And This is Why Eddie Trunk is an Idiot

[cowboydan]

From VHND:

Eddie Trunk Compares Van Halen’s Dave and Sammy Eras

May 13, 2014 Leave a Comment


Radio personality Eddie Trunk has called Van Halen “America’s Led Zeppelin.” He specifically praised early Van Halen, saying the David Lee Roth-era Van Halen recordings sound as fresh and groundbreaking today as they ever did.

And now, from his book Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, we feature his thoughts comparing Van Halen’s Dave Era to their Sammy Era:

“When Sammy Hagar replaced Roth in 1986 for Van Halen’s next album, 5150, I was actually thrilled. I was already a fan of Hagar’s old band, Montrose, as well as his solo work, and I was excited to see what a singer of his range would bring to the band and how his writing would work with Eddie’s. I loved 5150 and many of the Hagar Era releases – they’re definitely different from Roth’s over-the-top approach, but equally cool and, to me, more musical. David Lee Roth is a great frontman for sure, but no one would necessarily call him a great live singer. Sammy, on the other hand, is a powerhouse vocalist-his capabilities widened the musical possibilities for Van Halen, allowing them to evolve in a way they wouldn’t have been able to with Roth’s vocal limitations.

“I saw VH countless times with Hagar, and even had the chance to meet and interview them. I loved when the band would let Sammy do some of his solo material or even jam on old Montrose songs. Hagar related to the audience in a much more down-to-earth way, and Hagar Era Van Halen was more about the music and less about the circus act. These days, however, I prefer the Van Halen albums from the Roth Era. Back then, the band may have been limited by Roth’s voice, but they were more consistent as a band and the albums have held up over time. Yet, I’m not someone who thinks the Hagar Era should be brushed over—For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and 5150 are great albums.

“I’ve only met Eddie Van Halen once, during the tour for Van Halen III—which featured the short-lived and much-maligned lineup with former Extreme singer Gary Cherone on vocals. The guys were playing Madison Square Garden, and ticket sales were not strong. The program director at the radio station where I was working told me Eddie would be calling in to my show in thirty minutes to plug the Garden show live. I didn’t have much time to prepare, but I didn’t need it. This was Eddie Van Halen! On the air, Eddie encouraged the fans to come out and see Gary as the new singer. I was a fan of Gary’s old band, Extreme, and knew his history well. Eddie seemed generally impressed that I knew my stuff and wasn’t just reading from some provided bio. So he asked me if I would come to the show and meet him.

“I went to the Garden that night not really expecting to meet the legendary Eddie Van Halen. I thought he was just being nice to the local radio guy and would leave me some tickets at the door. But I got there to find front-row seats and backstage passes in an envelope under my name. Shortly after I sat down, a road manager came to my seat and said, “Ed wants to say hi.” Sure enough, the man had kept his word. I walked back to the Madison Square Garden dressing rooms and into a room marked “Tuning.” There, standing alone, fiddling with a guitar, with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, was the one and only Eddie Van Halen! I played it cool, as I always would, but inside I was saying “Holy shit!” We chatted for a bit, he complimented me on the interview and talked about the band’s new album and tour, and I left him to prepare for the show that night. I’ve made a rule to never ask musicians to take photos with me, since I think it changes the dynamic of the potential relationship, but that was one night I wish I had broken my own rule! (Years later, I was told by Eddie’s wife that the two of them watched That Metal Show at home and got a kick out of it, which made me proud.)

“Now that a Van Halen reunion with David Lee Roth has taken place, I think it’s also time for a Hagar Era reunion. There would be a huge demand to hear Hagar sing those songs again. For me, the Roth reunion was lacking because I missed the Hagar Era songs and also because of the exclusion of Michael Anthony on bass. Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, did an admirable job, especially considering his age, but I missed Michael big-time. He was left out of the reunion because of his allegiance to Sammy Hagar. I was most thrilled for Michael, who is such a cool guy, when Hagar’s new supergroup, Chickenfoot, was formed with Michael on bass, because it gave him a real band again.”

1986Eddie Trunk’s Van Halen Playlist—His favorite VH Songs:

1. Hear About It Later
2. Judgement Day
3. Good Enough
4. Somebody Get Me A Doctor
5. Love Walks In
6. Atomic Punk
7. On Fire
8. In A Simple Rhyme
9. Romeo Delight
10. Light Up The Sky
11. Little Dreamer
12. Girl Gone Bad
13. Poundcake
14. Fools
15. D.O.A.

—This is an excerpt from Eddie Trunk’s first book, Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Eddie Trunk is an American music historian, radio personality, talk show host, and author, best known as the host of several hard rock and heavy metal-themed radio and television shows, including That Metal Show.

[Van Halen Store]

Cowboydan,

Thanks for sharing this VHND article, but next time please just introduce the article and post a link to it VHND. You posted the entire thing, and without a link. If people read it here, they don't go to VHND, and they miss all the photos, song links, and the link to the article where he praises the Dave Era, and the link to his book.

