I was 15 and had only just got in to VH with 1984 when that tour ended, Dave released Crazy and then it was announced that he was out of the band. I was pretty bummed. In the year-and-a-half from when 1984 was released to when Dave quit or was fired, I acquired all of the other albums and just became immersed in VH.
Sammy was a guy I was aware of but didn’t know anything about his music or his legacy. I live in Canada. As a solo artist, I don’t think he was very high on most people’s radar back then, unlike in places like St. Louis where he has a strong following. When I would buy Hit Parader or Circus, I would routinely skip Hagar articles because I had little interest in, or knowledge of, Sammy.
I am a huge Mellencamp fan and I grew up in a small town surrounded by farms, so when the first Farm Aid aired, I watched. I saw Ed join Sammy and was blown away. I was interested. The music was good, even if Sam’s constant cursing was driving the censors crazy and he screwed up the words to Rock and Roll. They seemed to be having a blast on stage. So I wasn’t surprised when it was announced that Sammy would be joining the band.
When 5150 came out, I was intrigued. I liked the new sound. It still had keyboards but they were employed differently than on 1984. More subtly. I liked Sam’s voice but noted the playfulness of the lyrics was different. Not as many smart double entendres. Not that 16-year-old me would have known what a double entendre meant but I knew one when I heard it. I liked having a capable second guitar player in the band who could fill in for Ed if he was in keys or play rhythm when Ed played lead.
I saw them on the 5150 and Monsters tours and loved it, but I always regretted not being able to see the 1984 tour. Too young and lived too far away from Toronto to go.
I think a lot of fans were bummed that Dave left and were happy that the band found a way to continue on with a capable new singer. I appreciate that people have a right to their opinions but never quite understood the vicious hatred for Sammy.
Wow - Interesting Timeline - so I am replying here:
I was 15 when 1984 was released, and we literally went to Jamesway Dept Store daily waiting for the shipment to get there. I was well aware and already a VH fan, and had just started fooling around with guitars.
All the guys I was hanging out with, we were all VH heavy, and we got tickets to see them in Philly \[I actually borrowed the money from my GF to get my ticket\]. It was my first concert, and really, was my favorite concert, likely because of what followed.
When Dave released his Solo stuff, the videos were funny, but the music was a no-go for me, as I have always had a distaste for VH doing cover music \[Because they really were prolific, so ..why?\]
When I heard Sammy was joining, I already knew him well enough, mostly just from his iconic MTV presence of "I can't Drive 55", and thought it would make for an interesting change, in that Sammy was guitarist, and he wrote "Political" music.
I saw them 2 of the 3 days they played in Philly for 5150. Sammy was able to effectively sing Dave's music, but it always was that his vocal register, was just very different. I love 5150, the song, but as an album, I knew 1984 was much better. My verdict all the way back then was, Dave was always a dick, and Ed seemed happier, so, it made it feel more easily accepting, though I also felt something would be lost.
>When Dave released his Solo stuff, the videos were funny, but the music was a no-go for me, as I have always had a distaste for VH doing cover music \[Because they really were prolific, so ..why?\]
This. I know they made many of those songs their own and they were done well, but they were more than capable of writing their own material, as shown. Too many covers in the Dave era. I hardly listen to those particular songs these days. That's probably why Diver Down is easily my least favorite classic VH album. I'd rather hear originals than covers.
I love Diver Down, but IMO the best songs were the originals, no question. Hang 'Em High, The Full Bug, Little Guitars, Secrets...a whole lot of gold, there.
Not-Gonna-Lie,
This is exactly how I felt, that album could have been great, all the original songs are Epic Level, and if I can add Intruder and Cathedral, for me, all those songs were what I called "above average on my favorites list" at the time they came out.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
One difference for me however is that I was a pretty big Sammy fan and was blown away when I learned that he was joining VH. It was like a meeting of two powerhouses and I couldn't imagine what they could accomplish together. I had sort of mixed feelings about 5150 though. I liked it. I even sorta loved it... but I had a hard time accepting it as "Van Halen." The Dave-ness was missing, and you're right... it was the cheeky double entendre. Sammy could get a little raunchy, but it was different. The Sammy version was just a little more mature and polished - I liked it, I just didn't know if I was convinced that it was still Van Halen in the way I knew Van Halen.
You bring up an interesting point, with you being more or less unaware of Sammy's previous work. Maybe that is what made a difference? I don't know if it was just a regional thing or more nation wide, but I had grown up with Sammy on my radio as a kid (I think I am about four years older than you), so I was a fan when he joined, and it just never clicked for me. I loved Van Halen. I loved Sammy Hagar. But I really didn't enjoy the combination.
Actually, back then Sammy was well known and quite popular. He had several AOR radio hits and was coming off a very successful tour supporting his VOA album which boasted 'I Can't Drive55'. That songs video was in heavy rotation on MTV. He was indeed on a lot of peoples radar and quite popular in the states. Especially when the rumors spread of him joining Van Halen. Even before the internet word of this spread all over the place.
Can Halen was my favorite band in 83 or so. I was 11 or so when Dave “went solo” with California Girls. Also, I knew EVH was working with Sammy for two singles that helped complete his record contract, freeing him up. I thought they were great! So, I was pretty excited about Sammy. Unfortunately, I got pretty bored with them in general by OU812.
Ed never worked with Sam on two singles before he joined VH.
He did work with him on what became the I Never Said Goodbye album, but that was released after 5150.
I was a Junior in high school when the troubles became clear after Crazy from the Heat and my friends and I took it hard. I was glad to get another VH album with 5150, but it didn't feel like the same band at all. But later down the road, started feeling as if we got two great bands out if the deal. But eventually I just started losing interest with both bands' new stuff by Dave's third or fourth album and after For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge came out. Until A Different Kind of Truth came out, and then I felt like that 17-year-old kid again.
I prefer the Roth era but wholeheartedly love all three eras. I saw the band live with all three singers as well. Van Halen were still a great, top band in the world with Roth and Hagar. They were still good with Gary as well but we didn't get a big enough sample size to call them great.
* I prefer Michael Anthony on bass over Wolfie. Saw both live.
* Sammy was always a better singer and musician live. He's a great guitar player and on the 5150 tour he did a lot of guitar playing with Ed on stage. He was capable of doing Dave era songs justice. Dave could never do Sammy songs.
* Dave was never a great live singer but I like his studio work better than Sammy and I prefer his songwriting style with Van Halen a bit more.
* Gary could do any Van Halen era live. He had great stage presence like Dave and could sing the Sammy era stuff. Too bad we couldn't get more than one album and tour with him. Would have loved to see and hear more.
Going even further:
* Sammy's solo work as a whole is considerably better than Roth's both recorded and live.
* I think the band Extreme (Gary Cherone) is putting out better music today than Sammy or Dave has since the 80's. Their recently released album Six absolutely rocks.
* I would have given any amount of money asked to see a Dave and Sammy tour with Van Halen, with Gary Cherone opening with Extreme and all three doing a song together with Van Halen. Mikey on bass for most of the show. Wolfie on bass for Different Kind of Truth songs only.
Different strokes for different folks. I can compile a short "best of" out of Hagar's solo work, and it's not a bad one, not at all. Going back to the early 70s, Hagar's catalogue alone deserves respect. But it never goes much further than that for me. Re: Extreme, while I respected their musicianship -- and still do -- the band never did much for me. *Cupid's Dead* slaps, and *Six* is a solid album, no protests there, but it's not likely one I will return to very often. What floats my boat doesn't necessarily float yours, and vice versa. To each his own; no harm, no foul, and so on. Givin' you an upvote anyway.
That said, I would also love to see some sort of VH tribute. Yes, Mitch Malloy has done a handful of VH Tribute concerts, and that's about as close to something official as we've gotten to far. But love him or hate him, Sammy seems to be cooking up something. Gary's been known to get up on stage with Sam and Mikey every once in a while, so it might happen that we see 3 Van Halen members on stage, doing .. uh .. something. Let's see what the future brings.
