i here MANY Grate (LOUD!) voices at WILD HARE?

Yeah that's what made Van Halen so special. Eddie obviously had a unique sound but so did David and Alex. When they mixed that together it created something that must have blown minds in 1978. I wasn't around then but it had to be an amazing experience hearing it for the first time. Plus they were a quirky band. Who else would do Ice Cream Man and Big Bad Bill?

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

Alex Van Halen was never one of Young Furious' drumming heroes, but the dude was a creative and impactful drummer. You hear that Tama Rosewood snare with 8 pieces of gaffer's tape and you know it's him. From non-obvious drum beats/grooves to his bombastic customized drum kits, he really was like no one else. I still want that Roto-tom kit from the the Jump video.

Alex Van Halen was never one of Young Furious' drumming heroes, but the dude was a creative and impactful drummer. You hear that Tama Rosewood snare with 8 pieces of gaffer's tape and you know it's him. From non-obvious drum beats/grooves to his bombastic customized drum kits, he really was like no one else. I still want that Roto-tom kit from the Jump video.

I'm afraid of going down the Rick Beato wormhole for fear I may never leave.

What was the reason for the bile directed at Michael Anthony from Ed and Al ? What was the source of that ?

I think Eddie, Alex and Alex's wife were guilty of shitty behavior, while DLR took the blame until their shenanigans went public.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/musi ... te-107357/

Rush had the right idea - just split everything equally, including songwriting credits.

The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.

I think Eddie, Alex and Alex's wife were guilty of shitty behavior, while DLR took the blame until their shenanigans went public.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/musi ... te-107357/

Yeah, Alex was always very good. It's funny to listen back now to Hot For Teacher....that's some pretty badass and unique drumming. He's not in my Mount Rushmore, but he's solid and deserves some love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQLGRJxMOA
Alex absolutely shines on their cover of Won't Get Fooled Again.

Ray Danniels has been the manager of RUSH their entire career. They are the only major band he has not destroyed. By some odd coincidence, Alex Van Halen found himself married to Kelly Danniels, Ray's sister.
In 1994, Van Hagar's manager Ed Leffler died of cancer. At the time, Sammy was going through the breakup of his first marriage and Eddie was beginning his road to sobriety. When Alex's brother in law stepped in and offered to manage the band, it was one less thing for all of them to worry about.

Almost instantly Danniels tried to take over the band. He found Eddie easy enough to manipulate, and naturally Alex and Mikey would go along with whatever Edward wanted. Sammy Hagar wasn't buying it. When Ray tried to tell Sammy what to wear and how to act on stage, Hagar's reply was "Fuck you Mr. Manager. YOU'RE the new guy around here. We do what we want". Danniels knew that he would never control the band as long as Sammy was in the picture. He began to manipulate feuds between Sammy and Eddie. This was made easier during the Balance tour when Eddie and Alex (as recovering alcoholics) were separated from Sammy and Mikey, who were still partying.

By the end of the Balance tour in early 1996, the band was exhausted. They were supposed to have some down time in which Eddie and Alex could deal with their (now infamous) physical problems. Sammy, meanwhile was to spend time in Hawaii with his new wife who was pregnant at the time. Out of nowhere, Danniels announces to thae band that he has signed them to do 2 songs for the soundtrack of the movie Twister. The band goes into the studio and cuts 2 songs, "Humans Being" and "Between Us Two". In the middle of the Twister sessions, Danniels announces to the group that they will be releasing a greatest hits CD and that "Between us Two" will be held over for that CD. By this time Kari Hagar is in her final trimester of pregnancy and Sammy is understandably pissed. (the recording of F.U.C.K. had been delayed for months while Valerie was pregnant with Wolfie, and nobody had questioned Ed's loyalty to the band). Hagar finishes the Twister project and flys to Hawaii to be with his wife.

Meanwhile by this time Extreme (also managed by Danniels) has split up after Nuno Bettencourt left for a solo career. It's now common knowledge that Nuno left because of Danniels, who had only managed Extreme for a short time. Ray has a thought... I got a singer here with no band, and I got another band with a singer I can't control.... Hmmmm... Why not??? Danniels flies Gary Cherone out to meet Eddie Van Halen in either late May or early June of 1996.

Meanwhile, WB records has notified David Lee Roth of the upcoming greatest hits package. Dave calls Eddie to ask how his material will be represented on the album. The 2 get together and talk in person, and by some miracle (so it would seem) end up planning to record together. So in mid june of 1996, Eddie was in the studio with both David Lee Roth AND Gary Cherone, and Sammy Hagar was still officially in the band!

On Father's Day (note the irony here) that all changed. Eddie calls Sammy at home in Hawaii early in the morning. Sammy says Eddie was drunk. Given the cowardly nature of the phone call, I really don't doubt it. Eddie tells Sammy "we have been working with Dave, and you might as well go back to being a solo artist" Naturally, he didn't mention anything about Gary Cherone.

Word of DAVE being in the studio spread fast. While the recording was never said to be more than 2 songs, the story grew and soon the entire country was shouting REUNION TOUR!! The MTV Awards appearance only solidified that story. At NO POINT between Sammy's firing and the MTV awards did Ray Danniels or Edward Van Halen EVER issue a statement saying that Van Halen was NOT planning a reunion, or that they were working with Gary Cherone.

We all know how that turned out. Danniels manipulated the whole fucking mess. Without him, there never would have been a VD III. It's arguable whether or not we would have heard "Me Wise Magic" in 1996, so maybe it wasn't ALL bad.

Are you stoned or pissed off, or both, when you create these postings?

That pisses me off mainly because I was a big Extreme fan...not so much solo Nuno.

Extreme is one of the strangest bands, ever....and that makes sense, because it was the Nuno Bettencourt band and Nuno is someone who is insanely talented, but it is all-over the map in terms of a musical identity and a really strange cat.

I will say this. I really like their second album "Pornograffiti". I like it minus 3 songs that stick out like a sore thumb.....2 of those songs were huge hits for them LOL.

Their third album was good, but not as good. I saw them on that tour of the third album and was blown away with how good the were.

Now....here's where Nuno has a problem....his lyrics are incredibly dorky. Number 2....Gary Cherone is someone who can sing....but he's also kind of dorky as a frontman. He was an awful choice for VH.

So...In some ways I also like Extreme, but they have some blemishes and I think Nuno is kind of a weirdo.

Are you stoned or pissed off, or both, when you create these postings?

Ray Danniels first move as manager of Rush was kicking Geddy Lee out of the band...