Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Van Halen
A small response to Carey's analogy, as posted over on Dwight's site. It is an interesting analogy, if perhaps extended too far ...
Roth and Hagar did go on tour together (whether it's still going on now, I can't say) and they came to Houston back in June or so. I would have gone, but we were at NAQT HSCT. Hagar's the better solo performer -- he plays guitar as well, and can do a bit better writing, etc. But, to borrow a phrase from Capt. Spock, it was a mistake for Roth to ever accept promotion to a solo tour. Being the frontman for a power rocking group was, and continues to be, his first, best destiny.
I mean, honestly, can anyone else on earth use their voice so effectively as to mimic Eddie Van Halen's wailing on the electric guitar? Just listen to anything on 1984, particularly "Jump" and "Panama." (Incidentally, "Hot for Teacher," while not explicity utilizing Roth's full vocal range, is perhaps the single most hilarious song/video combination of the MTV generation. Not only that, it's a damn fine song by itself. And recall that no one really knows what became of Waldo ...)
Hagar's going to go down as a better solo act, IMHO, based largely on the strength of "(I Can't Drive) 55" -- recall that the Hagar-led Van Halen never attained the success that the Roth-led Van Halen did. The song writing during the era was better, though I think the actual musical work was subdued, at best. Nothing uniquely innovative in the way that 1984 was, other than some interesting stuff in the "Right Now" video.
Always happy to be "Your Guide," :-)
(anyone remember that?)
# posted by Eric @ 3:28 PM 
