Conference mr1pst::music

    Van Halen was an excellent group.  Van Hagar isn't.  (IMO, of course.)
    
    To me, Van Halen is nothing without David Lee (Ego) Roth, and DL(E)R is
    nothing without VH.
    
    I'm sick of the jeuvenile titles (OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge)
    and their newer songs seem weak.
    
    But all that is no secret.  ;^)
    
    K.C.

    Speakin' about rock-pop in this matter, checkout a dutch newcomer
    who had several Euro rock-pop hits. His name(band)is Robbie Valentine.
    His style is like Van Halen,Vanden Berg,Ozzie ect.
    
    Check him out.
    
    Jan.

    mmmmmm....Vandenberg. Now there's a group whose first album deserved 
    more than it got. Truly a classic. Did'nt the man himself end up
    as yet another member of Whitesnake? 
    
    barry.

    
    Yep. I saw Vandenberg when they toured here in MA. I forgot who they
    were supporting at the time.

    Van Halen always reminds me of the Chicago Bulls early in Michael
    Jordan's career--that is an average band carried by one star performer
    (eddie).  The have managed to put out a few decent songs however.
    
    Darnley

    Ah, Van Halen...
    
    You have Eddie, who whether anyone admits it or not, defined a style of
    playing. But now... let's just say Eddie hasn't "grown" much and
    there's a long list of people who run circles around him (kinda like
    Jimmy Page, who I also respect).
    
    Then you *had* David Lee who has become better known for his clowning
    than his singing. He's done OK on his own, but nothing to knock anyone
    over...
    
    Now you've got Sammy who was better on his own than he is with VH. His
    singing style has degraded to sreaming.
    
    Then you have Alex, who's servicable but who flogged that one drum
    pattern he knows to death ages ago.
    
    Then you have... WHAT IS HIS NAME? ... the bass player. Clearly the most
    incompetent musician I've ever seen playing in a major band. I have no
    respect for anyone who I can dust. Sorry, it might sound egotistical,
    but that's how it is. Most players would dust this guy... see I'm so
    impressed I can't even remember his name. um... something Anthony.
    Marc? :-)
    
    As for the song-writing, some of it is excellent, some of it is
    pretty lame. They're one of those bands who could go on forever on some
    incredible work from their early career and who are now on cruise
    control.
    
    Bottom line: if I'm feeling nostalgic I love VH, but I don't feel that
    nostalgic very often so must of the time I couldn't care less...
    
    Brian

    Getting back to the original question, I saw the video for "Right Now"
    the other night and I really liked it.  Very clever, quickly paced, and
    it looks like something I'd want to see several times to see if I've
    caught all the messages.
    
    	Willy

    "Right now guilt is turning someone Inside_Out"
    
    
           Crazy_Right_now_someone_is_building_A_better_ToMaTo_Al
    
                                     And gettin em taken out,if they're 
                                                   Smart.

re .0:

	Yo!  B.A., what's happenin?   8^)


re Van Halen:

	I guess I'm strange, but I've liked this band from Day 1 and
	have liked them through the change of vocalists.

	To me Van Halen is this:

		Hot day in July, temp around 95.  Roll down the
		windows in the pickup, throw in a VH tape (any VH tape)
		crank the volume, and hit the road.

	or this:

		Hot day in July, temp around 95.  A few lawn chair
		set up on the shade in the back yard, around a big	
		old washtub filled with ice and beers.  Stereo
		speakers in the window, VH CD (ANY VH CD) playing...


	
I love music, and know a bit about it (was a music major in another life)
but I don't care too much about whether or not Eddie's grown, or Mike
Anthony can play phenomenal bass...  It's just good party music...


frank

    re: .9
    
    	I just couldn't agree more.  It wasn't until he left VH that I
    started to get irked with DLR and I've always loved Sammy Hagar. 
    Nuff said.

         Personally I like VH a lot better with Sammy.  I cannot stand
    David Lee (look-at-me) Roth!!!!!  I think 5150 is still my fave,
    though.
    
                                                    Capt. Scott

    I look at pre_dlr and post_dlr as 2 different bands.  I like 'em both a
    lot, but in different ways.  Pre_dlr was the backstreet brat that
    wouldn't behave.  Post_dlr is the grown up version, that still wear
    tennis shoes to board meetings.
    
    Jerry (who listens to "Judgement Day" at mega-volume to get out of a
    bad mood)

    
    How can anyone hate "Atomic Punk", "On Fire", etc...? 8-)

    
    	And IMO, "I'm the One" is one of EVH's best "wailing songs" ever,
    	if not THE best.
    
    							GTI

    In general, my two favorite albums are the first one and the last one. 
    This is, of course, not to say that the others are bad in any way,
    shape, or form, just my feeling right now.  In a lot of ways, it seems
    as though this last album has come the closest (if not overtaken) to
    the level of pure, raw energy that exists in the first one.  IMHO.
    
