Ok, all you Blogcritics and Blogcritic readers who are fans of Van Halen. Help me settle a dispute.
It started with this post on my blog, in which I extol the virtues of David Lee Roth over Sammy Hagar. Or maybe it started way back here.
I find myself spending large portions of my days defending DLR era Van Halen and DLR himself. I don't know how I became the Defender of Diamond Dave, but I have and I'm dragging you all into this with me.
Now, it's not that I hate Sammy Hager. I don't even hate SH era Van Halen (aka Van Hagar). I just like the Dave era better. I think Dave was the heart and soul of Van Halen and what made them so much fun to watch and listen to. Ok, so Eddie's guitar playing sort of tied the whole act together, but I really don't think VH would have had the impact they did if not for the flamboyance, theatrics, showmanship and clown-like presence of David Lee Roth.
As for those who think the Hagar era was better than the DLR era, let's compare and contrast.
I don't know about you, but if I had to choose between rocking out to Dave singing Atomic Punk and Hagar crooning When It's Love, I'm going with Dave every time.
Again, I don't hate Sammy. I don't blame him for anything. But he ain't Van Halen. He's Van Hagar. And yes, there is a difference.
State your preferences. Help me out here.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Johno
Please, no contest!
Diamond Dave by a mile. Part of the appeal of early VH was that everything was just so totally over the top and loose. Although the drum and bass work was (necessarily) fairly restrained, Eddie's pyrotechnics on the first couple records wouldn't have worked as well if they hadn't been paired with David Lee Roth's outsize personality.
Don't get me wrong. Sammy Hagar is a fine pop-metal craftsman. I'm sure he's even a nice guy. But he's got far to great a measure of Joe Average in his persona to fill Diamond Dave's gigantic brass jockstrap.
With DLR, Van Halen were an outrageous, campy, druggy and funny act whose pop instincts helped deliver all the madness intact. With SH, the pop instincts rolled over what (arguably) set the band apart from other similar acts, and sucked the fun out of their music. That's not to say that Van Hagar haven't had their moments, but "When It's Love" might as well have been by a different band than "Hot For Teacher," and the leg kicks and madness are what put David Lee Roth-era Van Halen over the top from good to all time great.
Then again, we have also had the sad opportunity to watch the Van Hagar incarnation run out of gas slowly over the course of a decade, something that did not happen to the Roth-era band. I bet we'd be having this same exact discussion if Dave never left the band, except we'd be arguing whether the hip replacements and stay at Betty Ford slowed him down or not, and whether that affected Van Halen's music.
2 - Mark Sahm
Roth may have been an ass in public, but I agree that he was a much better front man than Hagar.
However, it was as much the music as the singing that changed about VH after DLR left. Would Dave really have made "When It's Love" that much more bearable? I doubt it.
3 - Dawn
They both have their merits, but Diamond Dave era VH is by far the more rocking version.
4 - Aaman
The fact that Microsoft Word thinks Hagar is bad spelling, as evidenced by your screenshot from MS Word, settles it
5 - michele
Hah. I didn't even notice that.
(It was WordPerfect)
6 - Rob
Van Halen was saved by Sammy. The band was over, Dave was over and they lasted another 11 years with Sam. They were great with both, but the change was needed because Roth lost it and was not a team player. He just thought he could do it without VH and what he found out was that he was a balding Lounge act.
7 - Mike Long
it's about wo you like more. not what everyone else thinks.
i like sammy over dave because he made the band more musical which wa what helped it survive as long as it did.
i've listened to dave cuts recently on the Army.com and i'll tell ya something. the man can not sing like he used to. neither can sammy as evadent by the fact that in concert the tunes are tuned down 1/2 step to a step however, david can't hit it like he used to at all and he still forgets the lyrics.
dave era was kick ass and fun, but you can't keep it up like this forever, well almost can't there are exceptions like the stones (proof that fermaldihyde (sp) works in preserving your guitar player ha ha) but for the most part if you continue in the same vain then your fan base stays there as well.
sammy made the band grow up. dave is still stuck at 18...
just my two cents...
8 - Mark Saleski
dave over sammy is an easy choice for me. the music just plain rocked harder.
plus, sammy brought with him all of those 'love' tunes, which really werent' so hot.
instrumentally, a bunch of stuff changed around that time as well. eddy started playing his signature guitar a lot (which to me didn't sound as good as his earlier equipment), alex' drum sound also got much thinner, kinda like he was whackin' two pop tarts together.
9 - Temple Stark
>>Van Halen was saved by Sammy
Yet another reason to like DLR. :-)
There can't be any contest as Johno says. I like DLR-era VH. Anything else after bores me to tears.
>>It's about who you like more. not what everyone else thinks.
That IS the exact right answer, but it kind of kills the conversation. :-)
10 - Duane
The DLR version of van Halen makes the SH version look like a bunch of wimps. Sammy may have helped the band grow up, but I think Eddie calls the shots anyway. I wouldn't blame Sammy for the descent into wimpdom. I miss the freewheeling guitar songs of the DLR era, like Mean Streets, Drop Dead Legs, So This is Love? Fools, Take Your Whiskey Home. etc., the stuff that let Eddie show off.
