Van Halen or Van Hagar

Synthfreek-

Metallica...There is another band-ahh with an annoying lead singer-ahh.

Please tell me you're being facetious.

Von Zepplin.

I'm in the minority giving a small edge to Sammy Hagar. His vocal skills and songwriting are superior to DLR. VH also matured with Hagar especially on a favorite of mine "Feelin'". They could also get down and dirty with what I consider their best song "Black and Blue".

Side 2 fair warning!...Ted templemens' production on all classic era VH is immaculate

I like Sammy Hagar but he did nothing for Van Halen. Sure, they made a little money but Van Halen IS Diamond Dave, and unfortunately for this upcoming tour Michael Anthony. Michael Anthony is the high pitched voice in all the classic VH music, like Jamie's Crying. I saw Diver Down tour and again with Hagar on OU812 and there was no comparison. David Lee loved being the lead singer of Van Halen and he showed it in concert. He put his heart and soul into that band and they took him for granted. I had friends in high school that could play guitar almost as good as Eddie Van Halen, but I never knew anyone who could sing along side of him while leaping off giant stacks of amplifiers.

I absolutely agree that Fair Warning was the best Van Halen album ever. The new Different Kind of Truth takes me back to the DLR era and that's why I love it. Clearly not their best ever but what a breath of fresh air. That wink, wink with a nod humor is back. "Told you I was coming back. Say you missed me, say it like you mean it". A little decrepit but also surprisingly spry. I'm a kid of the 70's/80's. I love this band. Always will. NOT for audiophiles, but iconic.

No dis to Sammy, love him as the Red Rocker but...
Hands down, Van Halen DLR era. My fave????? Actually Fair Warning. Early was great simple entry level rock, super classic. Women started to really expand the creativity and uniqueness. I really think VH pinnacled at FW. Diver Down was just than. End of story for VH as we knew and loved.

Van Halen = In my collection.

Van Hagar = Bland.

Nomatter who you like,ya gotta enjoy this.
http://www.last.fm/music/Van+Halen/_/Eruption

That pic of Eddie is years old and he looks way better now. That picture created an internet meme where people Photoshop that image into funny scenarios. There's like a 200 page thread over at the harmony-central forums. Gut-busting stuff in there.

Whoooo...ooo Darkmoebius, nice punch in gut... father time is cruel/turned Eddie guitarboy into the Sea Hag.

Valerie is definately doing better than Eddie....

Check out what Eddie Van Halen looks like these days.

I like them both but VH w DLR was a force. There are not many bands that you can distinctly recall when you first heard them but I vividly remember hearing the debut LP and thinking that it was amazing and running out the next day and getting it. I saw them live around 1980 and it was a fantastic rock and roll show and DLR was a great entertainer as well as singer.

Yea, Nrenter, EVH said (guitar player mag) he has 20 albums of new material that may never been put out...what a same.

Roth please....i remember (vaguely) seeing VH open for Black Sabbath in '78 @ Baltimore Civic Center. Roth in those yellow/black striped tights doing his acrobatics & Eddie ripping it wide open....great debut. for Hagar's best imo checkout Montrose, self-titled album, one of my old favs.

Oh...a friend of mine writes for EW, and says 5150 is loaded with amazing material that will never see the light of day. Pity.

I've got Diver Down on the platter right now! Probably my favorite VH album.

I'm in the DLR camp, but did think 5150 was a great album (albeit with awful engineering and production). If it was well produced, I could forgive the front-man swap out (on that release only). It was all downhill from there.

I would add votes for Van Morrison and Dick Van Dyke.

Van Halen w/ David Lee - great hard rock band with a sense of humor and a real front man

Van Halen w/ Sammy Haggar - pop band with easy listening ballads and a buffoon(although a ridiculously rich one).

1984 was the turning point musically, it's been all downhill from there.

I prefer Tommy's burger over In & Out. More meat, more flavor, more everything - especially the double chili cheese.

I've seen Eddie about a few times in the last few years. Last time was in Burbank, it was ~10am and he was going into a liquor store for smokes and a bottle. Looked like something the cat dragged in. Really sad to see him like that.

Absolutely. In Houston, it would equal to the Lankford Grocery. Consistently good quality ingredients at a cheap price. Has a rabid following here in So Cal.

Bongo, I never go to In n Out when I am in SoCal, is it worth a stop?

I grew up near Pasadena and actually played street football with Alex when we were kids. Anthony lives in my hometown. I saw numerous versions of the band at backyard five keg events from 1973 to 76, when they finally launched. For the San Gabriel Valley, it was strange to think that our two greatest cultural exports were Van Halen and In-N-Out burger. I think Eddie deserves credit for reimagining the "guitar god." By 1978, when they openned for the Stones, Led Zep and Jimmy Page were on the descent, largely due to his troubles with heroin.

Eddie was and has been largely hampered by his alcoholism, which really started to take over in 1983, at the time of their US Festival gig. I used to him tits up all the time around town, in the local grocery store and record shops. I like the fact they were able to tour briefly four years ago, while he was sober on the first part of the tour, the first time in close to 24 years. It brought back good memories of the first years. David Lee actually could sing on key, through most songs, and was especially fit.

