Comments on: Van Halen: Like Father, Like Son

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:03:32 +0000

As Ed said, this is a natural progression- members come and go-and some come back again. How about we concentrate on the now, Van Halen, Chickenfoot, whatever- let these guys make music, that’s their gig, let’s enjoy what they have to offer and get past the different “camps” that seem to shroud these issues, the guys everyone are arguing over all seem to be happy with the way things are, why shouldn’t that be enough? New music from all would be awesome- really looking forward to a new record and tour (missed the last one- no money!)

By: Anthony

Anthony — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:36:04 +0000

I agree with the idea of Wolf playing rhythm guitar, Ed handling lead and Mike on bass and backing vocals. I don’t know about the band, but from the perspective of a fan/audience member, this would have been an ideal line up. I always thought that Ed’s rhythm playing was underrated anyway and that he took on too much responsibility by covering both parts during live shows.

If Ed was able to focus solely on lead, while Wolf kept rhythm and Mike and AL held the back beat, during the tour dates, I think the reviews would’ve been more consistent and everyone more satisfied, especially the band. I doubt that Ed would’ve been as uptight as he was for the some of the shows, if he had another guitarist onstage with him who could help fill gaps and cover for tech problems. I can only imagine how stressful it must be when you’re the lone guitarist on stage in front of thousands and you suddenly notice that your sound guy’s decided to take a nap. I would’ve went nuts too.

I do miss Mike’s vocals. A song like Women In Love, for example, would’ve been an otherwise mediocre song without the addition of Anthony’s searing, high falsetto. Especially during the early years, Anthony’s vocal harmonies really defined the band’s sound and softened their rough edges, which prevented them from getting tagged by critics as another generic metal act. The band’s sound really isn’t the same without him.

That said, I think that Ed’s much happier these days than he was a few years ago and I’m just glad that he’s still with us.

By: John

John — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:09:53 +0000

Wolfie was great. They were great last year. I have read interviews from 80’s and its seems Eddie has always had a beef with Mike. One interview in particular asked about the making of the Fair Warning album or Women And Children First, and he said everyone pulls their weight but Mike. Eddie was real serious. He said the guy is making money off of us he just bought a Porsche 911 turbo and so on. I like Mike, but it does not ruin Van Halen for me. As long as its Eddie on guitar and Alex on drums, it does not matter to me.

By: Keith Roberts

Keith Roberts — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:34:36 +0000

saw them in Glendale, Az. and it was like going back to June 15th & 16th of 1984…sure we all miss Mike but, when has Van Halen NOT had some type of drama…first it was Dave then Sammy the Dave then Sammy then Dave again and now its Wolfie…when is everyone just going to love them for their music? Ed is by far a living god and Wolfie was meant to light that fire, one more time, so we all could get “NEW” songs with Diamond Dave.

By: Tony Taylor

Tony Taylor — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 02:13:48 +0000

Another useless fucking’ EVH interview. He hasn’t put out a canned interview since 1998. This is the same stuff we’ve heard ad nauseum from Ed.

By: smokeyand theBandit

smokeyand theBandit — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:39:50 +0000

Yes doing a solo should be showcasing your own stuff but CC was probably paying homage to EVH. He has made it very clear over the years that he digs EVH ( called him the olympic champ of guitar in 89 GW excerpt ). That reminds me even Zakk did EVH’s real high hummingbird pick part of Eruption in Budakon on their early 2000’s DVD. Anybody recall that?

I dig Zakk but somebody’s gotta tell him that the spitting shtick needs to go but then again who am I to say.

By: Aftershock

Aftershock — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:21:43 +0000

It was interesting to me that Ed mentioned a call he got from C.C. DeVille. I wonder if C.C. told him he was planning to play a major portion of “Eruption” during his own guitar solo on the Poison tour as if he’d written it himself. (He even played parts of Ed’s guitar solos over the years that have NOT appeared on albums, but are recognizable to those who’ve seen or heard the shows over the years.)

I just found it interesting when I saw Poison this summer that C.C. — who I do not consider to be a very good guitar player — was copping Ed’s stuff in his solo, while 90 percent of the drunken Poison clones in the audience likely had no clue he was ripping off Ed. Of course, those parts did receive the biggest cheers. But isn’t the point of doing a guitar solo to show what YOU yourself can do?