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Post by Kapitan on Apr 27, 2023 13:40:16 GMT
I actually had listened to that interview a few days ago or last week or whenever it was. (I tell you, while we're not in the pandemic anymore, the days do still blur together...I think it's just that I am getting old.) I was thinking the same thing, that it's funny they are starting with Hagar.
Though, didn't they re-release some Roth albums already, just not with any bonus material? So is it possible that at this point, that's why they are starting with Hagar--just because they hadn't even been reissued at all yet? (Sorry, I am not as up to speed on the details of VH. I know they've been behind on the reissue/expanded reissue/remix/remaster trend, but I don't know all the details.)
The stuff about all the live material and so on was interesting.
Anthony also was saying how disappointing it was at the end because they weren't recording as a band anymore. He said at the end, it really was Ed doing a lot on his own and then just overdubbing as necessary. Obviously that's how almost all bands record, but considering VH recorded almost as a live band for years, I can see it would be annoying for him.
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Post by kds on Apr 27, 2023 14:02:58 GMT
I actually had listened to that interview a few days ago or last week or whenever it was. (I tell you, while we're not in the pandemic anymore, the days do still blur together...I think it's just that I am getting old.) I was thinking the same thing, that it's funny they are starting with Hagar. Though, didn't they re-release some Roth albums already, just not with any bonus material? So is it possible that at this point, that's why they are starting with Hagar--just because they hadn't even been reissued at all yet? (Sorry, I am not as up to speed on the details of VH. I know they've been behind on the reissue/expanded reissue/remix/remaster trend, but I don't know all the details.) The stuff about all the live material and so on was interesting. Anthony also was saying how disappointing it was at the end because they weren't recording as a band anymore. He said at the end, it really was Ed doing a lot on his own and then just overdubbing as necessary. Obviously that's how almost all bands record, but considering VH recorded almost as a live band for years, I can see it would be annoying for him. Yeah, I think they re-released the entire studio catalog from the original lineup a few years back, and might've even done a box set (if they wanted to, they could've squeezed those seven albums on 3 CDs). When you really think about it, it is pretty disappointing that the band weren't more prolific in the 21st century. After a very disappointing last album in the 90s, this iconic California based band would only reunite for one album in 2012. Wait, who are we talking about?
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Post by kds on May 30, 2023 13:35:51 GMT
The 35th anniversary of OU812 just passed. ultimateclassicrock.com/van-halen-ou812-track-by-track/This was a Van Halen album that really took me a long time to fully embrace. I always liked the singles from the album - Feels So Good, Finish What Ya Started, Black and Blue, and When It's Love (a strong contender for my favorite VH track from any era). But the deeper cuts took me a long time to come around on. This is a pretty disjointed album IMO, there's a lot of AOR elements, but some flashes of old time Van Halen, capped off with a somewhat strange cover. I still think Cabo Wabo could've been two minutes shorter.
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Post by Kapitan on May 30, 2023 13:58:45 GMT
I think OU812 is the first VH album I bought around its release (on cassette). I would've been almost 12, and it would have been among my first half dozen or so albums. I knew 1984 and 5150 from my older brothers, and put Van Halen in an almost mythical category. I almost believed that EVH was literally supernatural. It's not one of my very favorites, but I do really like it. "When It's Love" (which I now always mistake for a 5150 song) is one of their best, no question. kds, you probably saw, but Ultimate Classic Rock (I think? If not, then Louder Sound.) recently did a head-to-head matchup discussion of this versus DLR's contemporaneous Skyscraper.
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Post by kds on May 30, 2023 14:20:03 GMT
I think OU812 is the first VH album I bought around its release (on cassette). I would've been almost 12, and it would have been among my first half dozen or so albums. I knew 1984 and 5150 from my older brothers, and put Van Halen in an almost mythical category. I almost believed that EVH was literally supernatural. It's not one of my very favorites, but I do really like it. "When It's Love" (which I now always mistake for a 5150 song) is one of their best, no question. kds , you probably saw, but Ultimate Classic Rock (I think? If not, then Louder Sound.) recently did a head-to-head matchup discussion of this versus DLR's contemporaneous Skyscraper. I haven't gotten around to reading the OU812 v Skyscraper piece, but I think they'd actually posted that several years previously (maybe the 30th anniversary). OU812 was also one of the first albums I ever bought and owned, but it was a little later. Going into Christmas 1995, I think I had a total of four CDs. But, that Christmas, I got CD copies of Van Halen's 5150, Queen's Made and Heaven, and Live's Throwing Copper. On New Year's Eve, I went to Record and Tape Traders with my father, and got used copies of OU812 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. I definitely played 5150 and F.U.C.K. for more.
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Post by kds on Aug 3, 2023 12:59:41 GMT
A just saw this article on the Top Ten Songs Van Halen never played live ultimateclassicrock.com/van-halen-songs-never-played-live/I was most surprised to see the OU812 ballad Feels So Bad on the list, as I could've sworn it was on their 1993 live release Right Here, Right Now. But, it's probably been at least 20 years since I've listened to that album, but it appears my memory has once again betrayed me.
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Post by kds on Aug 8, 2023 12:41:24 GMT
I think you can write a thicker book about what if scenarios in Van Halen over the last 25 years than an actual book of Van Halen happenings over the last 25 years. Here's another interesting one that involves Glenn Hughes, where Glenn mentions being asked by Eddie to join the band, from the timeline Hughes mentions, it would've been post Cherone. ultimateclassicrock.com/glenn-hughes-van-halen/And apparently, Hughes can be added to the list of potential singers to replace David Lee Roth in the mid 80s (Patti Smyth of Scandal was another), but Glenn wasn't exactly in a good way.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 8, 2023 12:55:14 GMT
I saw that and wondered what you'd make of it.
