Sometimes the truth hurts

[Sammy Who?]

Article

Note the 4th paragraph [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

I know, I know, Sammy fans the truth hurts [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Mean_Street]

i'll post it

Return to Form?

Van Halen, you need David Lee Roth

By Ben Taylor

Last week Dave Navarro, guitarist for '90s alternative rock pioneers Jane's Addiction, announced that he and his former bandmates were going to get together and make a follow-up to 1991's Ritual de lo Habitual. Unfortunately, he also hinted that he'd release a second solo album--something patently unnecessary, given both his and singer Perry Farrell's abysmal solo offerings last year. Those two half-baked records revealed that Perry and Dave without each other are like a Reese's missing the peanut butter.

A great music geek pastime is to debate just what exactly made a band a band. Despite his limited talent, would The Beatles have been The Beatles without Ringo? I'd say no. The simplicity of his drumming was crucial in shaping their early sound, and, in the boy band tradition, his personality was indispensable. Are the Rolling Stones the Stones without Bill Wyman? I'd say yes. In fact, I'd argue you could lose Ron Wood, and it'd still essentially be the Stones--maybe just another version, but as long as you've got Mick, Keith and Charlie, it will still sound authentically like the Stones.

It's fun for the musically obsessed to quibble over the finer points of band chemistry. What's not fun, though, is when a group loses an integral member but soldiers on anyway in a neutered and unsatisfying form. Several bands who play what is now playfully referred to as "the rock" are lately in this situation and would do well to reunite with their former compatriots if they want to do what they do best. People finally seem to have grown weary of teen pop, and there's a bit of a rock renaissance to be capitalized upon.

Diamond David Lee Roth has been out of the Van Halen fold for more than 15 years now. During that time, we all grinned patiently through the Sammy Hagar years, and when we spoke of it we lied to ourselves, our friends and our families when we said, "They're still pretty good with Hagar." But deep down, we all silently wished for the return of that satyr with the Catskills sense of humor gone awry. Then VH teased us in 1996 with that reunion at the MTV Video Awards--a reunion that lasted for about five hours. After that, there was the record with the guy from Extreme, which we'll just pretend never happened. Now, after 15 years, it's become excruciatingly apparent that although the band are called Van Halen, the key element may well be Lee Roth.

Now more than ever, there is a thirst in the air for a Diamond Dave-led Van Halen. With bands like Weezer appropriating the old VH symbol into their logo and the Foo Fighters having VH cover band Atomic Punks open their shows, it would seem that a light has gone off in some collective heads.

So where are they, then? Why haven't they seized the occasion and come back to strut their stuff? Well, apparently they did, but whether it's going to see the light of day is anyone's guess. According to Roth, the band got together and recorded back in 2000, albeit with him cutting his vocals alone at night and the band recording during the day. But shortly after Roth made this announcement, guitarist Eddie Van Halen revealed he had an unspecified form of cancer that he was in the process of beating. So at present little has come of these developments.

It's well known at this point that Eddie hates Dave, but it's time for him--if he's healthy, of course--to face the music and accept that Van Halen just don't have a future at this point without their original singer. Frankly, after Gary Cherrone, I think they owe us a Diamond Dave reunion.

I'll give Eddie Van Halen this much, though: He never went out of his way to discredit Roth's contribution to the band. Axl Rose, on the other hand, apparently wants to pretend his former Guns N' Roses bandmates never existed. He's gone out of his way to ostracize them and even had them banned by security at a New Year's show last month--something guitarist Slash found out, much to his chagrin, when he tried to check out the performance. It's also been said that one of the first tasks Axl had for his new GNR lineup was to rerecord Appetite for Destruction. This had been dismissed as rumor till recently, when film director Ridley Scott asked for permission to use "Welcome to the Jungle" in Black Hawk Down. (The American soldiers involved with the raid in Somalia played the song to get themselves pumped before they went into action.) Axl insisted that the only way Scott could use the song was if he used a new version recorded by the new lineup.

This is galling on so many levels. It's insulting to Axl's former bandmates and to his own musical past. But primarily, it's one of the most astonishing overestimations of one's worth that a rock singer could make. True, there is no other voice like Axl Rose's, but for him to discount the sound of Slash's lead guitar, the rawness of Duff McKagan and Steven Adler's rhythm section, and the ferocity of Izzy Stradlin's rhythm guitar is simply baffling. In fact, if you've ever listened to the GNR live album released a couple of years ago, you might notice that Axl is often the band's Achilles heel. The guy can't seem to shut up between songs. When he introduces the murderous "Used to Love Her," he goes into a lengthy explanation of how it's a joke. Thanks, Axl. It never would have dawned on me that you'd never actually killed someone. What's more, he takes those vocal feats of his and hammers them into the ground, as when he rides a note far past its welcome for "dramatic" effect.

Suffice to say, the insult and injury that Rose has heaped upon the real Gunners begs for some sort of retort, and I read something recently that makes me think we just might get it. Izzy Stradlin as been working on a new solo record, and Slash and Duff have been lending their able musical hands. So my hope, my wish, my dream is that Izzy, Slash and Duff will just go whole hog, call up Adler and hit the road together with Izzy singing lead. It was always my secret belief that Izzy was the true rock 'n' roll heart of the band, so in my opinion, this would be the real Guns N' Roses. Stradlin might not have Rose's glorious pipes, but I guarantee he knows when to shut up and let the real band play.

Reality check

Former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland recently described his previous side project Big Dumb Face as "sort of an experiment in extreme stupidity."

So just what the hell exactly was Limp Bizkit?

Quotidian Challenge

"Aww Mom. You know I'm not like other guys. I'm nervous and my socks are too loose."

[diamondsgirl]

That is a great article. Thanks.

