Any rumors on Van Halen

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

Site's down at the moment but there's a lengthy interview with Sam & Mike here. Things don't sound good. Cliff's notes version: no plans for anything in the future, they'd kill each other if they tried to record an album, don't hold your breath waiting for the next tour, Dave was so wasted on the Sam & Dave tour that Mike doesn't think he'd survive a VH one, etc.

[FusionFarmer]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

unfortunaly Eddies M.O. is to crawl out from under his rock, sign a big endorsement contract, and do nothing to support the products that bear his name. While he was with Peavey he didn't do shit but give the thumbs down to almost every new idea. Look how the latest tour and the Charvel deal came about at the same time. As an endorsing artist Eddie never fails to diappoint, All that talent just going to waste.

[RacerX]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

I like that theory.

[Tetsuo]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

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it's hard to stop your vices. the first thing i did when i got out of the hospital when i over dosed was do another shot and light a smoke. i think the cigarettes are harder than the heroin was.cameltoe, but i see how it would be frustrating for you , being a big fan of his and wanting him to succeed again. i just understand his behavior all too well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Smoking cigarettes is actually harder to put down than Heroin. Nicotine creates a physical and psychological dependance that is one of the strongest of all psychoactive drugs. It is also something you dose yourself with on a constant basis, in public...in social sitiations, at home..whenever. This establishes a tie to cigarettes that is virtually impossible to sever.

I spent almost three years working in the trenches of the tobacco litigation. I read and discovered documents that simply blew my mind. I also was able to quit smoking for almost 6 years. Of course, my divorce derailed that and it has been an on off battle since.

Mike

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Too an extent that is true but vices and addictions are personal. Ciggs are teh hardest because if you are not a pro athlete they do not effect your life in a negative day to day way that Heroin or Alcohol will. Unlikely that you will get in fight at some place after having smoked too much... I think since cigs are just easy and available and they are a more acceptable vice that is why it is ahrder to kick. For me it wasn't an issue I woke up said I was done and never once had an ill effect. On occassion when I was out drinking I would have one but that was it. I had a much much much harder time giving up LSD which has no physical addiction.

[MBreinin]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
it's hard to stop your vices. the first thing i did when i got out of the hospital when i over dosed was do another shot and light a smoke. i think the cigarettes are harder than the heroin was.cameltoe, but i see how it would be frustrating for you , being a big fan of his and wanting him to succeed again. i just understand his behavior all too well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Smoking cigarettes is actually harder to put down than Heroin. Nicotine creates a physical and psychological dependance that is one of the strongest of all psychoactive drugs. It is also something you dose yourself with on a constant basis, in public...in social sitiations, at home..whenever. This establishes a tie to cigarettes that is virtually impossible to sever.

I spent almost three years working in the trenches of the tobacco litigation. I read and discovered documents that simply blew my mind. I also was able to quit smoking for almost 6 years. Of course, my divorce derailed that and it has been an on off battle since.

Mike

[/ QUOTE ]

Too an extent that is true but vices and addictions are personal. Ciggs are teh hardest because if you are not a pro athlete they do not effect your life in a negative day to day way that Heroin or Alcohol will. Unlikely that you will get in fight at some place after having smoked too much... I think since cigs are just easy and available and they are a more acceptable vice that is why it is ahrder to kick. For me it wasn't an issue I woke up said I was done and never once had an ill effect. On occassion when I was out drinking I would have one but that was it. I had a much much much harder time giving up LSD which has no physical addiction.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had absolutely no trouble giving up LSD. One night of pure terror was enough to forever cure me of any additional LSD curiosity. This was after several purely joyous experiences with it. It only takes one really bad acid trip to forever de-rail that train.

I have never devloped an addiction to any substance outside of nicotine. I can drop caffeine with no problem. I quite drinking altogether for four years because I was tired of hangovers. I could go the rest of my life and never light another joint and it would be no big deal. I have smoked opium, I have done my fair shares of lines...mescaline, X, you name it...I have tried it at some point. While drugs can be fun, and can be hellish as well, they just don't hold any sway for me.