Of course, speaking of the what-ifs, in Gene Simmons's world, Eddie would have broken up Van Halen and put on some makeup to join Kiss...
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Post by kds on Aug 8, 2023 13:30:28 GMT
I saw that and wondered what you'd make of it. Of course, speaking of the what-ifs, in Gene Simmons's world, Eddie would have broken up Van Halen and put on some makeup to join Kiss... Maybe it's my lack of imagination, but I really cannot picture (or hear) Glenn Hughes singing Van Halen songs.
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Post by kds on Aug 9, 2023 13:49:19 GMT
Van Halen has announced they're releasing a complete set of the Sammy Hagar era, featuring a very underwhelming small handful of "rarities." To my knowledge over that the non album B Side "Crossing Over," they've all been pretty easily available, so this is pretty underwhelming. ultimateclassicrock.com/van-halen-sammy-hagar-collection-ii/
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 9, 2023 14:11:01 GMT
Am I reading that right, that everything on the set was previously released? Seems like even the studio rarities disc is B-sides, soundtrack songs, and material from previous comps.
It's unfortunate that a band led by someone with a legendary archive reported to be on the scale of a Prince or a Frank Zappa seems unwilling to release more from that archive, not only because EVH was so protective of it in his life, but apparently AVH is after his death.
I understand it from an artist's point of view. I really do. You want your finished, approved work to be what you're known for. But as a fan, you always hope for more, especially once the band's "real life" is over. But as Wolfie said recently, unfortunately Van Halen seem to have been among the most dysfunctional bands of all time, and so there are subpar reissues and archival releases, no tribute events for Edward, etc.
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Post by kds on Aug 9, 2023 14:31:49 GMT
Am I reading that right, that everything on the set was previously released? Seems like even the studio rarities disc is B-sides, soundtrack songs, and material from previous comps. It's unfortunate that a band led by someone with a legendary archive reported to be on the scale of a Prince or a Frank Zappa seems unwilling to release more from that archive, not only because EVH was so protective of it in his life, but apparently AVH is after his death. I understand it from an artist's point of view. I really do. You want your finished, approved work to be what you're known for. But as a fan, you always hope for more, especially once the band's "real life" is over. But as Wolfie said recently, unfortunately Van Halen seem to have been among the most dysfunctional bands of all time, and so there are subpar reissues and archival releases, no tribute events for Edward, etc. Sammy was recently on an episode of That Rocks, and he said that he's reached out to Alex several times about trying to do some kind of tribute event, but can't even get a reply. It's too bad that Wolfgang had teased a major "going through the 5150 vaults" thing about two years ago. At the very least, you'd think some of the live material would make it out.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 9, 2023 14:36:31 GMT
Am I reading that right, that everything on the set was previously released? Seems like even the studio rarities disc is B-sides, soundtrack songs, and material from previous comps. It's unfortunate that a band led by someone with a legendary archive reported to be on the scale of a Prince or a Frank Zappa seems unwilling to release more from that archive, not only because EVH was so protective of it in his life, but apparently AVH is after his death. I understand it from an artist's point of view. I really do. You want your finished, approved work to be what you're known for. But as a fan, you always hope for more, especially once the band's "real life" is over. But as Wolfie said recently, unfortunately Van Halen seem to have been among the most dysfunctional bands of all time, and so there are subpar reissues and archival releases, no tribute events for Edward, etc. Sammy was recently on an episode of That Rocks, and he said that he's reached out to Alex several times about trying to do some kind of tribute event, but can't even get a reply. It's too bad that Wolfgang had teased a major "going through the 5150 vaults" thing about two years ago. At the very least, you'd think some of the live material would make it out. I wonder if that was (at least to some degree) naivete. If he thought, OK, now we can finally just get this stuff accomplished. Because as he has said (and as both Sammy and Michael have said), it pretty much all lies with Alex. And if Alex doesn't want to do something...
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Post by kds on Aug 9, 2023 15:03:18 GMT
Sammy was recently on an episode of That Rocks, and he said that he's reached out to Alex several times about trying to do some kind of tribute event, but can't even get a reply. It's too bad that Wolfgang had teased a major "going through the 5150 vaults" thing about two years ago. At the very least, you'd think some of the live material would make it out. I wonder if that was (at least to some degree) naivete. If he thought, OK, now we can finally just get this stuff accomplished. Because as he has said (and as both Sammy and Michael have said), it pretty much all lies with Alex. And if Alex doesn't want to do something... That's what I'm thinking. Perhaps poor Wolfie is just the Al Jardine of this dysfunctional group.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 9, 2023 16:40:21 GMT
They're a hard bunch to get a grip on. It seems that at the very least, Edward Van Halen was a big part of the dysfunction, and David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen seem to continue to be. Sammy Hagar says all the right things, but he also consistently takes jabs at DLR, which makes me question his innocence and "I love everybody, I'm up for anything" statements.
I wonder whether Michael Anthony, Wolfie, and poor old Gary Cherone (who doesn't even really count--he's not even at David Marks status in the group, I don't think...maybe more like Ricky Fataar) are just sick to death of it all. (And meanwhile contemplating the lost millions of dollars those others are generating by not doing some obvious things.)
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