Van Halen appreciation thread

[Herrick]

Roth looks a lot better than some of these other older rockers who dye their hair jet black. Just makes 'em look older.

[bosk1]

Roth's range is said to be five octaves

  "Said" by who?

Yea, as Barto stated, I would assume those people mean those high squeal things he does. Not actual singing. He's not singing in those ranges, he's basically whistling. I'm not counting that. His actual singing range appears rather limited.

Oh, okay.  Yeah, if that's what people are talking about, I can understand the mistake.  But he's never had anywhere close to an actual 5 octave range.  That isn't to say he was a bad singer.  But yeah, nowhere near what was claimed.

[El Barto]

Roth's range is said to be five octaves

  "Said" by who?

Yea, as Barto stated, I would assume those people mean those high squeal things he does. Not actual singing. He's not singing in those ranges, he's basically whistling. I'm not counting that. His actual singing range appears rather limited.

Oh, okay.  Yeah, if that's what people are talking about, I can understand the mistake.  But he's never had anywhere close to an actual 5 octave range.  That isn't to say he was a bad singer.  But yeah, nowhere near what was claimed.

I think it's fair to say he could sing things in five octaves, and as I understand it some of those squeal things were from a proper head voice, but that doesn't make him a five octave singer. He wasn't.

He looks much better here, I think it's the picture itself that makes him look bad (the other picture, not yours).  Like the angle and the lighting on his face to make him look super old.  And also considering the drug use and the way he lived his life, he does look fine.

I think the first picture of Roth looking ancient was intentional on his part. I think he was going for a serious kind of thing. And the wardrobe suits his style well. It's exactly what an elderly DLR should look like.

[cramx3]

Yea, the wardrobe had no part in my thoughts of him looking old though, that just seems like something DLR would wear.  His face looks rough in that pic though.  I think it's part lighting and part angle and part really just being old.

[KevShmev]

Yep, I think Anthony would definitely do it, simply for the sake of the band's legacy and giving the fans what they want (and the paycheck of course).  I don't think the brothers or DLR give a damn about the band's legacy.

Agreed about the fans but not sure what the "legacy" has to do with it.   I said Anthony WOULD do it, but I'm not in agreement that somehow the brothers or Dave SHOULD do it.  I like the Wolfie Van Halen, frankly, and am not on the "if it doesn't have Mike it's not legit" bandwagon at all.   

Legacy in the sense that Michael Anthony probably knows many VH fans want to see a reunion tour of the original lineup and would do the tour for that reason.  It would be a good way to end his tenure with the band as well.

[Stadler]

I love Dave. 

This is a good interview (albeit dated now):
https://youtu.be/PFWYiUEaa3c

Here's the vocal thing; not suggesting he's Freddie Mercury by any stretch, but it's still interesting.
https://youtu.be/5lPdr7baBjI

[The Walrus]

So... I was out shopping and as usual took a quick minute to glance at the upper layer of CDs in Walmart's bargain bin. Found Van Halen 1, 2, and 1984 each for $5 so I snagged them. I know most of 1 and 1984 but 2 is the most unfamiliar.

1 and 1984 both went 10x platinum and 2 went 5x. Crazy.

[TAC]

Van Halen II has some great tunes!

Light Up The Sky
Outta Love Again
DOA
Bottoms Up!

[cramx3]

Bottoms Up came on my random shuffle on my drive home the other night, such a fun awesome song that I hadn't heard in awhile 

[KevShmev]

I am still not sure why it took II so long to really grab me, but it is definitely pretty great.  Light Up the Sky is so good.

[TAC]

Light Up the Sky is so good.

Top 5 VH tune right there.

[bl5150]

Light Up the Sky is so good.

Top 5 VH tune right there.

 

[Stadler]

This is petty, but VHII always takes a back seat for "You're No Good".  I generally like the VH covers - Diver Down is one of my favorite VH records - but that song is a sort of ruins the mood for me. Which is a shame, because side two of that record (most of my listening to that was on vinyl, Side A, Side B!) is all killer.   

[KevShmev]

I get that.  You're No Good is a decent cover, but it was a very strange choice to be the first song on side 1 of their second album.

[Stadler]

https://eddietrunk.com/david-lee-roth-says-he-is-the-face-of-van-halen-from-this-point-on/

This isn't the only source for what I'm about to say (Eddie Trunk has alluded to rumors that he heard from a credible source that the summer stadium tour with Michael Anthony was postponed due to "illness", and there was a post earlier this year with a picture of Eddie that seemed to indicate he had no hair, one sign of chemotherapy) but I think we're not long for bad news in the Van Halen camp.  I hope and pray that that's not the case, but Van Halen is not that different than AC/DC in this regard, and certainly with AC/DC, no news is not always good news. 