Except cigarettes. If I wasn't so terrified of the health effects of cigarettes..I would smoke in perpetuity. I really need to quit, but for some reason I have had a very hard time getting it done on this attempt. Cigarettes are evil little bastards.

Mike

[jgcable]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

Sorry, call me a hardass but its hard for me to respect any musician who has made it as big as EVH and who is throwing it all away because of substance abuse.
IMHO.. EVH and most other guitar hero's, gods, legends, whatever you want to call them.. are just guitar players who have had the honor, good fortune and luck to have made it big in the music business and have been able to follow their dreams and do what they always dreamed of doing.
For every one of them there is 100 players who are just as good who never got lucky or noticed or discovered or whatever. I will never believe that horseshit that you see and read about when they interview stars and they tell you to "follow your dreams" and that if you continue and don't give up you will eventually make it. Horseshit. Guys like EVH were friggin lucky. Hey.. the guy rocks. Everybody knows that. I also know 25 local guys that could out play him any day of the week and who would do anything to have had the HONOR to make a living in the music business.
Most of us that never made it would have been totally satisfied with just making a living in the business, nevermind being a superstar and a multi-millionaire. EVH and many others like him don't seem to appreciate the incredible good fortune they have.
There are class acts out there and then there are famous drunks. He is the latter.
I would have done just about anything to get the chance he got. I guess it makes you appreciate players like Satriani, Vai, Macalpine, Lynch and many more..
These guys have been at the top of their game since the beginning and still are.
I hate topics like this. What would I like to do if I had the chance??
1. Go toe to toe with Eddy on stage. He hasn't gotten eny better since VH-2 and I have. Talk about being stuck in a rut. Drugs and booze tend to do that to a guitarist.
2. Tell him what a waste of life he is and what an incredible disappointment he is to his fans.
3. Wait for the inevitable confrontation that will occur between him and me and proceed to pound him into the ground.
Yes... you guessed it. I am not a fan. I used to be back in the beginning but that was a long time ago.

[txcharvel]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

Damn John, so what are you tryin' to say?

[Tetsuo]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

[quote
I had absolutely no trouble giving up LSD. One night of pure terror was enough to forever cure me of any additional LSD curiosity. This was after several purely joyous experiences with it. It only takes one really bad acid trip to forever de-rail that train.

I have never devloped an addiction to any substance outside of nicotine. I can drop caffeine with no problem. I quite drinking altogether for four years because I was tired of hangovers. I could go the rest of my life and never light another joint and it would be no big deal. I have smoked opium, I have done my fair shares of lines...mescaline, X, you name it...I have tried it at some point. While drugs can be fun, and can be hellish as well, they just don't hold any sway for me.

Except cigarettes. If I wasn't so terrified of the health effects of cigarettes..I would smoke in perpetuity. I really need to quit, but for some reason I have had a very hard time getting it done on this attempt. Cigarettes are evil little bastards.

Mike

[/ QUOTE ]

We are on the smae page... my general belief is that smoking has the least short term reprecussions and therefore are harder to quit for some but I am just saying that it is personal though. See for me it was easy to quit smoking for the simple fact I saw my Mother and Uncle die from Tobacco induced heart disease.

[Subvamp]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

Testify Brother Cable.


I have had the great fortune to have had 2 record deals in my "career". Not just one, but TWO. Both times we crisscrossed the States living in a van and shitty hotels. All of us gave up drinking and everything else, because we knew we had to be at the top of our game, every night, because if we boozed it up in Philly the night before, and our show in Pitsburg sucked, all the people in Pittsburg would remember is a bad show. I got my shit together just to make a meager living in the music business. But Eddie being a drunken buffoon and constantly disappointing his fans is not only selfish (and it is selfish folks)it's a smack in the face to anyone who busted their ass on their instrument but didn't get as lucky as him. I used to love the guy...his solos made the hairs stand up on my arms...but that was long ago. Eddie should remember that it's his fans that put him where he is, and we don't owe him shit. He owes us.

