4/2: VAN HALEN
Getting tons of reaction to Van Halen’s recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmell. The response is very different from person to person it seems. Some thought it was awful, others loved it. To me it was pretty much what I expected. Much of the talk these days when it comes to VH centers around David Lee Roth and his vocals. As I have said countless times if you ever thought DLR sang well live and like the albums then you never saw DLR even back in the day! He was NEVER a strong live singer! Look at the US festival! He didn’t even sing half of the first song! Dave was always a showman first, and on record was perfect for the band and the brilliant albums they made. If you are looking for a powerful singer in VH then that would have been the Hagar years. Incredible vocals were always a hallmark of Hagar’s ability and amazingly he can still do it. But if you are a Roth VH guy (I like both versions of the band) you know what you are seeing and hearing is not new. If you saw VH on the tour for the last album you know this is exactly what you will get from DLR at this stage in his life. As i say all the time you vote with your wallet. So if you don’t like it don’t go to the shows or buy the albums. But if you are cool with it enjoy. My point is this isn’t a case of a guy who was a once great live singer falling apart, this truly always was what he was about. Sure maybe a bit rougher and not able to hit the high squeals like he used to, but in my view he’s trying harder now at least (and thankfully lost the headset!). Alex was Alex and for those hoping for Michael to come back forget it. I love Mike but do you think EVH is ever going to fire his son? Wolf does a fine job but it is kind of silly we have 3/4 of original VH and Mike is the odd guy out. But it is what it is and they have their reasons right or wrong. Most importantly Eddie is playing great, looks good and is smiling and sober! If you saw him on the reunion tour with Hagar you know it was NOT good. To see Eddie in this form now for a few years is great to see! As for the live album I hate re recorded live records as most are. So I give them credit for releasing a live album that is truly live for better or worse. I haven’t heard the entire thing yet but will soon. This is VH with DLR in 2015. It isn’t going to suddenly get better overnight. DLR is not going to suddenly become Freddie Mercury. To me the ultimate scenario as a fan is a tour with half a set DLR, half Hagar, and Michael back in. VH has a HUGE catalog of massive hits that will never be played by them again without Hagar since DLR could never dream of singing like that. Split the sets and you get the “best of both worlds” and both singers don’t have to work as hard every night. Now that would be special! But also it’s about as likely as me replacing Letterman. So enjoy VH for what it is now and the amazing songs and one of the worlds all time greatest guitarists back in top form. But if you have been given another fair warning of what to expect live between the TV show and the new live album. If you DON’T like that then don’t buy a ticket and then complain about it. That would make no sense as a now educated consumer.
PS: I have asked VH to do TMS every single season. So far they have done a TV performance but continue hardly doing any interviews at all (notice no sit down on Kimmell). Their press decisions and refusal to do interviews with just about anyone is baffling and goes all the way back to the release of A Different Kind Of Truth. Clearly Kimmell and Ellen are way bigger mainstream shows than TMS but I doubt more rock/VH fans are watching them. EVH is pretty much our number one requested guest. I’ll keep asking but don’t hold your breath.. they seem to just not do interviews these days outside of extremely rare events
Well, here’s my Amazon review of the live album and it pretty much says what I think on this matter: I am a VH fan for about 37 years now(since I was 8 in 1978)…seen them with Roth 4X in the heyday(twice 1980. once each in 81 and 82), met them as a kid in 1980(my dad was lucky enough to be the drummer in a band that opened for them from late June-Sept 1980), casually followed the Hagar years out of curiosity, a few good songs on each album, but mostly overly commercial IMO and lacking the fun spirit, magic, charisma and balls of the original and definitive line-up. After a few false starts with reuniting with Roth, finally the 2007 tour was an amazing experience…seeing 20,000 people singing Unchained with Roth back out front….I got chills, and in a perfect world, Michael Anthony would be there, and I hope he will be again for the final tour, but I was just glad to see Roth onstage again with the brothers. The ADKOT studio album was 85% kick a$$(I mean…Tattoo was a letdown, but listen to Outta Space…it could have been on VH I or II…and I don’t care if half the album was old demos reworked, they kicked a$$ and Roth sounded as good as can be expected at his age). So now we have the live album…..and it overall is pretty damn good, epic in some spots for me (Women In Love, Romeo Delight, Mean Street, Cradle Will Rock). Everyone is going on about how Roth can’t sing anymore…..truth is, I think he FORGOT how