Thank you in advance!

http://www.vhnd.com/2014/05/13/eddie...nd-sammy-eras/

[cowboydan]

10 - 4 Jeff

[PrideofPasadena]

“Now that a Van Halen reunion with David Lee Roth has taken place, I think it’s also time for a Hagar Era reunion. There would be a huge demand to hear Hagar sing those songs again. For me, the Roth reunion was lacking because I missed the Hagar Era songs and also because of the exclusion of Michael Anthony on bass. Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, did an admirable job, especially considering his age, but I missed Michael big-time. He was left out of the reunion because of his allegiance to Sammy Hagar. I was most thrilled for Michael, who is such a cool guy, when Hagar’s new supergroup, Chickenfoot, was formed with Michael on bass, because it gave him a real band again.”

I can't believe he would say something like this.I like Trunk,like the show,but this is ridiculous!! We waited twenty plus years for a "Dave" reunion and now he wants another reunion with Sam.I don't get it.We saw that ten years ago...no need for another round.
Dave is back! Why the need to hear Sam songs? So he's basically saying the '07 tour with Dave was great but I wish they woulda played Summer Nights.Gimmie a break! We saw that five different tours.

The only thing I can gather is Trunk didn't care for Dave's voice last tour and would rather see Sam instead. I think we'd all agree Dave's singing was suspect for much of the last tour but it's nothing that can't be corrected.I'm hoping Dave gets the hint for the next go round.
Trunk, said it himself...the Sam era isn't holding up.For that reason alone I don't think any Sam reunions should take place.No one wants to hear the keyboard ballads and the "usual" rockers they did live with Sam all those years.From a promoter standpoint it doesn't work either.No way they're selling out arenas with Sam.They'd be lucky to sell half the seats in any given venue.

[Heisenberg]

Cowboydan,

Thanks for sharing this VHND article, but next time please just introduce the article and post a link to it VHND. You posted the entire thing, and without a link. If people read it here, they don't go to VHND, and they miss all the photos, song links, and the link to the article where he praises the Dave Era, and the link to his book.

Thank you in advance!

http://www.vhnd.com/2014/05/13/eddie...nd-sammy-eras/

Yeah, but CowboyDan's article headline is much better.

[DLR 1973]

Yeah, but CowboyDan's article headline is much better.

CowboyDan has created one of the best headline's in the Van Halen community for a long time.

I get what Jeff is saying though, we should respect the source and give people the option of clicking on his links and digging deeper.

From an search engine optimization perspective, it helps with his 'link juice' too.

[DLR 1973]

I can't believe he would say something like this.I like Trunk,like the show,but this is ridiculous!! We waited twenty plus years for a "Dave" reunion and now he wants another reunion with Sam.I don't get it.We saw that ten years ago...no need for another round.

David Lee Roth is leaving the door wide open for Sammy Hagar. So I agree with one aspect of what Eddie Trunk is saying.

By leaving Michael Anthony out of the current Van Halen line up, Dave has effectively created a bonus in a Van Hagar reunion, in that if Sammy returned, it would most likely lead to the return of Michael Anthony.

Plus it would be a proper reunion, compared to what we have at present, which is only three quarters of the original band.

On a personal note, I would rather see Dave, Eddie, Alex and Mike in the band.

[Jungle Drummer]

David Lee Roth is leaving the door wide open for Sammy Hagar. So I agree with one aspect of what Eddie Trunk is saying.

By leaving Michael Anthony out of the current Van Halen line up, Dave has effectively created a bonus in a Van Hagar reunion, in that if Sammy returned, it would most likely lead to the return of Michael Anthony.

Plus it would be a proper reunion, compared to what we have at present, which is only three quarters of the original band.

On a personal note, I would rather see Dave, Eddie, Alex and Mike in the band.

Just curious...would you rather see Spammy an Mike in VH or Dave an Wolf? It seems as long as your precious Mikey is there you don't give a damn who the singer is...

[Jungle Drummer]

I actually like That Metal Show. It gives a forum to the musicians and music that we grew up loving. Eddie is kind of whiner, but I do like Jim Florentine a lot. He seems to be a genuine real fan of CVH. Don Jamieson, ehhh, he always seems to nitpick about VH whenever he gets the chance, but whatever. Trunk's credibility is shot so long as Good Enough, Judgment Day, and Love Walks In are all in his top 5 or 6 VH songs.

And a Sammy reunion tour? We waited a quarter century for Dave to come back. There's still a lot of classic tunes that need to be heard. Though we may never hear them, so long as worn out tunes like PW, YRGM, and BG keep getting the fan reaction at concerts that they do. Still beats having to hear WCTBL for the millionth time..

[PrideofPasadena]

David Lee Roth is leaving the door wide open for Sammy Hagar. So I agree with one aspect of what Eddie Trunk is saying.

By leaving Michael Anthony out of the current Van Halen line up, Dave has effectively created a bonus in a Van Hagar reunion, in that if Sammy returned, it would most likely lead to the return of Michael Anthony.

Plus it would be a proper reunion, compared to what we have at present, which is only three quarters of the original band.

On a personal note, I would rather see Dave, Eddie, Alex and Mike in the band.

At this point,after all the nonsense since '04,how does a Sam and Mike reunion happen? The first reunion was fake,this would be a hundred times fake beyond that.I don't see Ed wanting to sail that ship again.