Random Music Talk CXXVIII: Cobbler's 42 Hat Sucks

[LuckyNumber7]

Originally Posted by cobl04

Huh, I thought Jump was by Aerosmith

Yikes

[cobl04]

they're all the same.

speaking of, AC/DC has a new single out today, and it sounds exactly like every other song they've released for the past 40 years haha

[LuckyNumber7]

Originally Posted by cobl04

they're all the same.

speaking of, AC/DC has a new single out today, and it sounds exactly like every other song they've released for the past 40 years haha

Sure but the very song you quoted is probably the only one that I don’t think can be confused for Aerosmith lol

[namkcuR]

I don't really think Van Halen and Aerosmith sound all that much alike.

[LemonMelon]

Aerosmith formed in the early 70s and were inspired primarily by blues rock like the Rolling Stones, so they're not in the hair metal lineage at all. Even when they fashioned themselves along pop metal lines in the late 80s, they were never really into synths like VH was on 1984. Compare that record to an album like Rocks and the difference is night and day.

Hair metal acts were definitely inspired by VH though. Even a year after their debut came out, everyone was already ripping Eddie off. That first album changed the way people played guitar but it still sounds fairly unique today because it's so catchy and fun even as a shred record. Most guitarists who stole from Eddie couldn't write worth a damn.

[monkeyskin]

Growing up in the UK, I can’t say I’m too familiar with much Van Halen, Aerosmith, Journey, etc at all, barring the pop hits that live on in singing competitions.

The music that came out of England from around the same time seems to blow it away in terms of legacy. I’m talking classic Stones, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Bowie, even Sabbath and Maiden. But by the 80s all of the major ‘classic’ music seems to have hailed from America. The Police might be the last big band from England that had any claim to be world number one.

Anyone have any insight as to what happened there? Was it just the rise of Michael Jackson and Madonna followed by GnR, Nirvana, etc? If any one mentions 80s music to me my first thoughts are glam, synths and New Romantics which is mostly tripe.

[bono_212]

One Direction would like a word with you, monkeyskin.

[cobl04]

What accent do you have MS?

Also, Kurt Vile is back with a new EP and this song is so beautiful, absolutely classic KV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Haj5...KurtVile-Topic

[lazarus]

Originally Posted by namkcuR

But straight up, David Lee Roth is a better entertainer, a better "frontman", but in terms of pure vocal ability, Hagar is the better singer, and it's really not close imo. I'll die on that hill.

Well RIP then. If you're going to judge based on pure range or something, but David Lee Roth had a very musical upbringing and his main influences were soul and blues singers. So while he may not be able to hit certain notes, the phrasing and his style make him a considerably superior vocalist. Hagar is a cheeseball and there's a a lot less personality, or a lot less substantive personality in his work. I'll put Ice Cream Man up against any of Hagar's recordings, for starters.

I highly suggest listening to Marc Maron's WTF interview with Roth from some years back. A revelation.

[david]

The drum intro to Van Halen’s Little Guitars always reminded me of the drum intro to Bullet the Blue Sky:

https://youtu.be/ZtBOtBrfJM4

[monkeyskin]

Originally Posted by bono_212

One Direction would like a word with you, monkeyskin.

Ha, fair enough. Will be interesting how many people are still listening in 20 years, I’m not sure how much the Spice Girls are getting from Spotify these days and they were global for a hot minute.

And cobs, I guess one would describe it as equal parts Hugh Laurie, Chris Hemsworth and David Attenborough.

[LemonMelon]

Sammy Hagar has a better voice and range than Roth, but he's nowhere near as interesting or expressive of singer. A song like Ice Cream Man would be a damp squib with Hagar on vocals. Those early albums required an explosive personality that Hagar didn't have, but he sounded fine on the 80s stuff.

[namkcuR]

Originally Posted by LemonMelon

Sammy Hagar has a better voice and range than Roth.

That’s all I was saying.

[Hewson]

If you want to strictly compare voice/range, Cherone is actually the best "singer" of the 3.
I saw the one concert where all 3 graced the same stage. When Hagar and Roth toured together solo in 2002.
At the stop here in Mansfield MA, Hagar brought Cherone out to sing on a few songs. By far the best vocalist of the 3. Also was pretty good as a front man on the VHIII tour. Just wasn't gonna fly with the public, but Eddie seemed to be having more fun on that tour than any previous I had seen. And because Cherone could sing anything and would sing anything, the setlist included a lot of Roth era stuff they hadn't played since Dave left as Sammy basically would sing Jump, Panama and You Really Got Me, and that's it.
Michael Anthony joined Sammy to play bass that night so the show featured every member ever in Van Halen not named Van Halen.
Roth had put together a hell of a backing band that tour, had the guy who played guitar in The Atomic Punks, probably the preeminent VH tribute band, and the guy was good. Exact opposite of the previous time I saw Roth solo when he was at his nadir, played a small club, Avalon, introduced his guitar player as a friend from middle school on his first ever tour, you could tell. Band sucked and Roth was bad that night, this was in 1994.

But truly Roth was the only proper front man for Van Halen regardless of his vocal shortcomings. The last tour they did in 2015, he was definitely sub par, but conversely the now clean and sober Eddie was the best I'd ever seen. As Laz mentioned, Roth's musical abilities are greater than many realize, he wrote "Intruder" on his synthesizer when they need to fill some time on the Pretty Woman video. And as far as front men/show men are concerned, he's the standard bearer for hard rock acts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RZf-bV3aRE

[phanan]

I was in high school for 5150 and OU812, so those albums have an endearing quality to me, but in general, Roth was the man and was never surpassed.

As for Aerosmith, sure they changed in the 80's and employed some outside writers (although Diane Warren didn't get involved with them until the 90's when they really went south) but I'll argue that Pump is a great record, and it's no surprise that that album has the most songs by only the band - the outside writers on that one are fairly limited.

[Hewson]

Yeah Pump is pretty close to a true Aerosmith record, not too much outside influence.
The biggest travesty in their career is the Armageddon song written by Diane Warren and the fact that its their only #1 song.
If that were erased from existence, the rest of the outside writing help on albums like Permanent vacation and Get a Grip is not such a stain on their legacy.
That said, their 70's output speaks for itself and puts them in the upper echelon of American rock bands.

[Hewson]

Originally Posted by phanan

I was in high school for 5150 and OU812, so those albums have an endearing quality to me,
.

As wells as to one very infamous teacher at your school

[phanan]

Hey, I was out of there by 1989, before that whole shitstorm occurred...

[Hewson]

Originally Posted by phanan

Hey, I was out of there by 1989, before that whole shitstorm occurred...

I know, but OU812 figured prominently in that whole story.

[phanan]

Ha, I totally forgot about that.