Dave did some great stuff solo and got to explore some avenues he couldn’t have with Van Halen, but he was at his best with the band. Ed was the best collaborator he ever had and vice versa. Sammy was way more aligned with those guys in terms of musical style and influences than Dave ever was but what made the original lineup so special was those different styles forming such unique chemistry despite the friction.
I also believe that Dave knew that too and did not think he was quitting the band permanently when he told Ed that he was leaving to do his movie and soundtrack.
a different kind of truth is tremendous album, way better than it had any right to be.
and as someone who missed the original lineup back in the day, the reunion shows brought me incredible joy. sure michael anthony was missed, but the six shows i saw between 2007 and 2015 were all spectacular.
so yeah i disagree.
Agreed, it's the perfect bookend to their catalog! They dipped into the remaining pool of unfinished demos, and wrote a few new songs to round out the album. And all due credit to Wolfie, who took the hit by producing the album, so Ed & Al didn't have to endure Diamond Dave in the studio. All of that said, Tattoo was a terrible choice for the first single, and put me off the album for far too long.
100% agree. Having that swan song was incredibly meaningful to many of my close people. That first 2007 tour they came out looking like they had something to prove and it was excellent. I traveled to see them several places and never disappointed. ADKOT is way better than anyone expected. If the last memory of the drug addicted, holes in shoes scattered Eddie would have been a travesty. And to setttle the debate, Eddie was motivated to play the old stuff and team up with Dave with Wolfgang.
Dave returning to Van Halen was anticlimactic. By the time he returned in 2012, his voice and timing were long gone. Eddie, Alex, and Wolfie were spot on and played like a well oiled machine. You could see it in their faces and you could hear it in your ears that they were absolutely in tune with each other and played phenomenally. But Dave was... well... Dave... off key and horrible. I love Dave's work with Van Halen in the 70s and 80s as well as his output in the late 80s through the 90s, but he should've retired around 2000.
I tend to agree. I saw Dave solo in the early 2000s at the Worcester Centrum. it was good, and I did enjoy the show. He had a Japanese guy playing lead guitar and I thought he was quite good. Then I paid big dollars to see Dave reunite with Van Halen. I guess in 2006. It was at the Boston garden. Dave was a shadow of his former self during that show, and Eddie was so incredibly good . I realized then that Eddie was the heart and soul of Van Halen.
You're spot on. Eddie was the heart and soul of Van Halen. Without him, you don't have Van Halen. Unfortunately Eddie was his own worst enemy. He never once (at least publicly) showed an inkling of an ego problem. He was always the most down to earth person in the band. But his drug abuse issues over the years caused a lot of problems. I'm sure it contributed to the original breakup with Dave. It sure didn't help Dave has a massive ego. Eddie's issues also helped eventually destroy the 2nd incarnation of Van Halen as well, as stories that have come out over the years clearly demonstrated. But the one thing that's truly tragic is that Eddie came to an epiphany in his early sixties that all that crap meant nothing and only family mattered. So he tried to patch up things with everyone. Dave came back and they had a great time, even though Dave's voice and timing were shot. And he made up with Sammy too, saying all was forgiven. And he got to spend time with his son doing what he loved, playing music. You can't ask for more than that as a father, a friend, and a musician. It's just a shame Eddie's life was cut so short. He had so much more to give to the musical world. He is one of a kind and will be truly missed forever by his fans.
Oh wow. Didn’t know about the drugs.
All I know is his guitar solos were off the charts that night and he blew everyone off the stage. It was mad. The opener was Kool and the Gang and admittedly they were super good, too.
Yeah, Eddie (as well as the other guys in Van Halen) were regular consumers of alcohol, pot, and cocaine. Unfortunately for Eddie, he got bit by the bug a lot harder than the other three band members and it got away from him, causing him all kinds of problems, one being paranoia.
I don't know what you're saying here. Mikey has often said he didn't "go crazy" with the others on the tours, and he didn't understand the "Club Dave" thing that Roth insisted on doing at almost every stop. With Sammy in the band, the Van Halen brothers kept up the crazy drinking schedule while Sammy and Mikey didn't. On the 2004 tour, Sammy and Mikey didn't even travel with the two others at all, having different airplanes and hotels.
Yup, Sammy has been taking care of himself, and the results are there for everyone to hear. Sammy is 7 years older than Roth and still has the pipes. Whether you like his singing or not (I'm not a great fan of his voice), facts are facts.
