True or False: Van Halen with Sammy was as good as Van Halen with Roth (1 Viewer)

[Bogart]

Dave's inability to sing Sammy's songs is not the reason that Dave never sang Sammy's songs.

No doubt. Would have loved to heard the conversation if any of the other guys even suggested a Sammy song to Dave.

 

[Todem]

100% True. I love both versions of this band. Was a win win back in the day. The outgrew Dave and went on to write a bunch of great tunes with a new singer. Sammy is still a bad ### rocker/singer/songwriter. Dave is a caricature these days.....kinda creepy actually. 

 

[Todem]

This totally got me thinking about my favorite unanswerable band-related  question:

Which was the better AC/DC lineup:

• The one with Bon Scott
  
• The one with Brian Johnson
  

Back In Black is one of the all time great albums in rock history.

There is your answer. 

 

[Joe Summer]

Dave's inability to sing Sammy's songs is not the reason that Dave never sang Sammy's songs.

No doubt. Would have loved to heard the conversation if any of the other guys even suggested a Sammy song to Dave.

Dave made it clear long before the reunion that he would never, ever, ever, ever sing a Van Hagar tune.

On the other hand, Sammy was open to singing Dave's songs in 1985, although I believe that part of deal was that VH would be playing Sammy's solo songs.

 

[Anarchy99]

Dave didn't sing any Sammy songs in the reunions, but in the early days, VH did cover a Sammy-era Montrose song . . .

Make It Last VH with DLR version (sorry for the low fidelity sound)

Make It Last Montrose with SH version

 

[ffmail4me]

I consider Van Halen the greatest rock band of all time. Yes, its almost impossible to be better than VH was in the 70s-84. But Hagar's version was fantastic too. Yes Sammy has better vocal range, Dave had the far better stage presence and personality. Dave was made for MTV. But as they got older, Sammy clearly took better care of his vocals than Roth. Although I've bought every album Roth has ever put out (solo or VH) and love his catalog, I'd rather see VH with Sammy at this point because of Roth's decline, and its not even close. I do wish Roth could get his voice back for one more massive tour where both singers do an hour and a half set with the band. Rush can play for 3 hours, so these guys should be able to do the same.  

 

[ffmail4me]

This totally got me thinking about my favorite unanswerable band-related  question:

Which was the better AC/DC lineup:

• The one with Bon Scott
  
• The one with Brian Johnson
  

Bon Scott. Although Shoot to Thrill is one of my favorite ACDC songs. ; )

 

[Ghost Rider]

Back In Black is one of the all time great albums in rock history.

There is your answer. 

Agreed. I suspect many who got into AC/DC in the 70's when Bon Scott was the singer prefer his era, while those who got into them in the 80's, like me, prefer the Brian Johnson era. Back in Black being a stone cold classic sure helps tilt the scale for sure.  AC/DC is one of those bands for me that you give me their best 15-20 songs and I am good, and probably one a few of those are from the 70's (Whole Lotta Rosie!), while the vast majority are with Brian Johnson. 

 

[Ron Swanson]

Axl did a pretty good job fronting AC/DC as well. Much easier songs to sing than some of the Van Halen tunes.

 

[soothsayer]

Axl did a pretty good job fronting AC/DC as well. Much easier songs to sing than some of the Van Halen tunes.

I The Axl G'n'R version of Whole Lotta Rosie.

 

[FairWarning]

Sad news from the VH camp - TMZ is reporting that Eddie Van Halen died from cancer. 

 

[flapgreen]

DUDE! DAMN IT

 

[Ghost Rider]

It's days like today where I think, "Who cares which era was better?  VH gave us a lot of good music over many years, no matter who the singer was."

Cranked some VH1 and Carnal Knowledge on the ride home from work this afternoon.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

On the one hand, I agree with this, but on the other hand, the door swings both ways.  No, Sammy couldn't pull off DLR's talking parts, but imagine Roth trying to sing Dreams, Right Now or Poundcake. I shudder just thinking about it.  They are just two very different types of singers and entertainers.

I can’t see Dreams but I can see Poundcake and Right Now but with Dave doing slightly different takes on them. Sammy was surely a better vocalist with way more range so get your point.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

It's days like today where I think, "Who cares which era was better?  VH gave us a lot of good music over many years, no matter who the singer was."

Cranked some VH1 and Carnal Knowledge on the ride home from work this afternoon.

They’re both very different but both eras put out great music and that’s because, of course, this band was much more than the vocals.

Listened to Women and Children first walking the dog.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

IMO - VH with Dave was just a fun time party band. their lyrics got way more serious with Sammy.

Love both  versions. 

My first ever concert was 1988 monsters of rock tour with VH- 5150 and Metallica- .....also scorpions and dokken....kingdom come.

 

[Ghost Rider]

IMO - VH with Dave was just a fun time party band. their lyrics got way more serious with Sammy.

Love both  versions. 

My first ever concert was 1988 monsters of rock tour with VH- 5150 and Metallica- .....also scorpions and dokken....kingdom come.

The main Metallica account on Twitter put up a picture a bit ago of them and VH from 1988 from that tour - all 8 guys in the pic, all looking so young. Very cool.

 

[Sideshow Bob]

:(

 

[notoriousbill]

RIP EVH

For those with Sirius/XM Channel 27 changed to a VH tribute channel for a limited time.

 

[=Smackdown=]

My first ever concert was 1988 monsters of rock tour with VH- 5150 and Metallica- .....also scorpions and dokken....kingdom come.

Same here - Giants stadium in NJ.

Great show.