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Generally overlooked amid all the fuss over Eddie and Alex Van Halen's
reconciliation with original singer David Lee Roth is the fact that it was
only three years ago that the aging hard-rockers reunited with their second
singer, Sammy Hagar, for an equally hyped reunion tour that fell far short
of hitting the heavy-metal mark. (Eddie had just weathered hip-replacement
surgery at the time; now 52, he's freshly out of rehab.)
Reviewing the first of a two-night stand at the United Center in July 2004,
I noted that the defining moment of that show "came five songs into the set,
during that most self-indulgent and worthless holdover from the hair-metal
'80s, the bass solo. Back in the day, Michael Anthony would famously pause
midway through his four-string showcase to chug the better part of a bottle
of Jack Daniel's. At the traditional spot on Monday, the 50-year-old Chicago
native flashed and then shot-gunned one of those mini-bottles that they give
out on airplanes. Yee-ha! How rock 'n' roll!"
Can we expect the once-again reconfigured group's two performances in
Chicago next week to generate more genuine fire and excitement?
Arguing for the affirmative is the fact Diamond Dave is, indeed, back in
the fold. But hinting at the negative is that Anthony has been
unceremoniously booted from the band -- having committed the seemingly
unpardonable sin of palling around and sometimes gigging with the
also-on-the-outs Hagar -- to be replaced by the guitar hero's son, Wolfgang.
Eddie, whose father played saxophone and clarinet back in Holland, has
talked about wanting to "pass on the torch" and "establish a musical
dynasty," and never mind that 16-year-old Wolfie isn't old enough to legally
drink, much less consume a whole bottle in a single breath.
Whether they've been cursed with short memories or burdened with undue
appreciation for the glories of rapid-fire hammer-on's, Van Halen fans are
greeting the return of their heroes with an amazing amount of reverence. Yet
from this critic's perspective, the group was always at its best when it was
taking itself least seriously -- which, of course, means during the heyday
of Roth.
The original lineup of Van Halen came together in Los Angeles in the
mid-'70s and quickly became a staple on the nascent hair-metal scene
exploding on the Sunset Strip. Always bombastic and self-satisfied players,
with Eddie the only true virtuoso among them, the three musicians found the
perfect foil in Roth, whose campy show-biz persona brought to mind an
obnoxious but charming cartoon even before he covered Louis Prima's "Just a
Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody."
Although the immortal mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap" wouldn't be
released until 1984, the same year that Roth recorded his sixth (and at that
point last) album with Van Halen, the excesses of heavy metal had long since
become tired cliches ripe for lampooning. The band's frontman seemed to
acknowledge that with a knowing wink, and his run-on braggadocio, outlandish
stage wear, cheerfully stoopid party-hearty lyrics and bullhorn vocals
invited us to laugh with him, even as we pounded our firsts and
banged our heads along with the brontosaur rhythms and massive melodies of
one bubblegum-metal anthem after another.
In stark contrast, anyone with any taste could only laugh at
Hagar, who replaced Roth in 1985. (According to legend, Eddie hooked up with
the former singer of Montrose through their mutual auto mechanic.) Sure, the
hits kept coming, helping to rack up an astounding total of 75 million
albums sold. But the music was much more one-dimensional and much less
joyful once Roth's sarcastic asides were replaced by Hagar's hollow
inanities.
In time, even Eddie realized this, and his relationship with Hagar in
turn began to sour in 1996 when the guitarist criticized one of his second
singer's songs as "way too cheesy." Thereafter came the short-lived
incarnation of Van Halen Mach III with former Extreme singer Gary Cherone,
about which the less said the better.
Now, things have come full circle -- or almost. "The New Van Halen:
Three-parts original [Eddie, Alex and Diamond Dave], one part inevitable
[Wolfie]," is how Roth has been introducing the group in his stage banter,
amid a number of funny but true jokes about the elders' age and relevance.
(My favorite: The "new" Van Halen is like "watching 'Dragnet' on your
iPod.")
Given their fractious history, we should enjoy this incarnation while we
can, because it's only a matter of time before Eddie gets sick of such
cracks and Dave is sent packing once more. With any luck, it will be a lot
more fun than it was in '04 -- especially if Wolfie stays as far away from
the bass solos as he does from the booze.
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