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Let's Finally End The Debate

Buck Stetson

Buck Stetson

Member
Sep 10, 2015
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So which era of Van Halen was the best??

The highest charted Roth era album was 1984, and it was stuck behind Thriller at #2...
However, two Roth era albums Van Halen & 1984 have reached Diamond Status,
meaning those individual albums have sold more than 10× Platinum...

All four Hagar era albums reached #1 on billboard, and they won a Grammy Award
in 1992 with Hagar as well.

So...let the debate begin...
 
Buck Stetson said:
So which era of Van Halen was the best??

The highest charted Roth era album was 1984, and it was stuck behind Thriller at #2...
However, two Roth era albums Van Halen & 1984 have reached Diamond Status,
meaning those individual albums have sold more than 10× Platinum...

All four Hagar era albums reached #1 on billboard, and they won a Grammy Award
in 1992 with Hagar as well.

So...let the debate begin...
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I'm a big Sammy fan!!! Van Hagar gets my vote
 
I'm going with Roth hands down, Panama is my favorite. With the exception of "Jump", it's better (although "Right here, right now" is good). I skip almost all of the Hagar stuff.
 
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Roth. It's impossible to recreate what early VH did. The Hagar years would have been nowhere close to what they were without the Roth years.

The knock on Roth is everyone forgets the old Roth and just remembers the embarrassment he is now.....whereas Hagar has done a good job of keeping his vocals while aging. Roth is just..... I'm not sure I have a word to describe how bad he is currently. I guess I could compare him to Taylor Swift....tone deaf
 
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Diamond Dave all the way! He may have fallen off, but in his prime he MADE Van Halen
 
Van Halen is simply not Van Halen without David Lee Roth...
Even though the 6 Roth era albums were never #1's and
didn't win a single Grammy Award, these are the most popular
by far in the band's catalog.
Roth era = 34 + million albums sold
Hagar era = 16 million albums sold

Nuff said....
 
Local Expert said:
Van Halen is simply not Van Halen without David Lee Roth...
Even though the 6 Roth era albums were never #1's and
didn't win a single Grammy Award, these are the most popular
by far in the band's catalog.
Roth era = 34 + million albums sold
Hagar era = 16 million albums sold

Nuff said....
Click to expand...
Roth Era without a doubt
 
I going to sound too political. I thought 5150 was the best Van Halen album and that was Van Hagar. Ain't Talking Bout Love has about the greatest guitar riff of all time and that was Roth era. At the end of the day I thought both front men were good but Van Halen is Eddie and I think a lot of guys would have don't well fronting that band as long as he was playing behind them.

Sammy Hagar is a better musician than DLR though. Give me I can't drive 55, Your Love is Driving me Crazy and There's only one way to Rock over Just A Gigolo and California Girls.
 
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Rock Hard Corn Frog said:
I going to sound too political. I thought 5150 was the best Van Halen album and that was Van Hagar. Ain't Talking Bout Love has about the greatest guitar riff of all time and that was Roth era. At the end of the day I thought both front men were good but Van Halen is Eddie and I think a lot of guys would have don't well fronting that band as long as he was playing behind them.

Sammy Hagar is a better musician than DLR though. Give me I can't drive 55, Your Love is Driving me Crazy and There's only one way to Rock over Just A Gigolo and California Girls.
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Agreed that the band was/is Eddie then everyone else. Not too many have that ability. Most likely the last true innovator on the guitar.
 
Rock Hard Corn Frog said:
I going to sound too political. I thought 5150 was the best Van Halen album and that was Van Hagar. Ain't Talking Bout Love has about the greatest guitar riff of all time and that was Roth era. At the end of the day I thought both front men were good but Van Halen is Eddie and I think a lot of guys would have don't well fronting that band as long as he was playing behind them.

Sammy Hagar is a better musician than DLR though. Give me I can't drive 55, Your Love is Driving me Crazy and There's only one way to Rock over Just A Gigolo and California Girls.
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Gary Cherone proved that even Eddie couldn't carry them without some kind of charismatic lead singer. Personally, My preference was old, original VH, but I still enjoyed the Sammy years.
 
Rock Hard Corn Frog said:
Matt Bellamy of Muse can do some things on a guitar that are flat out unbelievable but Eddie Is a legend.
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Get out of here with Muse. I was with you 100%until that....and now I just vomited.