[FORD]

Simply Beautiful [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

Somebody needs to nail this article to Eddie's front door. And if he still ignores it, tape another copy to his forehead.

[Down In Flames]

Originally posted by FORD:
Simply Beautiful [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

Somebody needs to nail this article to Eddie's front door.

Forget about doing so at the beach house...

http://www.vhforums.com/vhlforum/ult...=007626#000014

[billy007]

A couple of things...

Originally written by Ben Taylor:
...According to Roth, the band got together and recorded back in 2000, albeit with him cutting his vocals alone at night and the band recording during the day...

I don't remember Dave or anyone official saying anything about the band recording during the day and Dave at night...

Originally written by Ben Taylor:

I'll give Eddie Van Halen this much, though: He never went out of his way to discredit Roth's contribution to the band.

Apparently ol' Ben's never visited van-halen.com

But I agree with this dude that Van Halen and DLR need each other immensely right now!

[Pumpkinhead]

Originally posted by FORD:
Simply Beautiful [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

Somebody needs to nail this article to Eddie's front door. And if he still ignores it, tape another copy to his forehead.

Ford, I think thats like the funniest things that ever came out of your mouth! Not so much what you said, but how it came across! LMAO!!!! Tape it to his forehead!!!! BWUHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

[DLR'sCock]

GREAT ARTICLE!!!!!! Thanks GRANT!!!

THE TRUTH!!!!! [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/drunk.gif[/img]

[Mario VH]

Very cool read. I wish these guys could just let the past shit die and get the original Van Halen lineup together. As for Axl that guy has always been an egotistical jack ass so that part of the article doesn't surprise me in the least.

[DannyTheKid]

Originally posted by Mean_Street:
According to Roth, the band got together and recorded back in 2000, albeit with him cutting his vocals alone at night and the band recording during the day.

Yeah, that's the way to achieve winning band chemistry.

Quotes like these give me a mental image of Dave acting like Stifler from the AMERICAN PIE movies.

[jrk5150]

Originally posted by DannyTheKid:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Mean_Street:
According to Roth, the band got together and recorded back in 2000, albeit with him cutting his vocals alone at night and the band recording during the day.

Yeah, that's the way to achieve winning band chemistry.

Quotes like these give me a mental image of Dave acting like Stifler from the AMERICAN PIE movies.</font>[/QUOTE]LOL, that's funny

Like this guy who wrote the article is the end all be all of opinions. Shit, this guy could be FORD for all we know! Who fuckin cares! Leave it to Sammy Who who has an oral fixation on Mr. Hagar and just wishes he had the balls to name himself (wants)Sammy's Cock.

[The SLAWTERHOUSE Bug]

Be-all-end-all of opinions? Maybe not. But it does seem to be the only sort of opinion we're seeing expressed in the press, by fans arguably more casual than those we see in these forums.

There's a half-challenge here that I just can't help, but I am motivated mostly by genuine curiosity in asking this:

Has anyone come across similar press clips pining for a reunion between Hagar and Van Halen?

[jrk5150]

Originally posted by The SLAWTERHOUSE Bug:


Has anyone come across similar press clips pining for a reunion between Hagar and Van Halen?

Nope, never seen one, and I'm sure it would've been plastered here on a thread if anyone found one. But then, I have a remarkable distate for most "journalist" opinions, since they are no smarter than any of us, and some are remarkably stupid. As the General says, we all learn to write by the first grade, most of us move on to greater accomplishments. I know that's a generalization, and there are many fine journalists, but until they start focusing the appropriate attention on the bad ones and running them out of the industry, fuck em all.

Oh, and I happen to be in favor of a VH-DLR reunion, I just can't abide people who are so adamant about it that they would rather have NOTHING than no Dave. Or who feel the need to elevate their singer of choice by bashing the other AND his supporters like (wants)Sammy's Cock.

[strangegrey]

First he says Van Halen can't move forward without Roth....Then he says Guns and Roses *should* move without Axl.

Yeah...right.

I'm sure David Lee Roth and Van Halen can create great music together....with Roth slipping in after Ed goes home for the night, they'll really take the rock world by storm.

You people think VHIII was bad? Wait until those three songs see the light of day.

Maybe there's a VERY good reason why Ed pulled the plug on the overnight Dave session....

...perhaps that reason is that the music sucked.

[The SLAWTERHOUSE Bug]

Originally posted by Incredible Edible Dude:
...But then, I have a remarkable distate for most "journalist" opinions, since they are no smarter than any of us, and some are remarkably stupid.

Oh, I never claimed the press was any smarter. Is the fact that these articles are the only kinds we see a general indicator of the mood among more casual VH fans?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Originally posted by strangegrey:
I'm sure David Lee Roth and Van Halen can create great music together....with Roth slipping in after Ed goes home for the night, they'll really take the rock world by storm.

You people think VHIII was bad? Wait until those three songs see the light of day.

Maybe there's a VERY good reason why Ed pulled the plug on the overnight Dave session....

...perhaps that reason is that the music sucked.

Dude.

You might claim not to have any anti-Roth agendas - but this passage, dependent entirely on the non-informed assumptions that the three 2000 tunes are worse than Van Halen III, and that Eddie "pulled the plug on the overnight sessions", would sure trick a Bug into thinking otherwise.

Btw, is Jeff Beck's playing on Amused to Death any less ethereal and moving just because he and Roger Waters shunted the masters back and forth between continents?

Point being, you don't necessarily need to do it all in one live session as one group to get the best performance. So they do music and voice in separate sessions. How exactly does that diminish the creative input of either Eddie or Dave?

[ March 05, 2002 at 01:07 PM: Message edited by: The SLAWTERHOUSE Bug ]</p>