The Sammy Hagar era of Van Halen began in 1985, after the exit of the flamboyant David Lee Roth. The group said they wanted to lose the "Vegas Style" image that Dave was always promoting, which they could now do. Eddie and the guys considered many candidates for the job, from Pete Townsend of "The Who" to a possible female lead singer. After things fell through with those ideas, the search continued. Enter Sammy Hagar.
Sammy got his start in Rock as the lead singer the of heavy metal rock band "Montrose" Back in the mid '70's, Montrose was mildly successful, spawning such familiar hits as "Bad Motor Scooter", and "Rock Candy". After two albums, Sammy ventured off into his "1st" solo career. Sammy had many albums (12 before VH). Everyone remembers his power hits such as "I can't Drive 55", "One Way to Rock", "Heavy Metal", and many more. Well, many more as far as I am concerned. Some of his albums include "Standing Hampton", "Musical Chairs", and his final solo effort in the "pre-Van Halen" days, which was eventually titled "I Never Said Goodbye" On this final solo album, released after his first tour with Van Halen, Ed played bass guitar and co-produced it. This was easily Sammy's best solo album, having great songs like "Give to Live", "Returning Home", and my favorite all time Sammy Hagar song, "Eagles Fly". But first things first, let's talk criminally insane.
The album was a brilliant success. 5150, a police code for the criminally insane, took Van Halen to the number one slot for the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. It was an explosive effort from the boys from California, from the first track on. The album was filled with great songs, from the inspirational hit "Dreams" to the radio hits like "Why Can't this Be Love". The band also tried their hand at slower, more meaningful ballads like "Love Walks In", something they never really explored in the days of Dave. And for the true Van Halen fan, there were other great rock tunes such as "Best of Both Worlds", "Summer Nights", and one of my favorites, the title track "5150". Right away Van Halen was attracting different kinds of crowds giving them a much wider fan base. No videos were made for 5150 (except a live version of "Dreams" on the Greatest Hits Video) because the guys wanted the public to come out and see them for what they really are, great performers. I have talked to many people who aren't Van Halen fans who have seen them in concert, and they all agree that Van Halen puts on one hell of a show. Bottom line: complete success.
The band came back in '88 with their follow up album, OU812. After a very successful debut, the boys were lookin' to prove they could do it again. Fans were looking forward to Sammy's next attempt, and they were not disappointed. For the second consecutive time, and the second time ever, Van Halen reached the 1 spot on the charts again. Obviously they had done something right when they got Sammy. Fans all over quickly became familiar with the new album, as many songs were released to radio. You can tell Ed did a little more experimenting with keyboards, with the very poppy "Feels So Good" and "Mine All Mine". But there were plenty of guitar crunching licks, like the ones in "A.F.U. (Naturally Wired)" and "Black and Blue". The guys then slowed things up a little with a great swingy song about, well, you know, called "Finish What You Started". Another keyboard tune, which I purposefully didn't mention earlier, has a great guitar solo mixed in. It is also my favorite Van Halen song of all time, "When It's Love" . Some may consider this picture an "aphrodisiac". After a "Monsters of Rock" tour with groups such as the "Scorpions", "Dokken", and "Metallica", Van Halen took a little break.
The band returned in 1991, with their next album, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Many people were anticipating its release, having been 2 long years since the last album. Although this album also reached 1, many people weren't as impressed with this album as a whole. Van Halen fans were satisfied, but many critics didn't agree. Even Eddie himself admitted in years later that it was "labored", and that he wasn't real comfortable with all of it. But hey, it's certainly no Diver Down. I, personally, thought this was a great album. I mean, really! Much better as a whole than OU812. It starts off with Ed and a drill, and busts into "Poundcake" which is one of my favorite VH songs! How could you not love the vibe of this song!! Then it rips into "Judgement Day", which is a good "pissed off mood" kinda song. It eventually gets to "Runaround", which i have to say I absolutely love! And most people can relate if you listen to the words. There are some "so so" songs on the album (Pleasure Dome, The Dream Is Over), but "Right Now" is one of the best songs ever written, not to mention a kick ass video . Then it slows down just enough with an instrumental Ed wrote for his son Wolfgang, "316" (the day Wolfie was born, March 16). Then, just when you think it is all over with, WHAM! "Top of the World" hits you like a mack truck! Overall, I really enjoyed the album.
The next album released was one that Eddie was once quoted as saying he didn't ever want to do, a live album. Two shows were taped in Fresno, CA, and combined for a killer 2CD set. It is actually funny, because this album is a recording of two live shows from the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge album, and then once this was released, they decided to tour for this album also. They played some of the greater DLR tunes, and most of the songs from the Carnal Knowledge album. They even had a cover of a great "Who" song called "Won't Get Fooled Again". Sammy played a couple songs from his last solo album (one of which made it to the album, the other to the video). "Give to Live" was done acoustically, and it rocked! The acoustic version of "Eagle's Fly" ended up on the video and as a B-side to the "Jump" single that was released. Alex and Mike both had really great solos, Al's in the middle of "Pleasure Dome" and Mike's was a cool one called "Ultra Bass". And to top it all off, Ed had a great 11:37 solo that encompassed all of his great works from the past. Completely awesome! A must get for fans of live albums. It really showcases the talent and the power of Van Halen.
After another long break, the boys returned in 1995 with "Balance". Balancereally hit upon some elements that some of the others haven't seen since the days of Diamond Dave. The sound was different, and there was a "ferociousness" from Eddie's guitar that was really incredible. They had their typical variety of songs. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" would be labeled the "radio friendly" pop tune from the album. But then the razor sharp riff of "Dont Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" would come out of nowhere and blow you away! It was a really great tune that Sammy said was inspired by the death of "Nirvana" frontman Kurt Cobain. There were a couple of other great rockers, such as "Amsterdam" and "Big Fat Money", and then it slowed down for a beautiful piano ballad called "Not Enough". After a couple of instrumentals (one of which was Ed destroying a piano), it finished off with a couple great songs, my favorite being an awesome tune called "Take Me Back (Deja Vu)". The good news is that this was a great turn out for Van Halen fans, the bad news (horrible news for me) was that it would be the last studio album with great frontman Sammy Hagar.
In May of 1996 the guys were asked to put a song on the soundtrack of the movie "Twister". (Rumor has it they recorded 2 songs: "Humans Being" and an unreleased one called "Between Us Two" that was said to be Van Halen's "Stairway to Heaven"!!) Many problems surfaced during the writing and recording of the song between Sammy and Ed. Sammy's wife was pregnant and he wanted to spend much time with her as he could. After that fiasco, more problems arose when Sammy voiced his displeasure with the idea of a greatest hits album. I happen to agree with Sammy, believing you should only put out a greatest hits album when the band is done. What happened next is kind of a mystery because there is a different story depending on who you listen to. Ed called Sammy on Fathers Day and told him he was frustrated. And by the end of the conversation, Sammy was a solo artist once again. Whether he was fired or he quit is still unknown. The only thing that is known is that an era of great music was over, and many fans, including myself, were devastated.
