Van Halen better with Roth or Hagar?
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danj
modern primitive
Ancient history.
Hager was the better singer and played a mean guitar. Dave started out good but blew out his voice and now is bloody awful sounding. The band generally had better hard material when Dave was frontman than with Sammy, although some of the Sammy-era songs are great. The current VH with Dave is bad, what with Dave's blown pipes and his abusive stage manner. The band has clearly seen better days.
My idea of great hard rock is vintage Montrose with Sammy Hagar. That was a GREAT band.
Hager was the better singer and played a mean guitar. Dave started out good but blew out his voice and now is bloody awful sounding. The band generally had better hard material when Dave was frontman than with Sammy, although some of the Sammy-era songs are great. The current VH with Dave is bad, what with Dave's blown pipes and his abusive stage manner. The band has clearly seen better days.
My idea of great hard rock is vintage Montrose with Sammy Hagar. That was a GREAT band.
IMO. This is the best of the best with Hagar.
Ron13a
Revolver of Vinyl
I was a HUGE Van Halen fan. I LOVED them! I saw them live four times. Hagar twice, Cherone once and Roth once. To me it depends on my mood. I actually like Roth and Hagar eras almost equally. Hagar is far more talented than Roth, but those first six LPs are wonderful. My favorite Roth era song is Meanstreet. My favorite Hagar era song is 5150. Here comes an unpopular opinion, Cherone wrote better lyrics than either of them. His voice was "meh", but he could write! Read the lyrics to the songs on Van Halen III. From Afar is really cool. It's unfortunate that the record didn't have a chance. It was SOOO over produced with senseless layering of guitar tracks. Without You could have been a cool tune after scraping off the unnecessary layers. Oh well.
UncleBingo
Super Member
Roth. Total used car salesman. Sammy was more the toothpaste rep ; )
danj
modern primitive
Well, that shows that Dave had a sense of humor.
restorer-john
Addicted Member
I voted and looked. It seems pretty conclusive doesn't it?
AKers have spoken.
AKers have spoken.
hopjohn
Silver Face
Probably my favorite band as a child. Fair Warning was my favorite album. As I grew older the people behind the music became equally important. Dave, Ed and to a lesser degree Al all showed there true colors as timed passed. Sammie and Mikey are the better human beings even if I prefer the older music personally. Sammie's involvement helped them appeal to the female audience and as a concert goer that certainly had its advantages.
Natasha Bell
Super Member
I agree with so much of that. For me, their very early stuff, I really didn't like as much. Not being a "mega-fan", my real initial exposure to Van Helen was with "1984". A dear friend of my father's, with whom and his children I spent a lot of time growing up, played it often. I guess if I really think about it, I probably got most of my interest in early-mid 1980s music from him as that is what was always played at this home (and often very loudly). He also introduced me to "5150". It was only much later, that I heard much of the rest of their material. For me, it still remains a toss-up in many ways, depending strictly on my mood.
Natasha Bell
Super Member
My views exactly, in terms of those "behind the music" becoming more important. Being a girl myself, I am curious to why you believe that Haggar would be more appealing to a female audience than Roth? For me, looking back on them as they were in the 1980s, I am more drawn to Roth, than Haggar. Although in terms of personality, especially from what I have seen of their interactions with fans and the like, I like Haggar more. He just appears to be a much kinder, less self-absorbed person. This being said, I am not sure if that would have made any difference in terms of going to concerts.
hopjohn
Silver Face
I guess I'm speaking from my own personal experience. I wouldn't want to speak for your gender. My thoughts were that my girlfriend at the time was much more receptive to the Hagar albums and taking her to see that incarnation with songs like "When It's Love" put a twinkle in her eye in ways "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" did not.
Natasha Bell
Super Member
That certainly does explain things. Haggar is quite the showman, then and now. I am unfortunately too young to have seen them in their prime.
As I had mentioned somewhere before, what I wouldn't give to timewarp myself back to the mid-late 1980s, put on tini skirt, have the big hair, and go to one of these concerts 
Sutherland
Member
Roth, SURE he sucks now but Van Halen I & II, come on, that's where they made their name
Roth, without a doubt. I do like a few Van Hagar songs, but I think a lot of that stuff was over-produced. There’s really no comparison of the two. No one was hotter than VH (w/Roth) when they exploded on the scene. Sammy was better with Montrose, and even as a solo artist IMO
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