Poll: What Was the Best Guitar Album of 1984?

August 26, 2011 196 Comments

Guitar World is currently running a poll around the Best Guitar Album of 1984. Somehow, Stryper got all their fans to vote, so they’re now beating Van Halen’s 1984. Vote your favorite and check in next week to see who won the coveted number one spot. Vote here.

Vsn Halen 1984 Van Halen’s 1984 masterpiece was David Lee Roth’s final studio recording as frontman for the band – Diamond Dave went out with a monumental bang! The ultimately ten-times platinum recording boasts signature Van Halen classics including “Panama”, “Hot For Teacher”, “I’ll Wait”, and “Jump”. “Every song hits harder than expected,” wrote Rolling Stone, “until by album’s end you’re convinced that, despite all the bluster, Van Halen is one of the smartest, toughest bands in rock & roll.”

Filed Under: Van Halen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P1d8BVvY-I 5150

@ Carnal Knowledge:

I agree with Halen High…The “Roth Nazis” label is too extreme! They are loyal Roth (and VH) fans…that’s it. Some fans were drawn into VH due to Dave’s flamboyance! After all, he did give VH the attitude they needed. Click on my name and you’ll see. That is my favorite era! But, I love the music Eddie and Sammy made as well. They are two totally diffent bands. Comparing the two would be an injustice to their music. Let’s give both eras the credit they deserve (even VH3). Let’s not hate our brothers…let us respect!
Frankenfoot

For all the CVH defenders…

When is the last time Dave WROTE a good song. I thought ME WISE MAGIC was the last time we saw Dave write a good song. Granted, EVH bashed him after the recording process because his voice was shot and the recording process took forever…go figure. Dave had a few good years on his own and tanked terribly. The Howard Stern replacement is another black eye.

The last great Sammy song?…

My Kinda Girl and the pump fisting Oh Yeah. He just did those on the last CF album. For those Van Halen fans that bash Sammy and Sammy fans, check the success meter with both singers (both were great).

Sammy has had remarkable success inside and outside the band.
JACK N SAM

1984 is clearly head and shoulders above everyone on that list – 10M copies ultimately sold? Noone comes close to that. Styper has their place, but I was never impressed with the guitar work. They certainly don’t deserve to be high on this list. Love at First Sting is good. The rest of that list is pretty much junk. You can see the writing was on the wall…

You know the line in American Graffiti – “Rock and Roll hasn’t been the same since Buddy Holly died?” Well, Rock and Roll wasn’t the same after Dave left Van Halen. The mid-80′s were on their way and rock was on the way down to pop metal glam crap. WASP? Please…
Kris

How is Scorpions and Stryper ahead of Van Halen? Stryper?? seriously??
BubbaCo

Good fucking god do I hate Stryper.

I remember this christian dude that used to sit next to me in Latin class, and he always kept trying to push his creepy jesus metal cassette in my face.

He’s gay now and living on a street named after a Disney character.

What a great year for metal, though….I’m so glad I was 15 back in 1984!
Roth_Leaps_83

@ Frankenfoot —-

“The last great Sammy song?

My Kinda Girl and the pump fisting Oh Yeah. He just did those on the last CF album. For those Van Halen fans that bash Sammy and Sammy fans, check the success meter with both singers (both were great).”

Dude, you are delusional as most Hagar apologists are. Sammy has crossed over into “Full Cringeworthy Mode” with his lyrics these days. Just check out “Bigfoot”:

Tattoo it my arm, on back of your neck
In between your legs baby, so you wont forget me, uh!

I got Houses of the Holy on the box
I got it all cranked up, cause that shit rocks, uh!

Like I said — CRINGEWORTHY! Hard to believe Sambo can come up with brilliant lyrics like this in between tequila sales meetings……
Wilkster5150

@Frankenfoot
My Kinda Girl and Oh Yeah? Good God, man! Trash Dave and Prop Sammy up on your own personal gold plated pedestal and to back that up, those are the two songs you come up with? HAHAHHHHHAAAA! I’m gonna puke from laughing. And side 2 to 1984 sucks to you?…..Is this material for a stand up routine? I’m bustin a gut!
Wilkster5150

Frankenfoot says: “For all the CVH defenders…”

FINALLY! You are admitting that you arent a CVH defender by directing your ridiculous love kisses to Sammy at us. Just go ahead and be honest and admit you hate Dave and want VH’s upcoming album to fail so your boy can roll his way back in to the band.
VH Fan Forever

I love 1984 and it’s up there on the list. But as a guitarist, I believe “Rising Force” brought the instrument to the next stage of development. I’m talking purely technique. “Far Beyond The Sun” became the new “Eruption” in my book.

