Guest Blogger: Clay 1

Van Halen - The legendary glam band that dominated through the 80’s and 90’s, became one of the biggest and most influential bands to ever exist. Vocalist David Lee Roth’s, Aka “Diamond Dave”, unique bluesy voice topped with high pitched screams along with Michael Anthony’s melodic harmonies and solid bass playing made it hard for any other bands to compete. The rest of the band was made up by the Van Halen brothers, Eddie and Alex. Eddie is arguably the one of the best guitar players to ever walk the earth and undoubtedly one of the most creative. He created one of the most unique guitar tones and revolutionized his finger tapping technique. One of Eddie’s defining moments was opening up their 1984 album with his epic guitar solo “Eruption. His brother Alex has been one of my biggest drum influences. Known for his ghost notes, double bass pedals, “off-beat” Rhythms, and last but not least his helicopter drum solo. These four set out to be a rebellious band singing about girls and partying, and succeeded. Together they dominated the music scene until 1987 when Dave left the band to fulfill his solo career. But the rest of the members continued on and invited fellow rocker Sammy Hagar to fill the spot as lead vocalist. Unlike most bands that fade out after losing a vocalist, Van Halen was able to keep most of their fans and add whole other dimension of popularity to their fame with Sammy. Although, kicking off their new line up with their hit “Right Now” showed that Van Halen may have a new theme. They brought more deep meanings and emotion to their music. Whether it was Dave or Sammy, Van Halen could always be compared to bands like Motley Crue who dominated the Sunset Strip and Guns N Roses who entered the scene later in the 80’s. But Van Halen always seemed to be on top of the food chain. Even at the end of their career, they topped the world’s largest concert at a total of 750,000 people at one single show. Ending their career with Sammy in about 1995, Van Halen returned later in 2010 reuniting with Diamond Dave but without Michael. Instead Michael was replaced with Eddie’s song, Wolfgang Van Halen. They advertised the coming of their newest album “A Different Kind of Truth” and it came out with a boom. Opinions from the critics range drastically. Reporting everything from “it being a huge success” to “they should have stuck with Sammy and Michael.” Although I think some bands should just know when to call it quits, I thought “A Different Kind of Truth” gave lots of older David Lee Roth Fans a chance to relive their teenage years. All in all, no matter what the lineup was Van Halen was revolutionary, and I would recommend any of their albums to anyone and everyone. Mainly, because they have talent and gives you a chance to get away from the “music” you hear these days.