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Van Halen is finished per DLR


Moby Ric

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DLR was so much more than that, though. He was their mascot, their soul. Their marketer. Their early manager. He constructed the vision for what the band would be. He picked them up when they were down. He was often the only sober one, and sober often. An actual genius trapped in a rockstar dream. Having read a lot of work documenting their early years, it isn't an exaggeration to say that without DLR, none of us would've ever heard of Eddie Van Halen. There would've been rumors of this Dutch kid in Pasadena who could light the guitar on fire without it ever being burned, maybe an influence on some other band a decade after. But without DLR... there's no Van Halen. Not because of what he did on the stage, but what he did off of it.

We never saw the most brilliant things he did. We saw the results.

 

 

I can’t and won’t argue with any of that. I never implied that DLR wasn’t crucial to the success of VH. As someone who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, I was a huge VH fan and DLR was a big part of that. I never really got into Van Hagar although there were a few good songs from that era. I’ve been a Sammy fan for many many years so I have immense respect for his abilities. To say that DLR was an entertainer and not a musician does not diminish his impact on VH or for that matter Rock & Roll for the last 40+ years, but there is no contest as far as who is the better musician between DLR and Sammy.

 

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So here’s a question: if you could have one guys career and whole life, which would you choose?

 

DLR - total rock god for about 8 years, meh solo career, total douche later on in life, R&R HOF

 

or

 

Sammy - nice run with Montrose, decent solo career, take over as singer for phase 2 of biggest rock band in the world, music isn’t as good as Phase 1, but you sell a bunch of records and make a bunch of money, make $100 million selling your tequila, and be a generally cool fucker into your 70s with shitloads of famous rockstars coming to your bar in Cabo to jam every year for your birthday, R&R HOF

 

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16 hours ago, Hate said:

That's a pretty good summation, but I would put Sammy ahead of Montrose.  Standing Hampton alone should put his solo stuff ahead of Montrose.

The opening riff to Space Station #5 trumps everything Sammy did after Montrose. I'm not shitting on Hagar, he comes across as a straight up good dude, but come the fuck on.

 

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3 hours ago, tbone_ said:

So here’s a question: if you could have one guys career and whole life, which would you choose?

 

DLR - total rock god for about 8 years, meh solo career, total douche later on in life, R&R HOF

 

or

 

Sammy - nice run with Montrose, decent solo career, take over as singer for phase 2 of biggest rock band in the world, music isn’t as good as Phase 1, but you sell a bunch of records and make a bunch of money, make $100 million selling your tequila, and be a generally cool fucker into your 70s with shitloads of famous rockstars coming to your bar in Cabo to jam every year for your birthday, R&R HOF

 

After reading Noel Monks' book, I'm picking Dave. With a Penicillin shot. And a glazed doughnut, to go.

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8 hours ago, tbone_ said:

So here’s a question: if you could have one guys career and whole life, which would you choose?

 

DLR - total rock god for about 8 years, meh solo career, total douche later on in life, R&R HOF

 

or

 

Sammy - nice run with Montrose, decent solo career, take over as singer for phase 2 of biggest rock band in the world, music isn’t as good as Phase 1, but you sell a bunch of records and make a bunch of money, make $100 million selling your tequila, and be a generally cool fucker into your 70s with shitloads of famous rockstars coming to your bar in Cabo to jam every year for your birthday, R&R HOF

 

Nice life for Sammy.  DLR is Van Halen .  Sammy was the guy who came in after DLR left. The iconic VH music came before Sammy .

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Saw them with Bon Jovi opening at the Erwin Center during the 1984 tour.  Music was great, DLR sucked, especially compared to Jon Bon Jovi’a vocals.  Was he off or had his performance ability just degraded by that time?  I dunno.  Here is a full VH concert from 1982 where DLR was much better than what iI witnessed.

 

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8 hours ago, Goredho said:

Saw them with Bon Jovi opening at the Erwin Center during the 1984 tour.  Music was great, DLR sucked, especially compared to Jon Bon Jovi’a vocals.  Was he off or had his performance ability just degraded by that time?  I dunno.  Here is a full VH concert from 1982 where DLR was much better than what iI witnessed.

 

Only the mediocre are always at their best.

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  • 2 months later...

DLR is your eccentric pull out the crack pipe let's go off the wall crazy lead singer where Hagar is your more chill get fucked up and have fun lead singer.

I like the DLR albums better overall but Sammy is always a better performer because he stays on point. I imagine the early years when DLR was young enough to handle his crazy better he was more entertaining live.

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21 minutes ago, Pimphand said:

I imagine the early years when DLR was young enough to handle his crazy better he was more entertaining live.

Best front man I ever saw, and that list includes Mick Jagger.  First headlining tour -- Van Halen II -- April 28, 1979 at The Checkerdome in St. Louis.  Absolute, balls to the wall insanity.  Could be the best show I ever saw, and it's certainly in the top 3.

Set list:

Quote

 

Edited by jimmyjazz
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1 hour ago, HenryJames said:

Meh. Rock and Roll is a sprint not a marathon.

Exactly. I have no idea why the DLR vs Sammy debate ever gets into life after VH. Who the hell cares what Dave is like now, who did better afterward, etc? The question is which version of the band was better when both were in their heyday.

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