since he left, VH put out nothing but sh*t on a Rothless shingle.

"Sit downnn... Waldo!!"

Roth is one of the he epitomes of rock.

Roth is a joke now and will never be part of Van Halen again. I know a couple of people who went to the Roth/Hagar shows and they said when Roth played the amount of rednecks that appeared and trailer trash was quite astounding. They also commented on how shot his voice was. Back in the day though VH were untouchable when he the frontman. If Eddie and Alex can sort their asses out id like to see Sebastian Bach have a go at being the frontman as Roth would simply embarrass them now.

"..Oh baby please, i can't take it anymore!!!"

WildheartXXX said:

I agree with most of what you said and its a shame..but Sebastian Bach..if they get him or anyone else for that matter then they should only sing those songs they create with the new singer..this madness of any jerk off singer fronting the band and singing Roth era songs must stop.

I don't think any singer would survive with VH for too long.

MYNAMEISSTILLFACE said:

Dave is da man (part 79).

Van Halen was never the same after David Lee Roth was ousted.

Van Hagar sucked ass.

With all due respect to other peoples opinions but I differ here.

DLR has always sucked in concert and was only a studio singer. I've heard various live shows throughout VH's career and the only album they actually produced was with Sammy. He remembered the words for starters.

Sammy's music actually had lyrics with inspiration and a message. He did his share of tits and ass lyrics but most of the stuff was well written.

Today Van Halen is gone, Eddie has cancer, the summer show with Sam & Dave was a bad Vegas act for the money and all we have is memories of Van Halen.

I was a fan until VH III and then it was all over for me.

JamesMarshallHendrix said:

There's more to the essence of rock n roll and Van Halen then technical perfection in studio and live on stage..or singing well. There's the spirit of rock etc that Dave created for the band etc. Love it or hate it but Dave gave the band its personality. There would be no Big Bad Bill w/out Dave. No Fair Warning or Women and Children first. Van Halen would have been Yngwie Malmsteen-ish. As said beofre .."Van halen with DLR made you want to drink beer and fuck women..Van Hager makes you want to have a relationship". You went from "Ive been to the edge..and there I stood and looked down"..and Dave had been there...to "We'll get higher and higher..thats what dreams..are made offf".

rdhull said:

Van Halen with Roth were perfect. They came across as dumb party animals but they were always smarter than they let on, unlike say Kiss. Hagar was far to AOR for my liking, his best stuff was with Montrose. As for Cherone, poor guy didn't stand a chance.

JamesMarshallHendrix said:

I agree that technically they were a far superior act with Hagar as vocalist. Roth STILL can't remember the words, but the whole thing became a vehicle for Hagar. Hell the guy even performed his own solo songs in Van Halen whilst refusing to play Roth songs. Now thats twisted.

David Lee Roth with Van Halen was like Morris Day with the Time:a Solid Fit but Solo a Bad Parity.Van Halen should be getting U2 type of Love instead of Being seen as a 80's Act that seemed to Be Knocked out by there own Hype.DLR was everything you'd want in a Rock Star back in the day.David&Van Halen understood the Whole Music&Business.ShowBusiness was a Great balance of what they had with David.after David with Sammy with the exception of "5150"&a few other things was a Coporate Formulated Band that lost there Zest&Edge.they were never the same to Me after the "Right Now" Concept&Video.stuck in that Format.it's truly sad to see a Formula Band like Bon Jovi still rolling while Van Halen is over on the Sidelines&out of the Action.

mistermaxxx said:

I cant believe I agree with every single thing you said.

mistermaxxx said:

Poundcake was my fave Hagar song oh and a mention for Cabo Wabo the rest i can live without. It's a shame they do get lumped in with hair bands as they were darn special. 1984 is in my Top 5 greatest ever albums.

i like van halen with roth and with hagar, but i have to say that i like it better with roth... i'm just not into all of sammy's cheesy love songs...

that said, not all of roth's songs were about fucking, tits, and ass... listen to "fair warning"... there's a lot more to that record...

WildheartXXX said:

Not true. They did at least one Roth era song - "Ain't Talkin Bout Love" on their very first tour together.

Supernova said:

I think they performed six Roth songs in the time Sammy spent with the band. And we are talking maximum four per show. In all the band released 10 albums under the two vocalists and he roughly ignored 55% percent of their output. Don't get me wrong i don't dislike Sammy but he alienated a lot of older fans of the band. Of course the irony is Van Halen never had a No1 album with Roth as vocalist. All four Sammy Hagar albums hit No1!

WildheartXXX said:

The idea of Hagar singing mostly Roth era songs would be akin to him doing covers by sacrificing the new VH era's identity of its own. It was a smart move on their part to do mainly their own material. Not to do so would be like living in the past. They figured they had more to say than just rehashing VH's first, what?, 5 or 6 albums with Roth.

I'm not advocating either lineup necessarily, because after a while I thought that for the most part they had gotten to be pretty predictable: there was a guitar solo in every song, the guitar solos of every song sounded almost identical, their song structures and arrangements rarely ever varied, their rhythm section exemplified everything the rest of their music did: it wasn't multi-dimensional, it was boring.

I think the best Roth/Hagar songs of the last 12 years were: "Me Wise Magic" and "Mine All Mine" respectively.

WildheartXXX said:

Everyone is right on here. I agree 100% with everyone.

I love early VH and on a summer day with the top down, Diver Down on 10 is just my idea of heaven. Sammy's days, I related to because of what was going on in my life then. It would be great if VH got more respect even if they did become formulated or corporate.

My comments on the live shows were because of the fact that live shows can win or lose audiences. If I wasn't such a fan to begin with I would've walked when I saw DLR sing for VH on the Diver Down tour. It was the worst thing I've seen. The Sammy days were amazing and hearing VH do "Crossroads" will live in my memories forever.

he's doin' the jugghead!

Supernova said:

The Rhythm section was as bland as you can get. Balance was a new low for the band and you're right ever guitar solo ended up sounding like the one from Poundcake.

rdhull said:

I agree.. a perfect fit.. and a unique one at that.
Diver Down is one of my favorites!

Solo.. Dave is a riot! Keep flick'n them M&Ms on stage

I'm currently reading David Lee Roth's "autobiography", CRAZY FROM THE HEAT. Dave is a fantastic storyteller & it's a very interesting read. Eddie predicted that the book would be at least 50% bullshit, but who cares, it's much more fun to hear Dave spin a yarn than to listen to Eddie and Alex bitch about their shitty lives.

1977-1984, Van Halen was the greatest band on the planet!
[This message was edited Mon Feb 10 12:07:03 PST 2003 by Rudy]

Rudy said:

Diamond Dave was the best!

"ZIPPITTY BIPPITTY BOP DIDDY BOP!"

Rudy said:

I've read it, three words sum it up.

"Bitter Old Man"

I'm sure when they get into RnR Hall of Fame --they'll all be back looking for the big bucks.

Don't u all think he's gay?

WildheartXXX said:


I just read last week that Sebastian Bach is playing the lead in a touring version of the re-vamped Broadway musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" playing the role of Jesus. I guess it's a modern version of the story (set now, rather than in the 70's) and the show itself got an OK review, but it said that Sebastian Bach really sucked in it.