Ok, all you Blogcritics and Blogcritic readers who are fans of Van Halen. Help me settle a dispute.…
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Van Halen or Van Hagar? It's a Battle Royale! - Comments Page 4
Ok, all you Blogcritics and Blogcritic readers who are fans of Van Halen. Help me settle a dispute.…
Article comments
126 - El Bicho
"DLR could have...never done Dreams"
That's actually a good thing.
127 - Tommy
It like Dave once said about Van Hagar . Its like a beautiful girl with rotten teeth. Diamond Dave all the way. Dave was the better songwriter hands down.Great lyrics full or attutude.And isnt that Rock and Roll is all about ??
128 - Volcano Man
Diamond Dave all the way, but Eddie is the heart and soul.
129 - Van Hagar
Wait, Sammy was the better singer and preformer, DLR the better Clown.
But, cut Hagar some slack, not only did he have 4 # 1 CD's, but Sammy had some great ROCK'N Songs that had no synth in them, with Van Halen:
Good Enough
Summer Nights
** 5150 **
Mine All Mine
Cabo Wabo
Sucker in a 3 Piece
Judgement Day
Runaround
Man On A Mission
The Dream Is Over
Top Of The World
The Seventh Seal
Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)
Amsterdam
Aftershock
Feelin'
Need I say more!
130 - TANTRA
I prefer Sammy Hagar version, Dave could have never sang one Hagar version Van Halen song if he tried. Love this blog needed a place to show my feeln's
131 - Kindra
Well as a woman I like the Sammy era better!
The Sammy era brought the band into a new direction, which the Dave version couldn't. DLR was getting old sounding and dated and probably wouldn't of been able to compete to the likes of RAP, GRUNGE, ALT ROCK AND POP ROCK, like the Sammy/Van Hagar version could and did, why Eddie let that great sound of Sammy riding every note on his guitar go, is a shock to me still??? Even to have them reunite in 2004 was just a heartache knowing that from 1996-2003 we could of had at least 4 other albums with some of the best rock and roll ever if Eddie could have just kept his head straight and bit his lip so Sammy could of kept them flying high!
Oh well we still have "The Other Half" to have us feel that the Band Van Halen w/Sammy Hagar still is around, Thank God.
132 - Vinny Palsqucci
Van Halen with all the lead singers were the bomb, but I did like the newer stuff better than the older stuff.
133 - Lisa C.
1st of all, Dave Van Halen sold more only because it has been around longer. So meaning it sold then and like my self that had gotten into Van Hagar in 1988 with my first Van Halen cd OU812 which had me and other new fans of Van Halen buy 5150 and then the previous 6 cd's with Dave causing a doubling of record sales for the Dave Van Halen, but Van Hagar was a stronger selling band, because FUCK and Balance had the compitition of other types of bands and acts and still came up as number 1 in charts for sales and popularity, unlike the Dave Van Halen which back in the day only had a few rock bands and Disco to compete with.
134 - aj
i think that the DLR era was much better because when you think van halen you think flamboyance and outlandishness. not to say that hagar wasn't great because he was but Van Halen is a band that rocks. hagar was about balads roth was about shred fests
135 - dantheman
an Halen Rocked with both Sammy and Dave,but Sammy is my choice.
He was a great second guitarist with the band too!
136 - Paul
I enjoy both versions of Van Halen, but as a musician myself i have to say that i would more inclined to play the Hagar material...i think he brought a sense of melody that was missing to the band and his guitar playing opened up a whole new element as well live. Alex's drum patterns were off the chart on the on the Hagar era discs as well and F.U.C.K and Balance are two of the best sounding discs sonically i've ever heard.I also think Sammy has a better vocal range and can pull it off live, unlike the last few times i've seen Dave, his voice just isn't there for the whole night.I'll put it this way, when i'm drunk and want feel like i'm 15 again i put on Fair Warning or 1984...when i want to push myself as a player i listen to the Hagar discs for the melodies and intricate playing.
137 - Will
Both eras of Van Halen were great and that is why til this day this debate will never die.
As a fan of the band for many years i can say that DLR era was the band in its youngest and most influential phase. A rawer, more energetic unit. My personal faves are Fair Warning and Women & Children First.
However, when Sammy came in they became the greatest American hard rock act ever! All albums went to #1, they reached more mainstream appeal, and Sammy's voice and persona were much more likable than DLR. They wond grammy's, mtv awards, billboard awards, american music awards, etc.
Sammy over DLR every day of the year!