Not that I'm bitter or anything. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Tetsuo]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry, call me a hardass but its hard for me to respect any musician who has made it as big as EVH and who is throwing it all away because of substance abuse.
IMHO.. EVH and most other guitar hero's, gods, legends, whatever you want to call them.. are just guitar players who have had the honor, good fortune and luck to have made it big in the music business and have been able to follow their dreams and do what they always dreamed of doing.
For every one of them there is 100 players who are just as good who never got lucky or noticed or discovered or whatever. I will never believe that horseshit that you see and read about when they interview stars and they tell you to "follow your dreams" and that if you continue and don't give up you will eventually make it. Horseshit. Guys like EVH were friggin lucky. Hey.. the guy rocks. Everybody knows that. I also know 25 local guys that could out play him any day of the week and who would do anything to have had the HONOR to make a living in the music business.
Most of us that never made it would have been totally satisfied with just making a living in the business, nevermind being a superstar and a multi-millionaire. EVH and many others like him don't seem to appreciate the incredible good fortune they have.
There are class acts out there and then there are famous drunks. He is the latter.
I would have done just about anything to get the chance he got. I guess it makes you appreciate players like Satriani, Vai, Macalpine, Lynch and many more..
These guys have been at the top of their game since the beginning and still are.
I hate topics like this. What would I like to do if I had the chance??
1. Go toe to toe with Eddy on stage. He hasn't gotten eny better since VH-2 and I have. Talk about being stuck in a rut. Drugs and booze tend to do that to a guitarist.
2. Tell him what a waste of life he is and what an incredible disappointment he is to his fans.
3. Wait for the inevitable confrontation that will occur between him and me and proceed to pound him into the ground.
Yes... you guessed it. I am not a fan. I used to be back in the beginning but that was a long time ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just to add to this a bit I agree with John...

Addictions are very very very tough. Giving someone too much sympathy to an addict just allows (espescially an ego maniac like EVH) an excuse. When you get a chance go see Murderball those quadrpalegics have it very very tough but they never quit. I can't respect Eddie because he has stopped respecting himself his friends and his family. I feel sorry for him but I can't respect him.

[MBreinin]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry, call me a hardass but its hard for me to respect any musician who has made it as big as EVH and who is throwing it all away because of substance abuse.
IMHO.. EVH and most other guitar hero's, gods, legends, whatever you want to call them.. are just guitar players who have had the honor, good fortune and luck to have made it big in the music business and have been able to follow their dreams and do what they always dreamed of doing.
For every one of them there is 100 players who are just as good who never got lucky or noticed or discovered or whatever. I will never believe that horseshit that you see and read about when they interview stars and they tell you to "follow your dreams" and that if you continue and don't give up you will eventually make it. Horseshit. Guys like EVH were friggin lucky. Hey.. the guy rocks. Everybody knows that. I also know 25 local guys that could out play him any day of the week and who would do anything to have had the HONOR to make a living in the music business.
Most of us that never made it would have been totally satisfied with just making a living in the business, nevermind being a superstar and a multi-millionaire. EVH and many others like him don't seem to appreciate the incredible good fortune they have.
There are class acts out there and then there are famous drunks. He is the latter.
I would have done just about anything to get the chance he got. I guess it makes you appreciate players like Satriani, Vai, Macalpine, Lynch and many more..
These guys have been at the top of their game since the beginning and still are.
I hate topics like this. What would I like to do if I had the chance??
1. Go toe to toe with Eddy on stage. He hasn't gotten eny better since VH-2 and I have. Talk about being stuck in a rut. Drugs and booze tend to do that to a guitarist.
2. Tell him what a waste of life he is and what an incredible disappointment he is to his fans.
3. Wait for the inevitable confrontation that will occur between him and me and proceed to pound him into the ground.
Yes... you guessed it. I am not a fan. I used to be back in the beginning but that was a long time ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

Life is a crap shoot and some people get lucky, some don't. Yes, there are guitar players out there now that could mop the floor with Ed. There were players out there that could mop the floor with him in 1978 when he cut VH1. However, he had something that was unique...a sound that was different and innovative. There really was no band out there that sounded like Van Halen, although others have come afterward and tried to capitalize on that sound and that vibe.

