SO, the question has come up regarding my Van-Halen preference. As many of you mayor may not know, I am a big VH fan and have been since the 5th grade (1983/84ish). One of my most vivid elementary school memories is the day we were to go to music class and it was my turn to bring in some music for the class to listen to. I brought in the album 1984. My classmates and teacher wanted to hear "Jump", and we did. Then I told them that there was another song they HAD to hear and I played "Panama" for them. They totally loved it. 2 weeks later it was on the radio and MTV, I looked like a genius.
But back to the question at hand, which VH is better? Of course that has a lot to do with personal tastes, but I will do my best to give you my side of the argument. I tend to lean towards the original version of things as the better. Often reincarnations lack the heart of the original. Yes Kristi, I know that Garth's "shameless is better than Billy Joel's, but that's a rare case. In the case of VH I would suggest that we have are two distinctly different bands that should be judged each on the merit of their body of work.
David Lee Roth Van-Halen gave us such hits as:
1.Jump 2.Panama. 3. Hot for teacher 4. Ain't talkin' bout love 5. running with the devil 6. Unchained 7. beautiful girls 8. jamie's crying 9. and the cradle will rock. 10. You really got me now(that is a Kinks cover but is smoking hot as a VH version)
Van-Hagar (the sammy hagar years) gave us hits like:
1.Right now 2.Best of both worlds 3.finish what ya started. 4. top of the world 5. dreams 6. why can't this be love 7.love walks in 8. runaround 9. when it's love 10.poundcake.
Above are 20 songs that are all great songs in there own right that comprise one hell of a catalog, and there are many others as well.
Let me be straightforward. I prefer the old van-halen. Not because of Diamaond Dave or because I dislike Sammy. Rather it is because I like the sound, the tone of the music. It is more hard edge, more raw. That's how I like my rock and roll. The Hagar material is a lot cleaner, a lot less abrasive. It is as if the early stuff is intended for guys but with enough sex appeal in it to attract the ladies whereas the later stuff is targeting the ladies but with enough of an edge to it to keep the fellas listening.
What is most important to hardcore fans is that there is a basic VH sound that exists in both versions of the band. The voice and the message may be different but the heart remains unchanged. Most would suggest that that sound emanates from Eddie's guitar. I would suggest that The VH sound is built on the foundation of Alex VanHalens drums. Eddie has a distinct guitar sound but many have duplicated his style and to some extent it can be hard to pick him out of a crowd, but when you hear Al's drums you know your hearing VH magic. He is the Heartbeat of that sound. Now with that said, you can not understate the importance of Eddie's sound and techniques. His guitar is what separates VH from any other past or present. There is only one Eddie. Let's consider why he may the greatest of all time.
1. listen to the body of work, especially "eruption" This one solo changed the sound of rock guitar.
2. Listen to the sound of those who have come since, Eddie lives in their music.
3.When the king of pop needed a guitar solo in "beat it" who did he turn to? Eddie
4. When Marty, in back to the future, needed something to scare his dad with (in the scene where his 50's dad was asleep and he came to him as if in a dream) He put an EVH tape in his Walkman and turned it up.
5. Do you not remember the discussion between bill and ted that went; bill:"we're never gonna get Eddie van halen with out a video" ted:"we're never gonna get a video without Eddie vanhalen". and as we all know "Wild Stalyns" eventually brought peace and harmony to the world. Party on dudes!!!
So what we have learned here is that VH, in both of its forms provides us with some great rock and roll tunes. would I want to see the original lineup together again? maybe, but I'm good with two versions. i DO want the best of both worlds!
9 comments:
Right, that's what I'm talkin' about. I do prefer the Roth years because those were the ones I listened to most. The only Van Hagar song I know (of the ones you listed) is Right Now (science is inventing a better tomato, etc). I do like your analysis though. I have the 1984 album, although I didn't get it until like 1996 when I joined BMG...same time I also got Rush, Peter Gabriel, Billy Ocean, and lots of other CDs that I would never have bought if I hadn't gotten 12 for a penny.
Oh, and the other night at dinner, I was thinking of the Beatles song that I'm a big fan of now...I called it as Track 1 of Disc 2 of Anthology 3, but I couldn't remember what song it was. It is, "I've Got a Feeling". That one rips! I especially like how you can see the beatles perform this song on Youtube (Rooftop Concert w/ Billy Preston)...uber hot stuff!
hey, i've recently uprgraded my VH collestion from tape/vynil to cd via BMG. Gotta love it.
As for the rooftop concert, I was watching it 2 weeks ago on you tube. It is awsome. God bless youtube. There is also a short video of sadie on youtube. it is called sadie is staring at me. I was setting up a yuotube account and that was my test video.
Hun, you gotta spell check. You're killing me.
I'll agree with "blogger eggstrordinaire" in part, and dissent in part. I agree that "collestion", "vynil", "yuotube" and the variation between "you tube" and "youtube" could be corrected.
But I do remember back in elementary school when I had a spelling test and I spelled the word "awesome" A-W-S-O-M-E. The teacher marked it wrong, and I argued with her that a word such as that can't be confined by the spelling of the "establishment" or the "man". Awsome, I explained to her, was a word that was powerful and used by a revolutionary generation and that you can't hold a word like awsome to a precise spelling.
She disagreed.
Bitch.
I thank you both for your constructive criticism. Perhaps it would be best if I used spellcheck. on the other hand, i'm not trying to win any literary awards. It is what it is MY Blog. I don't ask you people to read it. In fact, I typically don't think anyone reads my blog. Maybe I am trying to defy conventional writing styles and break away from the rules that our society puts on us. Maybe you people are threatened by a free spirit that soars above the routine of the world. Maybe I leave the errors in to piss off the establishment and their red ink pens. Maybe I am just too lazy to care. I'm not saying which of the above is true, but whatever the case maybe, I probably should use spellcheck. And it is nice to know that somebody is reading this crap.
But if you're going to be a teacher, your written work should contain a certain polish, IMHO.
You're right, though. It is your own damn blog, so misspell if you want to!
look here you saucy vixen, you know I don't know what IMHO means. Take your fancy Latin speak somewhere else!
OMG, it's in my humble opinion. I guess you aren't down on 'net lingo.
You DO know what OMG means, don't you???
Omicron Mu Gamma? Some type of filthy pig latin...
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