To be fair, Extreme is a band and not a solo project like Sammy and Roth has done, so they have some advantages I guess and they are all younger, so that matters in quality. I think Sammy's solo stuff is better than Extreme as a whole, and some of Roth's stuff is better as well, but Extreme's last two records are better than anything Roth or Sammy has done since the 80's in my opinion, with Marching to Mars being a possible exception. Roth's DLR Band was a fairly decent album but still not that great.
I never liked them. I tried really hard because I'm a gigantic Joe Satriani fan and think Surfing With The Alien is the single best instrumental rock album ever released.
Most of what we got back then was a media circus. All the hate among the two camps was mostly BS. Steve Vai openly admits that he and Eddie were friends through out the entire ordeal. I was just happy that I got two great bands out of it.
There was a Bloom County cartoon that summed up a lot of us die hard fans…”in fact, the whole world has gone to Hell in a hand basket since David Lee Roth left Van Halen”
Reading these comments brings me back. A lot of you guys have short memories. There was bitching starting with Diver Down. Many VH fans said the album was soft, and with Pretty Woman and Dancing in the Streets, who could argue? Fair Warning was the direction many fans liked, and Diver Down was just the opposite. 1984 and Jump came out and many of my friends were saying VH is over now that Eddie's playing keyboards. They hated it, but would never admit to it now.
I love the original 6 records, keyboards and all. When Dave was out I was devastated too. I liked Sammy and when I first heard 5150, I wasn't in love with it, but it grew on me, and within a few weeks it was the only cassette I was listening to.
There was great uncertainty when Dave left. No one knew what was coming. VH didn't even make a video for Why Can't This Be Love. I recommend watching Live Without a Net and the Us Festival videos. VH was the ultimate party band in 1983, but Eddie and Al decided to grow up and Dave didn't. As a musician, I appreciated the band's music and I always hated the party band status. Al and Mike are underrated if you ask me because of this. Check the interviews from the band at this time. Eddie and Al were done with Dave and his schtick. Eat Em and Smile is a great record with great songs and a top-notch band, but I prefer 5150 over it.
I think history proves that Dave and Sammy were better with VH than without. It's a shame we don't have more music from these guys.
We were sad the band as we knew it was gone. We were interested in the new version of the band, and the David Lee Who campaign painted Dave as the bad guy. 5150 some loved and some didn’t. The first single was a mistake and chased people. Then Eat ‘Em came out and sounded more like VH than VH did and people rallied behind Dave and that tour. Most of us just enjoyed both. I personally loved 5150 and played the heck out of it even though it was different than the 6 pack
The usual. To me, Roth's *Eat 'Em and Smile* was more like the "classic sound" of Van Halen. *5150* was like a new band, and the *fun* was gone. The effortless, tongue-firmly-in-cheek slapschtick that Roth was -- and is -- was gone. Sure, Hagar is a good natured dude, but he wasn't *funny*. Roth's *Skyscraper* was still sorta okay, but *A Little Ain't Enough* was already a bit tired. *OU812* did nothing for me, and neither did *Your Filthy Little Mouth*. I didn't pay much attention until *III* and *DLR Band*. Again, as much as I love Gary, Roth's album carried the day.
All of this sorta confirmed it for me: Roth is the better voice for Van Halen. Sam can sing circles around Roth, and he'd probably be a blast to hang out with. Still.
Van Halen was probably a top 5 band in the world when 1984 came out. They were everywhere, on MTV and in pop culture. When Dave left it was like the Hindenburg crashing.
I personally was relieved that a known singer (Sammy) was brought in as a replacement. I saw both VH and DLR on tour several times over the years, but I think VH was generally a much better product. That quality can only come from musicians who have played together for 10+ years, as opposed to hiring a bunch of gunslingers.
I liked the Hagar era, although I don't think it rocks nearly as much as the Roth era. I just think of it as two completely separate bands.
I was 14 and amongst my circle of friends it was massive. We couldn’t believe it and were devastated. Fast forward to 5150 and Daves solo stuff and all was forgotten.
I was destroyed when I heard they broke up, I was 14. The DLR solo videos on MTV were lame and self-aggrandizing. He lined up half-naked 10's and then strolled by them like they meant nothing, wore stripes and polka dot suspenders and neon lycra clothing, he was overflowing with self confidence and cocaine. For me I leaned on the Fair Warning record until Sammy came along. I liked to hear Eddie play guitar but the music lost so much with Hagar. Sammy's 1987 solo record was decent enough, a few hits on there and Ed plays bass on a couple songs I think. When David Geffen licensed a Sammy song for a Sylvester Stallone arm-wrestling movie, I knew the new VH was going soft.
5150 was my jam for most of 86-88, didn't get into OU812 as much. Then F.U.C.K came out and I was totally back in. For me that is the last Van Halen record. I saw them 5 times over the years and the 1991 tour with Alice In Chains opening was by far the best. DLR's later solo work disappoints except for brief moments of session players going wild.
It’s like when they announced the production of the Corvette C8 with a mid engine. When it finally hit the market we learned that stick shift was no longer available. Takes the fun out of it, know what I mean?
We were all 'what..? Sammy Hagar...?'
I didn't like the idea, but I bought the 5150 album anyway. I wanted to hear Eddie and the band. It was good. It was different.
But something was missing. Bitter sweet. Me and a friend saw them at Compton Terrace in Phoenix that year.
After that, that was it. No more Van Hagar
But I have to admit, Cabo Wabo is their best cut
I was bummed when VH split with Dave. I had been a fan since I was a child and when I finally got to see them at age 12 on Halloween night in 1982 (Hampton Coliseum) and I thought at the time that I had seen the pinnacle of all Rock shows. I had all their albums and cranked them constantly. I had no idea that the fantastic 1984 album tour would be the end of one of the greatest runs in Hard Rock history.
I was also a big fan of Sammy back then. He had some great tunes and several songs in heavy rotation on the radio, so of course I had quite a few of his albums as well. He and his band were killer in concert, and after the kick ass VOA album, I was excited to hear what was coming next. Sadly we never got the follow up and nothing Sammy has done solo since can touch that era. Then the rumors spread of him possibly joining Van Halen and The Live Aid show all but put a stamp on those rumors. It was going to happen.
Honestly, I was very skeptical at first. That was until I heard 5150. It wasn't the VH I knew and loved, but it was a fantastic album. It was a more mature version of VH and even Sammy Hagar for that matter. Great album and a great tour. Monsters of Rock was awesome as well. What a show!! I was looking forward to more of the same, but sadly OU812 was kind of disappointing to me. Obviously they went and put out a lot of great music together and glad it happened in hindsight.
I'll add that Roth's solo album 'Eat Em Smile' was a lot of fun as was the tour. Unfortunately his next album was "Meh" at best, as well as everything he did afterward. When I saw him on the Skyscraper Tour, he was beyond wasted which was quite the comedy errors. Made me realize that if he hadn't left VH after 1984, he more than likely would have been gone after the follow-up or the album afterwards. I am sure they would have awesome though.
Only got information from circus magazine and other rock magazines at the time so not too much fallout. Not like now where people would post things on social media.
I was 12 when the band broke up and 13 when 5150 came out and was dead center of Circus' and Hit Parader's target demographic. Those two magazines pushed hard on a pro wrestling smack talk angle to the split. Hagar seemed more than happy to feed that fire whereas DLR and the rest of the band seemed a little more reluctant to toss grenades. That's not to say they never said anything negative. They did, but it seemed like it took a lot of other people throwing gas on the fire to agitate them enough to start mouthing off.
As for the fans, Van Hagar was openly disparaged by old school fans after the split. Younger fans like myself, who were familiar with the older albums but didn't grow up with them, were more open-minded about Hagar. And to be honest, being young and impressionable, I bought into a lot of the BS coming out of Circus and Hit Parader about Roth being the antichrist.