138 - lck5150
Sammy invites you to a party and wants you to have a good time. Dave is the party.
I love both eras, though. In fact I named my twin sons after Sam n Dave.
139 - Christopher Rose
So you're a fan of a really lame rock group and named your sons after a soul duo?
140 - lck5150
At least I'm not a pretentious asshole who reads blogs and puts down the very thing he's reading about...But I do like Sam n Dave and all the Staxx records people.
141 - El Bicho
touche
142 - Christopher Rose
I believe I was mocking you, lck5150, and, whilst I may be an asshole, at least I still had one last time I looked, I'm certainly not pretentious.
Talking of pretentious, El Bicho, you lack many things and here is just one of them - é.
143 - Clarence Yu
Michele-nice article. So many comments.
Basically, I'm a guitarist, so I'm an Edward fan first and foremost.
But I'm also a rocker and a sentimental fool, so both versions of VH work for me. The only thing about Roth's era is that there were no ballads (it's not such a bad thing, isn't it---Motley Crue did a couple, so did GNR) for me to listen to during those lonely nights driving around. Roth knew how to make Big Rock, but so did Sammy. And Sammy can sure sing a ballad as well. So for me, it's no comparison. I love both. Even the Gary Cherone incarnation---this was the only incarnation I've seen live, and I was blown away. Now if only they can get Eric Martin (of Mr. Big fame) to sing for them, that would be such a lethal combination!
144 - Christopher Rose
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145 - Fred Stone
Van Halen was great with Dave, but with Sammy they exploded, as Eddie said in the pre-recorded video during the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction.
Sammy could ride the sound of Eddie's guitar so well, it was just awsome, Hopefully Sammy and Joe Satriani will do the same with CHICKENFOOT !
I pick Sammy Hagar.
146 - Tom Lablanc
Sorry Eddie Van Halen ruined my dream of a dream Van Halen band when he cut ties with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony after the 2004-2005 tour which Eddie Van Halen ruin with his own hands.
Van Hagar > Van Halen
|/ Chickenfoot /|
!
147 - ChuckyCheezy
I always will love the older Van Halen, but it is 2009, so that means the older Van Halen is Van Hagar.
Van Hagar all the way!!!!!!!
148 - Igor Kurtz
Sorry but Hagar wins here!
More quality!Better charisma within the band!
Eddie said once:With Dave it was work,with Sammy it's enjoyment.
149 - Mr X
This entire argument is crap.
None of the songs listed on the hagar side were rock songs. What about Best of Both Worlds, Get Up, Source of Infection, Amsterdam, Poundcake, Black and Blue, Humans Being, and Learning To See among the Hagar Era. On the otherside of the bell, Roth never did ballads, or anything that wasn't macho and sleazy. He was a one trick pony who couldn't actually sing. The only real thing he did was propel eddie to a larger than life guitar god, selling the songs that Eddie riffed so hard on. Thats not to say their not good. It's fantastic as a larger than life enigma that van halen was. But thats just it, it wasn't a real band, it was n't real people. It was this big monster that drank and f*cked.
Hagar made the band into more of a band. There's an everyman's working charm that he can work hard when it's time to rock and kick back when he doesn't have to. His songs are multi-faceted that range from the loved to the lost. He made everyone seem like they were hard working equals, whether it was alex's powerful steely snare, or mike's powerful backing vocals to sing along to. Hagar was also a competent guitarist. He was a singer. He was vulnerable enough to make "can't stop loving you" into a heartfelt sentiment, but sleazy enough to finish what he started and hit on your local waitress in a grease pit diner. I bet you roth couldn't do that if he tried.
Thats why Sammy is better. Now you can argue the band was more energized under roth. Certainly the energy was powerful. But That really wasn't roth's doing. Ted Templeton made the band's recording sound like gasoline on a race track. Maybe he was just the lucky man with the right amount of sleaze. Face it, Sammy sings Roth, Roth can't sing Sammy.
150 - Crazy5150
Mr X I comend you on a very exact post.
Sammy Hagar did make Van Halen a band that was versitile and was the best Van Halen. To bad Eddie Van Halen self destructed and disbanded his perfect Van Halen band, and lost his life long friend in Michael Anthony and lost his BEST friend and great business partner in Sammy Hagar.
And you are right about Ted Templeton, when he produce F.U.C.K. that album ROCKED !!!!
Andy Johns helped to propell Van Halen into the Top 40 of rock and roll, but Ted made it rock.