08.07.11 Review

The changing of the guard. Exit Diamond Dave, enter Sammy Hagar. When I first heard about Roth leaving (or getting fired. To this day I still don't know what story to believe), I pretty much wrote Van Halen off as dead. Nothing against Sammy as I was a fan of his long before him joining VH. It wasn't a knock against him as a singer or guitar player. It was simply that he was stepping into some pretty huge shoes left vacant by Roth. That's a lot of pressure for anyone and my expectations for 5150 were set so low that I couldn't be disappointed with the final product.

A friend of mine who was a huge VH fan at the time kept telling me everyday not to bail on VH. His enthusiasm was infectious. He never wavered as we waited for the release day. Just before the album was set to drop, I had finally heard Why Can't This Be Love on the radio. I was like, "holy sh*t, that song f*cking rocks!". It was so different from anything I had ever heard from Eddie and the gang. So, it gave me hope that ok, they were not going to try to turn Sammy into Dave and replicate what they had done before.

Upon picking up 5150, I played it non stop. The entire album brings back a lot of fond memories of that summer. It's actually one of my favorite Van Hagar records because every song reminds me of specific things I did during that summer. The solo to Love Walks In is still a fave of mine. This is the first time I have listened to it top to bottom in years. It's still a great record, but a couple of songs I could do without now.

The guitar intro to 5150 was and still is some of the best rhythm playing of Eddie's career IMO.

Fave Songs: Good Enough, Why Can't This Be Love, Summer Nights, Love Walks In and 5150.