One break, comin' uuuuuup... ILM Artist Poll #75 - VAN HALEN (Voting thread)

also parts of "Can't Stop Loving You" reminded me of Laura Branigan's "Gloria" (albeit much much shittier)

xp There were so many jokey take-offs of the Right Now video at the time it came out iirc

1991-92 seems like a weird time for VH to get as big as they ever got, but that's my recollection of that time (and I haven't looked at any charts to substantiate that suspicion). They were omnipresent in the culture with the F.U.C.K. album.

I expect "Why Can't This Be Love" to do well.

I would have voted for Hagar's "Back Into You" ("all the way inside...every inch this time") because I love subtlety in song lyrics

On Fire is secretly the best song on the debut, btw.

I went with Ain't Talkin' as my #1 purely on sentimental value, but if I could take only one VH song into space on a one-way journey, it might be On Fire.

I'm the One is my jam

GOOD GOD Y'ALL

Xpost Van Hagar was significantly more successful than Van Halen, in terms of sales, charts, etc.

welllllll

Van Hagar had more #1 albums, but under Roth they have two diamond albums.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Halen_discography

I'd be curious to see a comparison of total sales, or when those albums went diamond.

http://www.guitarplayer.com/news/1024/roths-van-halen-sales-trounce-sammy-hagars-hold-on-there-dave/52326

Regardless, VH would be nothing without the Roth catalog.

Cumulatively the Roth years shifted more units in part because they recorded more albums. The first album was, like the first Cars album, a steady seller for years. Every record between it and 1984 is at least double platinum. The Van Hagar's biggest seller was 5150, which benefited from the 1984 juggernaut + the Hagar novelty + "Why Can't This Be Love." It's shipped six million.

speaking of 5150 they have no New Jerseys in their catalog, right? Every one of the Hagar albums has at least two singles that fans can still hum.

idk if most fans can hum "(Don't Tell Me) What Love Can Do" (tho I could)

but Balance not really a NJ anyway

Van Hagar also helped by (a) CD sales (b) Soundscan.

This "Van Halen vs Van Hagar" podcast from the Yacht Rock guys is pretty ace:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-yacht-rock/id1074528052?mt=2&i=362780678

SALT SHAKA LITTLE LICK O' LIME

the interviews after the Van Hagar split (original) were ace. I think Eddie said the phrase "Next time I see him, he better be wearing a fuckin' cup" at least ten times.

i don't think i've heard "me wise magic" before today. that's a pretty good song!

yeah taht was the better of the two 'new' songs for the greatest hits

preparing to apologize to my roommates for deliberately listening to the post-5150 hagar records

Me Wise Magic almost made my ballot, but I slipped Push Comes to Shove in at the last minute.

My five favorite tracks from the 78-84 albums that no one ever talks about (and I voted for all of them)

Somebody Get Me a Doctor
Light Up the Sky
In a Simple Rhyme
Hang 'Em High
The Full Bug

In an alternate universe, they could've all been as big as Unchained or Panama, but ¯\(ツ)/¯

Okay, maybe not The Full Bug.

i loooove "light up the sky"

I love the drum break in "Light Up the Sky."

The thing about Van Hagar for me is that, while they certainly had their moments, oftentimes I've listened to a Van Hagar record and felt like just watching an '80s David Lee Roth interview instead.

I'm listening to "Dreams" and keep hearing the aural equivalent of poppping hemorrhoids.

a different kind of truth really doesn't hold up, huh. the song i remember liking the most ("china town") i don't even like that much anymore?

although this time around i ended up really falling for "you and your blues" (great dave vocal) and "as is" (that riff!)

i like "dreams" a lot more than "love walks in," but i don't even know what "like" means in that clause

as said upthread though the title track of 5150 is awesome

holy shit i had no clue "finish what ya started" was a van halen song

that song rocks!

This 1996 interview priceless. EVH does his impression of DLR, uses the "better wear a cup" line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqUJ9Vdjs88

http://i.imgur.com/Za7Xv8u.gif

Something very Henleyesque about repeatedly making bold threats to fuck up someone's genitals.

ou812 is mostly really dull but "mine all mine" is fucking amazing

also i find "cabo wabo" really fascinating, i have no idea why a song about sammy's fav vacation spot is seven minutes long but i sort of get hypnotized by it anyway

Xpost that one rocks.

ou812 is mostly really dull

Guitar-wise, it's not.

"mine all mine" is fucking amazing

You are correct.

Can there be a sub-poll created just so I can vote for No Holds Bar-B-Que?

"On Fire," "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" and "Atomic Punk" are all battling for #1 on my ballot. The last one is inching to the top...

Also, Fair Warning sounding great this week...about equal with WACF.

Guitar-wise, it's not.

you have voiced this opinion elsewhere here and i don't really hear it

I know, I tend to repeat myself a lot on ilm (I've been saying the same thing in VH threads for years).

There's just a lot of interested textures he plays with on this record that go well with his early years "classic" tone, but not yet switching over to whatever he was doing from F.U.C.K.-onwards. Also, a lot of neat little non-recurring riffs (like the diverging few measures in "Sucker in a 3 Piece" and "A.F.U.") that are unexpected and wonderful.

"On Fire," "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" and "Atomic Punk" are all battling for #1 on my ballot. The last one is inching to the top...

OTM

There's just a lot of interested textures he plays with on this record that go well with his early years "classic" tone, but not yet switching over to whatever he was doing from F.U.C.K.-onwards. Also, a lot of neat little non-recurring riffs (like the diverging few measures in "Sucker in a 3 Piece" and "A.F.U.") that are unexpected and wonderful.

huh! i'm gonna relisten with this in mind

"Dance the Night Away" is my favorite call back to "Be My Baby" in rock.

"Dance the Night Away" is my favorite call back to "Be My Baby" in rock.

This is off topic, not to mention embarrassing, but it's only been in the last couple of years that I picked up on the fact Eddie Money actually incorporated "Be My Baby" into "Take Me Home Tonight" (besides just giving Ronnie a vocal feature).

idk if i've van hagar'd myself out but f.u.c.k. is so exhausting. i think i enjoyed "pleasure dome"? is this the singlemost unappealing-looking tracklist in music?