As far as songwriting and just plain rocking “1984″ rules the roost. How can you not get excited hearing the beginning of “Panama”?
PCH

I voted, but every time I check the site, Van Halen’s percentage has dropped. Really? I am not knocking Stryper, but they will NEVER be remembered as a great band. That is just reality. No person in thier right mind would argue the impact of any Stryper album over a VH album.
Halen High

Frankenfoot says:
“For all the CVH defenders… When is the last time Dave WROTE a good song.”

Yep – thanks for the confirmation of the obvious. You are clearly a Sammy Hagar fan, with zero respect for Classic Van Halen – just like your favourite singer.

Frankenfoot says:
“I thought ME WISE MAGIC was the last time we saw Dave write a good song. Granted, EVH bashed him after the recording process because his voice was shot and the recording process took forever…go figure.”

Right – and the Eddie of ’96 was a really trusted source on how things went down in the studio. LSD anyone? LOL!

Frankenfoot says:
“The last great Sammy song?… My Kinda Girl and the pump fisting Oh Yeah.”

And the last time Sammy wrote with Van Halen we ended up with those three turkeys on BOBW. As far as Chickenfoot goes – you must be their publicist – there are plenty of more objective Sammy fans here who obviously don’t share your enthusiasm for the above – pretty forgettable, generic stuff with the usual coma-inducing lyrics.
http://www.ievolvedintothis.com Ken A

The intro to Poundcake is an electric drill played against the strings.

1. That is gimmicky as hell.
2. Paul Gilbert and Billy Sheehan had been doing it for years, and in a much better song to boot.

Not Ed’s finest hour by a long shot.
http://vhnd.com VH4

Frankenfoot, you`re a strange fish. Defenders of CVH have absolutely no need to use Dave-solo as evidence of anything, the whole point is that CVH was 1978-84. Fans of CVH like myself believe that Dave AND Eddie did their best work in those years. It`s not about Sam, or CF, for chrissakes. Eddie didn`t match his early work after 1984 either, which I guess is one of the reasons why this new record has taken so damned long. There`s a hell of a lot to live up to. You can`t expect a gap of that length and the crazy shit in between not to change things, and however great Eddie is, and however much I love Dave, and Al, and the new blood of Wolfie which means we`re even talking about a record, I still think it must be tough because they know their legacy. When I think of something like “Little Guitars”, and how there are about five different brilliant riffs and great lyrics, and pace changes etc…I can live with the wait, you don`t produce that in a few weeks.
They could release a record every year, but one that I don`t want to listen to after a week because it`s already redundant? They could do that, but I don`t want that from CVH. That`s Sammy territory.
Tim

The Yellow and Black attack is NOT a better album than 1984!
Oz Foz is NOT a better guitar player than Eddie Van Halen. I am a guitarist. Eddie is way above every other guitatr player on that list, by a mile. What is wrong with people!
http://www.thebigfive.net Winston Arntz

=VH= will win, no doubt about that…the guitar solo in Hot For Teacher alone is taking care of that. Some fine albums on that list sure. Live fast, wear stripes!
ba

Did you guys know that Ted T. sang some background vocals on VH I ?
Lupercal

@ jaxbistro

Actually, Jack Sherman was the guy who played on that album while Hillel joined What Is This? and Sherman wasn’t very good at playing anything really. Punk, funk, rock, it all fell flat on that album.

Frusciante…well I’m a younger guy and he had a huge impact on me. What I did love was that when their last album came around, Frusciante gave props to Eddie and Steve Vai as being great players and in the “Dani California” played one of those EVH Charvel Re-issues (black & white). He loved Eddie and I think that really came out on this playing in that album. Easy to learn, difficult to master.

@ Carnal Knowledge – fighting your fight, respect to you dude. You’re speaking in a logic everyone can understand – nobody IS disputing that Van Halen with Dave was the greatest incarnation of the band. What gets me is that is you say “Yeah I loved OU812″ that means you’re a Sammy fan and therefore hate CVH. Yet, a lot of the Sammy fans willingly accept that a “better” version of the band existed previously; it seems the Roth fans are the ones that cannot get into a discussion without mentioning Hagar. If it was that bad just ignore it, Eddie does!

