Yeah, they did. I was there for Sabbath but those were Ozzy's worst days before getting booted. Sabbath was good, but you could tell Van Halen was ready to conquer the rock world.
Same here, I was there for Sabbath too. I thought Sabbath was great too. Never forget when VH came on to a dark stage and the spotlight hit David Lee Roth as he lept off those speakers.
I can't imagine seeing VH in their young and hungry days. I was too young to see them when 1984 came out and didn't really have an interest in seeing Van Hagar. Got to see the reunion tour a few years ago, so at least i could knock that off my bucket list. Even though they started with the same song (my favorite VH song), it obviously wasn't the same as seeing THIS version:
I’ve seen Roth a few times and it’s always a good show but he tends to forget a bunch of lyrics or gets lost in the dancing. Hagar is always spot on. Eddie’s rhythm guitar playing is straight fire and he put together a ton of great licks in the Van Hagar era that tend to get overlooked because of the pop tendencies of Hagar. That said nothing would beat seeing prime Van Halen on like the Fair Warning tour.
The guy didn't just blast the guitar - he was incredibly creative with it. Check out this one - a song from 1982. Today, it's nothing strange for people to get different sounds from instruments, but EVH was doing it LONG ago. When I first heard this, it was difficult for me to understand it was played entirely on guitar. Note: check out this quote from Eddie: "I did two takes of that song, and right at the end of the second take, the volume knob just froze, just stopped."
I think so. The knob froze "at the end of the second take". So I think it they used the first take. Here's another example of his creativity on an acoustic guitar.
Absolutely. I never had your talent for music or the craving for it that some have, but I do latch on to bands I like. Rush was up there in my top five, for sure (The Spirit of the Radio has been occupying my brain for some time now--even as I type this), but VH and Eddie's music... God did I enjoy it. I wouldn't have expected it, but I had to "collect myself" for a bit when I heard the news. Even writing this, I've got tears welling up that I can't quite explain. The state of rock music was depressing enough, now... no more Eddie... no more Van Halen. I hadn't thought about it before, but I think you may be right about music's power. There are works of art and places in nature that leave me awestruck, but nothing moves me, inspires me, or stays with me like great music. Some of my most exciting experiences in life could easily be set to music. In fact, many times my ADD brain had a song playing in the background.
This is good to know. Albeit, Sammy went on to say Eddie didn't respond to any of his texts starting about a month ago. So, I don't think they got a proper goodbye in. Sammy just figure Eddie was in a bad place health-wise and couldn't respond.
those first six albums are as good a run as any band has ever had in the history of music. EVH was such an amazing guitar player that i think his songwriting skills get glossed over...but look at how many great, timeless songs he wrote. again, forget the solos...his songwriting is up there with the best too. i also just learned that michael mcdonald co-wrote this song! been listening to this record for 35 years and never knew! i cant get confirmation that its him playing keys though. it was either eddie or their producer, ted templeman.
Of course we all know that Eddie was a master craftsman on the guitar and his solos were like nothing we have ever heard before...but one thing I don't think he gets enough credit for is his timing. There are a lot of great guitarists out there that just don't have a good sense of time. Eddie was definitely not one of them. Maybe it's because he started out playing drums before learning the guitar. Listen to his timing on this track. There are some really syncopated rhythms on the main riff for this song and he's playing right in the pocket. Amazing.
Cool. Notably absent is those attributes of David’s vocals that made him stand out...that being those high pitched thunderous squeals he used to belt out in between lyrics.
