Would Sammy Have Been Better Outside Of Van Halen As A Solo Artist?

[NDL]

This isn't a topic that many people have touched (at least to the extent that I have noticed).

Hopefully this won't turn into a DLR vs Sammy debate: would Sammy have been a better artist outside of Van Halen, as if he had never joined the band?

Hear me out: Sammy's last work before 5150 came in the form of HSAS, and Through The Fire was a pretty solid record.

One of my chief complaints about Van Hagar is that many, (though certainly not all), songs lack EVH's "raw" guitar work. What's kind of ironic - and I know that some will disagree - if you listen to Sam's solo material, it's a bit less melodic, and a little "harder" than what is his work in Van Halen.

Would Sammy as a solo artist have produced harder hitting material than what Van Hagar produced?

I dunno. I spent a day in the hot Carolina sun, and It's past midnight...maybe I am rambling.

Maybe not

*******

Here's a non sequitur, that's sure to get a "dude, you're reading WAY too much into this"...over the past couple of days, when you Google "Van Halen," Wolf's picture is no longer shown; the pictures that come up are of the original four members. It's probably nothing, but I thought that I'd mention it.

[Van Squalen]

Ugh. Come on, man.

[Little Dreamer]

He wouldn't be a rock'n'roll hall of fame musician without VH, no Cabo Wabo cantina, then no tequila brand, etc, etc.

VH took him to another level, even he freely admits it.

[Dutchie5150]

I've said this before and I'll say it again, without VH, Sammy would be still driving a La Pontiac.

[Little Dreamer]

Well factually wrong, he already had a Ferrari before VH. Which he brought to Claudio's for repair.

[Raldo]

His time in VH helped get him where he is today. Wasn’t the only reason but did factor in.

[Dave's Dreidel]

This should go well.

[Darrin Stephens]

His pre VH analog is likely Billy Squire, both had an identifiable hit, a few platinum records, and regions of strength and weakness nationally. Hagar was weak back east while Squire did not do as well out west. Hagar had better business savy and ambition so likely would have stayed more relevant than Squire who pissed off industry people. I think given Journey slowed, you may have seen another teaming up with Schon. Sam has great tools but like almost all artist not a complete set. Partnering with another guitarist who was a strong writer may have occurred and created another unknown possibility. Overall ANY artist walks into a legacy brand and gets it to stick to them will be better off, Sam is no different.

[right-here-i-say]

Sammy would not have been better without VH. His album (I never said goodbye) after VOA would have gotten minimal to no air time (it barely got air time even AFTER VH).

I think Ed writing the music took a lot of pressure of Sammy and allowed him to write better. Ed's diverse writing (Finish What ya started, feel so good, dreams, right now, etc) allowed Sammy to leave his comfort zone.

[Simon Ribeiro]

I'm not a fan of Hagar as a solo artist. His solo effort never caught my attention until Your Love is Driving me Crazy.
I respect his Montrose years and I even remember listening to HSAS and enjoyed their version to Procol Harum's AWSOP.

Once he joined Van Halen, I came back and listened to his old stuff and still nothing came that positive to me. And being an EVH fan, I bought that INSG album just because of Edward Van Halen playing and producing (with Hagar and David Thoener).

Would Sammy as a solo artist have produced harder hitting material than what Van Hagar produced?

Probably not.

[Bad to the Bone]

Sam wouldn't have been better without his VH tenure. His writing greatly improved once he had a solid writing partner (Ed).

His solo career was trending up in 85, I don't know how well he would have done in the 90's.

[edwardv]

Montrose never got much airplay in Baltimore. I heard about them when I was in 10th grade from some older guys in a local band. Then I was hooked. Was not much into solo Sammy. Then when he joined VH it was instant karma for me and I was a Roth lover(at the time)

[VH1988]

The answer is no.

VH put Sammy’s talents on a much larger scale. He has said many times that Eddie brought out his best work as Ed truly inspired him.

Just like that video in the other thread, he says Eddie could write better music than he could but that because of that he was able to focus on his singing.

[It's Mike]

I think we're not really answering the question asked: "would Sammy have been a better artist outside of Van Halen, as if he had never joined the band?" So, let's pretend the VH stuff didn't exist. Do we think the solo work Sammy would have come up with would have been better than what he did Marching to Mars onward? I'm guessing the answer is yes. Bar not set super high in my opinion.

[NDL]

I think we're not really answering the question asked: "would Sammy have been a better artist outside of Van Halen, as if he had never joined the band?" So, let's pretend the VH stuff didn't exist. Do we think the solo work Sammy would have come up with would have been better than what he did Marching to Mars onward? I'm guessing the answer is yes. Bar not set super high in my opinion.

Thanks Mike ; I appreciate everyone's contributions, and find them very insightful, but you touched upon my initial query.

As much as I am not a huge fan of Van Hagar, Ed & Sam worked beautifully together, and each drove the other into unforeseen areas.

Obviously Sammy's marriage to Van Halen benefited him commercially. It's just...to me, it's ironic that Sam's solo material is a little "hard hitting" hard rock, when his marriage to Van Halen brought about a softer, more melodic, Van Halen. There are exceptions to this of course, but had Roth continued with the band during 1986-1995, obviously certain songs wouldn't have been issued, but I can't help but feel that a lot of their material would've contained a degree of grit and animosity.

Maybe others aren't struck by this irony in the way that I am, or maybe it's something not worth exploring; both are okay .