Van Halen deserve the top spot but people who were around at the time know how big VH was and no online poll that is taken 27 years after the event is going to change that.
Erick

From 1985 there was no more CVH, so I switched to Dokken en Stryper. Did not like Van Hagar.
hammer of the gods

…the success meter? Are you referring to numbers sold, are you referring to quantity of material? Regardless, if this is what motivates you to like and enjoy music, then I would argue that you should like Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga, both have sold a boat load. I personally like CVH, not because of success, but because it is more appealing to my ears and captures my attention. Hagar has done either for me…actually quite the opposite.
Carnal Knowledge

5150, if they’re telling you how, when and what to think, that makes them fascists. Remember the ole saying “Everyone’s entitled to their OPINION?”

Well, not with these extreme Roth fans, that’s for sure.

If someone on this site says the following: “I just LOVED that 5150 album so much better than 1984″, they’ll get waylayed on here and TOLD that their way of thinking is flat wrong. Then they’ll be called lemmings, revisionists, etc….

I surely do NOT mean that they’re going to corral up all the Hagar fans and gas them. I just mean that they’re attempting to control the MESSAGE by shouting down ALL dissenters. It’s ALL Roth, ZERO Hagar, and please don’t mention Cherone. It’s childish and petty.

The real thing that pisses me off is that 99.99999% of people agree with the fact that the Roth years blow away the Hagar years. Yet, the Roth-ites are frantically defending their product. AGAINST .0000000000000001% of the listeners, no less!!!

All because Ed Al and Dave can’t get along.
Carnal Knowledge

Frankenfoot: Sammy was a platinum, arena headlining act before he joined Halen. It’s an unfortunate fact for the anti-Hagar crowd who thinks he owes everything to Halen……..

I’m a bit hooked on the new song, Big Foot, also bra
hikerman

I was out hiking yesterday out in the Prescott National Forest getting ready for 49 miles miles worth of hiking at the Grand Canyon next week, was listening Van Halen 3, what a great CD, The guitar work is awsome, at least as good as any of the classic stuff, everyone need’s to give this one another listen or two
getchabite

Off the subject: I saw the recent Metal Show on VH1.
They had a throwdown between WACF and Fair Warning for best
album.
All 3 hosts(Eddie/Don/Jim) and the singer for Stryper all picked WACF.
Only the late Jani Lane and the Faster Pussycat singer picked
Fair Warning. WTF?
I agree it is a close race. Both records are AWESOME.
IMO, I would still have to say Fair Warning.
I am suprised that only 2 members of that panel picked it also.
Dooley

Halen High…g’day mate!

I will give Sam a pass on the lightweight chorus lyrics for Right Now. The verses are more thoughtful.

“Don’t wanna wait till tomorrow
Why put it off another day
One by one little problems build up
and stand in our way.

Ya miss a beat, lose your rhythm
And nothing falls into place
Only missed it by a fraction
Slipped a little off your pace…

The more things you get, the more you want
Just trade in one thing for another
Workin’ so hard to make it easier to get things done
C’mon turn this thing around…”

Maybe I’m a simple guy, but I can relate to lyrics about very real adult challenges that we all face. As compared to:

…”Bozee bozee bop…zitty bop!” from Just a Giggolo. Sorry, that’s not fair, Dave did some brilliant lyrics, Secrets is just one example. Just joking about Giggolo.

Anyway….Right now…Chickenfoot has an album coming out and a kickass replacement drummer for their upcoming tour.
Chad’s with the Chilis and they got an album and tour happening too. Right Now, that’s what’s happening.
Van Halen? Soundwave is a bust and they didn’t schedule any replacement gigs in the land down under…they really should have if they were so ready to perform. I’m really hopeful about a monumental new studio album, but can’t get too excited until it really happens. tick tock tick tock.
rockenvelop

Stryper? Is this some kind of bad joke?
Top Timmy

I am not a christian. I believe you make your own destiny. But please stop bashing Stryper. They are a GREAT musically talented band. No, never EVER better than the all mighty Van Halen but dont discount them because they are a “christian” rock band. I actually voted for Vai Flexable just because the poll was “best Guitar album” and thats just what Flexable was. If the poll was “Best album in 1984″ Halen all the way.Van Halen is a band not a guitar band.
Frankenfoot

Sammy is laughing all the way to the bank.

If Dave had any nutsack what so ever, he would have demanded the original line-up for the reunion tour. Bottom-line, Dave has completely sold out to the VH brothers and their kid/nephew.

