Celebrity Death: Eddie Van Halen

Jussi

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Feb 28, 2002
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Just in case people had lost faith in today's youth, I'm putting this here:



The middle one at 12:06 mark... Youtube's recommended some of their videos to me and they've got some true classics out there which they're loving.
 
Mar 1, 2002
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Eddie Van Halen endured a 'horrifying racist environment' before becoming a rock legend

His former bandmate David Lee Roth, a fellow rock superstar, once revealed on the podcast "WTF with Marc Maron" just how painful the experience was for the young Van Halen and his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen.

In the 2019 interview, Roth described how poorly the Van Halens' parents were treated because of their mixed-race relationship in the 1950s.

"It was a big deal. Those homeboys grew up in a horrifying racist environment to where they actually had to leave the country," Roth said in the podcast. He added that the brothers, who were often referred to as "half-breed" in the Netherlands, still met difficult circumstances after immigrating to the U.S.

"Then they came to America and did not speak English as a first language in the early '60s. Wow," Roth told Maron. "So that kind of sparking, that kind of stuff, that runs deep."
 

Ozz

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Oct 25, 2009
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RIP to a legend.

Being able to tap and play big leads like that in the grunge/alternative-heavy 90s made me stand out above many other local guitarists in my scene. Funny it wasn't hard to do at all with a modicum of scale knowledge, but it just looked so cool. The technique still blew people away in the late 90s, many many years after he popularized it across the world, that's saying something.
 

ProstheticConscience

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Apr 30, 2010
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RIP to a legend.

Being able to tap and play big leads like that in the grunge/alternative-heavy 90s made me stand out above many other local guitarists in my scene. Funny it wasn't hard to do at all with a modicum of scale knowledge, but it just looked so cool. The technique still blew people away in the late 90s, many many years after he popularized it across the world, that's saying something.
Grunge was a huge backwards step in terms of musicianship from metal and thrash. I mean, I liked it, and there were some good bands, but it was very punk in a lot of ways. As a bass player I did a lot of tapping and harmonics, and yeah. It was pretty easy to blow a lot of the beginners in the grunge/shoegazer scene away with that.
 

Eisen

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Grunge was a huge backwards step in terms of musicianship from metal and thrash. I mean, I liked it, and there were some good bands, but it was very punk in a lot of ways. As a bass player I did a lot of tapping and harmonics, and yeah. It was pretty easy to blow a lot of the beginners in the grunge/shoegazer scene away with that.
Speaking of bass, I always thought it was kind of strange that talented musicians like Van Halen had such simple and easy basslines. When I bought my first songbook of them, I was a bit disappointed, being a bassist myself.
 
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Jussi

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Feb 28, 2002
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Speaking of bass, I always thought it was kind of strange that talented musicians like Van Halen had such simple and easy basslines. Whrn I bought my first songbook of them, I was a bit disappointed, being a bassist myself.

Sooo many potential basist jokes in there...
 

Baby Punisher

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Eddie Van Halen was probably the best musician of my lifetime. He was a virtuoso. He did it all. I have found myself diving back into all things Van Halen, something I had not done in many years.
 

ProstheticConscience

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Speaking of bass, I always thought it was kind of strange that talented musicians like Van Halen had such simple and easy basslines. When I bought my first songbook of them, I was a bit disappointed, being a bassist myself.
Michael Anthony was good...enough. He knew his role and he did it well. Wasn't flashy, knew he was never going to outshine Eddie, and as someone naturally left-handed, he did alright playing as a rightie. His real place in Van Halen was the high voice in their vocal harmonies.
 

ProstheticConscience

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Sooo many potential basist jokes in there...
Dr. Livingston and Stanley were living in the African jungle to learn about the native tribe that lived there. Every night when they tried to go to sleep, the natives would bang on these drums for hours. They didn't say anything at first, didn't want to offend their culture and everything, but after a while it was really affecting them. So one day Dr. Livingston went up to on native guy they'd befriended and asked him: "How do you guys sleep at night? Don't those drums disturb you?"
The native said: "Oh no. Drums okay. Much worse when drums stop."
"Why, what happens when the drums stop?"
"Bass solo."
 
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ProstheticConscience

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Dave had his moments, but Sammy is my guy.
landscape-1444861885-raven-side-eye.gif
 
Mar 1, 2002
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Sammy live was AMAZING. Obviously the music was better with DLR, but Sammy was already in his 40's on this clip and his voice was still great live.



...I looked for that polka dot shirt Anthony wore for a year at every Chess King.....never could find it.
 
