VU vs VH

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Inspired by the 'shitty stick' thread - first band I thought of was Van Halen, who had more crap-a-likes than anyone (tho some mischievous imps have alluded to VH's Montrose-imitator status, Montrose is the wrench thrown into the SH-DLR argument, whole other thread that), and the VH imitators usually stole EVERY stitch of spandex, so a C90 of VH-a-likes would impress a certain listener and be unbearable for anybody else. VU OTOH, despite that 'everybody started a band' thing - OK, I'm at work now (7.52, believe me it's better this way, 'come and go quickly' like Hanoi Rocks or my disgusted ex-gf might say), and there's reasonably average ppl here (gentrifiers of the heartland twixt 12-CD and obsessive territory), and there's a mixtape going. Some VU, some P Smith, Suicide, Iggy, Love, Ubu, get the picture. Now - NONE of these bands sound alike, right? So, how can somebody claim "I like all these bands on musical grounds" when they're all totally different rite? One could be either a cynical snob like me and say "They've just bought into a sensibility they read about somewhere", or take it at face value and say "Well maybe they coincidentally actually really love BOTH Nick Drake and the MC5 the same, they have wide-ranging tastes." W.r.t., I'll buy it. So, WHERE'S THE VAN HALEN?

― dave q, Monday, 20 January 2003 08:00 (twenty-three years ago)

To paraphrase somebody who sadly died recently before they could see off who THEY were supposedly replacing - "VU, Dolls and Stooges in 2003"?

― dave q, Monday, 20 January 2003 08:02 (twenty-three years ago)

"Right Now" > "Venus in Furs"

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 20 January 2003 20:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Well, I wouldn't go THAT far...

― dave q, Monday, 20 January 2003 21:44 (twenty-three years ago)

so wait, let me get this straight. If I claim to like the MC5 *and* Nick Drake on musical grounds, I'm a "poseur" who doesn't actually like both bands? What kind of bullshit is that?

Is it okay for me to love both VU *and* VH then? Cuz I do!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 January 2003 22:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Is it okay for me to love both VU *and* VH then? Cuz I do!

Only if its the orignal line ups. :o

― brg30 (brg30), Monday, 20 January 2003 22:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Love'em both.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 20 January 2003 23:18 (twenty-three years ago)

if Van Halen broke up after fourth album...or hell, 1984, they'd definitely get more critical props. Love both as well. Though not Van Hagar, they got, like, a greatest hits EP I could handle. Maybe.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 20 January 2003 23:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Imagine if instead of Doug Yule, the Velvets woulda got Hagar. There'd be no income tax, the Hudson River would flow tequila and we never woulda hadda listen to Mistrial, just so we could say we'd listened to IT ALL.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 20 January 2003 23:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Sterling Morrison vs. Eddie Van Halen - what kind of contest is this? The reason EVH played so many notes was cause he couldn't find the *right* one. Sterling Morrison never played a wrong, or more accurately, never played an *unnecessary* note.

Van Halen were the least good of the 80s hair metal bands. I'd rather have Hanoi Rocks, thanks.

― kate, Tuesday, 21 January 2003 00:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm cracking up imagining Hagar singing "Ohhhhh......CANDY! WOW! CANDY SEZ! TALKIN' BOUT CANDY! You knooow what I mean!"

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 00:08 (twenty-three years ago)

also don't "Some Kinda Love" and "C'mon Baby finish what you started" sound vaguely similar?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 00:11 (twenty-three years ago)

The reason EVH played so many notes was cause he couldn't find the *right* one.

Sure, this generalization could be used about many other pop metal guitarists, but EVH had the distinct habit of making EVERY note count.

Van Halen were the least good of the 80s hair metal bands.

I'm not certain they ever felt comfortable being lumped in with the genre, anyway. Especially after Hagar joined. I have a hard time imagining Dokken writing a song like "Finish What Ya Started."

― paul cox (paul cox), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 00:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Montrose > VU > VH

― hstencil, Tuesday, 21 January 2003 05:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Montrose > VU? hstencil, you surprise me at least once every week.

― paul cox (paul cox), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 05:13 (twenty-three years ago)

that first Horace post made me laugh so hard that I spit coffee all over the computer screen

― geeta (geeta), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 05:18 (twenty-three years ago)

EVH never played any unnecessary silences

― dave q, Tuesday, 21 January 2003 06:57 (twenty-three years ago)

The silence after "Eruption" ends is totally unnecessary

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 07:32 (twenty-three years ago)

oh wait, it's so you know to switch it before "You Really Got Me Now" comes on heh

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 07:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Sorry for not answering properly dave, I just can't stop laughing - I'm imagining a ratty 16-year-old DLR hunched over a coffee table, whining to the waitress that he read a flyer somewhere that said the Velvet Underground were playing THAT afternoon.

"You Really Got Me" is the only song I can imagine both bands doing; as bad as the VH versh is the VU one would be so much worse

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 21 January 2003 15:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Paul - I've been really into that first Montrose record lately. Did they have any others? I dunno, I don't care.

Okay, so yeah it was a bit of hyperbole, they're not better than VU, but Montrose definitely is great. A very rocking, fun album (which in hindsight of Hager's career, shows how far he's fallen).

(I do like Van Halen a lot, though in a "glad-to-hear-'Panama'-on-classic-rock-radio kinda way.)

― hstencil, Tuesday, 21 January 2003 15:37 (twenty-three years ago)

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