    -Jesse

    Well, here goes.  I like some of the stuff that their doing now, but as 
    a guitarist myself I can't stand when someone takes from another song
    of theirs and makes a song out of that. Eddie took that last riff in
    Jump and made it into Top of the World, I think that 's what it's 
    called.  I liked Halen and Sammy in seperate bands, the tunes are 
    O.K. but I think their rep. from old carries this band a long way. 
    Their live show now doesn't even compare to that of old, at times 
    I found it to be boring, with the old band you were on the edge of
    your seat all of the time.  Plus I think Halen and Roth need each 
    other, Roth was the man that would sit there and say to Eddie this 
    will work, this won't, I like the groove, or I hate this, there is no
    one to do this now. This I believe is where Eddie's writers block came
    from.  Just my opinion, but live with Roth rippin into "On Fire" can
    not be denied, Light Up The Sky,  so many more.

    Anyone seen Roth lately ?  He's *old*.  When VH first split, it was
    Roth who was in the spotlight - "Eat 'Em And Smile" was a monster.  Now
    it's VH's turn I guess.  The new album (IMO) is great.  No, it's not
    like when DLR was there, but great in it's own way.  
    
    Jerry

    
    re. 17
    
    I agree about Eddie more or less need DLR to act as his foil.
    
    No doubt Eddie was a genius and reinvented guitar in 1978, but
    he seems to be one of those rockers who says "Wait until I'm on
    my own and then see what I can do without so-and-so hassling me."
    
    Eddie parted company with DLR and stopped working with VH producer
    Ted Templeman and the resulting music, IMHO, has been mediocre
    at best, although I liked the  rockabilly "Finish What You Started."
    
    Sometimes groups and/or collaborations create a certain tension that
    my be downright unpleasant for the collaborators, but yield great
    music.  The players always lament about how hard it is, and then
    they go on their own.  The music almost always suffers:
    
    Jagger's solo stuff
    Any of the Beatles solo stuff
    Townsend's solo stuff
    Any of the Car's solo stuff
    Joe Perry Project
    Aerosmith, without Joe Perry
    Peter Wolf (of J. Geils fame)
    
    This phenomenon has an interesting corollary:  The brilliant artist
    who surrounds himself, or herself, with mediocre side musicians,
    just to be sure no one steals the spotlight:
    
    Michael Schenker
    Y. Malmsteem
    
    Artists, for the most part, need someone to say, "Hey, this idea really
    blows" or "Have you tried doing it this way, it may work better."
    
    Of course, famous companies and US presidents could use the same thing,
    too.  It must be easier to surround yourself with "yes-men"
    and buff your ego all of the time.
    
    I still have the unfounded opinion that Eddie dislikes DLR as
    much as he does because DLR stood up to him.
    
    VH has become a adolescent boy's group, what, with all of their
    Cro_magnon references to F***, and "Poundcake" and everything else.
    You'd think they discovered sex just last year...in a locker room
    someplace.
    
    Brian

    re. 19
     
     Malmsteen has a bigger ego than most and this has probably killed his
    career thus far.  He doesn't like other people producing his material.
    If he hooked up with a good producer that would tone down his non-stop
    mega-riffing, he could probably make himself more than a bargain-bin
    musician.  As far as mediocre side musicians, maybe mediocre as far as
    name but not talent.  I have most of Yngwie J.'s stuff and have always
    found both the bassists and drummers on his albums to be quite adept.
    
    Back to Van Halen,  I like others look at VH as two bands. The David
    Lee era was during my junior high and high school years so it holds a
    special sentimental value.  I'll never forget my older brother getting
    the first album in 78' and saying "Listen to this guy play guitar"!
    Eddie was one of the major reasons for me to pick up a guitar. I really
    believe Eddie had as much influence as Hendrix did on the previous
    generation of players.  I liked all the VH albums with DLR, even
    Woman and Children First.  VH with Hagar is a totally different band.
    Different sound, different direction.  They use a lot more keyboards
    now, something they were really just starting to do when DLR left.
    I will admit, I do miss the harder edge VH that was more prevalent on
    the early stuff.  If I want a good crankin' VH tune I tend to rely
    on the old stuff.  I guess if I could ask something of the new VH it
    would be to get some of the old grit back.  I just don't know if Hagar
    could provide that.
    
     

    re: .20
    
    That's pretty much how I feel about Van Halen.
    
    It's a new band with Sammy Hagar.  It's a good band with Sammy Hagar,
    but I feel there was a unique flair and chemistry with David Lee Roth
    that the new band just doesn't have.
    
    In fact, I thought part of it might be that David Lee Roth sung sorta
    like a vocal personification of Eddie's guitar playing.   Wild, rude,
    flashy, and more than a touch of panache.
    
    I greatly prefer the old Van Halen.
    
    	db