Five Things That Could Go Right/Wrong With Van Halen’s New Album

I love that there are still knuckleheads out there that feel vocal range is a barometer for determining whose a better singer. Tony Harnell, formerly of TNT (yeah I know, not a huge success story, but hear me out) sings way above and beyond Sammy’s scale. Does that really, automatically make him a better singer? Abso friggin lutely not. In rock, it will always boil down to cooler sounding voice. End of story. Just as someone said earlier about Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger. What drew people to them, aside from writing great songs, it was the character of their voices.

Here’s my number 6 to what can go RIGHT with new VH. I personally love ED’s tone when he tunes down a half of a step, which is what the 6 pack is, I believe. The brown sound (or what’s left of it after all of these years) has a better snarl and buzz with less string tension. Perfect example: the first 2 seconds of Drop Dead Legs. Listen to how stale and unferocious Panama sounds on RHRN with straight tuning. The vocals weren’t the only clunker of that disappointment. Would it have been so hard to put a live Dave version of the tune on that damn cd?

Bring it on VH version 4.0!!!!!!

Sparks, you need a fire extinguisher bro. Jumping all over people for ‘dissing’ Dave or Eddie is a bit pompous, considering the amount of times you jump all over Sammy, and now Mike.

Why are the ‘Rothless’ so angry?

Would things be better for the ‘Rothless’ if his solo career hadn’t been such a revolving door of musicians and style?

“Here’s a question…which Hagar era songs would you like to hear the current Vh line up perform?”

With songs like- Take Your Whiskey Home, Drop Dead Legs, Dirty Movies, Sinners Swing, Hear About it Later, Fools, Loss of Control, Secrets, Feel Your Love Tonight. . . They have so many awesome songs that they didn’t play on the last tour – Why would ANYBODY want to hear Hagar era crap? What do you want them to do – take out Aint Talking Bout Love to put in Why Cant This be When its Love Walks in??????

@ Sparks in ‘11 – I don’t think Dave’s voice is “dependent” on Mike’s backing vocals but I think they definitely help smooth out the sound during the high notes (Mikey’s vocals would be helpful in doing that now more than ever) I also think Mike and his voice are a very noticeable part of the Van Halen sound. But I guess that isn’t going to be the case anymore, he won’t be a part of the Van Halen sound from here on out and that’s just the way it is. That part of Van Halen will be missing.
I guess at this point in time (not having a new full length VH album since VH3 in 1998) we shouldn’t complain and just be happy we are FINALLY getting SOMETHING, but Mike being kicked out of VH will always be a hard pill to swallow for me, it just will.
Sparks, I respect your opinion just like I do with everyone else here but I disagree with your statement about Mike. – “He wastes no time in taking shots when he thinks he can. He’d be better off saying ‘no comment’ sometimes.”

I know we all have a different set of eyes and ears and we all see and hear things differently sometimes ‘cause I don’t see it the way you do. I don’t think Mike makes it a habit of taking shots at people when he is being interviewed. I think he has his own opinions and point of view which I appreciate him being honest and open about, even if I don’t agree with him. I’m not big on the idea of censoring oneself like you mentioned about saying “no comment” sometimes. I don’t think that’s necessary when talking about your personal feelings unless a statement could actually put someone in harms way, like an outside, innocent, uninvolved party/person. But we’re talking music here, not a court case about conspiracy and murder.

I do totally agree with your point about how someone’s vocal range doesn’t automatically make them a better singer. First off, music is subjective, everyone has a different set of ears. Second, music is supposed to be about emotion. Some of those American Idol and other types might technically be great singers but there is an emptiness in their sound. No genuine feeling and soulfulness in thier voice, not to mention being cheesy.
How can you express feeling and soul when you don’t even write your own music?
Elvis Presley was the only person I can think right now of that could pull that off.
But anyway, I’m getting off topic again as ususal. The point I was trying to make is, Sammy obviously has better range than Dave. I think Sammy is a great musician and I’m a pretty big fan of his. I love Hagar era VH.
But when I listen to those first six VH albums, it’s obvious to me that Dave has one of the coolest sounding voices in the history of rock and roll. One of the many things that made Dave so interesting and entertaining is his uniqueness. He’s got great charisma and all that jazz that helped make him become well known but more importantly it’s his cool, bluesy voice that’s so memorable and makes it sound like he’s racked up a lot of mileage, which is cool.
When someone rags on Dave’s voice, I feel like they just don’t get it. It’s like what you reiterated about the importance and appeal of having interesting character in your voice. Some people have a ceratin something extra that is kind of hard to define, but it attracts people and draws them in. Dave has always had that.