Roth is a weird guy, but he's no dummy, and I think even he has lines he won't cross.  I think he's telling us a lot here.

[TAC]

Yikes, yeah it does look like Eddie is going under treatment.

[bl5150]

https://entertainment.theonion.com/cia-admits-role-in-1985-coup-to-oust-david-lee-roth-1819577255?utm_campaign=The+Onion&utm_content=1588809001&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1Z8rxRhL03Zxfc2GsUwodwFQnltXuaY3q7VIdDHITasQ2pkU_aa9UwVLI

[frogprog]

Haha... "Operation Diamondcutter"

[WildRanger]

I listened to Van Halen II again today. I dig every track except Outta Love Again. Main reason why I dislike that song are vocal melodies that I find to be really terrible, esp. a very dumb chorus.
Light Up the Sky is probably my favorite tune on VH II.

What are your thoughts on VH II? What's your favorite and least favorite track?

[jjrock88]

The first six Van Halen albums are my definition of hard rock.  VH2 is a beast of an album and has some of Van Halen's heaviest tracks.  Somebody Get Me a Doctor, Outta Love Again, Light up the Sky are all kick ass.  I can see You're No Good having some mixed reactions, but I really like it.

[Bentower]

I'm not too keen on Woman In Love beyond the intro so I'd call that the least good song on VHII. Everything else is stellar.

[Stadler]

https://eddietrunk.com/david-lee-roth-announces-his-retirement-says-my-las-vegas-residencyare-my-last-five-shows/

I can't really make heads nor tails of what he's saying most of the time, but this is bad even for him.   Lot of vague hints and innuendos that don't make a lot of sense.

[KevShmev]

I meant to post about that earlier.

The way he talks, it sounds like he doesn't have a lot of time left.   It is rare to hear Roth be that candid, so I suspect he is staring his mortality in the face.  Granted, his voice was shot in the live environment many years ago and the expiration date for his on stage shtick was too far back now to even remember the date, but he's still a living legend in the rock world.  Say what you want about David Lee Roth, but the man at his peak knew how to entertain fans and had an absolute blast in doing it.

[Stadler]

I've honestly been thinking about this a lot since I read that.  For all Dave's schtick, he's exceedingly positive, and that wasn't that.  I hope something isn't wrong with him.   I'm a huge fan.

[KevShmev]

I've honestly been thinking about this a lot since I read that.  For all Dave's schtick, he's exceedingly positive, and that wasn't that.  I hope something isn't wrong with him.   I'm a huge fan.

Considering how physically active he was on stage for a long time with all of those kicks and jumping and whatnot, I'd be surprised if he is not currently dealing with some major back/hip issues.  You can only abuse your body for so long before it gives you a receipt.

[Kwyjibo]

That "... my time is probably even shorter ..." line could be just a casual remark or he is not telling us something.

[Lowdz]

I've honestly been thinking about this a lot since I read that.  For all Dave's schtick, he's exceedingly positive, and that wasn't that.  I hope something isn't wrong with him.   I'm a huge fan.

Usually, I can’t decipher wtf he’s talking about, but that sounds pretty clear for Dave. 😞

[RodrigoAltaf]

That "... my time is probably even shorter ..." line could be just a casual remark or he is not telling us something.

I think his tone on those 6 minutes of audio is quite gloomy, unlike anything we've heard from him since 1978. I'm worried that his days are actually numbered, and that what he said is not a figure of speech.

[cramx3]

I am starting to wonder if there's some impact of what Gene Simmons said about him as well.

[frogprog]

Hard to believe it has been a year. RIP EVH

[KevShmev]

Hard to believe it has been a year. RIP EVH

I will have to crank some Light Up the Sky on the way home here in a bit. 

[HOF]

Hard to believe it has been a year. RIP EVH

I will have to crank some Light Up the Sky on the way home here in a bit. 

Or A Year To The Day.

[TAC]

Hard to believe it has been a year. RIP EVH

I will have to crank some Light Up the Sky on the way home here in a bit. 

I literally listened to Light Up The Sky two days ago. Top 5 VH tune for me.

[KevShmev]

Hard to believe it has been a year. RIP EVH

I will have to crank some Light Up the Sky on the way home here in a bit. 

I literally listened to Light Up The Sky two days ago. Top 5 VH tune for me.

Same here. 

Hard to believe it has been a year. RIP EVH

I will have to crank some Light Up the Sky on the way home here in a bit. 

Or A Year To The Day.

  No.

[bl5150]

I literally listened to Light Up The Sky two days ago. Top 5 VH tune for me.

Up there for me too - got many more plays from me than any other song on VH2