Van halen vs. Van Halen

[Victor]

Back again.

As suggested by "Drago" in the "AC/DC vs. AC/DC" thread - let's hear your opinions on David Lee Roth vs. Sammy Hagar era VH!

Rock!

(Personally I think Sammy would have done better as a backup vocalist for Bette Midler and Eddie should probably now be put out to pasture).

[project935]

DLR. Too bad he and the Van Halen's didn't get along - can't fault them I suppose he is kinda weird.

[Shuie]

Dont forget about Gary Cherone

Sammy Hagar is the better vocalist of the two. Micheal Anthony is a better vocalist than Hagar or DLR. I like early VH (without the keyboards) of the freaky stuff Eddie was doing with the guitar then. I have could cared less if they had muted DLR's voice from the albums.

[nostatic]

DLR, although one of my all time favorites (Right Here) is an SH-era song. Hard to say though as there seemed to be a lot of things going on. EVH moving to keys, SH singing, them getting "serious"...there were some good songs, but some serious misses too.

Its funny because during the DLR years I was always thinking, "man, if they got a serious vocalist they would rock." I guess SH isn't really serious. I was thinking maybe Bill Dewar or Ronny James Dio (although he got too stuffy).

[SteveStromberg]

I thought Van Halen Sucked from the first timeI saw them at a gig in 1976 in Long Beach.

I guess I am not a Rockin Roller.

Now heres some good music.

[http://www.570klac.com/music.html

[Icemaster]

DLR was better, but not good enough to keep the music from living in the land of suckdom.

[RANDY P]

DLR - Everything before "1984" was attitude. 1984 (with the exception of "Girl Gone Bad" and "House of Pain") and beyond is when they started to sound soft.

"Women and Children First" and "VH 1" are still tied for the best IMHO.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Sammy's a better singer, no doubt.

But DLR era songs are much more fun in my opinion.

I really look at them as two different bands...

I always liked Montrose.. too bad that Van Hagar didnt sound more like that...

[campbellcj]

I think the whole point of VH is to not be taken too seriously. I like the earlier stuff better overall, but it is not the DLR vs SH vocals per se, it's really the style and "hard/fun" vs. "pop-rock" orientation.

I just picked up "Best of Both Worlds" at Costco the other day and will report back if anything changes in my mind w/ regard to this band...

BTW Heather Locklear has always done something for me so I just -have- to like EVH...

[Victor]

Great guitarwork never goes out of fashion.

[Jay H]

I'm a DLR era fan... SH just never seemed to fit the Van Halen 'vibe' if you will. SH was great as a solo artist and with other stuff he fronted.

As a young kid/drummer, I was influenced a bit by Alex VH's drum tracks (and kit sounds). The first 4 albums seemed to be his best and he used those boxy '70's drum sounds pretty effectively (IMO). His experimentation with electronic triggering in the '80's didn't seem to sound that good to my ears. As a kid, those big quad bass drum sets he used were always cool. I still have the Diver Down era poster with Alex behind his black and white striped Ludwig with the doubled/stacked 4 kick drums (actually 8 kick drums in all)...

[Az911]

DLR was a better frontman and a true rockstar with a bigger then life attitude.

[Sarc]

DLR hands down. It's all about having fun, kids.

Mean Streets? Little Dreamer? Dance the Night Away? ..The Cradle Will Rock?

Good times, good times.

Pity DLR is still waiting for his solo career to work out.

[EdT82SC]

DLR hands down. I really don't find any of the Sammy Hagar stuff even listenable.

[Les Paul]

I first saw VH in the summer of 78. They sounded great. Of course everyone there was stoned out of their minds. Saw them in 80, they sounded great but of course everyone was stoned. Saw them again in I think 84. Everyone was even more stoned and they sounded great. The average age of the concert goers was probably teens to mid 20's. All those gigs were with DLR. My wife and I liked his showmanship. The rest of the band were fantastic of course.

Saw them last Wednesday night. My 16 year old son who covers 4 or 5 of the DLR era stuff with his band was with us. The show rocked. But not a sniff of ganga in the air. Hagar has a great rock star voice. He is a good showman. EVH chops were top notch except where he went into this solo part where he kept screwing with his volume nob. It was ok for about a minute then it got old. He finally ripped out of that snooze zone and the rest of the show was top notch. He should have left out all the parts where he tries to jump. He can't do it anymore and looked like a 50 year old man that weighs 300 instead of one that might weigh 150 like he does. He was had the cig hanging out of the headstock like Keefer, who at least hasn't had half his tounge removed due to cancer. WTF?

We left the concert saying it just isn't like the old days. Which of course it isn't. I asked my son what he thought and he said it was prettty good. The next day we still thought it was good just not DLRoth enough, which of course it will never be. Oh well they're all still alive and touring.

[Sarc]

I have never had the chance to see either, but I was able to see both Sammy and DLR on their tour a couple years ago. Dave opened with his usual schtick and dressed in a chrome jumpsuit. The funny thing was that it was dusk and the remains of the sun were reflecting off his suit and blinding everyone-a true spinal tap moment.
His voice was ok, karate jumps were not as high, and the band was playing too fast, but his catalog was far superior to Sammy's.

Sammy came out and sounded phenominal for a 57 year old man, and he was wise to take breaks on his voice between songs by chatting with the crowd, etc. The problem I had was that his catalog of songs just didn't do it for me.

It's been my experience that you throw on VanHalen when your with the guys, and VanHagar when the ladies show up.