Van Roth vs Van Hagar

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

So which lineup/era is better? The classic 1978-1985 party rock & roll of DIAMOND DAVE's Van Halen or Sammy Hagar's 1986-1996 era?

My vote goes to David Lee Roth era of course.

- Best frontman in the world. Athletic with his splits & kick jumps, sleazy jokes, more charisma than anyone else in the industry, the cockiest of all cocky attitudes, great outfits & spandex, and midgets bringing him Jack Daniel's on stage!

- Waaaaay more charisma in his voice than Hagar! All those squeals and stuff!

- Eddie played better during this era, and the band as a whole had much more "magic" about them. An awesome chemistry that they couldn't match later on! Something about Roth's voice & flamboyance went so well with Eddie's flashy licks & the crazy sounding rhythm section!

- As a friend pointed out, David Lee Roth is unmatched at what he is great at, whereas alot of people are better than Hagar at what he is good at. Meaning, Roth is a frontman and Hagar is a melodic rock singer... as a frontman, NOBODY matches Roth and he inspired a whole decade & generation of DLR's following in his footsteps, whereas there are tons of melodic rock singers better than Sammy Hagar.

- DLR was in the band shorter yet managed to do more albums in that time, and better than the Hagar albums, except that 5150 is prob my equal fave VH album and I don't like Diver Down. But DLR-Halen managed to churn out great albums like Van Halen, Van Halen II, Women & Children First, Fair Warning & 1984 in just 6 years, whereas it took Hagar-era 10 years to put out one great album (5150), 2 albums with a few good songs (OU182 & Carnal Knowledge) and a disappointment (Balance).

- I think every Van Halen album has quite a bit of filler, but even the filler tracks on DLR era albums are fun because his charisma keeps them totally entertaining and worth listening to whereas the filler tracks on Hagar era albums are just boring.

Of course, I left Gary Cherone out of the poll because everybody already knows he is the best frontman the band ever had, so if I put him there, he'd get all the votes and I wouldn't be able to see who wins out of Roth & Hagar!

 

[nataservant]

Damn right Roth \m/

 

[Connie Fixx]

all Dave all night

 

[spawn]

Sammy for mine, I wouldnt be saying there are TONS of better melodic rock singers than Sammy, are you on crack Trent?

 

[spawn]

Could anyone tell who Trent was voting for? I think the exclamation marks gave it away

Poor Sammy, he gets no respect

 

[The Amazer]

that was the trickiest question ever, Trixx. You are very trixxi. Uhh, trikky. Uhh... you get it.

Anywho,

If you were asking which lineup I prefer, then I would've gone with Roth.
If you were asking who I preferred out of Hagar and Roth, I would've got with Davey boy.

But the question that I got out of it was which 'era' I preferred for Van Halen... and well... with Sammy in the band, they wrote the song which I like more. Dreams, 5150, Why Can't this be Love?

and I also think that there are few singers better than Hagar.

And look at his last name. He's a viking for fucks sake.

 

[Goreripper]

And look at his last name. He's a viking for fucks sake.

Yes he is. Hagar, the Horrible.

 

[TinMan666]

I've always thought that when Diamond Dave left the band, they BOTH got better. But then a few years later DLR kinda disappeared, and VH hung around but kinda went way downhill.

Anyway I vote Hagar for songs like "Love Walks In", "Dreams", "Why can't this be love", etc.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Hey I also LOVE 5150... but that was one great album with Hagar and after that they went downhill. Whereas 5 out of the 6 albums with Diamond Dave were great!

Love Walks In, Dreams & Why Can't This Be Love are unreal.... but then they are up against Panama, Runnin With The Devil, Everybody Wants Some, Mean Streets, Ain't Talkin Bout Love, Hot For Teacher, Jump, I'll Wait, Take Your Whiskey Home, And The Cradle Will Rock, Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Bottoms Up, Unchained, Hear About It Later, Drop Dead Legs, You Really Got Me, Jamie's Cryin, Little Dreamer, etc etc etc!

