Favorite Roth-era Van Halen album (excluding the first album)?

[Zydar]

I thought the "hey Ray" thing was a nod to Ray Charles and his song with the same name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQXsM1l2wZ8

[King Postwhore]

Maybe it was.  I took it as Daniels but you may be right Zy.

[Stadler]

I have no issue with Diver Down either - especially viewed in context  (an album thrown together in a matter of weeks after Warner demanded an album to back up the unexpected success of the single).   Secrets , Full Bug and Hang Em High are all classic VH and the covers are all passable - cool to have EVH's dad on Big Bad Bill etc......

I'm sorry but "Little Guitars" rules too.  The only song I don't care for much is "Big Bad Bill". 

[LCArenas]

Fair Warning, then 1984, then II.

[bl5150]

I have no issue with Diver Down either - especially viewed in context  (an album thrown together in a matter of weeks after Warner demanded an album to back up the unexpected success of the single).   Secrets , Full Bug and Hang Em High are all classic VH and the covers are all passable - cool to have EVH's dad on Big Bad Bill etc......

I'm sorry but "Little Guitars" rules too.  The only song I don't care for much is "Big Bad Bill".

No need to be sorry      That was just habit on my part.  Back in the day in my band we played the 3 songs I mentioned .  I was a VH fanatic (my memorabilia fills a room in the house) and everything had to be done right.   I considered getting a "little guitar" made but decided that dropping it from the setlist was easier

Little Guitars is indeed cool too.

[DJ RayKow]

Poor Diver Down, I actually enjoy it quite a bit. Secrets and The Full Bug are indeed great songs, and Hang em High is one of my favorite VH tracks. As overplayed as it may be, I still think their version of Pretty Woman is really good too.

I would agree in that these are my three favorite tracks on Diver Down-I'd even throw "Little Guitars" into the mix. While it's primarily a covers album, they nail those covers and really put the VH spin on them-"WHATGTG?" and "Dancing in the Street" being particularly strong. Like Fair Warning, Diver Down is an underdog record that really evokes a certain feeling in me and always lifts my spirits (I think the airy-poppy production has a lot to do with it). It's a perfect summer album that I feel is more about the overall careless positive vibe vs. being a "hit" record. It's all fun in the sun, baby! It also helps that arguably the greatest Roth-era show (US Festival '83) occurred during the DD era. This era seemed to produce the most pro-shot content (Largo 82, Caracas, and Buenos Aires) so seeing these DD songs performed live really helped me appreciate this record more. I dig it...

[cramx3]

I listened to both Fair Warning and II last night and I am sticking with my initial though that I like II better.  Not that Fair Warning is bad, it's great, but II I enjoy more.  Light Up The Sky, Dance the Night Away, Bottoms Up, Beautiful Girls are amazing and I enjoy them more than my top four of FW, Mean Streets, Dirty Movies, Unchained, So this is Love.

[FreezingPoint]

Poor Diver Down, I actually enjoy it quite a bit. Secrets and The Full Bug are indeed great songs, and Hang em High is one of my favorite VH tracks. As overplayed as it may be, I still think their version of Pretty Woman is really good too.

I would agree in that these are my three favorite tracks on Diver Down-I'd even throw "Little Guitars" into the mix. While it's primarily a covers album, they nail those covers and really put the VH spin on them-"WHATGTG?" and "Dancing in the Street" being particularly strong. Like Fair Warning, Diver Down is an underdog record that really evokes a certain feeling in me and always lifts my spirits (I think the airy-poppy production has a lot to do with it). It's a perfect summer album that I feel is more about the overall careless positive vibe vs. being a "hit" record. It's all fun in the sun, baby! It also helps that arguably the greatest Roth-era show (US Festival '83) occurred during the DD era. This era seemed to produce the most pro-shot content (Largo 82, Caracas, and Buenos Aires) so seeing these DD songs performed live really helped me appreciate this record more. I dig it...