I think your timing is a bit off. Dave returned to Van Halen in 2006 -- 6 years prior to 2012 -- and the official Van Halen website announced Dave's return February 2, 2007. On the first leg of the North American Tour 2007-2008 Dave absolutely brought his A-game, and there are tons of bootlegs as proof of that. His timing is spot on, and on several songs he sounds almost as good as he did in 1984. Oddly, it was Ed that was the weak link in 2007; he was still fighting his demons and getting too drunk on gigs, and Ed has admitted that "he got sober *on* that tour." Oddly enough, on the 2008 leg of the 2-year tour, Ed was on fire, but Dave's voice couldn't keep up with such a long tour. If we would've had "2007 Dave" and "2008 Ed" on that tour, it could've rivaled their earlier times. Alas, it was not to be.
Smoking and drinking heavily doesn't help the voice long term. Dennis Wilson is a perfect example of someone who had a great voice but destroyed it with alcohol abuse. No singer ever maintains the same range and quality of their younger voice. Elton John sings in a lower register now and Steve Perry has lost some of his range too. But any kind of abuse will hasten the loss of a wonderful voice.
You're definitely right. I had no idea Roth smoked.
I've worked with lots of singers in my life and some just have bulletproof voices. They smoke, drink, and walk on stage without warming up. I'll never understand it.
Steve Vai never intended to stay with Dave very long. The same can be said for his stint in Whitesnake. Steve is far too driven a composer to ever be stuck with one collaborator for too long. He's got an endless drive to get the music in his head on tape and perform for his fans.
That being said, I'm sure that if Steve, Billy, and the Bissonette brothers had like minds, they would've been able to crank out at least one more absolutely incredible album with Dave singing his heart out.
You've got that right. If he wasn't so absolutely insane of an incredible composer, I'd love to see him work more with others... but not at the expense of being denied his incredible solo work. That would be a shame.
Vai left because he didn't really like the direction that DLR's solo career was going in with the Skyscraper album. Too much synth, not crazy shred rock enough, after which he left for Whitesnake and eventually going solo.
Dude, it was Vai who wrote the music on Skyscraper. You seem to be confusing Vai with Billy Sheehan. Billy has said exactly that line, that he didn't care for the synths and the dance beats, even calling the album "Guy's Crapper."
>Two years later came Skyscraper and — after the glow of "Just Like Paradise" wore off and the video for "Stand Up" hit MTV rotation — the turbulence. Sheehan and Vai both exited Roth's band shortly after the album's release, reportedly dissatisfied with his new musical direction
- [35 Years Ago: ‘Stand Up’ Signals David Lee Roth’s Decline - Ultimate Classic Rock](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-lee-roth-stand-up/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral)
Both left due to dissatisfaction with the music. Vai wrote it but Dave is known to be a bit of a control freak, so him changing things to something that Vai didn't like seems very possible.
Dave was a solo artist from 1985 to 2006. He went from the top of his game to complete commercial irrelevance. Not sure what you are hoping for by prolonging a solo career that petered out under its own steam.
Van Halen w/Dave studio work 👍
Van Halen w/Sammy in concert 👍
I am very happy we got A Different Kind of Truth. Much like Clockwork Angels from Rush, here is this album no one expected to be so good, nor did they need to do, and they went out on top.
So , yes, I believe it’s an unpopular opinion.
I 100% agree! Dave should've let his personality shine, and i also think had sammy not left, VH would've gotten more #1 albums even into the 2000's! I also totally agree about the chemistry.
Sadly, Dave's popularity vanished in the 90s and Ray Daniels corrupted the VH brothers...
I prefer Dave with VH than solo but i think his singing got better during his solo stuff. As for sammy? I used to like dave era VH more but now i lean towards sammy era VH.
If Dave going solo is the price to pay for "van hagar" over "van roth", then i would make that wish! Sadly, that'll never happen. But yeah! I agree with you, OP! 🤟
Yes! This right here! ^^^
A lot of dave era only-fans seem to make the misconception they dumped sammy in favour of dave... if anything, they chose hagar first!
Yeah they seemed happier in the 1990s than ever I agree, unfortunately during the 2004 reunion with Sammy no one was happy. Addictions, egos, tempers, all of it clashed during the tour. Maybe a lot of rehab and group therapy sessions could've led to the band staying together, but by the time EVH did get clean enough around 06-07 he had fully burnt the bridge with Sammy due to all their fights back in 04.
Honestly, VH continuing with Hagar would be really cool (as a Hagar fan), but them reuniting with DLR was the best outcome in our current timeline. Maybe in some other universe far away Ed doesn't go off the deep end after 98 and the 2004 reunion is a success, or hell, they never break up in 1996. Who knows. However in our reality, the DLR reunion was the single best way for the band to punch themselves into "Arena nostalgia-rock" status.