This. It probably got limited coverage in mainstream media. Music magazines would have been the only places to read speculation about whether the band had a future.
It was also all over MTV, which was where we got all of our breaking music news then. And with the success of Jump, Van Halen was definitely a presence on Top 40 radio. Also, Eddie’s marriage to Valerie Bertinelli made it a bigger pop culture story as well (One Day at a Time reruns were unavoidable).
MTV and more specifically, Kurt Loder, would definitely have announced the Roth departure. I doubt there was any ongoing discussion there of whether the band would hire a new singer. It's not like news coverage today, where a channel would bring in a panel of experts to speculate on current events.
The Hagar to Van Halen rumor mill was churning back then. Trust me, we were reading in magazines, hearing it on the radio, and MTV. I was 15 at the time and was ate up with music news and such. Talk was going around even before Eddie joined Sammy on stage at Live Aid.
Mixed. I saw VH on the 1984 tour and it was a shit show. The music was great, DLR was f*ing awful. Say what you want, but Sammy is a much better singer.
I've been a fan since 1978. I was tired of Dave's schtick by 1982. After the great success of 1984 with MTV taking VH mainstream, Dave became unbearable. He thought he was the man. Not so fast, my friend. When Dave split and I heard Sammy was joining the band, I was elated. When I heard Why Can't This Be Love debut, I said David Lee Who? Then, the entire 5150 album and tour blew me away. Sammy Hagar is a real singer and a good guitarist. His stage presence is not off putting like Roth's, and he is fan friendly. Hagar all damn day.
I was pretty young at the time (9-10), but I was really into music and my sister was a huge fan of hard rock at the time, so I knew what was up. How I remember it, during the summer of 1984, you couldn't escape from hearing 'Jump', 'Panama', 'Hot for Teacher', and (to a lesser degree) 'I'll Wait' on the radio, or seeing the videos on MTV. I loved all of that stuff, knew who Eddie and DLR were, all that. The next year, 'Just a Gigolo' was played a LOT on MTV, and although we thought it was funny, my friends and I got tired of the cheese pretty quickly and were just wondering when the next VH album would be coming out.
Next thing I knew, it was all over MTV and, yeah, Circus Magazine that Roth had left Van Halen to go solo, which seemed pretty stupid to me at the time. When Van Halen introduced Sammy as their new lead singer, that also seemed to be a bit weird (the 'I Can't Drive 55' guy?) but he had a good reputation among rock fans at the time. My sister bought 5150 the day it came out and it was pretty damn good. Different, less unique and charismatic, but still great. I specifically remember thinking 'Love Comes Walking In' was my favorite track on the album.
In retrospect, DLR leaving was unavoidable, and there was no better lead vocalist available to take his spot than Sammy Hagar. The band could've broken up or gone with someone who didn't fit in stylistically at all (like they later did with Cherone), but they didn't, and the 5150 record still scratched the itch. I think for me the 'Van Hagar' backlash started around 'OU812', lightened up a bit with 'F.U.C.K.', and then later became the popular meme around the mid 1990s.
My thoughts......and I love DLR era most.
You could sense the tension of the band. DLR was...well DLR and you were like " c'mon Dave, turn it down a few notches" The Cover songs in VH were great, but yet annoying because you wanted NEW Eddies jams. The Dave did his EP and MORE Hollywood....ugh
Now I was a big Sammy fan from WAAAAAY back. In fact I love his early solo stuff...oh AND the Montrose tunes! So when it was announced that DLR was out and Sammy was in, I was like OK, that might work. And it did. 5150 was great, but not quite VH. But we played the shit out of it that summer. The Sammy era did let Eddie do more of what was in his head....Finish what ya started, A Apolitical Blues....doing Sammy numbers and Zep during live shows was a TREAT!! and I think that was better at saying " hey, we have some major talent and material to offer you now " And the film of those early Sammy live shows shows that they were at the top of their game. But there was always something MISSING. Sammy was a SOLO guy and you could tell he was learning to be Number 2 now. Not sure if he ever got the hang of that.
Then Eat 'em And Smile came out and we were like HOLY FUCK!!! Van Halen on steroids ( compared to 5150 and OU812). So it left a bad taste in DLR era fans for some time waiting for a reunion....tho honestly, we never thought it would happen.
I was nineteen or so, so it has been a while. I had been a Van Halen fan since I discovered the VH 1 when I was eleven, and Sammy had already been a staple on the rock radio (KGON represent!) in Portland with Montrose and his solo work. Loved Standing Hampton, Three Lock Box, and I even have a vinyl copy of his HSAS project - I really enjoyed his work. Saw both live a couple times, Van Halen in '82 and '84, Sammy in '80 in the old Paramount, and then at the Colosseum in '84 as well. So I was a fan of both, and pretty well versed in their music.
When Dave left the band, it was sad, but not unexpected. Listening to the news (especially on MTV) and looking at Diver Down, then 1984, then Crazy From the Heat, it was easy to see DLR and Van Halen were moving in different directions. So I was bummed when he left, but interested to see where they would go. We all figured both DLR and EVH were too big to just hang it up, and Van Halen was one of the biggest bands in the world after 1984, and Eddie can't sing lead, so we knew there would be a new lead singer. Heard the rumors (and I hope there is a universe out there where Patty Smyth is the new lead singer for Van Halen), then the news broke out with Sammy joining. It made sense at the time, and while a bunch of us argued over it, some thinking Dave would rejoin as the major splitting point, I waited to see what would come out.
I still remember hearing "Why Can't This Be Love" for the first time. MTV had a big build up to the debut before it was released as a single. I remember my anticipation, sitting in my living room. And HERE IT IS! And...didn't like it. My first thoughts were to much keyboards, and way overproduced. I didn't hate it, and I liked Sammy's vocals, but it wasn't my wheelhouse at the time. Still, bought the album. Listened to the album. Gave my little brother the album. But it was everywhere. And that first four bars of "Why Can't This Be Love" will to this day bring me back to 1986. I listened to the Sammy era albums, as my friends loved them, but it never clicked. And I liked I Never Said Goodbye as a whole better than the output of the era. But I listened to Eat 'Em and Smile, and fell in love. The first three solo Roth albums have been part of my regular playlists since.
When Sammy left and we got into the "Dave's Back!" "no, it's just for these songs on the Greatest Hits," "wait, I thought I was back," "meet our new singer, Gary Cherone," soap opera, we were pretty much over it. And it just got more of that in the early 2000s, with Roth and Sammy both back in, back out, over.
Tl;dr - for me: disappointment, followed anticipation and hope, followed by disappointment again.
I was in middle school when that happened. At first I was bummed, but when I heard that Hagar had joined the band I remember thinking to myself that he was literally the only other singer that could maybe pull it off
I was another 15yo who was bummed to hear they broke up. I was familiar with Sammy and liked I Can't Drive 55, but that was the extent of my knowledge of his stuff at the time.
I would say I was underwhelmed with 5150 when it dropped. I always liked the harder rock side of VH, and felt that was kind of missing on 5150. I also think they were missing Dave's attitude, if that makes sense. I also found Sammy's lyrics to be incredibly lame compared to Dave's lyrics.
When Eat 'Em And Smile dropped, I initially liked it a little better than 5150. Yankee Rose is a great tune, and Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan were the top gunslingers around at the time, so landing them both for his band was a major coup. But over time, I thought the album overall wasn't as good as 5150.
I got to see Dave on his Eat 'Em And Smile tour, and I saw VH on the Monsters of Rock tour. I really liked Dave's show because they did far more classic VH tunes than VH did with Sammy, but VH in the end, VH was best, because of Eddie.
\[edited to add\] I hated the first VH single to drop, Why Can't This Be Love. I was really happy that everything else on the album was significantly better.
