The Official Hard Rock / Classic Metal Music Discussion and Memorabilia Thread!

[jjrock88]

I agree me too. Top 50!

That's why I would love to hear live versions. They sound great on YouTube but a pro release is really needed!

[bl5150]

I really liked the first song on the last Primal Fear but after that I thought it was just okay.  I'll return to it shortly and see if time has changed my mind -  when guys who generally share my taste rave about something that I'm not into it makes me want to "try" and like it .  Rarely works though


Van Hagar week is here.    

As we go forward I'll try and keep to bands that all of us are familiar with for as long as I can  - that will also mean some huge discogs involved that not all of us will be right across.  That happens even with some bands that I'm a huge fan of with their various "eras".    The Top 10 songs will remain consistent but if you find it easier than ranking a whole discog (and to keep things semi-consistent) then please rank your Top 5 albums from the artist .




This was always going to be tough to rank and I have listened to the Van Hagar albums today to help me out a bit .  I can't say that it helped much with the song selection , but I liked FUCK a bit better than I remembered and Balance a bit less which resulted in them being switched in my rankings vs what I would've done "off the top of my head".  Very close call......in fact my album ratings for the bottom three were within 2%.

My Top 10 songs are pretty evenly spread across the albums but of those that just missed out the vast majority would be from 5150 and therefore the top album is no contest.

I must say that , even if I don't like all the songs, it's nice to listen to bands like this where each album has its own sound and each song has its own vibe.  And ,although I have moved more into the DLR-era camp in recent years , Van Hagar remains one of my all time favourite bands and songs like Dreams would be in line for my Top whatever songs of all time.




Album Ranking

1. 5150
2. OU812
3. F.U.C.K
4. Balance



Top 10 Songs

Dreams
5150
Mine All Mine
AFU (Naturally Wired)
Sucker In A 3 Piece
Judgement Day
Pleasure Dome
Crossing Over
Feelin'
Humans Being

If we were to choose only from the regular Van Halen studio albums then sub out Humans Being and add Best of Both Worlds.

Today's shirt might well be my first ever band shirt , bought around 1988 I'm guessing - I've seen it go for big $$ used on Ebay so I'm assuming it's one of the rarer Sammy era shirts.  It's also about the only white t-shirt I own 

[BlobVanDam]

Unlike DLR era, this one is easy as shit to rank.

1. 5150
2. F.U.C.K

3. OU812



4. Balance




Songs in no particular order because that's how I roll-

Dreams
Humans Being
Why Can't This Be Love
Poundcake
Runaround
Source of Infection
Good Enough
Get Up
Cabo Wabo
When It's Love


Dreams would be one of my favourite songs too. Dat outro.

[jjrock88]

Only a casual fan so won't rank the albums as I only have DLR albums.

As far as songs go, Dreams and Humans Being are the clear one and two.

Other songs I like are Runaround ,Poundcake, Why Can't this be Love and Don't Tell Me What Love Can do

[bl5150]

Only a casual fan so won't rank the albums as I only have DLR albums.

As far as songs go, Dreams and Humans Being are the clear one and two.

Other songs I like are Runaround ,Poundcake, Why Can't this be Love and Don't Tell Me What Love Can do

If you like a lot of those commercial tracks I'd be surprised if you didn't like the more rocking stuff like AFU , Mine All Mine , Sucker and Judgement Day....and even the more atmospheric songs like Pleasure Dome.  Kick ass rhythm work there from Al and Mike.

[jjrock88]

I doubt there is anything from Van Hagar that I would dislike. I've just never gotten fully into them because of the overall sap factor. All decent stuff though.

[BlobVanDam]

I doubt there is anything from Van Hagar that I would dislike. I've just never gotten fully into them because of the overall sap factor. All decent stuff though.

Actually, the popular stuff you already know basically accounts for anything "sappy", which I'd say gives a mistaken overall impression. Good Enough, Get Up, and Source of Infection are rockin' deeper cuts.