Panama- I gotcha. We all have differing views of the grey areas (the avoidable ugliness) our favorite band has put before us. Did you ever see the VH Early Years documentary? They dug up a truly unkind audio clip of Mike pretty much slamming Dave, saying he’d be hanging on him and singing to him on stage instead of the crowd. It was an odd comment, especially since in all photos and videos, to me, it showed great camaraderie between the two of them. Mike said, “not him again” when he was told of the ’96 reunion. He also apparently ripped Dave a new one on the Sam and Dave tour. That may have even been somewhat justifiable, but seriously, I can’t recall any polite sentiments from Mike to Dave. Perhaps I just missed them. Let’s move on.

@3hater – No. And it doesn’t appear that anyone else does either, lol. Any domo’s from 5150 with DLR I would love to hear, but I NEVER want to hear DLR sing a Hagar lyric. Blasphemous.

When Dave got back with VH I saw them live three times.I haven’t listened to Van-Hagar since……. When I here Van-Hagar on the radio, I cringe…….. Yuck !! I even like VH with Gary better.

Can’t wait……. At least drop a single and give us one new song !!

You only have to listen to Velvet Revolver, Billy Idol and Pearl Jam’s cover of Ain’t Talking About Love to appreciate Dave’s unique vocals. There’s a lot of attitude in his delivery.

Carnal Knowledge says:
“Why are the ‘Rothless’ so angry?”

I’m not angry – I’m thrilled with the last Van Halen tour and the prospects of a new album!

Carnal Knowledge says:
“Would things be better for the ‘Rothless’ if his solo career hadn’t been such a revolving door of musicians and style?”

Van Halen and Dave would have both being better off if they’d stayed together.

pat says:
“@3hater..i dont think they should try any van hagar songs because roth struggles with stuff from when he was in the band live”

Not according to the dozens of fantastic reviews from the press, and the fans packing the arenas during the last Van Halen tour.

You really need to come to grips with the fact that Van Halen fans prefer David Lee Roth. It’s always been that way. Something that’s even more obvious after the 2004 fiasco. How Sammy must regret that… taking part in one of the most embarrassing tours in rock history.

@ halen high…i think where ppl misunderstand me is that i dont look at it as comparing dave and sammy..i look at it from a eddie vs dave after the split and eddie out did dave.everyone bashes the 2004 tour but what was dave doing that year?

I want the new VH album to be great or at least good. But here’s my list of the five things that could go wrong and right with the new Van Halen album.

5. No Michael Anthony. And Wolfgang and Eddie’s backup vocals are weak.
4. Diamond Dave’s vocal pipes are more weathered than even his most loyal fans thought. And he sings out of range too often, similar to Gary Cherone on VH 3.
3. Eddie never fully recovered from his hand injury and it shows on his guitar playing.
2. With John Shanks on production, Van Halen achieves a second pop-rock distinction: The band opened for Bon Jovi overseas. Now Van Halen sounds like Bon Jovi.
1. Glen Ballard is not producing. The man deserves credit. He pulled together two enemy camps, Dave and Eddie, to create what many fans consider to be two solid songs in 1996.

Five things that could go right

5. No Gary Cherone. He’s a nice guy. Liked his vocals with Extreme. But the VH experiment bombed.
4. Wolfgang adds life and vibrance to the music. And he teams up with Eddie to produce rich background vocals.
3. John Shanks produces a modern-day masterpiece. Yes, he’s worked with teen pop singers. But he’s also worked with legends. Shanks is one of the critical ingredients VH 3 was lacking. An accomplished album producer who can get the maximum out of Dave’s singing while making tight songs that don’t sound like prolonged guitar solos.
2. Forget ballads. We get well-crafted but straight forward VH rock.
1. Diamond Dave is back. And he doesn’t feel tardy.

Sparks, again, like most of the ‘Rothless’, you’re giving Roth a ‘bye’ for ‘dissing’, on many occasions, Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen, Sammy “The Other Singer” Hagar. But, the minute Sammy or Mike say ANYTHING negative, or in a negative way, the ‘Rothless’ freak out.

Why so protective of Roth? He dug his own grave, nobody else. He left. Hagar replaced him. Yet, you and others are mad at Hagar. Seems you should be mad at Roth, and calling him an idiot, among other things, for leaving……..

And, why are you still ripping Hagar? He’s been out of Van Halen for at least 7 years. More like 16 years, if you ask me.