Sammy Hagar was Right!

Anyone whose read A Line Through the Desert knows I love music. Heck, I started the novel moments after finishing Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, a novel and later a movie about a record store owner. ALTD is littered with music references, Zeppelin, Bon Jovi, Cinderella (very underrated) Tesla, Def Leppard and others.

Anyway, of late I've been rediscovering Van Halen and I have to admit I still prefer Sammy Hagar. I always did. Maybe its just because my first VH album was 5150, that was actually the first album I ever bought with my own money, but I think they're better with Hagar.

5150 is heavier than anything Van Halen had done before. Don't believe me? Behold:

Seeing that on MTV is what got me to buy the album in the first place. The Hagar era is when Eddie Van Halen really gets to show his chops; because with Sammy he's got a lead singer that wants to work with him.

Which brings us to Diamond David Lee Roth.

I'm really not knocking the man, with Van Halen that is. Van Halen I is great, so's II. So is 1984. Let's take a look at the Jump video for a moment, shall we?

There's Dave and the guys.

Now, let's look at some of his solo stuff. Here's Crazy From the Heat:

And here's Paradise:

He just made the same damn video as Jump, but with Steve Vai. I'd show Yankee Rose, which is exactly like the other two, but for some reason I can only find it in Spanish. WTF?

OK, there's Dave climbing rocks, there he is with a funny intro. But these songs are utterly forgettable.

What's Dave's solo career remembered for? You know, and so does everyone else. There will be no links. California Girls and Just a Gigolo. Fun songs, great videos. But they're novelty songs. He was doing that in Van Halen too.

And that's why I prefer Sammy Hagar.