I would agree with you that Diver Down has more of that happy, sunny feeling to it. Though that hasn't translated into me really buying into the record, it does give it a certain enjoyable flair. What Diver Down lacks for me are those  moments that I feel are more prevalent on the other VH albums. Perhaps it is just me though...

[hefdaddy42]

My 2nd favourite VH might just be Balance. That was a great sounding record.

I had jumped ship by then, and to this day, I have never heard that album.

LISTEN TO IT

[Lowdz]

I have no issue with Diver Down either - especially viewed in context  (an album thrown together in a matter of weeks after Warner demanded an album to back up the unexpected success of the single).   Secrets , Full Bug and Hang Em High are all classic VH and the covers are all passable - cool to have EVH's dad on Big Bad Bill etc......

I'm sorry but "Little Guitars" rules too.  The only song I don't care for much is "Big Bad Bill".

No need to be sorry      That was just habit on my part.  Back in the day in my band we played the 3 songs I mentioned .  I was a VH fanatic (my memorabilia fills a room in the house) and everything had to be done right.   I considered getting a "little guitar" made but decided that dropping it from the setlist was easier

Little Guitars is indeed cool too.

I love Big Bad Will. And Happy Trails. Could This Be Magic. All better than most of the other songs on those albums. 

[KevShmev]

I'm sorry but "Little Guitars" rules too. 

I think that is the best song on Diver Down.  That little groove during the chorus is one of the coolest things AVH has ever played.

[cramx3]

I'm sorry but "Little Guitars" rules too. 

I think that is the best song on Diver Down.  That little groove during the chorus is one of the coolest things AVH has ever played.

I agree

[KevShmev]

However, the one AVH moment that is impossible not to air drum is the drum roll in the chorus of Sinner's Swing.  He does this bad ass drum roll in the chorus right after the guitar solo (after the second time they sing the main line).  Right before the 2-minute mark. 

[Mosh]

Little Guitars is one of the all time best VH tunes. Also love Hang Em High and Secrets. I think Diver Down is a solid album. Short, but it has a lot of gems. Also the covers are great, VH was always one of the best cover bands.

[TAC]

I always thought Alex Van Halen was excellent and extremely underrated.

[KevShmev]

His over reliance on cymbals in the 90s annoyed the crap out of me - see: the chorus of Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do) -  but he is very good.  Not one of the best ever or anything, but certainly an above average rock drummer.

[TAC]

Well, if we're just talking the Roth era albums, I enjoyed his drumming immensely.

[cramx3]

I always thought Alex Van Halen was excellent and extremely underrated.

Yea I think he gets over shadowed by his brother and the singers with their drama, he's very good.

I think Diver Down is a solid album.

Yea, I had said it was easily my least favorite of the bunch, but it's still a solid album.  I actually only have one VH album I think is not so great and that's OU812, but then again I never really listened to III.

[Mosh]

The worst is probably III, but even that album has its moments. I think Cherone got a bad deal in VH, would've liked to see what they would've done next.

BTW Balance is one of those albums I wish I liked more. It has a great vibe and one of Eddie's best guitar tones. Unfortunately some of the songs are really bad. The first four songs are perfection though.

[Art]

III is not so bad.

(runs for cover)

[King Postwhore]

III nended a real producer to reign in Eddie a bit. My cousin and I argue about that album all the time.  Then we laugh our asses off talking about doing a podcast on it.

[KevShmev]

I liked III a lot when it first came out, but it has not aged well.  I still think Once is a really good tune, and just about every other song has some redeeming qualities, but it just has a clunky feeling overall and some odd melodies.  And having Cherone sing in that raspy tone, which almost made him sound like a Sammy Hagar wannabe, did not help the cause.  The failure of that album and the short-lived Cherone era falls squarely on the shoulders of Edward Van Halen.  At least the show we saw on that tout was great, as it featured a lot of songs from every era (which never happens with the other two singers).

