Thursday, August 16, 2007

Van Halen is Back with David Lee Roth

David St. Hubbins: “You are witnesses at the new birth of Spinal Tap Mark II, hope you enjoy our new direction...” This Is Spinal Tap

Well, not exactly mark 2 for Van Halen, more like mark 4.

First, there was Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, and David Lee Roth.





Then, DLR quit the group, and Sammy Hagar joined as lead singer.





Then, Sammy Hagar left the group, and Gary Cherone became lead singer. Only singing on one album, Gary Cherone was the George Lazenby of the Van Halen lead singers.



So, this would be the forth lineup, with Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, and David Lee Roth. Eddie’s son Wolfgang replaces Michael Anthony in this lineup.


I’m happy to see that the group is touring again. While I like Sammy Hagar just fine, I prefer David Lee Roth as the lead singer.

Why Was Michael Anthony Removed from Album Art on Their Web Site?

According to Rolling Stone,

Over the past twenty-four hours, Van Halen fans have been mulling over the latest development in the band’s reunion saga: A poster on a music-industry message board pointed out that in the wake of the band’s tour announcement, the Van Halens seemed to have airbrushed original bassist Michael Anthony out of older album covers on their official Web site and replaced him with their newest member: Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang. The swap was evident on the lower right of the cover of the band’s self-titled debut (which came out thirteen years before Wolfgang was born), and the group shot for Women and Children First had been removed entirely.

A visit to the tour section of Van Halen’s site today reveals that the album covers in question have been replaced with the original artwork. However, another message board commenter pointed out there were no images of David Lee Roth in 2004’s career-spanning The Best of Both Worlds, as the frontman and Eddie Van Halen were on the outs during that time. (The pair made a point of embracing at Monday’s reunion tour press conference to demonstrate all is well). As of now, the band hasn’t issued any statements regarding the artwork incident.

-- Erica Futterman


Controversy? Maybe. Did Van Halen try to rewrite history, like George Lucas changed how Anakin Skywalker looked in Return of the Jedi? (From middle aged man, to a young man.) http://en.wikipedia.org

How about this idea instead? Maybe the webmasters were trying to think what to do with Van Halen’s website, while they were waiting to release the "real" site next month. What to put on the site, when the band did not even have any pictures of the new band lineup yet? So, someone had the great idea of changing the artwork to show the new lineup. Bad idea! I’m glad they changed it back. Now, if only we can get George Lucas to change Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi back...

Why Is Michael Anthony Not With the Band Now?

They aren’t talking about it much. However, Michael will be touring with Sammy Hagar this fall, so he is keeping busy. http://www.madanthonycafe.com

David Lee Roth Makes a Great Front Man

If you want someone to talk it up about your band, DLR is your man. He is good at giving everyone in the band credit.

He Talks Up Van Halen in 1984



He Talks Up His New Band in 1986



And He Talks Up the New Van Halen in 2007



Will I Go See Them in Concert?

I might. They will be playing in my city, yay! I will wait and see what the tickets will cost.

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