Dave can’t say anything or do anything without VH’s approval. He used to be fun to read about in interviews, etc. Now he’s got some gag order from the VH camp. C’mon Dave, give ME a break.

Why? Because it’s Dave’s only gig and his only chance at success. He flunked as a solo artist and went to Vegas…boop-boop-a-baz-d-boob. I wish I was the CF publicist, but they don’t need one…they’ve got Sam, Mike, Satch, and Chad.

I grew up playing CVH. Love the stuff…even though it was 30 years ago, or something like that.

Big Foot on the gas…I like it. How about Damn Good…hey you, who’s that in the corner? Your right, Dave was the Robert Frost of his generation!

People defending CVH are the equivalent of people who support a cold war Russia. How about classic VH not selling enough tix in Australia?
Halen High

Dooley says:
“…”Bozee bozee bop…zitty bop!” from Just a Giggolo. Sorry, that’s not fair, Dave did some brilliant lyrics, Secrets is just one example. Just joking about Giggolo.”

Come on Dooley – those lyrics are pure genius – John Lennon would have been proud
jpage78

Briefly on the endless Hagar/Roth debate.

Sammy would have, in my mind, alot more credibility if he just kept his mouth shut. Starting from when he joined in on the Roth bashing that the brothers were doing when he first got in the band (which always perplexed me considering he didn’t actually meet Roth until 2002)…to the book release, and his continued talking anywhere up to last week. Sammy just can’t seem to help himself and regardless of where you come down he comes off as kind of a douche. He just needs to let his music do the talking and not go off on how the Australian dates were cancelled. I mean really?

I’d wager that if Sam just kept quiet and did his thing the thrashing he gets on here and other websites would be much less.
http://james5313@sbcglobal.net james

Top 5 Best Guitar Albums of 1984

1. Jimmy soulcats “Rivers Flood”

2. Peter Trakes “Atomic Winter Land”

3. Noah Onsruds “Living Proof”

4. Thirsty Cactus “Thirsty Cactus”

5. Van Halen “1984″
Dan

True, Stryper is no VH. They would be agree.

But, I well remember taking the bus to Hollywood in Oct of 1984 to buy Stryper’s debut EP. I was blown away. (I was not aware at the time of what an influence VH was on them.) There is no debut album like VH’s, but Stryper’s debut EP was up there w/ Crue’s debut and better than Ratt’s debut EP (which was itself good) or Great White’s.
top jaime

I agree with Dirty Duck…
i was 9 when i heard 1984. that cassette stayed in my moms tapedeck the whole summer and then next. One of the last great rock albums where you can listen to every song and not have to skip through.
all songs are highlights.

“1984″ brings a keyboard mysticism to the album and seems to capture that particular time period.

Jump is a summer classic. over the years i had a rollercoaster love affair with it…LOVED IT when it came out…i heard it sooo much that i eventually got burned out on it….then as i studied music and got older…i loved it again. Eddie’s quick but effective solo which segues into an equally effective keyboard solo is pop heaven. a marriage of bach with balls. A pop masterpiece and an iconic video. (i always dug AVH’s drumset too)

Panama rocks. Now, lemme tell you. AVH’S drum sound never sounded that good. i’m not a vanhagar fan but his drums sounded a little better in FUCK but too me 1984 was THE best drum sounding album they had. panama is a perfect example of this drum sound..the intro cooks like a motherfucker. another classic video too. Roth’s bravado is all over this album (on all the first six come to think of it)..but it just seems like the band was peaking at this time…really finding their niche.

TOP JIMMY- all the non singles are really shining examples of the best of VH. effortlessly tight riffs and rhythm guitar (VH is one the best rhythm guitar player imo that people to really notice because he’s such a top notch soloist and songwriter). one of Roth’s best lyrics. The lyrical imagery really works on this song and the music matches it. The rhythmic breakdown on the drum solo is really effective, showcasing a kick ass guitar solo, regaining the up-tempo when the solo peaks. perfect execution and arrangement.

DDL-”Dig that steam
Giant butt
Makes me scream
I get a nut nut nuthin
but the shakes over you
(Nothin) Nothin’ else could ever do” C’MON people…who doesn’t like this?
The guitar intro is a textbook example of guitar harmony….”you know that you want it!” is a infectious chorus with great singing by Roth and Mike.

end of side 1 (whew!)