Mark Tremonti/Myles Kennedy(Alter Bridge), Synyster Gates(Avenged Sevenfold), Claudio Sanchez/Travis Stever(Coheed and Cambria) or Joe Bonamossa.....now we can talk
 
I prefer Sammy Hagar who can actually sing. Saw Sammy Hagar and The Waboritas at the Brady theather in Tulsa in the late 90's. Played not only his material but also songs during his time with Van Halen. Vic Johnson was phenomenal as the lead guitarist and sounded just as good as Eddie!
 
wccards21 said:
Get out of here with Muse. I was with you 100%until that....and now I just vomited.

Mark Tremonti/Myles Kennedy(Alter Bridge), Synyster Gates(Avenged Sevenfold), Claudio Sanchez/Travis Stever(Coheed and Cambria) or Joe Bonamossa.....now we can talk
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LOL. I get i. You are not a fan. You might not care for his singing but if you check out Reapers, Stockholm Syndrome or Plug in Baby you can't not be impressed with the guitar. John Frusciante formerly of RHCP was pretty amazing live as well.

It is pretty tough not to say Joe Bonamossa is the king though since he has played guitar since before he could walk.
 
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Rock Hard Corn Frog said:
LOL. I get i. You are not a fan. You might not care for his singing but if you check out Reapers, Stockholm Syndrome or Plug in Baby you can't not be impressed with the guitar. John Frusciante formerly of RHCP was pretty amazing live as well.

It is pretty tough not to say Joe Bonamossa is the king though since he has played guitar since before he could walk.
Click to expand...

card21 is just a participant, don't take it personal!
 
Rock Hard Corn Frog said:
LOL. I get i. You are not a fan. You might not care for his singing but if you check out Reapers, Stockholm Syndrome or Plug in Baby you can't not be impressed with the guitar. John Frusciante formerly of RHCP was pretty amazing live as well.

It is pretty tough not to say Joe Bonamossa is the king though since he has played guitar since before he could walk.
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I can't stand Muse haha. Just not my taste.

I picked up on Bonamossa thanks to my dad. He's not real flashy,but he is perfect with everything he does. Another one my dad has got me into listening to is JD Simo. Give him a listen,if you haven't heard of him.
 
On the basis of the use of the stylistic scream, Roth might have been the standard for all others to attempt to attain.
 
Saw an episode of Live From Daryl's House with Sammy as his guest and they were discussing Eddie. Turns out Sammy was not one of the first few choices to replace David Lee Roth but it was mention that Daryl Hall was asked by Eddie to join Van Halen but turned it down.
 
Van Halen with Roth was a backyard party band from Pasadena. DLR was never the most talented singer. He had a stage presence and charisma combined with Eddie's inovative guitar. Sammy era Van Halen was a more polished studio product. Even Eddie's guitar work sounds vastly different than the Roth era. I appreciate both incarnations of the group and will listen to both. I prefer the grittier Roth era. Fair Warning is the best Van Halen album hands down. This was Ed at his best. On a side note VH3 didn't just suck because of Gary. He wasn't a great fit for the band, but Eddie had major alcohol and drug issues during that period. It's all about Ed! When he is right there are none better.
 
I was a snot nosed kid and lucky to see Van Halen as an opening act for a little known band Cheap Trick. After I heard Them do a few songs I knew Cheap Trick was toast. Roth had the arena eating out of his hands and every female wanting back stage. That energy was never equaled by Van Hager. I'm on the Roth bandwagon
 
Northlandfootball said:
I was a snot nosed kid and lucky to see Van Halen as an opening act for a little known band Cheap Trick. After I heard Them do a few songs I knew Cheap Trick was toast. Roth had the arena eating out of his hands and every female wanting back stage. That energy was never equaled by Van Hager. I'm on the Roth bandwagon
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I'm going to assume you never seen Van Hagar!!! Seen them both and both brought plenty of energy to the stage.
 
Northlandfootball said:
I was a snot nosed kid and lucky to see Van Halen as an opening act for a little known band Cheap Trick. After I heard Them do a few songs I knew Cheap Trick was toast. Roth had the arena eating out of his hands and every female wanting back stage. That energy was never equaled by Van Hager. I'm on the Roth bandwagon
Click to expand...

Cheap Trick really needed to pick better opening acts. :) I saw Cheap Trick as a headliner in 1979 and the opening act was this group called AC/DC.
 
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