Frontman David Lee Roth was a recent guest on comedian Marc Maron’s, WTF With Marc Maron, podcast, highlights from the discussion appear below, as per Blabbermouth.net.
On why their relationship declined:
“Why did it fracture? ‘Cause all rock bands fracture It turns into diverse interests. People have the friction of time. And that friction is family; that friction is… sometimes it’s partying, but I don’t know if that’s what really separated Van Halen.”
There were always creative differences, We never got along. It was a beautiful, beautiful pairing of… You’ve seen cowboy movies where the guys are always sabotaging each other but they’re working to somehow accomplish something. And I think you’ll see that in a lot of popular bands. They may have gotten through it, but I don’t know that we ever really grew up and became gentrified. Now, that may not be a good thing; a part of me remained 23 years old forever.”
Speaking about reuniting in 2012, 34 years after Van Halen’s debut release. years after Van Halen’s debut release, as well as making the comeback album, A Different Kind Of Truth:
“Van Halen’s perfect, and I always sensed that perfect would get back together — perfect in its imperfections. Think of your most ruined jeans that barely are jeans. They’re your favorite because of the holes in ’em… Your favorite part of your cowboy boots is the f–ked up part… That kind of imperfection, we value that and we still have it — it’s in the music, and it makes the music more popular than ever.”
On whether he could sit down today and have dinner with the Van Halen brothers:
“Nope. Not even close. Not even close. This is not a golf club. This is a little closer to The Wild Bunch. There is a fury and an antagonism, and what comes out of that is, when it’s good — oh, man.”
Van Halen’s last live performance was in October 2015 in Los Angeles, California.
14 Responses
DLR band is the name of the album that has John 5 is on from 1998. It`s available to all and it has Ray Luzier from Korn drumming in it. Pretty solid album I think .
I think a whole new album would be too much of a tall order for the original 4, but perhaps 2-3 songs in the style of the 1st 4 albums might be interesting. Maybe Eddie has a few darker less pop driven riffs still left in him, that could possibly inspire a new small batch songs that capture the feel of that original undeniable chemistry. However, this would require a complete change of heart from EVH (and DLR) to avoid a clash of personalities and control, that would probably be make this impossible, and yes DLR’s voice is not what it was. Michale Anthony is unquestionably the adult in the room on this one. No ones getting younger, and eventually this window of opportunity will close for good. We’ll always have those first 4 albums though.
– and we’ll always have Diver Down and 1984 as well! Yes, DD was a complete 360, especially right after Fair Warning, but there are some good songs on there! “Hang ‘Em High,” “Secrets,” “Little Guitars,” “The Full Bug.” And I’ll never understand why so many people have a problem with 1984??!! Forget about “Jump” and “I’ll Wait,” (personally I love those songs) and the big deal over the keyboards, what about the other 6 songs? No keyboards! Some “fans” still act like those albums don’t exist, and I still don’t get it, and never will!
No doubt Doug. All those songs you named are rarely spoken gems. 84’ is a great last hooray when considering great tracks like Top Jimmy, House of Pain(finally!) , Drop Dead Legs and Girl Gone Bad. Heaviest they sounded with DLR, IMHO. \mm/
Have always loved their version of the Roy Orbison classic “Pretty Woman”