Van Halen:not A Real Reunion Without Michael Anthony

[Andrew]

Hey: Andrew/Power Of Music here. Like all of you I am a huge Van Halen fan, and love their music through all 3 singers (dont forget Gary Cherone was in the band for 5 minutes). its hard to beat the original lineup with Diamond Dave and we all been waiting for this for a while. Now while I have nothing against Wolfgang (and sure he is multi talented), there is no real reuinion without Michael Anthony on bass. Besides being one of the most underated bass guitarists on the planet, his background vocals (like a few pointed out), are a signature part of Van Halen. Not to mention his wild stage antics,"Jack Daniel drinking" on his signature basses are nothing but classic. Angry or not i think they should have put aside their differences and asked him to tour ...to me its just plain insulting to a guy thats been there from the beginning of the band. I know most people just want to see Eddie wail on guitar or Dave do his thing,but Michael along with Alex Van Halen helped make that band real special. Does anyone fee the same or am I alone on this?!?

P.S. Still love Eddie and the boys just a little ticked off right now....

[GuitarPLYR]

You are not alone. I think that someone could play the bass chops and that someone could indeed be Wolfgang Van Halen. People copy Edward's guitar playing all of the time. Thy guy DLR was using on his last solo outing did an exceptional job. Instruments and playing style can be mimicked close enough where the general public could not tell the difference; however, a vocal sound and charisma are much tougher to pull off. Then, as you said, Michael's on stage persona will not and can not be replaced. I remember hearing Van Halen in 1978 when my friend's brother played the first album for us. I have been a huge fan ever since. It is unfair to the fans who have waited for this for what seems like eternity. They are doing it half-a$$ed instead of doing things the right way. Most importantly, it is completely unfair to Michael. With that said, excluding Michael Anthony out of this tour stinks to high heaven.

[Andrew]

Very well said. Its sad because The Van Halen brothers are two of the greatest and innnovative combo ever...Yet it seems that most of their decisions are based on politics,$$ and egos....Im just glad that Kiss and Black Sabbath did it the right way in the 90s....

[2112]

Originally Posted by Andrew

Very well said. Its sad because The Van Halen brothers are two of the greatest and innnovative combo ever...Yet it seems that most of their decisions are based on politics,$$ and egos....Im just glad that Kiss and Black Sabbath did it the right way in the 90s....

Actually, when Black Sabbath first reunited with Ozzy they did not invite Bill Ward back and they performed with a different drummer (name escapes me at the moment). During the interviews at the time, they said Bill couldn't play well anymore and that he couldn't handle being on the road anymore because he was a recovering alcoholic and other such crap. Then they said that they couldn't come to financial terms. At that point, Bill came out and said he would do it for free. Low and behold, the next time they toured, it was a full reunion with Bill on drums. Maybe that will happen this time. Maybe they will do a tour and play it for what its worth, and then invite Mike back next time to try to **** us back again (assuming they can get along that long). We'll have to see, but I wouldn't be surprised if it all happens that way, especially if they see dollar signs with extra demand for a ffull reunion.

[Andrew]

Hey 2112: I was not aware of that whole drama with Bill Ward,but I def. believe it since hes had a history of health problems and phobias such as fear of flying. All I know is he did the whole leg of the tour that I saw in 1997. So I guess it was just Kiss that did it right!!! Ironic by the way since Kiss gets the reputation of being more of a corporation than a band.

[Andrew]

Hey 2112: I was not aware of that whole drama with Bill Ward,but I def. believe it since hes had a history of health problems and phobias such as fear of flying. All I know is he did the whole leg of the tour that I saw in 1997. So I guess it was just Kiss that did it right!!! Ironic by the way since Kiss gets the reputation of being more of a corporation than a band. Being a Kiss fan I think Im gonna have to rub that in a few of my friends faces that hate them..

[2112]

It was Mike Bordin of Faith No More that played drums during the first Black Sabbath "reunion" tour. It left a bad taste in my mouth back then, but I still drove 9 hours to see the show (assuming it would be as close to a reunion as I would ever get to see). I am hoping the same thing happens with Van Halen.

I do think Kiss did it right at first, but then they *****ed it up with "Carnival of Souls", which was recorded mostly by studio musicians and then the whole farewell tour that never stopped even though they kicked Peter out and then Ace out and then Peter out again and then ....