There's a great quote by David Lee Roth which I think sums it up:
"Sammy Hagar throws a party, I AM the party!"

The question is actually more which lineup is better ceydn.. it's basically saying were Van Halen a better band with DLR from 78-86 or a better band with Sammy from 86-96. They did a great album in 1986 with Sammy but after that one album the rest of those years were pretty boring if you ask me...

 

[Wrathchild]

I'd choose Sammy over Dave any time. Not because I dislike the Roth lineup (who with a pulse can honestly say they don't love the debut album?), but Sammy's era was the first one I listened to. I was 9 going on 10 when 5150 came out and I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to a great band

W

 

[BlindGuardianKill]

I agree tough call. Do you go for the better frontman or the better voice?

Sorry Trixx. Hagar is still a cool frontman but a million miles better singer than Roth.
Hagar can vocally cover all era's of VH. Roth cant cut the Hagar era VH songs.

And then you gotta throw in that Roth would be a dick and cause a lot more grief to the band chemistry. They tried it with the best of new tracks. It didnt work. Is it really any wonder it hasn't worked with so much prodding thus far. It's unfortunate but Im sure they all gave it the best go they could.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Well the question is actually which era of the band was better Not which singer would be better now.

 

[BlindGuardianKill]

Again just my opinion. Roth era released the best album of VH history in VH1. They also released the worst in VH history - Diver Down. Even the Cherone album creams that peice of stink.

5150 is a big favourite here. For consistency I think I would still go with Hagar era.

 

[The Amazer]

for lineup I would go Roth...

but even though it was just one album... Hagar nails it. That one album brings out the best in Van Halen with awesome guitar + awesome keyboards.

I love Davey boy, and he IS Van Halen's true singer.... but he wasn't in the band when they wrote their greatest stuff.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

You all suck Hmm I reckon my list of fave VH albums would go like this at the moment:

1. Van Halen
2. 5150
3. Fair Warning
4. Women & Children First
5. 1984
6. Van Halen II
7. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
8. OU812
9. Diver Down
10. Balance
.......
.............
.................
11. Van Halen III



Five out of the top 6 for me being Roth albums is why he clearly takes the cake for me personally!

 

[The Amazer]

Balance has a cool CD Cover.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Shame its not a very good album.

To me it's on about the same level as Diver Down. But Diver Down wins coz as I said earlier, Roth makes even the weak songs more interesting coz of his flamboyance.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Sammy for mine, I wouldnt be saying there are TONS of better melodic rock singers than Sammy, are you on crack Trent?

I forgot about this. There are tons of singers in the melodic hard rock/metal scene that are much better, despite how good Sammy is.

Tony Harnell, Jeff Scott Soto, David Coverdale, Geoff Tate, Mark Free, Joe Lynn Turner to name a few of the "notable" ones known as the best in the industry. But you put on nearly any AOR album outta Europe and half those guys can sing as well as Sammy Hagar...

However how many frontmen are as good as Roth was? He was in a league of his own - and most of the good frontmen that came after in the 80s era were directly inspired by what he started.

That is my point. Not taking away from Sammy's voice at all because its great, but there are tons of singers who are great and alot who are better. What Roth had was something unique and special that has never been matched since.

 

[spawn]

Nope, you are wrong, Sammy Hagar is one of the best melodic rock singers ever. He deserves to be up there WITH the people you mentioned, they arent "better" than him, except Coverdale, and he would probably be the very best.

 

[BlindGuardianKill]

Agree with Spawn ~ Hagar is one of the best rock singers in the biz. He stands tall with each and every one of the ones you mentioned Trixx and they are great singers and I would bet each and everyone of them would rate Sammy. Being in VH wouldnt be an easy gig for anyone but Hagar has done a mighty job. Gotta feel for him with all the Dave shit slung at him but I guess that's part of taking the gig.

Even if Roth did an album and tour with VH do you honestly think it would last. I think they gave it it's chance and it didnt even get to the two bonus tracks cos Roth was an ass.