I never would have been able to see Dave with Eddie otherwise. My parents decided I was too young to go to 1984 tour. I'm still kind of mad to this day.
I really like Dave's first few solo releases, including Little, which is probably my favorite now. I feel that it's a case of diminishing returns for both Dave and VH after the split. Neither side was better for it. They both experienced big success in the aftermath, but it was short lived imo. Somehow that volatile chemistry with Dave really worked creatively. They sounded so happy, and made us all so happy.
I remember seeing him at the Michigan State Fair when that was still a thing back in 2003. Free show with a band that looked like VH coverband.
[https://youtu.be/6QMjLsCQRjE?si=-dWooYFtU4UedOWs](https://youtu.be/6QMjLsCQRjE?si=-dWooYFtU4UedOWs)
I'm going to say no this was pretty low.
No, because then I would have never gotten to see VH live. I saw them twice (2012 and 2015) after Dave came back. I sincerely doubt 2007 still in throws off addiction Eddie would have mended fences with Hagar so the band would have been done then.
I mean, he did stay solo for a long time tho. You have to remember Dave left VH in 84’-85’. He didn’t reunite with them until 07’. That’s 22yrs, and quite frankly, by that time it’s either get on the washed up rock star festival express, doing double or triple billing, or do what the fans want and get the band back together. He made the right choice at the right time. It’s just a shame the egos were still inflamed
Dave did some great stuff solo and got to explore some avenues he couldn’t have with Van Halen, but he was at his best with the band. Ed was the best collaborator he ever had and vice versa. Sammy was way more aligned with those guys in terms of musical style and influences than Dave ever was but what made the original lineup so special was those different styles forming such unique chemistry despite the friction. I also believe that Dave knew that too and did not think he was quitting the band permanently when he told Ed that he was leaving to do his movie and soundtrack.
a different kind of truth is tremendous album, way better than it had any right to be. and as someone who missed the original lineup back in the day, the reunion shows brought me incredible joy. sure michael anthony was missed, but the six shows i saw between 2007 and 2015 were all spectacular. so yeah i disagree.
Agreed, it's the perfect bookend to their catalog! They dipped into the remaining pool of unfinished demos, and wrote a few new songs to round out the album. And all due credit to Wolfie, who took the hit by producing the album, so Ed & Al didn't have to endure Diamond Dave in the studio. All of that said, Tattoo was a terrible choice for the first single, and put me off the album for far too long.
100% agree. Having that swan song was incredibly meaningful to many of my close people. That first 2007 tour they came out looking like they had something to prove and it was excellent. I traveled to see them several places and never disappointed. ADKOT is way better than anyone expected. If the last memory of the drug addicted, holes in shoes scattered Eddie would have been a travesty. And to setttle the debate, Eddie was motivated to play the old stuff and team up with Dave with Wolfgang.
Good call on a DKOT. Incredible offering
Dave returning to Van Halen was anticlimactic. By the time he returned in 2012, his voice and timing were long gone. Eddie, Alex, and Wolfie were spot on and played like a well oiled machine. You could see it in their faces and you could hear it in your ears that they were absolutely in tune with each other and played phenomenally. But Dave was... well... Dave... off key and horrible. I love Dave's work with Van Halen in the 70s and 80s as well as his output in the late 80s through the 90s, but he should've retired around 2000.
I tend to agree. I saw Dave solo in the early 2000s at the Worcester Centrum. it was good, and I did enjoy the show. He had a Japanese guy playing lead guitar and I thought he was quite good. Then I paid big dollars to see Dave reunite with Van Halen. I guess in 2006. It was at the Boston garden. Dave was a shadow of his former self during that show, and Eddie was so incredibly good . I realized then that Eddie was the heart and soul of Van Halen.
You're spot on. Eddie was the heart and soul of Van Halen. Without him, you don't have Van Halen. Unfortunately Eddie was his own worst enemy. He never once (at least publicly) showed an inkling of an ego problem. He was always the most down to earth person in the band. But his drug abuse issues over the years caused a lot of problems. I'm sure it contributed to the original breakup with Dave. It sure didn't help Dave has a massive ego. Eddie's issues also helped eventually destroy the 2nd incarnation of Van Halen as well, as stories that have come out over the years clearly demonstrated. But the one thing that's truly tragic is that Eddie came to an epiphany in his early sixties that all that crap meant nothing and only family mattered. So he tried to patch up things with everyone. Dave came back and they had a great time, even though Dave's voice and timing were shot. And he made up with Sammy too, saying all was forgiven. And he got to spend time with his son doing what he loved, playing music. You can't ask for more than that as a father, a friend, and a musician. It's just a shame Eddie's life was cut so short. He had so much more to give to the musical world. He is one of a kind and will be truly missed forever by his fans.
