Van Halen and the decline of the diehard rockstars.
What once was, is no more.
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Back in the day
When I was much younger than today, anything Van Halen did was considered top priority stuff. If a new album was coming out, we knew about it and waited in eager anticipation to be one of the first ones to get the album. I was like that when Van Halen's "1984" album came out in 1984. I had to find out what all of the fuss and upheaval was about Eddie playing keyboards on a Van Halen song. At first, the very idea that Van Halen would have keyboards in any of their songs, was almost sacrilegious. I was open minded, and it was Eddie - how wrong could it actually be?
Of course, history shows that the "1984" album was a monster hit. Every song on that album rocked. I turned 21 years old in 1984. It was a banner year for me. I bought my first brand new motorcycle. It wasn't just any new motorcycle. It was the 1984 Kawasaki Ninja. I bought the 50th unit sold in Wisconsin that year. A few months later, I moved out of my parents house and into my first apartment. 1984 was a very good year for me; and this new Van Halen album was my soundtrack for that year.
Little could anyone know at the time that this would be the last album that David Lee Roth would be on. For whatever reasons Roth had it in his mind, that he would quit Van Halen to chase a solo career. Hey, I had been a DLR fan since the beginning. Maybe he was onto something. I wanted to support Roth in his new endeavors so, in 1986, I bought his "Eat 'em and smile" album. I remember hearing "Yankee Rose" for the first time when I was camping in northern Wisconsin that summer. As far as I was concerned, I was now a David Lee Roth fan, away from Van Halen. I even went to the concert in Milwaukee.
Who is the new guy?
Okay so, what was Van Halen doing about replacing Roth? Who could they possibly get to come in and take over as the lead singer for Van Halen?
I had been a Sammy Hagar fan since the early 1980's when so many of his songs were all over rock radio. His solo album "Standing Hampton" had several hits. It was followed up by his next album, "Three lock box". Never could anyone have imagined back then that Hagar would one day front Van Halen - but, it did make sense.
Not only was Sammy Hagar a well known lead singer front man for his own band, he could also play the guitar. This could only mean that the Red Rocker was only going to be advantageous for the band, in joining the Van Halen camp.
Meanwhile, Roth tried to stay relevant for the next few years, but his voice had already been giving out, and his iconic long blonde mane of hair was beginning to disappear. Oops! Maybe Roth made a huge mistake going solo? Then he somehow disappeared altogether.
Van Halen had exploded with Sammy, and dozens of classic rock hits on several albums from the mid 1980's all the way into the mid 1990's. Then in 1996, Sammy got fired from Van Halen. The "Van Hagar" years suddenly were over.
The demise of a great rock band.
Van Halen tried to bring back Roth, but it was too late. Roth's epic rockstar voice was long gone. This coupled with endless personal problems in the band kept things from ever truly moving forward.
So, Van Halen recruited Gary Cherone from the band "Extreme", to take over for Hagar. This turned out to be yet another failed attempt at finding the perfect replacement for Roth and Hagar. Cherone's vocals just didn't make the album work. The blame focused towards the production of Van Halen III as a colossal disaster. In many ways, Van Halen was all but finished.
After several attempts to bring Roth back into the band, it was clear that his singing days were over. Then one day, Michael Anthony was suddenly replaced with Eddie's son, Wolfgang as the new bass player for Van Halen. What the hell did Michael ever do? Was Eddie upset that Michael and Sammy were playing together in their own band? Was this somehow considered a breach of loyalty to Eddie? When Michael Anthony was let go from Van Halen, I lost a lot of respect for the band. It no longer mattered to me what Van Halen did. Was it ego? Was it lost friendships? Was it Eddie's alcoholism? Unless you were there in that band, everything is speculation from the outside looking in.
As someone who has been in numerous bands since the late 1970's, I have long since learned that all bands are always on the brink of breaking up at any moment, and usually for the stupidest reasons. Van Halen stayed together far longer than most bands. Unfortunately they didn't go out with a bang. They went out with a whimper. Then Eddie died a few years ago and that sealed the deal for the end of Van Halen as we knew it.
Sammy and Michael still play in bands together. Roth - who knows what he's doing these days. Who cares? Gary Cherone and Extreme released their brand new album earlier this year and it is absolutely crazy how good it is!
It's so strange to see things come back around for some and not so much for others. As of this date, Sammy Hagar is 75 years old. Michael Anthony is 68 years old. David Lee Roth is also 68 years old. Alex Van Halen just turned 70 years old.
Gary Cherone is only 61 years old. In my mind, Gary Cherone and Extreme have a much better chance of carrying on the rockstar torch, than anyone leftover from the Van Halen camp. After all, Gary's got a wild man, rock guitar gawd in his band, named Nuno Bettencourt.
I have every Van Halen album in my collection, except for "III". I hated it so much that I gave it away. All of the other Van Halen albums for both Roth and Hagar, are fantastic albums. They are the albums to the soundtracks of my youth. Old rockers die hard, but at least the music never grows old. Rest in Peace. Eddie Van Halen.