to sing like his old self. None of this stuff is out of his range, he is MAKING it out of his range by trying too hard to sing high where it’s not needed or it never was in the 1st place. IDK if it’s him trying to prove that he can sing as high as Hagar USED to be able to(he’s kinda half spent these days too if you look at recent live youtube stuff….along with Daltrey, Plant, Paul Stanley, and Halford and Tate aren’t far behind either…they bail on some of the high notes), or if he’s just not remembering that he never sang that high back in the day to begin with. Youtube the Dance The Night Away live video from 1979….and listen to him sing it now…..he could EASILY sing it the way he used to, and it would sound awesome because his voice generally has the same qualities it used to have in that range…..he just can’t do the Ian Gillan banshee screams anymore…so what? If he just stays within his range, it sounds awesome. It’s painful on this album when he gets up there on certain songs and it’s frustrating because it’s SO unnecessary. I hope he reads these reviews and takes some stock in it. Also consider his age…no one sounds in their 60s what they sounded like in their 20s, that’s just a fact of life, so just enjoy this for what it is. And judging from the performance on Kimmel the other night, the whole band could use some rehearsing for this tour, so let’s not just pile on Roth. This ain’t the Stones, where you can lay back and get by playing somewhat low key for 2 hours, this is hard, heavy, fast and loud stuff….and it’s not easy to do when you get near 60. I will go see them on this tour, because I want to soak it all in as much as I can….we are all getting older, and my generation of bands from the 70s that I love are all going to be gone within the next 5-10 years, so you better quit splitting hairs and whining and just suck it up and enjoy it because before you know it, it will all be gone and all we will have is the memories.
“…seeing 20,000 people singing Unchained with Roth back out front…”, now that’s a fantasy…
Correct…it was usually more than 20,000…like the 55k at the Tokyo Dome show.
If anyone saw DLR on the 2007 Van Halen tour, I would think in many cases, most people would have had their expectations exceeded. Mine were in Worcester, MA at the Centrum. I thought DLR’s vocals were better than any live recording I heard from Van Halen the 70’s or 80’s. He was that good. The performance from 2007 was in sharp contrast to what was on Jimmy Fallon, much worse, but I’ll savor the memory from that show. Still, he’s fun to watch and can “sing” well enough in 2015. If I remember correctly, Eddie was impressed with DLR’s vocals from a show he saw in ’07, based on a review of his that I read back then.
Its all soo bad but DTNA is beyond horriable !
Its also so apparent they need Anthony to fill the harmonys .
I’m a huge Vh fan and have seen them on DD and 1984 . Dave was always off key and drunk alot of the times back in the day but he’s sober and this is ridiculous .
I wonder how much of this is just being lazy though and not so much the voice .
Back in the day Dave was buzzed up most of the time and along with that, Eddie had a pretty good gig making alot of money so he let Dave slide.
So now Dave isnt drunk ,so we can assume Dave is just being lazy and not wanting to practice to get the vocals right ? Or as Eddie Trunk hints on , Dave cant focus on being on time,in key/etc and walk around( showman, not unlike Ace at times ) and it has nothing to do with being lazy.
Either way I refuse to see VH without MA . Even if you hate MA you make it work for the fans . Eddie dosn’t even have to be on the same bus with him . Eddie thinks its cool to have his son up on stage . As a VH fan I think its unacceptable and although Eddie or Alex or Dave may be your favorite ( not Anthony) and this is the best its gonna get , TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT ? I say I leave it and stick with my memories just like make-up kiss..
van halen should get 3 back up singers to help roth.get mike anthony back,let wolf play rytthem guitar,with dad,and roth has to loose the suits,come on dave,just some jeans,kicks,an d a t shirt,leather jacket look.van halen is a party band,no damn suits allowed DAVE!!!!!!!
Roth is a joke…go watch Youtube vids of him from 1981 Fair Warning tour…he is great. I see Eddie’s point though…Roth was never a good singer, he just had the right sound and vibe for VH. But, as it was proven with Hagar, he was replaceable. Michael Anthony not so much… Watch them on the Ellen show and Wolfie’s vocals were double as loud as anyone and his harmonies were not great, especially on Dance the Night Away. His antics are ridiculous for a 60 year old guy…James said it above on his post…His vocals are not timed with the songs in any way. I don’t know how the band plays with him because he loses the feel that those songs used to bring when you would hear them. Like a bad Vegas stage-act, and the band sounds tight. At this point, the pandemonium of Roth coming back is over and I bet Eddie will regret not keeping it going with Sammy longer…they would’ve had more new music and still sounded awesome, plus they could do all the Roth era songs because Sammy sings it all..