mynameisnotsusan said:

Listening to it for the first time because of your post. It sounds like a Van Halen record. I think it was confusing at the time because they appeared with Dave at the VMAs and people were hyped about the original Van Halen line up getting back together - and then the Extreme guy joined instead The music didn't really have a chance but he sounds like Sammy Hagar in parts.

That time line doesn't really hold a lot of water, though. One thing doesn't have to do with the other. The MTV appearance was late summer 1996.

The didn't even start working on the record, writing and recording until sometime in March the next year, and the album was released a full year after that. Long gone was the hope that the original line up would do anything beyond that one MTV appearance. Eddie almost immediately lambasted Dave for his "behavior" and how it was "disrespectful to Beck" (who they presented an award to), so that was well put to bed.

So to say fans were confused about 18 months and that's why the record didn't sell isn't really a thing. You forgot about press, interviews, etc., that did let fans know what was coming with Cherone and the band.

The only VH album I ever fell asleep to while listening to it. Yeah as you said, that album wasn't Gary's fault. The production was bad...that's what happens when you have a TV producer try to produce a rock record. There were some cool riffs, but there was a lot of hype that the "old sound" was back...plus Eddie needed a singer to help him direct the songs (like Dave and Sammy used to do). Eddie's state of mind wasn't all together either..(marriage on the rocks, drugs and alcohol)....I always considered this album a EVH solo album with Gary as a "special guest".

Only VH record I ever returned to the store...

Wasn't Gary's fault, it was the music that I had the problem with.

TrivialPursuit said:

mynameisnotsusan said:

Listening to it for the first time because of your post. It sounds like a Van Halen record. I think it was confusing at the time because they appeared with Dave at the VMAs and people were hyped about the original Van Halen line up getting back together - and then the Extreme guy joined instead The music didn't really have a chance but he sounds like Sammy Hagar in parts.

That time line doesn't really hold a lot of water, though. One thing doesn't have to do with the other. The MTV appearance was late summer 1996.

The didn't even start working on the record, writing and recording until sometime in March the next year, and the album was released a full year after that. Long gone was the hope that the original line up would do anything beyond that one MTV appearance. Eddie almost immediately lambasted Dave for his "behavior" and how it was "disrespectful to Beck" (who they presented an award to), so that was well put to bed.

So to say fans were confused about 18 months and that's why the record didn't sell isn't really a thing. You forgot about press, interviews, etc., that did let fans know what was coming with Cherone and the band.

.

i think maybe confusing in the sense that they just didnt get the why of it all, not that they didnt know it was cherone. everyone got hyped up for a roth reunion and then it didnt happen. people just werent going to care after that no matter who sang.

savagedreams said:

everyone got hyped up for a roth reunion and then it didnt happen. people just werent going to care after that no matter who sang.

DLR did record 2 new songs with Van Halen for their 1996 Greatest Hits album. I think Michael Anthony said that they tried to reunite with Roth again in the early 2000s, but that didn't work out either.

Not true, Roth toured with them for years before Eddie got sick. They did a record of old songs from vault. Bullethead is the shit.

2freaky4church1 said:

Not true, Roth toured with them for years before Eddie got sick. They did a record of old songs from vault. Bullethead is the shit.

Yeah, I was gonna say, Roth was with them for a long while doing gigs in more recent years.

Eddie and Alex were a nightmare to deal with, though. Three lead singers, and two bassists? They were a less heavy version of Guns n' Roses-type drama.

2freaky4church1 said:

Not true, Roth toured with them for years before Eddie got sick. They did a record of old songs from vault. Bullethead is the shit.

Yes. True. By the time it finally worked out, Anthony was gone.

That said. I finally listened to that Van Halen 3 album. It's not too bad. Gary even kinda sounds like Sammy in a way. Should have given it a chance back then, but once Sammy was gone, I wasn't interested anymore.

Think Gary should have had a second album opportunity with Van Halen after touring with them.

Van Halen were best when they kept it short and sweet, Hagar songs longer than Roth songs, Gary songs even longer than Hagar songs, they were not Led Zeppelin, some bands just better when their songs are 3 minutes not between 5 and 10

Gary has said recently that he did wish rather than doing an album right off the bat they toured and wrote the album while touring and then cut a record. He said he got along great with Eddie and that he wanted to take things in other directions in VH. Gary is a very different type of writer than Hagar and definitely Roth so I feel it was doomed from the start and I think Gary knew it too.

lastdecember said:

Gary has said recently that he did wish rather than doing an album right off the bat they toured and wrote the album while touring and then cut a record. He said he got along great with Eddie and that he wanted to take things in other directions in VH. Gary is a very different type of writer than Hagar and definitely Roth so I feel it was doomed from the start and I think Gary knew it too.

I saw that quote and he's right. Just getting out there, doing some live stuff would've ingratiated himself to the fanbase, gotten comfortable with him being there, then cut a record. Considering the amount of time leading up to that record, and a full year from starting recording to its release, there was no reason they couldn't have done some record store appearances, or late night, or something. Like a slow lead-in. Not a full tour, just some appearances.