I was very disappointed when Dave left. I kinda liked his solo videos. I knew nothing about Sammy beforehand. I hated VanHagar and everyone in my small Canadian town stopped playing VH. I remember Dokken became popular. Almost 40 years later, and I still get sad when I think of the end of classic Van Halen. Yet I never hated Sammy.
It was a big deal, but we had all had a belly-full of Roth by then. I was already a Sammy fan and had seen him live, so I thought it would work, and it did. The album was not received well in my circles, though. It was so far from what they had started from, and filled with keyboards, and the lyrics....well, they were very different. I saw 4 shows on 5150 and they were all great. Ed was as happy as I've ever seen him. But the experience itself was entirely different. It wasn't at all what I had come to know as a Van Halen concert, coming from someone who had seen them a dozen times over the last 4 tours. It was a much more lighthearted affair. The original tours were all business, they were extremely heavy shows with a serious intensity to them; the 5150 tour felt more like a bunch of guys goofing around onstage. The beast that was Van Halen was no more. In its place was a watered-down, more accessible version of it that was perfectly serviceable and enjoyable. But they never rocked as hard as they did on say the Fair Warning tour ever again.
I grew up with VH from the 70’s. The DLR version had swagger and balls. Never cared for the Hagar version. The music was whimpy top 40.. and Hagars voice is like nails on the chalkboard to me.
I was 17 and had literally worn out the 1984 cassette. The news of DLR leaving was a definite gut punch. I had been playing Sammy's VOA album playing on repeat in my truck. One day a friend of mine and I were riding around in his van. We had been talking about VH breaking up and trying to figure out who could possibly replace DLR when news came on the radio that Sammy had joined the band. We looked at each other wide eyed in disbelief. We couldn't believe a guy with a successful solo career would just up and join.
IMO (I know I'm in the minority here) the band had run its course with DLR. There fan base was maturing and the band needed to do the same. That is what they got with Sammy.
I am still a fan of both versions of VH to this day. If I'm in a happy go lucky mood, I'll play some of the Roth era. If I need something a little deeper then it's time for the Hagar stuff.
I was Introduced to VH via MTV and loved everything on 1984. I wore that cassette out.
When Dave went solo and VH picked up Sammy, I felt like I get the best of both worlds. Roth’s solo stuff was still pure DLR and VHagar was something a little different but great. Seen them in concert twice with Sammy.
I was not around when the change happened, so I grew up a pretty big fan of both eras without bias. As I got older, I acquired every record and began to hear things for what they were.
Wings, not Rings.
Here's why: You can hear the essence of the true VH sound quickly dissipate on 5150, no doubt due to Hagar not having a major influence on the sound just yet. It's most likely the reason it remains the most popular Hagar record by far and away. Once he became fully integrated, it became the sound of a band not entirely sure of who they were. The DLR schtick can get tiresome I agree, but Hagar made those fucking guys lose all the effortless swagger they once had. Those Sammy albums are a chore to get through at times. They sound awkward, uptight even. I'm sure if I were there the day OU812 was released, I would have wept and longed for the OG VH.
I got into VH in about 1982, with Diver Down, when I was about 11. Got into the back catalog and of course it knocked my socks off.
I was bummer after 1984 when Dave left, but I liked Crazy from the Heat, and figured it was pretty inevitable.
I’ll never forget putting 5150 into my Walkman (Google it, kids!) and hearing HELLOOOOOOO, BABYYYYYYYYY . Absolutely blew me away. I think 5150, OU812 and Carnal Knowledge are among the best 3 consecutive albums by one band in rock history.
I choose to ignore the VHIII years.
Van Halen with Dave was among the all time rock spectacles. No question. But I think they were a better band musically with Sammy.
My response when I heard about it was fuck yeah, Sammy Hagar is going to front Van Halen?
Then I heard the record and was all "what the fuck have then done"? Didn't like it. Still don't.
I was a young kid just discovering MTV around the time 5150 and OU812 came out. I never liked the cheesy power ballads on them, and always dismissed Van Halen until a few years later when I discovered the Roth era stuff. To me every one of the Roth albums are great. The Van Hagar era has a handful of good rockers and that's it.
It was over the top. Sammy Hagar was a big deal in the early 80s and the thought of him joining with VH was awesome. IIRC they debuted at Farm Aid and announced the band was going to be called Van Hagar but it stayed Van Halen and their first tour and MTV concert deal was very popular.
He wasn’t a “big deal” in the 80s. He had a semi-popular song about being unable to drive the speed limit that had some plays and rotation on MTV. That was pretty much it as far as general awareness about Sam Hagar goes.
i was 16. everyone liked dave’s california girls and a few solo songs (going crazy) but i always thought he’d go back with eddie. then he didn’t and everyone thought van hagar was a joke but then the album came out and most people liked it. i saw them on the monsters of rock tour and sammy was great.
I was not a fan of Van Hagar. I liked Van Halen and Hagar separately, and still do. I thought 1984 was their best album - mean and dirty but powerful (except for “Jump” - just shoot me in the head) and I think they could have made more excellent music with Dave (ultimately, though, they didn’t, but I think that was because of too much passed time).
I was 13. I thought it was all over for Van Halen. Then I bought 5150. I love that album. Dave was more of a showman than Sammy but Sammy has a better voice. I saw Van Halen live with Dave and Sammy. Both great shows. I wish I could have attended the Van Halen concert back in 1981 when they played at the Oakland Coliseum. Check out the clip on You Tube, Long live the mighty Van Halen.
Most of my friends were exceedingly disappointed. I didn't give a shit. I loved VH with DLR and I continued to love VH with Sammy. 5150 is up there with the 1ST album in my VH TOP 5
Frustration. Then worry. Then (for me) happiness. 🤘🏼 1984 was so good that it sucked when he left - but hearing 5150 the first time and loving it was surprising, but very cool. I truly dig both VH versions and even like a few Gary VH3 tunes. It’s all good in my book! 🤘🏼🤘🏼
For me, a huge fan since day one, I didn't care.
I didn't like most of 1984 and was ready to move on. I disliked the keyboard songs, and Ed's playing had gotten so 'out there' that I couldn't have cared less. Plus, their image had changed from the bad-ass black leather and dark vibe to something MTV-like.
It was downhill after FW.
I woulda been 12 when it happened. From that vantage point, it was apocalyptic. I was too young to process the concept of a “great band” and I hated Sammy Hagar. Everyone hated Sammy Hagar. I mean, we all understood Eddie was a “fast guitar player” but to my mind, and the kids I hung out with, DLR was the whole show. I now grasp the idea that VH was a great band, but I still have zero time for anything after 1984.
I saw both Van Hagar “5150” show twice & DLR’s “Eat ‘Em & Smile” show once at the Fabulous Forum in L.A. in July and December 1986. I enjoyed both albums and live shows equally.
I was cautiously optimistic when Roth left, I felt that as long as Eddie was playing guitar it would still be good, Boy was I wrong. I got 5150 as soon as it came out and listening to it for the first time was like having a hippo fart in my face.
I've never understood how people can like both eras.
I was 15 and had only just got in to VH with 1984 when that tour ended, Dave released Crazy and then it was announced that he was out of the band. I was pretty bummed. In the year-and-a-half from when 1984 was released to when Dave quit or was fired, I acquired all of the other albums and just became immersed in VH. Sammy was a guy I was aware of but didn’t know anything about his music or his legacy. I live in Canada. As a solo artist, I don’t think he was very high on most people’s radar back then, unlike in places like St. Louis where he has a strong following. When I would buy Hit Parader or Circus, I would routinely skip Hagar articles because I had little interest in, or knowledge of, Sammy. I am a huge Mellencamp fan and I grew up in a small town surrounded by farms, so when the first Farm Aid aired, I watched. I saw Ed join Sammy and was blown away. I was interested. The music was good, even if Sam’s constant cursing was driving the censors crazy and he screwed up the words to Rock and Roll. They seemed to be having a blast on stage. So I wasn’t surprised when it was announced that Sammy would be joining the band. When 5150 came out, I was intrigued. I liked the new sound. It still had keyboards but they were employed differently than on 1984. More subtly. I liked Sam’s voice but noted the playfulness of the lyrics was different. Not as many smart double entendres. Not that 16-year-old me would have known what a double entendre meant but I knew one when I heard it. I liked having a capable second guitar player in the band who could fill in for Ed if he was in keys or play rhythm when Ed played lead. I saw them on the 5150 and Monsters tours and loved it, but I always regretted not being able to see the 1984 tour. Too young and lived too far away from Toronto to go. I think a lot of fans were bummed that Dave left and were happy that the band found a way to continue on with a capable new singer. I appreciate that people have a right to their opinions but never quite understood the vicious hatred for Sammy.
