If it weren't for David Lee Roth's brains, there would not have been a Van Halen..

@@RSTI191 lmao, no.

@@RSTI191 definitely incorrect. Both would have still been successful, but the Van Halen brand is just naturally inspiring.

If it weren’t for David Lee Roth the band would have never got on or off the Sunset Strip. Al and Ed were content playing “Freddie’s Pool Hall” and “Diana’s parents are out of town so lets throw a kegger” party’s.

@@Cajun-it3yf You mean the "Van Halen" brand that Dave insisted on? That was 100% his idea.

saw that show

Hard to say what Roth really meant. So he wanted the solos/instrumentals either cut down or out, plus he didn't want keyboards dominating Van Halen songs. Ed came up with some brilliant instrumentals on Diver Down: "Cathedral" and the intro to "Little Guitars" are great. Even "Intruder" is rude sounding.

@@JokersWild70 Funny how he didn't want keyboards, and went on to use them in his solo projects.

Yes, I was just about to post the same thing. Dave was talking about the little solo pieces Ed would do like Cathedral, Little Guitars Intro, etc. Ed actually says this outright in the interview. Honestly, I can kind of see where Dave was coming from, but Ed's solo pieces were always really short, so who cares?

No Dave meant exactly that no more guitar solos no matter what length... It was Dave's ego that attention would be drawn away from him. I got love for Dave though! He's got a god-given talent all of his own. That's just How They Roll they bickered back and forth always.... The mellowest guys out of the bunch that didn't want to cause any shit and just rolled with the flow was Alex and Michael Anthony and then of course Wolfie. Like Michael Anthony said they just wanted to play music

@@JokersWild70 Yep!

He changed his mind about it with hindsight after he split from Dave & did more successful original stuff at 5150 later.

He couldn't hear because of loud amps,coke and booze!😆✌💛🤘

Yeah, Dave had a point, it was a repetitive idea. Which Black Sabbath had done a bit of themselves and that was probably one place Eddie got the idea from; yeah I know Eruption was Ted's.

Dave says no more solos but wanted to put a cover song on every album. C'mon Dave give me a break!

The solos as Dave refers to them were actually great pieces of music not some random noodling . Eddie was right to want to showcase his amazing abilities.

@@bobbyruggs808 one break...coming uuuup!

@@Fearzero 😅😅

My initial reaction was that too, BUT when you think about some songs benefitted from it I kinda see that. They were going into that place where many 80s bands ended up where the song was a place holder for a solo. VH always had great beats, melodies, songcraft, and phrasing and with that philosophy it makes all the great solos stand out more. Imagine had every song had some monster solo in it? They avoided saturation. In the end tension/competition will produce great results. Plus I'm sure Wolfie is going have someone dive into all those tapes at 5150 and we will get some great guitar work. I heard once a ways back from a roadie that he has like a whole prog catalog worth of guitar work the band wouldn't let him use (think how they rejected "Right Now" and complex that piano work is) from him being so into Allan Holdsworth. Think about "All Out of Love" or "Light Up The Sky"...where did those type of songs disappear to?

@@1davejsutdave1 I tend to agree. I'm sure he didn't want him to not do the tapping, etc., just shift the focus a little. The first albums all had solos: Eruption, Spanish Fly, etc.

Who really knows though. I love Eddie but when both Sammy and Dave were fired they both agreed it was the van halen brothers who were hard to work with and then eddie and alex said they were both lying. So it's like a who do you believe kinda thing. And Dave probably meant like no more "eruption" or "spanish fly" solos like that.

Not much point in being pissed off about something said in an interview 38 years ago.

His name is Ed, he played guitar

Even going to concerts with a backstage pass or standing right by the stage near the speakers didn't help my ears any 😂

I was a session picker in Nashville in the 80s. Mine still ring and it does impair my hearing. Probably always will.

I did it, and I think it’s kind a like alcohol, it’s in the genes, you can either handle it or you can’t.

Roth named the band He just thought their surname sounded cool....

My god, if we could have only heard this 38 years ago... 🎸❤️ RIP Ed

EVH should've been a little more assertive with DLR. "No more guitar solos!" Wtf.

I am not believing that at all. Dave said "people want to hear you play guitar, not keyboard".

Clerk at the front desk, might as well be lol

Jas Obrecht from Guitar Player.

Um... no. LOL

But wasnt it Dave who had the vision for something greater and pushed them out of the backyard parties and on to something more?

Maybe so, but Ed would have and could have made it on his own. Certainly didn't need Roth.

Ed was an unusual talent. Roth was mediocre in my opinion

@@tambor76 Van Halen had way more success without Dave...and were much the better band without him.

@@dr.biscuits Their first album and 1984 alone sold more than all the Hagar albums combined. I don't know what you're talking about they had more success without Dave. And almost no one prefers the Hagar years.

same

A few cool songs on it. Part of that was the record company demanding a quick album to take advantage of their popularity at that time.