Van Halen help

[hefdaddy42]

BTW, I am considering running a Van Halen survivor again, but I don't want to unless I have more than 2 or 3 people who will participate.  Anybody interested?

[yeshaberto]

sounds bueno to me

[Birch Boy]

BTW, I am considering running a Van Halen survivor again, but I don't want to unless I have more than 2 or 3 people who will participate.  Anybody interested?

I will, granted, for the albums I have (which I think are only three or four studio albums).

[Ultimetalhead]

I can do the Roth era.

[yeshaberto]

I can do the Roth era.

[KevShmev]

The problem with III was that it was experimental.  A lot of VH fans were already gonna not like it because it had a singer that wasn't Roth or Hagar, but then they made it a bit too out there (by their standards), and boom, there came the backlash.  I mean, to be honest, the average VH fan doesn't want the band experimenting or trying to be different; they want them doing their usual fun, partying music.  III was not that.  Throw in a new singer, and it was easy to see why it flopped, generally speaking.

I guess.  But then again, there is also the fact that it just isn't very good.  But it wasn't Cherone's fault.  I thought he sounded pretty good on it.  But it just felt weird.  I mean, the Hagar era definitely had a different feel than the DLR era, but it still sounded like Van Halen.  This doesn't.

That's because Eddie Van Halen went experimental...hence, my earlier post.

BTW, I am considering running a Van Halen survivor again, but I don't want to unless I have more than 2 or 3 people who will participate.  Anybody interested?

I can't promise anything, as I rarely look at the polls/survivors section, and my annual VH summer phase usually doesn't last too long, so I might forget about it in the early stages.  But I'll try.

[hefdaddy42]

You guys that only know the Roth era, listen to some friggin' Hagar.

[yeshaberto]

I did.....it was ok

[SystematicThought]

What exactly is the whole survivor thing? Sounds interesting. I'd participate. I own every Van Halen album, except for III. I even have 1984 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge on cassette

[hefdaddy42]

What exactly is the whole survivor thing? Sounds interesting. I'd participate. I own every Van Halen album, except for III. I even have 1984 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge on cassette

It's a game, originally modeled on the TV show Survivor.  There is a whole subforum for them: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?board=9.0

Basically, we'll go album by album, voting off one song per round.  At the end, all of the album survivors (and maybe the runner-ups, as well) go into a final survivor.  It's a fun way to determine the forum's favorite song (or band, or whatever that survivor is about).

[El Barto]

BTW, I am considering running a Van Halen survivor again, but I don't want to unless I have more than 2 or 3 people who will participate.  Anybody interested?

I'll participate right up to the point that I get disgusted by irrational picks and leave in a huff. 

[hefdaddy42]

BTW, I am considering running a Van Halen survivor again, but I don't want to unless I have more than 2 or 3 people who will participate.  Anybody interested?

I'll participate right up to the point that I get disgusted by irrational picks and leave in a huff. 

lol

[KevShmev]

BTW, I am considering running a Van Halen survivor again, but I don't want to unless I have more than 2 or 3 people who will participate.  Anybody interested?

I'll participate right up to the point that I get disgusted by irrational picks and leave in a huff. 

Roughly translated, that means when:

-"Ice Cream Man" finishes higher than last.
-"Best of Both Worlds" finishes higher than "5150" and "Summer Nights."
-Anyone doesn't "When It's Love" as the worst VH song ever.

 

[hefdaddy42]

When It's Love is not the worst VH song ever.

[KevShmev]

See, this is what I mean.



In all fairness, some of the tripe from Diver Down is probably worse.

Also, I listened to some of the Cherone album in my car earlier today when driving to a bunch of places, and listening to "Ballot or the Bullet," I was reminded of why I loved that song when it first came out: his slide guitar work is killer, on the electric and especially on the acoustic at the end of each chorus.  That is very different for VH, but pretty bad ass, nonetheless.  Unfortunately, the meat of the song is bogged down by some clunky vocal melodies (and that is a song where Cherone tries too hard to sound like Hagar, instead of singing like himself), but the music in that song is terrific.  Hell, that main riff alone is  .

[SystematicThought]

I'll participate in that Survivor thing.

What I always liked about III was the different feel to it. The first song I heard from it was Without You which was on the Video Greatest Hits DVD. I liked that rock sound it had.

[hefdaddy42]

We've started!  I hope you all participate!

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=14950.0

For all who have said you participate through the DLR albums, I really hope you will stick around once we get to the Hagar era.  Listen to those albums again, and hopefully you will discover something new in them.

[King Postwhore]

See, this is what I mean.



In all fairness, some of the tripe from Diver Down is probably worse.

Also, I listened to some of the Cherone album in my car earlier today when driving to a bunch of places, and listening to "Ballot or the Bullet," I was reminded of why I loved that song when it first came out: his slide guitar work is killer, on the electric and especially on the acoustic at the end of each chorus.  That is very different for VH, but pretty bad ass, nonetheless.  Unfortunately, the meat of the song is bogged down by some clunky vocal melodies (and that is a song where Cherone tries too hard to sound like Hagar, instead of singing like himself), but the music in that song is terrific.  Hell, that main riff alone is  .

I think that VHIII would have been great(I still like it a lot) if a real producer was at the helm and not Eddie's buddy.  Balance is a great album because the band was pushed by a very good producer.

[El Barto]

Listened to the first 4 albums over the weekend and revised a couple of opinions I had.  I came to the conclusion that Mean Street is probably their finest effort.  It has everything you want in a VH song, and all 4 of them turn in great performances (unusual, IMO).  It's pretty much perfect.  Even in it's placement as the opener of a darker album.  They really nailed it. 

[Zydar]

I really like Michael Anthony's bass tone on the VH albums, especially their first few ones. He's one of my many influences as a bass player.

[EPICVIEW]

VH1 and II... thats all ones needs

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Anyone who's a fan of decent hard rock, should own a copy of Van Halen 1.  It's like required listening for your "Hard Rock 101" class.

[KevShmev]

Listened to the first 4 albums over the weekend and revised a couple of opinions I had.  I came to the conclusion that Mean Street is probably their finest effort.  It has everything you want in a VH song, and all 4 of them turn in great performances (unusual, IMO).  It's pretty much perfect.  Even in it's placement as the opener of a darker album.  They really nailed it. 

It is hard to argue with this.  "Mean Street" might not be my favorite VH song, but it would be top 5.  It is terrific.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Once the tapped into fades out and the main riff comes in - it's one of the scariest and most awesome guitar tones you will ever hear.  It's the kind of guitar tone that makes you want to throw all of your amps and effects in the trash and give up.  But then again, EVH always did have a way with guitar tones like that.

[King Postwhore]

Fair Warning is dark, edgy, melodic, heavy and everything I realy love about VH.  This is one of those albums I never get tired of spinning.

 Did I just date myself?  Album? Spinning?

[hefdaddy42]

Fair Warning is dark, edgy, melodic, heavy and everything I realy love about VH.  This is one of those albums I never get tired of spinning.

 Did I just date myself?  Album? Spinning?

Nothing wrong with that, and yes, Fair Warning is fantastic.