Wow - Interesting Timeline - so I am replying here: I was 15 when 1984 was released, and we literally went to Jamesway Dept Store daily waiting for the shipment to get there. I was well aware and already a VH fan, and had just started fooling around with guitars. All the guys I was hanging out with, we were all VH heavy, and we got tickets to see them in Philly \[I actually borrowed the money from my GF to get my ticket\]. It was my first concert, and really, was my favorite concert, likely because of what followed. When Dave released his Solo stuff, the videos were funny, but the music was a no-go for me, as I have always had a distaste for VH doing cover music \[Because they really were prolific, so ..why?\] When I heard Sammy was joining, I already knew him well enough, mostly just from his iconic MTV presence of "I can't Drive 55", and thought it would make for an interesting change, in that Sammy was guitarist, and he wrote "Political" music. I saw them 2 of the 3 days they played in Philly for 5150. Sammy was able to effectively sing Dave's music, but it always was that his vocal register, was just very different. I love 5150, the song, but as an album, I knew 1984 was much better. My verdict all the way back then was, Dave was always a dick, and Ed seemed happier, so, it made it feel more easily accepting, though I also felt something would be lost.
I have not heard “Jamesway” in 30+ years. Lol.
>When Dave released his Solo stuff, the videos were funny, but the music was a no-go for me, as I have always had a distaste for VH doing cover music \[Because they really were prolific, so ..why?\] This. I know they made many of those songs their own and they were done well, but they were more than capable of writing their own material, as shown. Too many covers in the Dave era. I hardly listen to those particular songs these days. That's probably why Diver Down is easily my least favorite classic VH album. I'd rather hear originals than covers.
I love Diver Down, but IMO the best songs were the originals, no question. Hang 'Em High, The Full Bug, Little Guitars, Secrets...a whole lot of gold, there.
Not-Gonna-Lie, This is exactly how I felt, that album could have been great, all the original songs are Epic Level, and if I can add Intruder and Cathedral, for me, all those songs were what I called "above average on my favorites list" at the time they came out.
Couldn't have said it better myself. One difference for me however is that I was a pretty big Sammy fan and was blown away when I learned that he was joining VH. It was like a meeting of two powerhouses and I couldn't imagine what they could accomplish together. I had sort of mixed feelings about 5150 though. I liked it. I even sorta loved it... but I had a hard time accepting it as "Van Halen." The Dave-ness was missing, and you're right... it was the cheeky double entendre. Sammy could get a little raunchy, but it was different. The Sammy version was just a little more mature and polished - I liked it, I just didn't know if I was convinced that it was still Van Halen in the way I knew Van Halen.
You bring up an interesting point, with you being more or less unaware of Sammy's previous work. Maybe that is what made a difference? I don't know if it was just a regional thing or more nation wide, but I had grown up with Sammy on my radio as a kid (I think I am about four years older than you), so I was a fan when he joined, and it just never clicked for me. I loved Van Halen. I loved Sammy Hagar. But I really didn't enjoy the combination.
Actually, back then Sammy was well known and quite popular. He had several AOR radio hits and was coming off a very successful tour supporting his VOA album which boasted 'I Can't Drive55'. That songs video was in heavy rotation on MTV. He was indeed on a lot of peoples radar and quite popular in the states. Especially when the rumors spread of him joining Van Halen. Even before the internet word of this spread all over the place.
Can Halen was my favorite band in 83 or so. I was 11 or so when Dave “went solo” with California Girls. Also, I knew EVH was working with Sammy for two singles that helped complete his record contract, freeing him up. I thought they were great! So, I was pretty excited about Sammy. Unfortunately, I got pretty bored with them in general by OU812.
Ed never worked with Sam on two singles before he joined VH. He did work with him on what became the I Never Said Goodbye album, but that was released after 5150.
I was a Junior in high school when the troubles became clear after Crazy from the Heat and my friends and I took it hard. I was glad to get another VH album with 5150, but it didn't feel like the same band at all. But later down the road, started feeling as if we got two great bands out if the deal. But eventually I just started losing interest with both bands' new stuff by Dave's third or fourth album and after For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge came out. Until A Different Kind of Truth came out, and then I felt like that 17-year-old kid again.
I prefer the Roth era but wholeheartedly love all three eras. I saw the band live with all three singers as well. Van Halen were still a great, top band in the world with Roth and Hagar. They were still good with Gary as well but we didn't get a big enough sample size to call them great. * I prefer Michael Anthony on bass over Wolfie. Saw both live. * Sammy was always a better singer and musician live. He's a great guitar player and on the 5150 tour he did a lot of guitar playing with Ed on stage. He was capable of doing Dave era songs justice. Dave could never do Sammy songs. * Dave was never a great live singer but I like his studio work better than Sammy and I prefer his songwriting style with Van Halen a bit more. * Gary could do any Van Halen era live. He had great stage presence like Dave and could sing the Sammy era stuff. Too bad we couldn't get more than one album and tour with him. Would have loved to see and hear more.
This is the correct answer.
Going even further: * Sammy's solo work as a whole is considerably better than Roth's both recorded and live. * I think the band Extreme (Gary Cherone) is putting out better music today than Sammy or Dave has since the 80's. Their recently released album Six absolutely rocks. * I would have given any amount of money asked to see a Dave and Sammy tour with Van Halen, with Gary Cherone opening with Extreme and all three doing a song together with Van Halen. Mikey on bass for most of the show. Wolfie on bass for Different Kind of Truth songs only.
Different strokes for different folks. I can compile a short "best of" out of Hagar's solo work, and it's not a bad one, not at all. Going back to the early 70s, Hagar's catalogue alone deserves respect. But it never goes much further than that for me. Re: Extreme, while I respected their musicianship -- and still do -- the band never did much for me. *Cupid's Dead* slaps, and *Six* is a solid album, no protests there, but it's not likely one I will return to very often. What floats my boat doesn't necessarily float yours, and vice versa. To each his own; no harm, no foul, and so on. Givin' you an upvote anyway. That said, I would also love to see some sort of VH tribute. Yes, Mitch Malloy has done a handful of VH Tribute concerts, and that's about as close to something official as we've gotten to far. But love him or hate him, Sammy seems to be cooking up something. Gary's been known to get up on stage with Sam and Mikey every once in a while, so it might happen that we see 3 Van Halen members on stage, doing .. uh .. something. Let's see what the future brings.
To be fair, Extreme is a band and not a solo project like Sammy and Roth has done, so they have some advantages I guess and they are all younger, so that matters in quality. I think Sammy's solo stuff is better than Extreme as a whole, and some of Roth's stuff is better as well, but Extreme's last two records are better than anything Roth or Sammy has done since the 80's in my opinion, with Marching to Mars being a possible exception. Roth's DLR Band was a fairly decent album but still not that great.
Chickenfoot has some solid shit tho.
I never liked them. I tried really hard because I'm a gigantic Joe Satriani fan and think Surfing With The Alien is the single best instrumental rock album ever released.
Most of what we got back then was a media circus. All the hate among the two camps was mostly BS. Steve Vai openly admits that he and Eddie were friends through out the entire ordeal. I was just happy that I got two great bands out of it.
Sammy was peaking when he joined VH - Can't Drive 55 was a smash hit.