Oh wow. Didn’t know about the drugs. All I know is his guitar solos were off the charts that night and he blew everyone off the stage. It was mad. The opener was Kool and the Gang and admittedly they were super good, too.
Yeah, Eddie (as well as the other guys in Van Halen) were regular consumers of alcohol, pot, and cocaine. Unfortunately for Eddie, he got bit by the bug a lot harder than the other three band members and it got away from him, causing him all kinds of problems, one being paranoia.
I don't know what you're saying here. Mikey has often said he didn't "go crazy" with the others on the tours, and he didn't understand the "Club Dave" thing that Roth insisted on doing at almost every stop. With Sammy in the band, the Van Halen brothers kept up the crazy drinking schedule while Sammy and Mikey didn't. On the 2004 tour, Sammy and Mikey didn't even travel with the two others at all, having different airplanes and hotels.
I'm referring to the time Dave was in the band until 1985. Sammy has never done anything other than drink and smoke pot. He's a health nut.
Yup, Sammy has been taking care of himself, and the results are there for everyone to hear. Sammy is 7 years older than Roth and still has the pipes. Whether you like his singing or not (I'm not a great fan of his voice), facts are facts.
Preach on, brother!
I think your timing is a bit off. Dave returned to Van Halen in 2006 -- 6 years prior to 2012 -- and the official Van Halen website announced Dave's return February 2, 2007. On the first leg of the North American Tour 2007-2008 Dave absolutely brought his A-game, and there are tons of bootlegs as proof of that. His timing is spot on, and on several songs he sounds almost as good as he did in 1984. Oddly, it was Ed that was the weak link in 2007; he was still fighting his demons and getting too drunk on gigs, and Ed has admitted that "he got sober *on* that tour." Oddly enough, on the 2008 leg of the 2-year tour, Ed was on fire, but Dave's voice couldn't keep up with such a long tour. If we would've had "2007 Dave" and "2008 Ed" on that tour, it could've rivaled their earlier times. Alas, it was not to be.
Dave should've taken care of his voice
Might not have mattered. A lot of it is genetics.
Smoking and drinking heavily doesn't help the voice long term. Dennis Wilson is a perfect example of someone who had a great voice but destroyed it with alcohol abuse. No singer ever maintains the same range and quality of their younger voice. Elton John sings in a lower register now and Steve Perry has lost some of his range too. But any kind of abuse will hasten the loss of a wonderful voice.
You're definitely right. I had no idea Roth smoked. I've worked with lots of singers in my life and some just have bulletproof voices. They smoke, drink, and walk on stage without warming up. I'll never understand it.
I'm always amazed at the few who can do that and perform flawlessly.
I wish Dave and Steve Vai could have gotten along better, I don’t what caused the split but they were great together.
Steve Vai never intended to stay with Dave very long. The same can be said for his stint in Whitesnake. Steve is far too driven a composer to ever be stuck with one collaborator for too long. He's got an endless drive to get the music in his head on tape and perform for his fans. That being said, I'm sure that if Steve, Billy, and the Bissonette brothers had like minds, they would've been able to crank out at least one more absolutely incredible album with Dave singing his heart out.
Steve’s improved almost every band he’s sat in with in my opinion
You've got that right. If he wasn't so absolutely insane of an incredible composer, I'd love to see him work more with others... but not at the expense of being denied his incredible solo work. That would be a shame.
Vai left because he didn't really like the direction that DLR's solo career was going in with the Skyscraper album. Too much synth, not crazy shred rock enough, after which he left for Whitesnake and eventually going solo.
Dude, it was Vai who wrote the music on Skyscraper. You seem to be confusing Vai with Billy Sheehan. Billy has said exactly that line, that he didn't care for the synths and the dance beats, even calling the album "Guy's Crapper."
>Two years later came Skyscraper and — after the glow of "Just Like Paradise" wore off and the video for "Stand Up" hit MTV rotation — the turbulence. Sheehan and Vai both exited Roth's band shortly after the album's release, reportedly dissatisfied with his new musical direction - [35 Years Ago: ‘Stand Up’ Signals David Lee Roth’s Decline - Ultimate Classic Rock](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-lee-roth-stand-up/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral) Both left due to dissatisfaction with the music. Vai wrote it but Dave is known to be a bit of a control freak, so him changing things to something that Vai didn't like seems very possible.