[GreggFromJoisey]

Now Gene seemingly wont tour again with Peter or Ace...read what I am copying from www.eddietrunk.com via blabbermouth.net

KISS Bassist Dicusses His Family, Peter And Ace
Posted By DSR on 08.06.07

Joseph Hudak of TVGuide.com recently spoke with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow:

TV Guide: Your family life is conventional, but your relationship with Shannon [Tweed] is anything but. Do you consider your relationship with her an open one?

Simmons: All relationships are open. Don't believe there's any difference between a monogamous and a polygamous relationship. Those are all just big words, like "gymnasium." Human beings will do whatever the hell they want to do. [But] they lie about it, because they think they have to answer to somebody. I want Shannon to stay with me only because she wants to, not because she has to.

TV Guide: Your son Nick has said he genuinely likes hanging out with his parents. That must make you proud.

Simmons: Very proud, but it's not the cornerstone. The cornerstone is never to negotiate with children. This permissive society has created monsters and they're called "kids." Nick and [daughter] Sophie behave and are charming and polite because they're not allowed not to be!

TV Guide: You have such an aversion to drugs and alcohol. I expect the kids have been duly warned.

Simmons: Oh, they know the rules. Ever see that movie "Holes"? If I catch them once, they'll find themselves in a camp out in the middle of the desert, digging holes.

TV Guide: Did that strict stance ultimately affect your relationship with original KISS members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss?

Simmons: Absolutely. They were thrown out of the band because they were drug addicts and alcoholics. Period. It's difficult enough to agree with someone who is straight, much less having to deal with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This whole culture is obsessed with drugs and alcohol and smoking, and I will have none of it.

TV Guide: Would you play with them again? Or is that era of KISS over?

Simmons: It's difficult to talk about that because... they're damaged. Even if you're straight, can you play your instrument well enough to get up there and physically go through it? You're talking about 30 years of abuse. Everybody cares about Ace and Peter. I love them to death. But I don't want them to die on tour.

Read Gene Simmons' entire interview at: http://www.tvguide.com/News/gene-sim...wels/070720-02.

source: blabbermouth.net

[Andrew]

Quote from 2112:I do think Kiss did it right at first, but then they *****ed it up with "Carnival of Souls", which was recorded mostly by studio musicians and then the whole farewell tour that never stopped even though they kicked Peter out and then Ace out and then Peter out again and then ....

Yeah as big as a fan as I am, they are starting to sound like a soap opera or maybe a deranged family.....I think its the "Psycho Circus" album that your refering to which was supposed to be their comeback album with the 4 original guys, yet it was mostly Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer from the "unmasked days"that you hear on it. A decent record but deceitful.

[Andrew]

Gregg from Joisey: thanks for that segment of that Gene interview, my first time hearing it!!!!

[GreggFromJoisey]

You're welcome Andrew. Go to eddietrunk.com he usually updates his site every Monday.

By the way my guitar teacher wrote a song on Psycho Circus called "Into The Void". Great song. Karl Cochran. www.karlcochran.com

[yleekiyote]

I'm sure Eddie's decision on bringing back Michael is spurred on hatred towards Sammy. "The Other Half" is the vocals to all the VH material from 5150 on, (except for VH 3). Eddie is just bitter that Mikey and Sam have formed a bond greater then he had with them. While Ed was fighting the "demons", he is now ignoring all material after 1984 just for Dave. When all Sammy did was helped get VH recognized and into the Hall Of Fame. Once again, who showed up to the event and only spoke nice of the band. It was Eddie's decision to bring in Sam for their 13 year run. Dave pulled out to do his solo stuff, then tried to steal the Van Halen name to promote his work, but Ed is ready to bury the hatchet with Dave, something is seriously wrong with this picture. I'm sure Ed could have found an experienced bassist to cover but think about the profits, he won't have to pay his son that much.

This tour is a knee jerk attempt at trying to upset Michael and Sammy. Eddie just can't let bygons be bygons and let EVERYONE play. "IF" he truely wanted to rake in tons of money, you would have the entire band there splitting up their songs. For all the VH fans out there, who watched the HOF and noticed that their band was not there for the event, will the fans be for this one?

My prediction has this tour ending with Ed hitting the bottle, cancelling the last few shows as Dave has taken over the spotlight again like old times, and now Eddie will see that it wasn't worth the aggrevation.