Both are great, and i say that it's difficult to determine the best of them.
Found an interesting article:
http://blogcritics.org/music/article/van-halen-or-van-hagar-its/

Van Halen is the only way to go

The only song I want to hear Hagar sing is I Can't Drive 55 when the car is speeding away from me.

Classic Van Halen - David Lee Roth
Without a doubt!

That's funny Gawdbless!

Hagar the horrible.

Ditto, the original Van Halen.

Van Halen original only.

i just heard a van halen marathon on the radio yesterday. they played many old cuts with roth and played the same amount of cuts with sammy hagar. the old van halen tunes are pretty poppish/bubble gum type whereas the newer sammy hagar/van halen songs sounded much better, better balance, more full, and it reinforcedmy thoughts on how good sammy made van halen.

I am a fan of both

I always demo "ain't talkin bout love" and don't buy anything unless I get the vibe from that song on the system

Anybody know if there will be a DVD of the reunion tour?

Went bar-hopping one evening when Van Halen was having great success with their first release. My buddies and I went to a half dozen or so establishments that evening, and that lp was playing when we arrived at three of them...in succession.

The majority of my lp collection is '70s rock, and I have no Van Halen. I'm not saying they were a bad band. They were damn good, just look at their success. But I can't put my finger on the reason I dislike them.

Yes Synthfreek, I listen to smooth jazz...and blues, and rock, some country, some bluegrass, etc., etc.

Van Halen!!! Only the original was the real thing. Hagar was fine on his own -- I was never a big fan though, too limited in voice tone. Anyway, I have all 6 original albums (ending with 1984) and haven't bought one since. But, did go see them for the 'reunion' tour last year (or was it 08), sounded pretty good, I was a bit surprised though, I reckon we all have to cut our hair eventually ... LOL

I honestly think that Hetfield is a more tasteful guitarist than Kirk. I'm not sure what Satriani taught Kirk but he doesn't seem to apply it very well.

Synthfreek-

I had a brainstorm! Hard to believe, I know. Kirks wah-wah pedal, James Hetfield's throat!

I've never heard of Kirk Hammett being a laughing stock of anything. Maybe there is some jealously of how popular Mettillica has been, but laughing-stock? No that's hard to take seriously. He has ripped off some incredible riffs over the years, and is an amazing musician live.

He has a way cool style, that may not be to everyone's taste, as with EVH, but dismissing him in such a way as if that's the common perception, that's just not reality.

Synthfreek-

Metallica...There is another band-ahh with an annoying lead singer-ahh.

LOL-ahhh!

Kirk Hammett is pretty much the laughing stock of metal guitarists. I wanna cram that wah pedal down his throat.

Listen to Van Halens' cover of "You're No Good". Total ear-bleed IMO. He squeals like my 3 year old daughter, but not nearly as cutely! ;*) I remember when this LP came out- I was so excited. But I hated it. Still do. Even the name of the album is lame. Ya- I know, Zep used it before as well as a myriad of other artist. Still it’s not creative at all. The next track is "Dance the Night Away". Sure it was a huge hit, but how many DLR squeals can YOU take? Totally cheesy. I tossed this on my TT to let my wife listen and it is even worse than I remember. The music is great, it is just DLR I can't stomach. I pretty much like most of VH's music- the difference in which albums I listen to is the singer. Van Halen has a LOT of great songs- I won’t argue that, and I love their first album. But DLR needed to be knocked down a peg or two. Or at least be de-squealed…

You know after watching "It Might Get Loud" recently it made me think about guitarists and their personal legacy, and I still think EVH is hugely underated. The man is a virtuoso on his instrument.

I didn't always like VH, but I still think on almost all albums, and especially live, he's an amazing mucisian.

BTW, what the hell are Jack White and the Edge (love U2 but, come on) talking with Jimmy Page like they are all equals? Jimmy, come on, were you just bored? How about doing the same movie with say Jimmy, EVH, BB King, Kirk Hammett, Chuck Berry, hell even the the extremely overated Eric Clapton in there. Movie sucked except for the background stuff with Page, which was worth the $2.99 rental on AppleTV.

Their work with Hagar was not classic Van Halen.

Van Halen

But don't you listen to smooth jazz?

I just don't hear what others do with Ed Van Halen. Sounds like a mess to me. I thought they sounded terrible from the start. That's just me.

Absolutely van halen, specially three songs: Ice Cream Man, Spanish Fly and Eruption

I like the way Sammy sings more. I certainly tired of DLR's little girl squeals.

i liked some of the older van halen but i listen to more of their later stuff with sammy. i like "1984", but i think the later albums are every bit as good or even better. roth was a better show man though. as for chickenfoot, i like joe satriani.

It's good to see that in this instance, (so far) the majority is not wrong. The post Roth band was a downgrade. (I know ... they sold more records). This doesn't change the fact that the quality knob got turned way down... the guitar work went stale, the vocals got sappy and generic, and there was a mediocre sameness that dominated their records. Fair Warning (which is packed w/ Holdsworthian nutrients), the 1st two VH records and the first two Roth solo records effortlessly whomp the low quality stuffing out of all Hagar releases, (Pat Boone was not better than Little Richard). Spammy stoops to a new low w/Chickenfoot ... a tasty combo of leftover cafeteria food and Bud lite backwash... almost as good as Damn Yankees was w/ the Styx guy and that old genius Turd Nugget, uh, I mean Ted Nugent.