[jjrock88]

I'll check them out

[wolfking]

This new Pyramaze is sounding fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Wnx9NfowCXc

[Kwyjibo]

Van Hagar ranking:

Albums:

1. F.U.C.K.
2. 5150
3. Balance
4. OU 812

Overall the Hagar albums are more consistent in quality (at least for me) then the Roth albums. In the Roth ranking the difference between first and last place is huge, in the Hagar ranking they are very close.

Songs:

1. 5150
2. Right Now
3. Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)
4. In 'n' Out
5. Dreams
6. The Dream Is Over
7. Judgement Day
8. Mine All Mine
9. Cabo Wabo
10. Why Can't This Be Love

As in the Roth ranking, the album ranking is constant, the song ranking may change from day to day.

Roth or Hagar? I really can't say, I like them both to death. The Roth era is more rough and spontaneous, the Hagar era is more polished but the songwriting is more mature (not necessarily lyrics-wise) and, let's face it, Hagar is by far the better singer.

[TAC]

While I don't consider myself a huge Van Hagar guy, it was still Van Halan and I saw them many times back in the day. I remember some summer shows they did at Great Woods, where it was so freaking hot, they were fantastic shows. Obviously Michael Anthony and Sammy had great chemistry. Such fun times.

Anyway, album wise, I did not care for 5150 AT ALL when it came out. And the tour was just OK. Seemed like a band still feeling themselves out. Though VH won the war, DLR won that first battle. By a mile.
I really love OU812. Seemed to be so much looser and had a lot more personality than 5150.

1a. F.U.C.K.
1b. OU812
3. Balance
4. 5150

Songs:
Judgement Day
Dreams
Source Of Infection
Top Of The World
Runaround
AFU
Feelin'
Poundcake
5150
Aftershock

[WebRaider]

While I don't consider myself a huge Van Hagar guy, it was still Van Halan and I saw them many times back in the day. I remember some summer shows they did at Great Woods, where it was so freaking hot, they were fantastic shows. Obviously Michael Anthony and Sammy had great chemistry. Such fun times.

Anyway, album wise, I did not care for 5150 AT ALL when it came out. And the tour was just OK. Seemed like a band still feeling themselves out. Though VH won the war, DLR won that first battle. By a mile.
I really love OU812. Seemed to be so much looser and had a lot more personality than 5150.

1a. F.U.C.K.
1b. OU812
3. Balance
4. 5150

Songs:
Judgement Day
Dreams
Source Of Infection
Top Of The World
Runaround
AFU
Feelin'
Poundcake
5150
Aftershock

As much as I love and prefer DLR VH to Roth Hagar era I LOVED 5150 and hated OU812 at the time of their release...

[TAC]

As much as I love and prefer DLR VH to Roth era I LOVED 5150 and hated OU812 at the time of their release...

I prefer the DLR VH to the Roth era too!

[King Postwhore]

I did not hack WebRaider's acount.

[TAC]

I did not hack WebRaider's acount.

I didn't go there because I figured it'd be too easy.
 

[King Postwhore]

 

[bl5150]

Webraider might have meant that he prefers the [DLR VH to Roth (solo)] material.

In any case - not in your league king. 

[WebRaider]

Oooops that's how much I prefer DLR VH to Hagar era... but yeah the point which was totally missed with the error lol... is the same.

[bl5150]

Title track from the new Helloween..............okay but just another song IMO. 

https://youtu.be/M7D7ynntNbg

[jjrock88]

Solid Helloween like usual from the band

[wolfking]

I think that's a really good track actually.  It's safe, but it's strong.  Sounds a lot like Power though in the verses.

[bl5150]

Today's shirt - I never managed to find any decent shirts from OU812 to FUCK and so any Hagar era stuff I have is generally related to 5150 or Balance.

[bl5150]

You can hear an album teaser of George Lynch's upcoming double album Shadow Train which is effectively a bluesy rock soundtrack to a doco he's done about the plight of American Indians (Shadow Nation).

https://soundcloud.com/rat-pak-records

I had heard of this a number of times over the years but it seemed to be in constant delay - will now get a release in July.

I'm sure I won't like everything on this but some of the songs sound strong.