HOT FOR TEACHER; everyone knows the drums kick butt. and the guitar work is probably the best EVH guitar workout. and the guitar tone throughout the album is the last great ‘BROWN’ sounding album. But what i like about the song is the breakdowns before the verses…The “i think the clock is slow” parts…perfect lyrical imagery. the song TAKES you there..it takes you to classroom. when class is dismissed…it’s time to ROCK! Que no? i mean seriously. OMG!!!! it doesn’t stop there…to me, it’s the perfect opening to a side 2. probably the best.

I’ll Wait: i used to not like this song when i was 9 (!) but when i got older and i have to admit…within the past 12 months i’ve come to realize it’s probably the best single they had and it didn’t even get a high chart OR a video. But the winner in this song is AVH’S pocket…oooooh!!! the pocket groove on this song make me rewind and play the song again and again and again. after the keyboard intro (wich i believe was left sounding a little distorted, with a LOT of gain and ultimately left alone because as we know, they left shit alone back then if sounded good) when the song breaks into the groove with a drum fill, it’s just locks in a dark, mysterious moody groove that makes it the best non hit on the album.

GIRL GONE BAD; from the last chorus to the end it just seems like the best band in the world is rocking…straight out…and Roth’s grunts and yelps (to me, an understated strong point of Roth) just seems to me to be the cherry on a big heaping pile of rock juicyness. The last 30 to 40 seconds are climatic rock to the bone! Another infectious rock chorus. Another song reeking of Roth’s bravado and rock charisma. Another fave of mine.

House of Pain: another song where the last minute makes you nut. EVH and AVH are sooo fucking tight and compliment each other effortlessly.

and then they broke up…but not without giving us one of the best rock albums of all time…a timeless classic that gets better with time. cheers to 1984 for being the best guitar album of 1984 and they’re best record as a band.

(one more note to fans: let them take as much time as they want to mix and finish this new album…they know what they’re doing)
pauleeroth

1984 all the way. I feel like a teenager again everytime i listen to it. It’s the classic soundtrack of the times and of my life. 1984 is a CLASSIC, kick ass album and what a great year it was. Even though we didn’t see Van Halen in Australia that year. Stryper toured Australia for To Hell with the Devil(’87) & In God We Trust(’89). I went to both shows and got to see some amazing CVH t-shirts on the backs of the faithful…
http://www.vhnd.com Simon from Switzerland

! 1984 is T H E Album !
The best VH album + the best album from that year !
Mel

Dooley I’m with you on this one. There are lots of bands out there who not only have albums and tours lined up but have kept their fans reasonably up to date Chickenfoot and the Peppers are just two examples. Come on Van Halen.`
Pardo

Okay, whoa! We all know that 95% of the other guitarists on that list were clamouring over each other to get their hands on 1984 as soon as it hit the store shelves. Ed was leading them around by their noses and they were scrambling to keep up.

As for 1984 itself, it is a total masterpiece. How many albums have the combo of great songs and great playing? Its got some hits, but it also has a lot of depth. I disagree with those that think the second side is flat. The second side is a fericious slice of Ed and Daves collective beligerant dominance! And I couldn’t imagine a better end to the album and era than House of Pain.

As for Eds playing, its pure genious in my opinion. I won’t attempt describing it – you either get it or you don’t I guess.
OzzyVanHalen

1984 should be dominating this poll
i mean Stryper is an alright band but they are nowhere near the Almighty Van Halen and Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solos never fail to impress especially on 1984.
It’s a surprise that Stryper is actually beating Van Halen
THE VAN HALEN ARMY NEEDS TO GET THEIR ASSES OVER TO THAT SITE AND VOTE VAN HALEN!!!
Gov13

Stryper fans,
What did Jesus say about cheating in online polls?
Carl

Really Stryper? They are good and all, but better than VH on guitar. This poll is not legit.
Michael C.

Who really cares about this stupid poll? I just wanna hear some new music so I can quit coming to this site and seeing all of you boneheads arguing all of the time. You guys really took the fun out of this site.
VH2008

I don’t get it. How could Stryper be winning? I’ve never known a SINGLE person who is a Stryper fan. And that’s saying something! I only know that they are a B-rate or C-rate Christian metal band.

So out of curiosity, I just went to iTunes & listened to the samples of their 1984 album “The Yellow And Black Attack!” It is GOD AWFUL! Unlistenable garbage. It’s the very worst of the ’80′s hard rock.

How could they be beating VH? There must be a few Stryper fans who have nothing better to do than literally just sit there and vote over & over & over again in a strange attempt to raise awareness of this horrendous album.