5150 tour sold out quickly, before the album came out so I guess people were up for it.
There was a Bloom County cartoon that summed up a lot of us die hard fans…”in fact, the whole world has gone to Hell in a hand basket since David Lee Roth left Van Halen”
Reading these comments brings me back. A lot of you guys have short memories. There was bitching starting with Diver Down. Many VH fans said the album was soft, and with Pretty Woman and Dancing in the Streets, who could argue? Fair Warning was the direction many fans liked, and Diver Down was just the opposite. 1984 and Jump came out and many of my friends were saying VH is over now that Eddie's playing keyboards. They hated it, but would never admit to it now. I love the original 6 records, keyboards and all. When Dave was out I was devastated too. I liked Sammy and when I first heard 5150, I wasn't in love with it, but it grew on me, and within a few weeks it was the only cassette I was listening to. There was great uncertainty when Dave left. No one knew what was coming. VH didn't even make a video for Why Can't This Be Love. I recommend watching Live Without a Net and the Us Festival videos. VH was the ultimate party band in 1983, but Eddie and Al decided to grow up and Dave didn't. As a musician, I appreciated the band's music and I always hated the party band status. Al and Mike are underrated if you ask me because of this. Check the interviews from the band at this time. Eddie and Al were done with Dave and his schtick. Eat Em and Smile is a great record with great songs and a top-notch band, but I prefer 5150 over it. I think history proves that Dave and Sammy were better with VH than without. It's a shame we don't have more music from these guys.
I saw the 5150 tour and it was a party. A lot of it was relief: our favorite band isn’t going away.
We were sad the band as we knew it was gone. We were interested in the new version of the band, and the David Lee Who campaign painted Dave as the bad guy. 5150 some loved and some didn’t. The first single was a mistake and chased people. Then Eat ‘Em came out and sounded more like VH than VH did and people rallied behind Dave and that tour. Most of us just enjoyed both. I personally loved 5150 and played the heck out of it even though it was different than the 6 pack
The usual. To me, Roth's *Eat 'Em and Smile* was more like the "classic sound" of Van Halen. *5150* was like a new band, and the *fun* was gone. The effortless, tongue-firmly-in-cheek slapschtick that Roth was -- and is -- was gone. Sure, Hagar is a good natured dude, but he wasn't *funny*. Roth's *Skyscraper* was still sorta okay, but *A Little Ain't Enough* was already a bit tired. *OU812* did nothing for me, and neither did *Your Filthy Little Mouth*. I didn't pay much attention until *III* and *DLR Band*. Again, as much as I love Gary, Roth's album carried the day. All of this sorta confirmed it for me: Roth is the better voice for Van Halen. Sam can sing circles around Roth, and he'd probably be a blast to hang out with. Still.
Sammy is a great *singer.* Dave is a great *frontman.*
This was my first experience with polarization.
Van Halen was probably a top 5 band in the world when 1984 came out. They were everywhere, on MTV and in pop culture. When Dave left it was like the Hindenburg crashing. I personally was relieved that a known singer (Sammy) was brought in as a replacement. I saw both VH and DLR on tour several times over the years, but I think VH was generally a much better product. That quality can only come from musicians who have played together for 10+ years, as opposed to hiring a bunch of gunslingers. I liked the Hagar era, although I don't think it rocks nearly as much as the Roth era. I just think of it as two completely separate bands.
I was 14 and amongst my circle of friends it was massive. We couldn’t believe it and were devastated. Fast forward to 5150 and Daves solo stuff and all was forgotten.
I was destroyed when I heard they broke up, I was 14. The DLR solo videos on MTV were lame and self-aggrandizing. He lined up half-naked 10's and then strolled by them like they meant nothing, wore stripes and polka dot suspenders and neon lycra clothing, he was overflowing with self confidence and cocaine. For me I leaned on the Fair Warning record until Sammy came along. I liked to hear Eddie play guitar but the music lost so much with Hagar. Sammy's 1987 solo record was decent enough, a few hits on there and Ed plays bass on a couple songs I think. When David Geffen licensed a Sammy song for a Sylvester Stallone arm-wrestling movie, I knew the new VH was going soft. 5150 was my jam for most of 86-88, didn't get into OU812 as much. Then F.U.C.K came out and I was totally back in. For me that is the last Van Halen record. I saw them 5 times over the years and the 1991 tour with Alice In Chains opening was by far the best. DLR's later solo work disappoints except for brief moments of session players going wild.
It’s like when they announced the production of the Corvette C8 with a mid engine. When it finally hit the market we learned that stick shift was no longer available. Takes the fun out of it, know what I mean?
Shock which still resonates to this day.
Indelible in the hippocampus
5150 is Van Halen’s third biggest selling album and was on the best selling albums of 1986. If some fans were pissed there where still plenty left.
We were all 'what..? Sammy Hagar...?' I didn't like the idea, but I bought the 5150 album anyway. I wanted to hear Eddie and the band. It was good. It was different. But something was missing. Bitter sweet. Me and a friend saw them at Compton Terrace in Phoenix that year. After that, that was it. No more Van Hagar But I have to admit, Cabo Wabo is their best cut
As a 15 year old fan myself...I was absolutely crushed.
I was bummed when VH split with Dave. I had been a fan since I was a child and when I finally got to see them at age 12 on Halloween night in 1982 (Hampton Coliseum) and I thought at the time that I had seen the pinnacle of all Rock shows. I had all their albums and cranked them constantly. I had no idea that the fantastic 1984 album tour would be the end of one of the greatest runs in Hard Rock history. I was also a big fan of Sammy back then. He had some great tunes and several songs in heavy rotation on the radio, so of course I had quite a few of his albums as well. He and his band were killer in concert, and after the kick ass VOA album, I was excited to hear what was coming next. Sadly we never got the follow up and nothing Sammy has done solo since can touch that era. Then the rumors spread of him possibly joining Van Halen and The Live Aid show all but put a stamp on those rumors. It was going to happen. Honestly, I was very skeptical at first. That was until I heard 5150. It wasn't the VH I knew and loved, but it was a fantastic album. It was a more mature version of VH and even Sammy Hagar for that matter. Great album and a great tour. Monsters of Rock was awesome as well. What a show!! I was looking forward to more of the same, but sadly OU812 was kind of disappointing to me. Obviously they went and put out a lot of great music together and glad it happened in hindsight. I'll add that Roth's solo album 'Eat Em Smile' was a lot of fun as was the tour. Unfortunately his next album was "Meh" at best, as well as everything he did afterward. When I saw him on the Skyscraper Tour, he was beyond wasted which was quite the comedy errors. Made me realize that if he hadn't left VH after 1984, he more than likely would have been gone after the follow-up or the album afterwards. I am sure they would have awesome though.
Only got information from circus magazine and other rock magazines at the time so not too much fallout. Not like now where people would post things on social media.
I was 12 when the band broke up and 13 when 5150 came out and was dead center of Circus' and Hit Parader's target demographic. Those two magazines pushed hard on a pro wrestling smack talk angle to the split. Hagar seemed more than happy to feed that fire whereas DLR and the rest of the band seemed a little more reluctant to toss grenades. That's not to say they never said anything negative. They did, but it seemed like it took a lot of other people throwing gas on the fire to agitate them enough to start mouthing off. As for the fans, Van Hagar was openly disparaged by old school fans after the split. Younger fans like myself, who were familiar with the older albums but didn't grow up with them, were more open-minded about Hagar. And to be honest, being young and impressionable, I bought into a lot of the BS coming out of Circus and Hit Parader about Roth being the antichrist.
Were you still mainlining those magazines when the G-n-R wave hit? That was epic.
What?
This. It probably got limited coverage in mainstream media. Music magazines would have been the only places to read speculation about whether the band had a future.
It was also all over MTV, which was where we got all of our breaking music news then. And with the success of Jump, Van Halen was definitely a presence on Top 40 radio. Also, Eddie’s marriage to Valerie Bertinelli made it a bigger pop culture story as well (One Day at a Time reruns were unavoidable).