Perhaps Eddie hasn't improved since VHII. But, did he really have to? If anything, he should have stuck to what made him a legend...I can't listen to mcuh VH stuff post 1984 because it really doesn't sound like Van Halen to me...and that goes beyond the inclusion of Sammy.

The things you would like to do with Ed, like cut heads...serve him a cold platter of fan angst and beat his ass would make no difference. He is Eddie fucking Van Halen. He is a god to many, even if a tarnished god at that. I also think Ed may be a sleeping giant. Don't think that just because he is a drunk, that he has lost his ability to play. Don't be so confident that you can hand him his ass.

And don't forget that Ed worked for what he got. He didn't just appear on the scene in 1978, make a record and become an overnight sensation. He worked, long and hard, for many years to get that opportunity....and he paved the way for many people who you respect much more than you respect him.

If you should feel bitter about anyone, it should be all of the no-talent abominations we are assaulted with on a daily basis...you should be bitter about the current state of rock and roll...not about a legend who has allowed himself to fall from grace.

Mike

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

The hardest possibly addiction to get rid off is addiction to Coke Light! I 'm hooked on the stuff, and I get serious drawback symptoms if I don't drink it for a day or two days. The Aspartame is slowly but surely killing off my brain! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I'll just have to try and turn onto coffee I guess.


Rock today is making a come back, imho, it's still infantile but I'm confident we'll get another era of guitar soon.

[jgcable]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

F'em.
I'll conceed this though. EVH was better than me on guitar for VH1 and VH2 but I caught his pickled scrawny ass on Diver Down (or was it Women and Children First) and have gotten better every year since. Unlike Ed, I still continue to write really cool songs too. Unfortunately the only people that hear them are my friends and family.

The thing that most of us forget sometimes is that there is a VERY VERY fine line between an EVH and a Joe Schmoe who never made it in the business. I know plenty of Schmoe's who kill on guitar and work 12 hour days mopping tar or digging holes. That is the unusual thing about the stars. Many times, the only difference between them and us is luck. We used to refer to our EP's or demo tapes or indi- produced albums and promo-packs as lottery tickets.
Why??
Because if you didn't have one you would never win and if you did the odds of making it or hitting the lottery were about the same. I came close... damn close.

Well, I hope Ed gets his crap together one day and comes clean with himself and his millions of fans. Until then, he can kiss my jealous bitter ass and my challenge stands. Anytime, anywhere Ed.. just me and you.

[noodlesatf]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

Even though I don't have a deal and don't tour, I still think of music the same way I would if I got signed. When I'm on that stage, I'm WORKING. I have a JOB to do. I wouldn't get drunk at work. I wouldn't get trashed the night before, and then drag into work late and give a half ass effort. That's not the mature, reponsible thing to do. I keep myself as healthy as possible so I can give the people that paid at the door their money's worth.

I get pissed when I see a musician who let's substances take over. How pissed I am is proportional to how much money I spent on them. Lot's of people have spent lots of money to see a strung out has been named EVH torture the classics that put him on the map. If Eddie's career was just a regular job, he would have been canned long ago.

Meanwhile, I just saw a bunch of dedicated guys who call themselves Judas Priest play the classics that put them on the map a zillion times better than they did when they were younger. I'm with John, because I respect a band like JP who have dedication, commitment, and class, rather than a washed up drunk like EVH who likes to whine and make excuses. I wish he would fade back into obscurity before he completely ruins the image I have of him stuck in my head.