If this was a poll where every person could vote just once, VH would have 100 times as many votes as Stryper.
http://none Dirty Duck

Top jaime:

Couldnt have said it better myself brother!

Well written!
Dooley

Gov 13′s Jesus comment and Halen High’s Lennon comment
are a crack-up! I’m glad we got some comedians here to keep it loosened up and offset the drama and arguments.

Compared to Roth Army or VH Links this site is very cool.
Pardo

I’m willing to bet that its actually Stryper voting, not fans. Because:

1. They probably figure they’ll sell some albums if they win a poll.
2. I find it hard to believe that Styper has that many fans.
Roth_Leaps_83

@ Frankenfoot —-

“Sammy is laughing all the way to the bank.”

He only has a bank account because he was despicable enough to steal Jimmy Buffett’s beach bum image and use it to sell tequila — and also whoring out the VH brand name to help with that evil deed.

“I wish I was the CF publicist, but they don’t need one….they’ve got Sam, Mike, Satch, and Chad.”

So if Sammy is such a great publicist, why did the last Chickenfoot tour have trouble filling half-empty House of Blues gigs, and yet Van Halen had no PR for their last tour and it still grossed a record $93 million. PR has little to do with it — ticket sales depend on the quality of the music and the performers, and Chickenfoot FAILS miserably compared to the mighty Halen.

“Big Foot on the gas….I like it. How about Damn Good…hey you, who’s that in the corner? Your right, Dave was the Robert Frost of his generation!”

You’re a diehard Hagar apologist, so simpleton lyrics such as the kind found in “Bigfoot” are right up your alley. The lyrics to “Damn Good” are a 1000 times smarter than anything Sammy could write.

“People defending CVH are the equivalent of people who support a cold war Russia. How about classic VH not selling enough tix in Australia?”

CVH defenders are people who remember what phenomenal rock music used to sound like. Chickenfoot fans like you are people who defend washed-up musicians who make very pedestrian music that cant even fill a House of Blues venue or a small state fair gig. Enjoy your delusions, dumbo.
Carnal Knowledge

Nod to Frankenfoot….

Right Now Chickenfoot has a new single out from their 2nd album.

Right Now Van Halen is……still spending checks from their “reunion” 2007 Tour

Right Now Sammy Hagar could blink and it would piss off the Roth Army.

Right Now David Lee Roth wants to say something so bad, but can’t…..

Right Now, I’m listening to Big Foot

Right Now, Eddie’s doing a triple re-mix of a song, that allegedly is from his archives….

Right Now I’m still listening to Big Foot

Right Now would be a good song to inspire Van Halen

Please, for the love of Pete, release some new Van Halen music so the crazies on here have something ELSE to talk about……..
http://www.theluxurykings.com Jungleland2

I hit refresh and I think it let me vote again. If so then this has no value at all.
Dooley

Pardo…your comment:

“I find it hard to believe that Styper has that many fans…”

Right. If you hired them for a gig in your living room, it probably wouldn’t sell out.
FrankenfootDumbo

RothLeaps…

Seeing as you objected to every comment but one, why don’t you address poor ticket sales in Australia and a collapse of the “We can’t get enough people to come” Festival?

Van Halen hasn’t been there in years, and they can’t carry the headlining bill without some major secondary support.

The $93 million was a novelty tour. I didn’t go. I won’t go without new music. I didn’t catch VH3 on tour either…I couldn’t bring myself to watching/hearing EVH sing “How Many Say I” live. I did, however, catch Van Halen in Denver in 2004. Ed was out of his sorts and played terribly. I was with some die hard fans of CVH and we all agreed we were done seeing Van Halen live. At $100 per ticket, the 2004 tour was a ripoff.

I did, however, catch the live version of Jump on YouTube with Dave. I heard every painful note of that encore…where ever it was. To hear Eddie tapping, out of key, with prerecorded keyboards was sad. He should have bailed on the guitar at the beginning.

I’ve heard local cover bands that recovered better than what I saw on YouTube with Jump. By the way…do you realize that Ed had an orchestra play “When It’s Love” at his wedding with Janie?

Even though the current line-up doesn’t recognize ANY records with Sammy and Mike…

Hmmmmm
Carnal Knowledge

Frankenfoot….some ammo for your battle here: David Lee Roth’s last two albums had 26 out of 29 covers. Lots of creativity there, huh?

At least SPAMMY (insert sarcasm) is still writing his own stuff. Recycling is for bands like…..well, Jimmy Buffet. Odd, huh?