[wolfking]

It sounds okay.  I'll probably check it out.

[TAC]

Brent, thought I'd post my torn ticket stub from the 1984 tour. It was cool as it had the VH logo on it.

[TAC]

Also:

August 22, 1986
Providence Civic Center
5150 Tour

[bosk1]

It has been a LONG time since I listened to, or even owned, a Van Halen album.  But the Hagar years were my favorite.  I loved VH I when it was new.  The other albums never really did much for me until 1984, which was just too hard to not like.  But 5150 just completely rocked my world.  LOVED that album to death.  Easily my favorite VH album of all time.  But it has been so long that I can hardly remember how a lot of the songs go, so I can't really do a very good job at doing a ranking.  I will say that Summer Nights is perhaps my all-time favorite Sammy-era song, or at least close to it.

[bl5150]

Some cool stuff there guys ............I have a 1984 ticket in one of those frames I posted a while back but it was a "Comp" and didn't have the logo on it.  Nowhere near as nice as yours - although mine is whole . I bet a lot of people wish they could go back and tell those dudes on the gate to leave their ticket alone

I would've loved to see that 5150 tour live - Live Without A Net remains my most watched music video by a mile - although I'm not big on live DVDs in general.

And with that in mind - "it is now.............officially...................5150 time!!" 

[BlobVanDam]

HELLO BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABY! *WHHHHHHHAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

[Kwyjibo]

HELLO BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABY! *WHHHHHHHAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

This is one of the coolest ways to open an album (although the song itself isn't that good)

[BlobVanDam]

HELLO BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABY! *WHHHHHHHAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

This is one of the coolest ways to open an album (although the song itself isn't that good)

Aw, it's a great song! Not one of the very best on the album, but it's a good mid tempo rocker to kick it off.

[TAC]

I honestly don't get love for for 5150. It is so toned down from the raucous sound of classic VH. Overly radio friendly.
And in the picture I posted you can see the peach colored pants and white top that Eddie had on. Just looked wimpy.
Contrasted with Eat 'Em And Smile, and THAT tour. Now that was more like a VH show that VH was.

[WebRaider]

I honestly don't get love for for 5150. It is so toned down from the raucous sound of classic VH. Overly radio friendly.
And in the picture I posted you can see the peach colored pants and white top that Eddie had on. Just looked wimpy.
Contrasted with Eat 'Em And Smile, and THAT tour. Now that was more like a VH show that VH was.

I was a big fan of both 5150 and Eat'em and Smile. I'll agree that DLR carried more of the classic VH with him in that album/tour but both were really good albums IMO.

I was more disappointed in Van Hagar's dip from 5150 to OU812 which is why I tried pointing out earlier in the thread where you had it listed so highly. That is confusing to me. Yeah 5150 had some Hagar radio friendly hits but OU812 took that to a lower low and IMO 5150's non-radio hits were also better.

HELLO BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABY! *WHHHHHHHAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

This is one of the coolest ways to open an album (although the song itself isn't that good)

Man I LOVE that song! Ed just has fun all over that tune. Crank that shit.... It's Good Enough ta.....ah! 

[bosk1]

I honestly don't get love for for 5150. It is so toned down from the raucous sound of classic VH. Overly radio friendly.
And in the picture I posted you can see the peach colored pants and white top that Eddie had on. Just looked wimpy.
Contrasted with Eat 'Em And Smile, and THAT tour. Now that was more like a VH show that VH was.

I strongly disagree.  I never cared for DLR individually.  Not one bit.  I liked VHI and 1984 despite Dave.  So when he went off on his own, I had zero interest.  And I don't think anything he did in his solo band was special in any way, shape, or form.

[TAC]

It's a personal preference I guess. I just find way more personality on OU812, and much more enjoyable. It's much looser and much less, um, professional I guess. 5150 feels like corporate rock to me.
I was excited when it came out, but when I ever heard Why Can't This Be Love..I mean, what a piece of garbage. How do we do from House Of Pain and Girl Gone Bad to THAT??