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Sammy Haggar was a better lead singer for Van Halen than David Lee Roth


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You are welcome.

 

And then there's this:

 

 

BTW, George Lynch (Dokken) said that he and Eddie went to the Starwood in the late 70's and they saw a guy playing there named Harvey Mandel who was tapping before Eddie was doing it and that Eddie copied him.

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On 2/20/2020 at 6:33 PM, Royale with Cheese said:

Who else is with me?


Exactly the kind of thing I’d expect to hear from a ranch dressing loving, bleu cheese hating monster. 
 

I went to one of the 5150 shows.  It kinda sucked.  Bad.  Diamond Dave was a much, much better lead singer for them.  He always made it fun and kept things loose.  That really covered the shortcomings of the band.  Hagar didn’t have that going for him.  Without that fun edge they were a little sad.  Soulless really.  Roth could get away with fun, mindless stuff like Jump.  OTOH Hagar couldn’t get away with stupid lyrics like “Only time will tell if we can stand the test of time.”  Who does that?  Roth was a lot better than that. 

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3 hours ago, Sundancer said:

Dave was the better front man on better songs. 
 

Sammy was the better singer by far and had some very good songs of his own. 
 

I’m fine with both versions of VH. 


make some suggestions of Sammy songs that will easily kick out our top ten Dave tunes for the rest of our lives 

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1 hour ago, BarleyNY said:


Exactly the kind of thing I’d expect to hear from a ranch dressing loving, bleu cheese hating monster. 
 

I went to one of the 5150 shows.  It kinda sucked.  Bad.  Diamond Dave was a much, much better lead singer for them.  He always made it fun and kept things loose.  That really covered the shortcomings of the band.  Hagar didn’t have that going for him.  Without that fun edge they were a little sad.  Soulless really.  Roth could get away with fun, mindless stuff like Jump.  OTOH Hagar couldn’t get away with stupid lyrics like “Only time will tell if we can stand the test of time.”  Who does that?  Roth was a lot better than that. 


Who is Diamond Dave?

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1 hour ago, row_33 said:


make some suggestions of Sammy songs that will easily kick out our top ten Dave tunes for the rest of our lives 

 

Get Up from 5150

Black and Blue from OU812

Poundcake from F.U.C.K.

 

Again ... I won't compare the two iterations.  But those three songs kick absolute ass and cover three Van Hagar albums.

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26 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

Get Up from 5150

Black and Blue from OU812

Poundcake from F.U.C.K.

 

Again ... I won't compare the two iterations.  But those three songs kick absolute ass and cover three Van Hagar albums.

 

Poundcake is a great song. It would have been better with DLR singing. Can't think of a DLR/Halen song that Sammy would have made better.

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12 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Poundcake is a great song. It would have been better with DLR singing. Can't think of a DLR/Halen song that Sammy would have made better.

 

I agree.  They were two entirely different bands with different sounds.  DLR was perfect up to 84.  Sammy was perfect after that.

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Just now, Gugny said:

 

I agree.  They were two entirely different bands with different sounds.  DLR was perfect up to 84.  Sammy was perfect after that.

 

Two entirely different bands is exactly it. Van Hagar was never Van Halen to me and it tarnished the brand that I loved. If Van Hagar came first I doubt they'd have been a blip on my radar screen. 

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3 hours ago, BarleyNY said:


 Exactly the kind of thing I’d expect to hear from a ranch dressing loving, bleu cheese hating monster. 
 

I went to one of the 5150 shows.  It kinda sucked.  Bad.  Diamond Dave was a much, much better lead singer for them.  He always made it fun and kept things loose.  That really covered the shortcomings of the band.  Hagar didn’t have that going for him.  Without that fun edge they were a little sad.  Soulless really.  Roth could get away with fun, mindless stuff like Jump.  OTOH Hagar couldn’t get away with stupid lyrics like “Only time will tell if we can stand the test of time.”  Who does that?  Roth was a lot better than that. 

 

Not my music (give me some Van Morrison, among others), but anybody who is on the Ranch side of the argument has lost all credibility. It’s so sad, as he had some promise...... There is no coming back from some things.  

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6 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Poundcake is a great song. It would have been better with DLR singing. Can't think of a DLR/Halen song that Sammy would have made better.


Dave could not sing particularly. And I loved him and his era of VH is better. But Sammy could do the entire catalog. Dave could never do most Sammy songs. 

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8 hours ago, row_33 said:


make some suggestions of Sammy songs that will easily kick out our top ten Dave tunes for the rest of our lives 


finish what ya started

 

right now

 

Both are easily top ten VH. Dave’s song era was better. But he was a big hair Kiss/type showman, not a good singer. The musicianship of the Van Halen bro’s and Anthony’s incredible harmonies made the music behind Dave’s unique and great style. 

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6 hours ago, Augie said:

 

Not my music (give me some Van Morrison, among others), but anybody who is on the Ranch side of the argument has lost all credibility. It’s so sad, as he had some promise...... There is no coming back from some things.  


I am odd with music.  I listen to a lot of different kinds.  I’ll get into a style and stick with it for 10 years or so then move to something else.  My phase that included Van Halen was over 30 years ago. Oddly that would’ve been about the time I was listening to Van Morrison. 

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51 minutes ago, Sundancer said:


Dave could not sing particularly. And I loved him and his era of VH is better. But Sammy could do the entire catalog. Dave could never do most Sammy songs. 

 

I could care less who was a better singer, if that was my criteria I'd listen to more Pavarotti. Dave helped make songs great, Sammy never did that for me.  I don't agree that Dave couldn't sing Sammy songs, he just wouldn't sing them the same way - and I'd probably like them more with Dave. 

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1 hour ago, Sundancer said:


Dave could not sing particularly. And I loved him and his era of VH is better. But Sammy could do the entire catalog. Dave could never do most Sammy songs. 

 

David Lee Roth's voice and range were deceptively excellent.  Yes, Sammy Hagar has a much bigger range, but in his day, David Lee Roth had some pipes and was a fantastic singer.

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I thought that "Me Wise Magic" from the Best of VH vol. 1 almost-reunion album in 1996 was better than any Van Hagar song, with the possible exception of Poundcake (which I agree could have been a Van Halen song).  I was so pissed when they called it off.

 

 

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It was ideal to be 11 for the debut of VH, the band was on top of the trends in rock and moved perfectly into the MTV Era

 

and then when one was old enough to move on Dave left the band, so there was little to find entertaining unless one was a hardcore fan

 

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4 minutes ago, row_33 said:

It was ideal to be 11 for the debut of VH, the band was on top of the trends in rock and moved perfectly into the MTV Era

 

and then when one was old enough to move on Dave left the band, so there was little to find entertaining unless one was a hardcore fan

 

 

I refused to listen to 5150 for a solid year after it came out.  I was PISSED that Dave was gone and wanted no part of Sammy.  Buddies finally talked me into listening and I loved it as soon as I heard it. 

 

That said, I really liked 5150, OU812 and F.U.C.K. … after that, it was crap.

 

At least I can say (opine, anyway) that the entire DLR-era VH discography is excellent.  Can't say that about the Sammy-era.

 

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