[jgcable]

Re: Any rumors on Van Halen

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Sorry, call me a hardass but its hard for me to respect any musician who has made it as big as EVH and who is throwing it all away because of substance abuse.
IMHO.. EVH and most other guitar hero's, gods, legends, whatever you want to call them.. are just guitar players who have had the honor, good fortune and luck to have made it big in the music business and have been able to follow their dreams and do what they always dreamed of doing.
For every one of them there is 100 players who are just as good who never got lucky or noticed or discovered or whatever. I will never believe that horseshit that you see and read about when they interview stars and they tell you to "follow your dreams" and that if you continue and don't give up you will eventually make it. Horseshit. Guys like EVH were friggin lucky. Hey.. the guy rocks. Everybody knows that. I also know 25 local guys that could out play him any day of the week and who would do anything to have had the HONOR to make a living in the music business.
Most of us that never made it would have been totally satisfied with just making a living in the business, nevermind being a superstar and a multi-millionaire. EVH and many others like him don't seem to appreciate the incredible good fortune they have.
There are class acts out there and then there are famous drunks. He is the latter.
I would have done just about anything to get the chance he got. I guess it makes you appreciate players like Satriani, Vai, Macalpine, Lynch and many more..
These guys have been at the top of their game since the beginning and still are.
I hate topics like this. What would I like to do if I had the chance??
1. Go toe to toe with Eddy on stage. He hasn't gotten eny better since VH-2 and I have. Talk about being stuck in a rut. Drugs and booze tend to do that to a guitarist.
2. Tell him what a waste of life he is and what an incredible disappointment he is to his fans.
3. Wait for the inevitable confrontation that will occur between him and me and proceed to pound him into the ground.
Yes... you guessed it. I am not a fan. I used to be back in the beginning but that was a long time ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

Life is a crap shoot and some people get lucky, some don't. Yes, there are guitar players out there now that could mop the floor with Ed. There were players out there that could mop the floor with him in 1978 when he cut VH1. However, he had something that was unique...a sound that was different and innovative. There really was no band out there that sounded like Van Halen, although others have come afterward and tried to capitalize on that sound and that vibe.

Perhaps Eddie hasn't improved since VHII. But, did he really have to? If anything, he should have stuck to what made him a legend...I can't listen to mcuh VH stuff post 1984 because it really doesn't sound like Van Halen to me...and that goes beyond the inclusion of Sammy.

The things you would like to do with Ed, like cut heads...serve him a cold platter of fan angst and beat his ass would make no difference. He is Eddie fucking Van Halen. He is a god to many, even if a tarnished god at that. I also think Ed may be a sleeping giant. Don't think that just because he is a drunk, that he has lost his ability to play. Don't be so confident that you can hand him his ass.

And don't forget that Ed worked for what he got. He didn't just appear on the scene in 1978, make a record and become an overnight sensation. He worked, long and hard, for many years to get that opportunity....and he paved the way for many people who you respect much more than you respect him.

If you should feel bitter about anyone, it should be all of the no-talent abominations we are assaulted with on a daily basis...you should be bitter about the current state of rock and roll...not about a legend who has allowed himself to fall from grace.

Mike

[/ QUOTE ]

Mike, Ed didn't work any harder than most of us did who wanted to make it in the business. I gigged, practiced, toured and recorded from the day I graduated high school in 1979 until 1988. Heck.. Ted Nugent came to me in a dream and told me to quit college after 6 months and I followed his advise and did! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
The difference is that he was one of the lucky ones. Maybe if my dad was a musician and had connections it would have been different. You know... alot of famous metal dudes back in the 80's had more than luck. I am sure it didn't hurt Pearcy to have a blood relative named Uncle Milty.

Bottom line is many of us that chose music as our careers worked just as hard if not harder than that "legends" did.
Oh yea... and another thing, Ed owed it to the fans and himself to get better as a musician. Usually, the industry demands it. Occasionally, a musician makes such an incredible impact on the business that they no longer have to prove anything. Well, to the normal fan thats fine. For me... a fellow shredder guitarist... that doesn't cut it.

I guess this post is getting pretty interesting now. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]