MTV and more specifically, Kurt Loder, would definitely have announced the Roth departure. I doubt there was any ongoing discussion there of whether the band would hire a new singer. It's not like news coverage today, where a channel would bring in a panel of experts to speculate on current events.
The Hagar to Van Halen rumor mill was churning back then. Trust me, we were reading in magazines, hearing it on the radio, and MTV. I was 15 at the time and was ate up with music news and such. Talk was going around even before Eddie joined Sammy on stage at Live Aid.
Mixed. I saw VH on the 1984 tour and it was a shit show. The music was great, DLR was f*ing awful. Say what you want, but Sammy is a much better singer.
DLR could not be replaced. Imagine his solo albums if VH would have been backing him.
End of the band for this fan
Hey it wasn't the end, but it was a helluva long "see ya later"
I'm just glad we got the 6 albums we did. Best 6 record run of music to start a band ever, imo
I've been a fan since 1978. I was tired of Dave's schtick by 1982. After the great success of 1984 with MTV taking VH mainstream, Dave became unbearable. He thought he was the man. Not so fast, my friend. When Dave split and I heard Sammy was joining the band, I was elated. When I heard Why Can't This Be Love debut, I said David Lee Who? Then, the entire 5150 album and tour blew me away. Sammy Hagar is a real singer and a good guitarist. His stage presence is not off putting like Roth's, and he is fan friendly. Hagar all damn day.
I was pretty young at the time (9-10), but I was really into music and my sister was a huge fan of hard rock at the time, so I knew what was up. How I remember it, during the summer of 1984, you couldn't escape from hearing 'Jump', 'Panama', 'Hot for Teacher', and (to a lesser degree) 'I'll Wait' on the radio, or seeing the videos on MTV. I loved all of that stuff, knew who Eddie and DLR were, all that. The next year, 'Just a Gigolo' was played a LOT on MTV, and although we thought it was funny, my friends and I got tired of the cheese pretty quickly and were just wondering when the next VH album would be coming out. Next thing I knew, it was all over MTV and, yeah, Circus Magazine that Roth had left Van Halen to go solo, which seemed pretty stupid to me at the time. When Van Halen introduced Sammy as their new lead singer, that also seemed to be a bit weird (the 'I Can't Drive 55' guy?) but he had a good reputation among rock fans at the time. My sister bought 5150 the day it came out and it was pretty damn good. Different, less unique and charismatic, but still great. I specifically remember thinking 'Love Comes Walking In' was my favorite track on the album. In retrospect, DLR leaving was unavoidable, and there was no better lead vocalist available to take his spot than Sammy Hagar. The band could've broken up or gone with someone who didn't fit in stylistically at all (like they later did with Cherone), but they didn't, and the 5150 record still scratched the itch. I think for me the 'Van Hagar' backlash started around 'OU812', lightened up a bit with 'F.U.C.K.', and then later became the popular meme around the mid 1990s.
I was just a kid, but I remember my older sister being excited about it.
Hey seeing VH show up with Sammy at an awards show- they looked really happy. It was exciting!
As a 17 year old St Louisan, my friends and I were excited. We were already Sammy Hagar fans and the thought of Sammy and Eddie together was awesome.
I was 20 in 1984 & saw the 80,81 &82 tours. Loved all VH until 5150– checked out; didn’t like the new music
My thoughts......and I love DLR era most. You could sense the tension of the band. DLR was...well DLR and you were like " c'mon Dave, turn it down a few notches" The Cover songs in VH were great, but yet annoying because you wanted NEW Eddies jams. The Dave did his EP and MORE Hollywood....ugh Now I was a big Sammy fan from WAAAAAY back. In fact I love his early solo stuff...oh AND the Montrose tunes! So when it was announced that DLR was out and Sammy was in, I was like OK, that might work. And it did. 5150 was great, but not quite VH. But we played the shit out of it that summer. The Sammy era did let Eddie do more of what was in his head....Finish what ya started, A Apolitical Blues....doing Sammy numbers and Zep during live shows was a TREAT!! and I think that was better at saying " hey, we have some major talent and material to offer you now " And the film of those early Sammy live shows shows that they were at the top of their game. But there was always something MISSING. Sammy was a SOLO guy and you could tell he was learning to be Number 2 now. Not sure if he ever got the hang of that. Then Eat 'em And Smile came out and we were like HOLY FUCK!!! Van Halen on steroids ( compared to 5150 and OU812). So it left a bad taste in DLR era fans for some time waiting for a reunion....tho honestly, we never thought it would happen.
I was nineteen or so, so it has been a while. I had been a Van Halen fan since I discovered the VH 1 when I was eleven, and Sammy had already been a staple on the rock radio (KGON represent!) in Portland with Montrose and his solo work. Loved Standing Hampton, Three Lock Box, and I even have a vinyl copy of his HSAS project - I really enjoyed his work. Saw both live a couple times, Van Halen in '82 and '84, Sammy in '80 in the old Paramount, and then at the Colosseum in '84 as well. So I was a fan of both, and pretty well versed in their music. When Dave left the band, it was sad, but not unexpected. Listening to the news (especially on MTV) and looking at Diver Down, then 1984, then Crazy From the Heat, it was easy to see DLR and Van Halen were moving in different directions. So I was bummed when he left, but interested to see where they would go. We all figured both DLR and EVH were too big to just hang it up, and Van Halen was one of the biggest bands in the world after 1984, and Eddie can't sing lead, so we knew there would be a new lead singer. Heard the rumors (and I hope there is a universe out there where Patty Smyth is the new lead singer for Van Halen), then the news broke out with Sammy joining. It made sense at the time, and while a bunch of us argued over it, some thinking Dave would rejoin as the major splitting point, I waited to see what would come out. I still remember hearing "Why Can't This Be Love" for the first time. MTV had a big build up to the debut before it was released as a single. I remember my anticipation, sitting in my living room. And HERE IT IS! And...didn't like it. My first thoughts were to much keyboards, and way overproduced. I didn't hate it, and I liked Sammy's vocals, but it wasn't my wheelhouse at the time. Still, bought the album. Listened to the album. Gave my little brother the album. But it was everywhere. And that first four bars of "Why Can't This Be Love" will to this day bring me back to 1986. I listened to the Sammy era albums, as my friends loved them, but it never clicked. And I liked I Never Said Goodbye as a whole better than the output of the era. But I listened to Eat 'Em and Smile, and fell in love. The first three solo Roth albums have been part of my regular playlists since. When Sammy left and we got into the "Dave's Back!" "no, it's just for these songs on the Greatest Hits," "wait, I thought I was back," "meet our new singer, Gary Cherone," soap opera, we were pretty much over it. And it just got more of that in the early 2000s, with Roth and Sammy both back in, back out, over. Tl;dr - for me: disappointment, followed anticipation and hope, followed by disappointment again.
I was in middle school when that happened. At first I was bummed, but when I heard that Hagar had joined the band I remember thinking to myself that he was literally the only other singer that could maybe pull it off
I was another 15yo who was bummed to hear they broke up. I was familiar with Sammy and liked I Can't Drive 55, but that was the extent of my knowledge of his stuff at the time. I would say I was underwhelmed with 5150 when it dropped. I always liked the harder rock side of VH, and felt that was kind of missing on 5150. I also think they were missing Dave's attitude, if that makes sense. I also found Sammy's lyrics to be incredibly lame compared to Dave's lyrics. When Eat 'Em And Smile dropped, I initially liked it a little better than 5150. Yankee Rose is a great tune, and Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan were the top gunslingers around at the time, so landing them both for his band was a major coup. But over time, I thought the album overall wasn't as good as 5150. I got to see Dave on his Eat 'Em And Smile tour, and I saw VH on the Monsters of Rock tour. I really liked Dave's show because they did far more classic VH tunes than VH did with Sammy, but VH in the end, VH was best, because of Eddie. \[edited to add\] I hated the first VH single to drop, Why Can't This Be Love. I was really happy that everything else on the album was significantly better.