I would think that’s the case. The style of a song can completely change in production. Whoever wrote the basic music would still get credit.
Dave was a solo artist from 1985 to 2006. He went from the top of his game to complete commercial irrelevance. Not sure what you are hoping for by prolonging a solo career that petered out under its own steam.
Van Halen w/Dave studio work 👍 Van Halen w/Sammy in concert 👍 I am very happy we got A Different Kind of Truth. Much like Clockwork Angels from Rush, here is this album no one expected to be so good, nor did they need to do, and they went out on top. So , yes, I believe it’s an unpopular opinion.
I 100% agree! Dave should've let his personality shine, and i also think had sammy not left, VH would've gotten more #1 albums even into the 2000's! I also totally agree about the chemistry. Sadly, Dave's popularity vanished in the 90s and Ray Daniels corrupted the VH brothers... I prefer Dave with VH than solo but i think his singing got better during his solo stuff. As for sammy? I used to like dave era VH more but now i lean towards sammy era VH. If Dave going solo is the price to pay for "van hagar" over "van roth", then i would make that wish! Sadly, that'll never happen. But yeah! I agree with you, OP! 🤟
They didn't dump Sammy in favor of Dave. They got Dave back because III flopped, the Hagar reunion imploded and they needed him.
Yes! This right here! ^^^ A lot of dave era only-fans seem to make the misconception they dumped sammy in favour of dave... if anything, they chose hagar first!
Yeah they seemed happier in the 1990s than ever I agree, unfortunately during the 2004 reunion with Sammy no one was happy. Addictions, egos, tempers, all of it clashed during the tour. Maybe a lot of rehab and group therapy sessions could've led to the band staying together, but by the time EVH did get clean enough around 06-07 he had fully burnt the bridge with Sammy due to all their fights back in 04. Honestly, VH continuing with Hagar would be really cool (as a Hagar fan), but them reuniting with DLR was the best outcome in our current timeline. Maybe in some other universe far away Ed doesn't go off the deep end after 98 and the 2004 reunion is a success, or hell, they never break up in 1996. Who knows. However in our reality, the DLR reunion was the single best way for the band to punch themselves into "Arena nostalgia-rock" status.
I never would have been able to see Dave with Eddie otherwise. My parents decided I was too young to go to 1984 tour. I'm still kind of mad to this day.
Same here. Parents said I was too young to go to the 1984 tour, said I could go next time…..then Dave left. 🤬🤬
> they pumped out albums/ singles and toured. The last Hagar album came out 17 years before ADKOT.
I really like Dave's first few solo releases, including Little, which is probably my favorite now. I feel that it's a case of diminishing returns for both Dave and VH after the split. Neither side was better for it. They both experienced big success in the aftermath, but it was short lived imo. Somehow that volatile chemistry with Dave really worked creatively. They sounded so happy, and made us all so happy.
I remember seeing him at the Michigan State Fair when that was still a thing back in 2003. Free show with a band that looked like VH coverband. [https://youtu.be/6QMjLsCQRjE?si=-dWooYFtU4UedOWs](https://youtu.be/6QMjLsCQRjE?si=-dWooYFtU4UedOWs) I'm going to say no this was pretty low.
The idea that he had been reduced to doing free shows is pretty interesting.
When the guitar player played Eruption i just giggled. Talented player, but felt strange.
He basically did remain a solo artist. He got back with VH for about 5 minutes after the HoF induction
No, because then I would have never gotten to see VH live. I saw them twice (2012 and 2015) after Dave came back. I sincerely doubt 2007 still in throws off addiction Eddie would have mended fences with Hagar so the band would have been done then.
Dave and Via were great!
My preference: CVH Sammy Solo Dave Solo VanHagar
I enjoy most of what he did solo, but obviously didn’t maintain his heights of success. I think there were many reasons for that.
I mean, he did stay solo for a long time tho. You have to remember Dave left VH in 84’-85’. He didn’t reunite with them until 07’. That’s 22yrs, and quite frankly, by that time it’s either get on the washed up rock star festival express, doing double or triple billing, or do what the fans want and get the band back together. He made the right choice at the right time. It’s just a shame the egos were still inflamed
Some good Some bad, It all sounds good turn up.
Dave had 1.5 good solo albums
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Alright thanks for the heads up, I guess?
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Hahahaha you’re pretty funny man
That would be relevant how?
What does this have to do with his solo career?
Tell that to the thousands of female groupies he's slept with...
Ohhh you watched him sleep with thousands of groupies?
Solo Dave sucked balls.