[King Postwhore]

But he always sang with some raspy tone.  That's his style. Slightly dirty for his rock voice.

[KevShmev]

But he always sang with some raspy tone.  That's his style. Slightly dirty for his rock voice.

Some, yes. but his raspy tone was the dominant one on VHIII.  I remember playing the CD in my car with a friend who liked VH, but had no idea who Cherone really was, and after a few songs, he was like, "I thought you said this guy was a great singer?"  I retorted, "He normally is; not sure why he's trying so hard to sound like Sammy."  That album just doesn't play to his strengths as a vocalist.

[King Postwhore]

He's very diverse.  It just fit with the style of the album which I heard him use plenty times in Extreme. Even live when I saw them in both bands.

[Mosh]

He definitely sang differently in Van Halen. He was going for a raspier tone in Waiting For the Punchline, but with VH he was using a higher register more to emulate Sammy.

[Kwyjibo]

I never thought that III was bad, it just wasn't as good as other VH records for various already stated reasons. And the tour was great and you got the best of both worlds with Cherone singing Roth and Hagar tunes. Would've liked to see where it could go if they made another record with Cherone. And raspy singing or not, he was not the reason that III got a bad reputation.

[El Barto]

I went with Fair Warning, tough I consider that and WaCF somewhat interchangeable. Both stellar albums not too far apart.

And I agree with Mosh. VH1 doesn't when in a route. It'd take away some of the FW and 1984 votes, and it might even win, but it's a good game, I think.

[Mosh]

Thing with Van Halen is that they have a fairly diverse set of fans. The guitar fans probably lean toward the first album, but then you have fans who got into them with 1984 and prefer their poppier side. Then Fair Warning and WaCF are both really popular among the hardcore fans. I'd actually be really surprised if VH1 won by more than a slim margin.

I never thought that III was bad, it just wasn't as good as other VH records for various already stated reasons. And the tour was great and you got the best of both worlds with Cherone singing Roth and Hagar tunes. Would've liked to see where it could go if they made another record with Cherone. And raspy singing or not, he was not the reason that III got a bad reputation.

Agreed with all of this. If anything, III is better for having Cherone on it. I actually wish they got to make another album. At least would've been better than the near 15 year drought that occurred after that album.

[KevShmev]

I agree that it is a shame that Cherone didn't get a second album, but he had no chance to succeed.  EVH had already gone full tilt into prick mode (he was already phasing Michael Anthony out), and fans didn't want anybody but Hagar or Roth as the singer.  No one could have succeeded as Van Halen's 3rd lead singer.  Hence, the forced reunion with Hagar years later to tour, and then them reuniting with Roth again, even though he and EVH obviously hate each other.

[cramx3]

At least the show we saw on that tout was great, as it featured a lot of songs from every era (which never happens with the other two singers).

That's pretty cool and I didn't know that.  I'm not sure how anyone else feels, but I really liked Sammy's vocals on the DLR songs from their live albums and seeing it once it person.  Has DLR ever done any Sammy song?    I'm assuming most wouldn't want him to

[King Postwhore]

Yeah it was a great tour. 


Except that opener Kenny Wayne Sheppard. Boring as all hell.

[KevShmev]

I don't think Roth has ever sang a Van Hagar song live.

And I am not going to give Hagar too much credit for the Roth songs he did, considering it was usually only 2-3 a show (Jump, Panama and maybe one other).

[Mosh]

Van Halen act like the Sammy Hagar era never happened. Roth would never sing a VH song he wasn't involved with. Ego is too big for him to admit that they had hits without him in the band.

[cramx3]

I don't think Roth has ever sang a Van Hagar song live.

And I am not going to give Hagar too much credit for the Roth songs he did, considering it was usually only 2-3 a show (Jump, Panama and maybe one other).

Unchained was awesome with him.  And Mike would sing Somebody Get Me a Doctor which I'd rather Sammy do.