1996 Realization

[PrideofPasadena]

I still liked his vocals and writing on MWM and CGTSNM. Wasnt any worse than the straining and screeching on Balance that Sam did all over that record that people here seem to think is the second coming of Pavarotti.

Pavarotti...LOL. Hard to believe he still had a voice after that record. I dig the record, some great tunes, but I wish he toned it down a little, as well. That part is DTMWLCD...I had a hard time cranking it up in 1995. Man, that's some serious screeching.

Dave was awesome on those tunes. If they had made a record no question it woulda been stellar. Can't imagine how great the tour woulda been.
When someone gets a time machine please go back and make that happen.

[I Coulda Hada VH]

Pavarotti...LOL. Hard to believe he still had a voice after that record. I dig the record, some great tunes, but I wish he toned it down a little, as well. That part is DTMWLCD...I had a hard time cranking it up in 1995. Man, that's some serious screeching.

Dave was awesome on those tunes. If they had made a record no question it woulda been stellar. Can't imagine how great the tour woulda been.
When someone gets a time machine please go back and make that happen.

I have just never been a fan of DTMWLCD. I don’t like the guitar riff and it felt to me like Van Halen trying to jump on the grunge bandwagon.

[PrideofPasadena]

I have just never been a fan of DTMWLCD. I don’t like the guitar riff and it felt to me like Van Halen trying to jump on the grunge bandwagon.

Yeah, it does have a little of that grunge vibe. It never bothered me that much, musically. Definitely, riff wise not that special but I do like when Al kicks in.
If I ranked the entire record it would be mid pack somewhere.

[Invasion 1980]

My thought is that they should have kept Dave at that point. Album and tour. It would've been huge.

1996 was THE perfect time for a full-blown reunion - Ed was at the top of his game, and they were still young, and relevant enough, to make it the biggest album and tour of the year. Would have been massive.

But alas, egos always get in the way...

[Dave's Dreidel]

1996 was THE perfect time for a full-blown reunion - Ed was at the top of his game, and they were still young, and relevant enough, to make it the biggest album and tour of the year. Would have been massive.

But alas, egos always get in the way...

If you are going to fire the guy that you just had four straight #1 albums with...well, first of all...don't. If you insist, then at least bring back the guy you built your legacy with.

What you don't do is bring in Sass Jordan, Patty Smyth, Mitch Malloy and Gary Cherone. I mean dear God, they can at least blame the booze and drugs I guess.

[TOM_5150]

Also, per DLR, MTV asked him to "ham it up".

That's like giving an 8 ball to Lindsay Lohan.

Too funny.....but true!

[MF5150]

What you don't do is bring in Sass Jordan, Patty Smyth, Mitch Malloy and Gary Cherone. I mean dear God, they can at least blame the booze and drugs I guess.

And even then, not really.

If it was Ed from 2004, I'd say yeah he was completely absent. Those were demons. And still that's only one guy in the band. There were 3 other fairly lucid guys in that band in 1996. Dave was fucked at the MTV Awards but I dont think he was that out of it as a whole during that period. Basically, we're not talking Motley Crue in the late 80's...thank fuck for Doc Mcghee.

Ed seemed of fairly sound mind in 1996-97. He might have still be drinking but he hardly showed it. Bottom line is, I dont think we'll ever understand just what was going through their heads at that period.

Can you imagine KISS and VH Reunion tours in the same summer?

Just bananas.

[Gary2112]

I’ll never forget - me being almost 3 years old, my Dad purchasing Twister for the family to watch. Being a fan of Godzilla already, there wasn’t a problem with me getting scared.

But then, Humans Being played.
And then, Respect The Wind.

Well, the rest is history because I wanted the Twister soundtrack for my birthday and instead got Best of Vol. I - in retrospect, the better introduction.

From there, the rest is history and I’ve been a Van Halen fan, even if subsequently their last recordings before the great downfalls (end of Hagar era/tease of a Roth resurgence/getting Gary/hiatus).

Long story short: 1996 was the beginning of the end and what a beautiful send off (in retrospect).


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[Van Hampshire]

I think the antics on stage at the VMA's are one thing. It sounds like all that behind the scenes stuff is what really soured Ed and Al on Dave. Of course we are only hearing their side of things but given Dave's history, it wouldn't surprise me. I think if you ever wanted a clear pic, Mike would be the guy to spill it. I know he doesn't like to get into things but I listened to an interview he did with Steve Rosen from 1986 and Mike was pretty fired up towards the end. I am actually surprised steve would put these up for all to hear. They were tape recorded interviews that he could use to transcribe for a magazine interview later. All these years later it seems kind of harsh to air this as I'm sure Mike was still raw from 1984 experience and wasn't really holding back when he probably thought none of it was ever going to be published. It sure made Dave sound like a real douche to be on tour with that's for sure.

I also have always had a hard time with CGTSNM as it was recorded for Balance and was never used. It has Balance production on it with Dave's voice. It just sounds odd to me. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Ray pushed Al and Ed with Dave as he was hoping for a big payout. Knowing how fragile the VH/Dave relationship was, he probably had them keep Gary on the backburner since Gary was one of his clients. Either way it was probably designed to benefit Ray and when the whole thing fell apart, he could run back to the safety of RUSH.

[James in New York]

Dave's side...

[xk319]

Gah....Dave honestly looks so happy here. Like not fake Dave happy or anything, but like he's honestly excited for the near future.

[dislocatedday]

I love Dave for thinking that. And he truly believes it. He’s an original.

But it’s also a huge reason why he was viewed as a joke, until he got back with VH in 07 and why I believe Sammy was the perfect guy for the job in ushering VH into the 90’s. His shtick was dated, come the mid to late 90’s.

That shit played well in the 80’s. In the 90’s it would have come off as tacky and it would have resulted in VH being lumped in with the Poison’s, the Motley Crue’s and the Whitesnakes. Basically the bands that never really evolved from their 80’s glory.


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IF DLR had stayed with VH through out the rest of the 80s and into the 90s, I don't think there would have been any chance that VH would have been lumped in with Poison, Whitesnake, Motley Crue, or any other more pedestrian "hair metal" bands. VH towered over those bands in every way musically, and DLR had his own creative approach to music and the world that could not be duplicated. I think his personality and over the top approach would have continued to serve VH well. Outside of the musical powerhouse of Van Halen though, where it is 100% Dave and driven by him, I can see where it would wear thin and perhaps did with many people..........but as a part of VH, I think he would have continued just fine and the public at large would not have tired of him in that context.

[Speedway]

On a side note here:

In 'Red' we read that Mike did no writing and Ed played bass on at least a couple of songs per album

We learn from Sheehan, that he was approached around WACF to replace Mike

We learn from Noel Monk's book that Mike had to sign away rights to earning from 1984 album and tour...and meekly agreed.

We learn from Red, that Mike went down to a 10% partner during 5150 and voted AGAINST himself with Hagar and Leffler voting for him

We learn from the RS Molloy article that Mike 'wasn't around or involved much during 1996'

We learn from Mike that he didn't play much bass on VH III

We learn from Mike that he didn't play bass on any of the '04 songs

We learn from Mike that he had to sign away all his rights in order to tour in '04

Was Mike ever IN Van Halen after 1979?

[Dave's Dreidel]

I doubt Ed recorded any bass on the first five albums. Just seems to be something that Templeman wouldn't allow while the product was under his control.

Could be wrong.

[VH1986]

Dave's side...

I can't stand listening to this guy talk.