He also absolutely butchered “Sounds of Silence” with Simon and Garfunkel. Sounds like a Shreds video!
Sounds to me like a combo of him being completely unfamiliar with the song, and it being a structure that he wasn’t used to improvising over. It’s not a complicated song to solo over but, at the same time, very different than what he usually did so his instincts weren’t correct. He was definitely capable of nailing this, but he was caught with his pants down that day.
I think sharing the publishing is the way to go. For example, if you're the songwriter, you take 50%, band gets the other 50%.
And Eddie on SNL... I didn't remember this as much as him on Letterman with them doing an instrumental version of Panama there. 26 second clip link to the song audio only https://youtu.be/iJbwX7p5-30 2 mins. 59 seconds
I like Extreme and I love Van Halen but never the twain shall meet I reckon. Two and a half decades down the line and it’s an album that just continues to disappoint. It’s either boring or irritating depending on the day, usually both. Cherone not being the right guy and subpar songs from EVH was only ever going to lead to what we got, a huge meh pie.
Not a massive Van Halen fan myself but did Ed really play drums on the album? If so, did Alex play on any songs? Is this common knowledge that passed me by all these years?
Just seems like Mike Post wants to pass the blame…if he could tell Alex that he didn’t feel like he was up to the task, surely he should have told Edward that the songs were terrible….
This reads like the most colossal pile of steaming cow turds I have ever seen written (though originally spoken). Says in one breath "I'll tell you if it sounds bad, Eddie" and then in the next "I knew it sounded bad". What a charlatan.
That whole era was a cluster for the band with Dave in or out or Mitch Malloy or whoever. I think there are a couple of really good tunes on this record, but I recall at the time that plenty of folks put this mess on Cherone.
It's time for everyone to realize that it's not the singers that deserve the blame, when there is any to give out.
I think it was more "Roth was back in the band for a minute, blame the guy who replaced him for everything that went wrong afterward".
Gary was hardly the party front man that Van Halen always had and needed on III. Gary did the best he could with the calamity that is of VH III. Van Halen sole record with him did not review well: critics proclaimed it the kind of bloodless, bland rock you’d normally expect from those bands who used to trail in VH’s wake... like Extreme. III selling only 500,000+ copies when Van Halen albums before it moved 2,000,000+. I remember when the album was released a friend and I bought it at the now defunct Wiz electronics store. Listening to the CD we had come to the realization III was all over the place but at the same time did have a different sound. We didn't mind the new sound as much but the calamity of disproportionate sound emanating from those speakers was a bit overwhelming. Even after several listens in 1998 I didn't get it. I just forgot about this album and would spin it throughout the years occasionally. Twenty six years later and it's still rather confusing. Recently the last two years of listening to this album I've taken a more acceptance stance on it. An odd era for Eddie and the band, dark uncertain days for Van Halen. My friend and I were just happy to get another Van Halen album in 1998.
Well, if you saw anything for that tour, Gary definitely brought a party! It definitely wasn't Dave's party or Sam's party - those of you that have seen it, know what I mean. And I don't know what party one can throw with Ballot or the Bullet - I guess a political party?
The tour was excellent. As I had never seen Roth with VH at that point it was great to hear some of those songs live that I'd never seen them play.