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ProstheticConscience

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I don't even really think of Van Halen as the same band with Roth or Hagar. I remember some little interview nugget Sammy said once after he had left and Roth rejoined the band, and they were going on tour: "For the first twenty minutes, they'll play the hits they had with him. Then for the next two hours, they'll play the hits they had with me." And he does have a point. Van Hagar was obviously the more commercially successful, mature live act. But honestly, for me, as soon as I picked up 5150 and heard the opening bars of Good Enough, I knew something was gone. Sure, it sounded okay. As heavy a riff as Eddie had ever recorded by that point. But the wild, feral dynamic of the early days was gone. Those four people created something greater than the sum of its parts, and that was just never recaptured even after Roth's return. I mean sure, his voice was shot and he couldn't hit the highs anymore, but it was more than that. Much like Eddie himself, there was that indefinable element that just couldn't be replicated once it was gone. Van Hagar had its moments, don't get me wrong. Eddie's solo on Poundcake is one of my favourites of all VH. But something left with Roth in 85 that never came back.
 

MiamiScreamingEagles

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Jan 17, 2004
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I don't even really think of Van Halen as the same band with Roth or Hagar. I remember some little interview nugget Sammy said once after he had left and Roth rejoined the band, and they were going on tour: "For the first twenty minutes, they'll play the hits they had with him. Then for the next two hours, they'll play the hits they had with me." And he does have a point. Van Hagar was obviously the more commercially successful, mature live act. But honestly, for me, as soon as I picked up 5150 and heard the opening bars of Good Enough, I knew something was gone. Sure, it sounded okay. As heavy a riff as Eddie had ever recorded by that point. But the wild, feral dynamic of the early days was gone. Those four people created something greater than the sum of its parts, and that was just never recaptured even after Roth's return. I mean sure, his voice was shot and he couldn't hit the highs anymore, but it was more than that. Much like Eddie himself, there was that indefinable element that just couldn't be replicated once it was gone. Van Hagar had its moments, don't get me wrong. Eddie's solo on Poundcake is one of my favourites of all VH. But something left with Roth in 85 that never came back.

I separate the two bands. While Sammy's pop songs were mostly negated by my interest, the band's harder songs under his direction will remain some of my favorites, Those that didn't receive commercial success or radio airplay but the maturity was apparent and the craftsmanship powerful. The longer version (two exist on YouTube) of "Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do" is robust as is "Sucker in a 3-Piece Suit," "Judgment Day," "Pleasure Dome," "Mine All Mine" and "Source of Infection." Add "Aftershock." From the most recent record under DLR, I enjoy "Honeybabysweetiedoll," even if the title is hokey but the song evokes good humor even self-effacing, "As Is," and "Outta Space."

From VH III, EVH's vocals were ridiculed and understandably so but "How Many Say I" is the only song from that album that makes me return. An odd, almost bleak song, but the allure is the misconception.
 

ProstheticConscience

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I separate the two bands. While Sammy's pop songs were mostly negated by my interest, the band's harder songs under his direction will remain some of my favorites, Those that didn't receive commercial success or radio airplay but the maturity was apparent and the craftsmanship powerful. The longer version (two exist on YouTube) of "Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do" is robust as is "Sucker in a 3-Piece Suit," "Judgment Day," "Pleasure Dome," "Mine All Mine" and "Source of Infection." Add "Aftershock." From the most recent record under DLR, I enjoy "Honeybabysweetiedoll," even if the title is hokey but the song evokes good humor even self-effacing, "As Is," and "Outta Space."

From VH III, EVH's vocals were ridiculed and understandably so but "How Many Say I" is the only song from that album that makes me return. An odd, almost bleak song, but the allure is the misconception.
Once Sammy took over from Roth, the band obviously grew and developed both as a band and as people. Clearly, they were the more mature, polished and professional act who shook off their youthful indulgence and got on with the business of being a touring megaband. But for me, none of the songs you mentioned ever came close to Somebody get me a doctor! or Bottoms up, Mean Street, Romeo Delight or even House of Pain for raw edge. Sure, Roth's lyrics could be a bit...off-kilter when you listen to them, but that was just part of the charm. I to 1984 was raw. It was unvarnished. It was groundbreaking and even a little dangerous, which is not a word anyone ever associated with Van Hagar. It was the wild youthful binge before they calmed down, dried out, cut their hair and got real jobs. And while it's safer, more sensible and where everyone ends up eventually (if you don't want to wind up dead in a ditch), it's never going to be as much fun.
 

Smelling Salt

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Mar 8, 2006
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I actually listen to more of the Sammy era than the DLR era, but I love both. I'm a sucker for AOR, so the Sammy stuff still does it for me.

5150 though is a tricky listen for me. Love the songs but the production kills me. The keyboard-driven tunes Dreams and Love Walks In sound fine, but the guitar driven stuff sounds somewhat awful to me. Not crazy about Eddie's sound on it, and Alex's drum sound is quite frankly awful. The production hasn't aged well on this album. I'd love to hear a remix/remaster.

Sound-wise OU812 was a nice return to form though the songs aren't as strong as the previous album. Then For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge kind of went to another unappealing guitar sound. That shimmery harsh sound. But the songs are great. Balance is an OK album with sky high production values. Bit of a mix of old and more modern Eddie sound. Probably the album that from a production sound point aged the most gracefully of the Sammy albums but by that time in the 90s every album coming out sounded great.

I'm going to listen to all the Sammy albums today at work cause watching the Amsterdam video above got me in the mood.
 

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