11 - El Bicho
This is a no-brainer. If you pick the music, it's Dave. If your girl picks the music, it's Sammy.
Here's a great quote from Dave: "Old Van Halen, when I was in it-classic Van Halen-makes you wanna drink, dance and screw, right? And the new Van Halen encourages you to drink milk, drive a Nissan and have a relationship."
12 - steve tyler
sammy hagar all the way sammy is the heart and soul of van halen.peace
13 - Cameron Reilly
DLR all the way man. No question. Van Hagar had a few good tunes, but I remember when it happened - the moment I first heard "Why Can't This Be Love" - it sounded more like Culture Club that VH. Dave wouldn't sing about falling in love. Hell. DLR wouldn't know love if it left a bomb under the seat of his Caddy. DLR was all about the party. About not taking life too seriously. About having a laugh - at life and at yourself. It was his sense of humour that made VH that band it was. Sammy had a voice - but no sense of self-deprecation. No sense of irony. No sense of "this is Rock n Roll, let's not take it too seriously now folks".
Here's the test - go back and listen to DLR's first couple of solo albums - now listen to the first couple of Van Hagar albums. Which rocks harder? Which is more fun? Which has the most memorable tracks?
That's what dreams are made of?
Or This must be just like living in paradise?
14 - Terry Welch
It sounds like VH is finally history. Sammy and Eddie put out some great songs together. I'll take the Dave era over sammy any day of the week. No way in hell would i ever waste a dime on a stones concert. The Who were a great live show. I don't think they get the credit for their great collection of songs. It's a shame Dave will never be a part of VH again. All i ever hear on radio is the dave era. Those were great songs that i listen to all the time. I miss those early 80's. There was a lot better music out there than today. The music sucks these days. VH use to rule the world!
Terry-Toledo,Oh
15 - Bennett
Roth era 100%. Was mightily pissed when they went with Hagar instead of finding someone in the same vein as DLR and continuing to rock.
DLR was no contributor to the band, btw. It was ALL about Eddie, Alex, and Michael Anthony. DLR's ego was a tad large for what he actually did, great frontman mind you, but who wrote the songs?
Would have preferred that VH followed AC/DC's lead in finding a new vocalist.
Sammy's "Young Girl Blues" is one of my all timers, but it aint "Runnin With The Devil" by any stretch.
16 - Rich
Guys, did you enjoy Van Halen blowing up in 1985? That was the end of DLR. Gone Gone Gone. VH, continued and did a great job. It was a different band, but like Eddie always said. He was not a rock star, but a musician. Van Hager, was excellent, while the DLR Band was lousy. They would still be a good band if Eddie would get his act together. The guy has hit an all-time low.
17 - Al Barger
Going from Diamond Dave to Sammy amounted to giving the band a lobotomy.
18 - Joe Battista
Sammy is more talented, but David Lee fit the band better, at least before they lamed-out and integrated keyboards into their sound.
Somewhere in a small and dank home office, Gary Cherrone is reading this thread with a tear in his eye.
19 - Bennett
Nah, 1984 was (is!) a classic album. Eddie's keyboard work was a great progression for the band. I didn't follow the whole break-up thing, but again, they would have been better off (imo) by finding a young unknown vocalist.
Ahh the wasted potential.
20 - Eric Olsen
absolutely Michele, my feelings are very similar to yours: Van Hagar has some nice, if over produced, songs; but VAN HALEN was something monstrous and dangerous, at least for their epochal debut and 1984. There were other ascendant and triumphant other songs too, but with less consistency.
When Eddie is fresh, he is revelatory, but much of the time he has been self-consciously "himself" and reduced accordingly.
21 - JoJo
The head of the beast that was Van Halen was severed when Diamond Dave left.
Heavy Metal was the last (and only) song i can recall Hagar ever truly "rocking out" on. The rest of his music is one step away from christian rock.
22 - Temple Stark
Cameron makes a good point about the humor of DLR. His interviews were a riot.
The Who ARE !@#$% aweosme live, even these days. I saw them right after John Entwhistle died at The Gorge Ampitheater in WA and thought they'd be subdued. Nope. They seemed angry but channeled it into their music.
I wasn't overly predisposed to their music (had a few favorities. (I got free tickets). But I walked away amazed, energized and impressed.
23 - the eagles
SAMMY HAGAR RULES SEE YOU GUYSIN CABO.XX
24 - Bennett
Agreed Temple. Saw them in Cali at the Shoreline last year, great show.
Did so many great songs, lots of high energy stuff. When the opening keyboards from "Eminence Front" started, and then Zak Starkey fucking pounding into the drums to start the groove.... That's it, all I ever need from a live show.
Thank you, drive through.
25 - Matthew T. Sussman
This debate has been worthless so far because of the sole omission of "Panama" in the post and comments.
You all suck. Panama wins.