Van Halen: A study in evolution

[naturallywired]

I think the bulk of the resposibility lies with Ed's almost obsessive desire to remain relevant/current coupled with an opportunistic way of dealing with LSD. Ed has stated his desire to never become a nostalgia act on many occasions. Now, this is all my opinion. It may not necessarily be in chronological order, but I'm looking at the big picture. Here goes:
A young Eddie Van Halen grows up in a musician's house. He listens to Cream, Led Zeppelin and Montrose, to name a few. He combines his Father's influence and his rock influences to become a consumate musician.

He eventually started putting together musical groups with his brother. Now, most musicians will agree that 2 major concerns when you are first starting out in bands are PA and rehearsal space. Enter doctor's kid, David Lee Roth. The sound at Ed's door was opportunity, and he answered. Fast forward, now to 1978. 70's rock still existed, but so did disco and flamboyance. Van Halen's exciting brand of rock chops, great harmonies and a flamboyant presence in DLR proved to be irresistible. To Ed, late 70's style rock is what got them signed, but he wants to evolve, use his keyboard skills more and become an overall better writer. The old musical differences start to rear their ugly heads. Dave enjoys the success and wants it to continue. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Milk it for all it's worth, and there was a lot of milk. Ed saw the changing face of rock in the early 80's and, perhaps felt left behind. I know, they kinda helped start the whole scene, but that may have been the catalyst for Ed's wanting to move forward.
Enter Sammy Hagar who had just come off the biggest hit of his career with "I can't drive 55". Ed admits to not knowing much about Sam's solo career, but loving Montrose. "Ding-Dong"...was that opportunity ringing Ed's doorbell? Hmmmm, better answer that one too, Ed. That, coupled with Sam's experience and talent led Ed to believe that he was once again at the forefront of the hard rock landscape. The newness of his relationship with Sammy is almost like a honeymoon resulting in a new openess for Ed. His writing is continually evolving, that's what he lives for...musical evolution. The Monsters of Rock tour almost seems like the culmination of that phase for Ed. Some of the bands out around that time were Dokken, Scorpions, Warrant and Extreme.

Things change in life. Ed Leffler dies, Ed becomes a father and sobers up. He feels his eyes are opened and indeed they are. Once again feeling alone and not wanting to be left behind, he notices some of the bands on the scene. Groups like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, etc...seemed to dominate the hard rock world. Ed senses a new seriousness about these bands. This, along with his newly found insight, makes him grow weary of Sam's sometimes run of the mill, cookie cutter songs. He wants something more. He wants to write songs that say a little bit more, even with outside writers such as Glen Ballard if he wanted to. He feels a change is needed, but Sammy wants nothing to do with this new found approach. Things culminate in the infamous Father's Day phone conversation between him and Sam. Things were probably said in haste on both sides, since there are III sides to every story, but enter Gary Cherone. I'm not even gonna go into the '96 fiasco at the MTV awards because that has been beaten to death as has the disasterous results of VHIII. Eddie feels he has found a musical soulmate who sings with elephant balls, but can write the most sensitive of lyrics either alone, or as a collaboration. The approach proves a commercial disaster, leaving many fans scratching their heads at the new, serious direction. Ed said it would have to grow on you, but evidently he didn't want to wait around either since Gary has left the band.

Ed's quandry is that he wants control, but not the spotlight and microscope that comes along with it. Hence the vagueness of all three singer changes. Some say they were fired, some say the quit. Who really knows or gives a shit.

Hey, that rhymed!

Who knows what the next experiment will be.
Sorry for the long post, but it all kinda got going after a while!

[ANGEL4U]

[img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] nice post

[noodeling]

good post !
it is clear by now, that ed doesn´t have a clue what to do ( this rhymes also )


1) a reunion - is nostalgia bc the 3 new songs with dave are not that impressive in little eds opinion,
2) singer #4 - won´t be acepted by the fans
3) gary - is out forever otherwise they would have put out the 2nd cd with him
4) sammy - mmhh, long time no see
5) multi singer album - would work for a new cd (after sheduling nightmare of another 18month minimum) but wouldn´t help to solve vh singer problem for the future

So lets wait....

[Cabo1984]

You said Ed wanted Sammy to divert from the "run of the mill, cookie cutter songs." If anyone read those posted chapters from the unauthorized bio of Sammy, did Sammy not say he wanted to changed more or less VH's sound to more retro to go with the times? Also, I also remember Sammy trying to get more of a blues influence in the band, but Ed relented. I don't think the music was a problem here, just a stupid fight amongst most brothers that ended hastily.