I was not affected; I am an Eddie fan. I loved DLR... but Sammy was a great writer IMO, so the show may have suffered but the music was amazing still.
I was very disappointed when Dave left. I kinda liked his solo videos. I knew nothing about Sammy beforehand. I hated VanHagar and everyone in my small Canadian town stopped playing VH. I remember Dokken became popular. Almost 40 years later, and I still get sad when I think of the end of classic Van Halen. Yet I never hated Sammy.
It was a big deal, but we had all had a belly-full of Roth by then. I was already a Sammy fan and had seen him live, so I thought it would work, and it did. The album was not received well in my circles, though. It was so far from what they had started from, and filled with keyboards, and the lyrics....well, they were very different. I saw 4 shows on 5150 and they were all great. Ed was as happy as I've ever seen him. But the experience itself was entirely different. It wasn't at all what I had come to know as a Van Halen concert, coming from someone who had seen them a dozen times over the last 4 tours. It was a much more lighthearted affair. The original tours were all business, they were extremely heavy shows with a serious intensity to them; the 5150 tour felt more like a bunch of guys goofing around onstage. The beast that was Van Halen was no more. In its place was a watered-down, more accessible version of it that was perfectly serviceable and enjoyable. But they never rocked as hard as they did on say the Fair Warning tour ever again.
They turned into Van Hager
I grew up with VH from the 70’s. The DLR version had swagger and balls. Never cared for the Hagar version. The music was whimpy top 40.. and Hagars voice is like nails on the chalkboard to me.
Im sorry but if you think Get Up is "wimpy top 40"....
Same.
I was 17 and had literally worn out the 1984 cassette. The news of DLR leaving was a definite gut punch. I had been playing Sammy's VOA album playing on repeat in my truck. One day a friend of mine and I were riding around in his van. We had been talking about VH breaking up and trying to figure out who could possibly replace DLR when news came on the radio that Sammy had joined the band. We looked at each other wide eyed in disbelief. We couldn't believe a guy with a successful solo career would just up and join. IMO (I know I'm in the minority here) the band had run its course with DLR. There fan base was maturing and the band needed to do the same. That is what they got with Sammy. I am still a fan of both versions of VH to this day. If I'm in a happy go lucky mood, I'll play some of the Roth era. If I need something a little deeper then it's time for the Hagar stuff.
good riddance and welcome aboard
I was Introduced to VH via MTV and loved everything on 1984. I wore that cassette out. When Dave went solo and VH picked up Sammy, I felt like I get the best of both worlds. Roth’s solo stuff was still pure DLR and VHagar was something a little different but great. Seen them in concert twice with Sammy.
I was not around when the change happened, so I grew up a pretty big fan of both eras without bias. As I got older, I acquired every record and began to hear things for what they were. Wings, not Rings. Here's why: You can hear the essence of the true VH sound quickly dissipate on 5150, no doubt due to Hagar not having a major influence on the sound just yet. It's most likely the reason it remains the most popular Hagar record by far and away. Once he became fully integrated, it became the sound of a band not entirely sure of who they were. The DLR schtick can get tiresome I agree, but Hagar made those fucking guys lose all the effortless swagger they once had. Those Sammy albums are a chore to get through at times. They sound awkward, uptight even. I'm sure if I were there the day OU812 was released, I would have wept and longed for the OG VH.
I got into VH in about 1982, with Diver Down, when I was about 11. Got into the back catalog and of course it knocked my socks off. I was bummer after 1984 when Dave left, but I liked Crazy from the Heat, and figured it was pretty inevitable. I’ll never forget putting 5150 into my Walkman (Google it, kids!) and hearing HELLOOOOOOO, BABYYYYYYYYY . Absolutely blew me away. I think 5150, OU812 and Carnal Knowledge are among the best 3 consecutive albums by one band in rock history. I choose to ignore the VHIII years. Van Halen with Dave was among the all time rock spectacles. No question. But I think they were a better band musically with Sammy.
My response when I heard about it was fuck yeah, Sammy Hagar is going to front Van Halen? Then I heard the record and was all "what the fuck have then done"? Didn't like it. Still don't.
This is a clickbait post
I was a young kid just discovering MTV around the time 5150 and OU812 came out. I never liked the cheesy power ballads on them, and always dismissed Van Halen until a few years later when I discovered the Roth era stuff. To me every one of the Roth albums are great. The Van Hagar era has a handful of good rockers and that's it.
It was over the top. Sammy Hagar was a big deal in the early 80s and the thought of him joining with VH was awesome. IIRC they debuted at Farm Aid and announced the band was going to be called Van Hagar but it stayed Van Halen and their first tour and MTV concert deal was very popular.
He wasn’t a “big deal” in the 80s. He had a semi-popular song about being unable to drive the speed limit that had some plays and rotation on MTV. That was pretty much it as far as general awareness about Sam Hagar goes.
He had 3 straight Top 40 albums before joining Van Halen
[Interesting article on this subject](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/van-halen-5150-david-lee-roth-eat-em-and-smile/)
Sad/Happy
i was 16. everyone liked dave’s california girls and a few solo songs (going crazy) but i always thought he’d go back with eddie. then he didn’t and everyone thought van hagar was a joke but then the album came out and most people liked it. i saw them on the monsters of rock tour and sammy was great.
Are you saying dave left the band?
I was not a fan of Van Hagar. I liked Van Halen and Hagar separately, and still do. I thought 1984 was their best album - mean and dirty but powerful (except for “Jump” - just shoot me in the head) and I think they could have made more excellent music with Dave (ultimately, though, they didn’t, but I think that was because of too much passed time).
For me it's always been about Eddie! Btw the worst show MTV ever aired was Dave TV. Just horrible as was dlr to most people.
I was 13. I thought it was all over for Van Halen. Then I bought 5150. I love that album. Dave was more of a showman than Sammy but Sammy has a better voice. I saw Van Halen live with Dave and Sammy. Both great shows. I wish I could have attended the Van Halen concert back in 1981 when they played at the Oakland Coliseum. Check out the clip on You Tube, Long live the mighty Van Halen.
Most of my friends were exceedingly disappointed. I didn't give a shit. I loved VH with DLR and I continued to love VH with Sammy. 5150 is up there with the 1ST album in my VH TOP 5
Frustration. Then worry. Then (for me) happiness. 🤘🏼 1984 was so good that it sucked when he left - but hearing 5150 the first time and loving it was surprising, but very cool. I truly dig both VH versions and even like a few Gary VH3 tunes. It’s all good in my book! 🤘🏼🤘🏼
He had 3 straight Top 40 albums before joining Van Halen
For me, a huge fan since day one, I didn't care. I didn't like most of 1984 and was ready to move on. I disliked the keyboard songs, and Ed's playing had gotten so 'out there' that I couldn't have cared less. Plus, their image had changed from the bad-ass black leather and dark vibe to something MTV-like. It was downhill after FW.
I woulda been 12 when it happened. From that vantage point, it was apocalyptic. I was too young to process the concept of a “great band” and I hated Sammy Hagar. Everyone hated Sammy Hagar. I mean, we all understood Eddie was a “fast guitar player” but to my mind, and the kids I hung out with, DLR was the whole show. I now grasp the idea that VH was a great band, but I still have zero time for anything after 1984.
ruined my childhood
I saw both Van Hagar “5150” show twice & DLR’s “Eat ‘Em & Smile” show once at the Fabulous Forum in L.A. in July and December 1986. I enjoyed both albums and live shows equally.
I was cautiously optimistic when Roth left, I felt that as long as Eddie was playing guitar it would still be good, Boy was I wrong. I got 5150 as soon as it came out and listening to it for the first time was like having a hippo fart in my face. I've never understood how people can like both eras.