The Madness of Van Halen 1

[WOM]

What is Bon Jovi's relationship to Van Halen. Copyists?

Wow. I'd never have thought there was any connection at all. Still don't, even after thinking about it.

[Hot Pepsi]

Wow. I'd never have thought there was any connection at all. Still don't, even after thinking about it.

I think Bon Jovi thought they were Springsteen mashed with Kiss. Which is like orange juice in coffee.

[Hot Pepsi]

I think Bon Jovi thought they were Springsteen mashed with Kiss. Which is like orange juice in coffee.

Actually it’s worse than that because Kiss are awful. More like shit in coffee.

[WOM]

I think Bon Jovi thought they were Springsteen mashed with Kiss. Which is like orange juice in coffee.

Yeah, this would have been pretty close to it for me.

[WOM]

Actually it’s worse than that because Kiss are awful. More like shit in coffee.

Nah, I love Kiss. Kiss are....Kiss. Like nobody else...and nobody else like 'em.

[Ray de Galles]

That list has made me realize that I don’t rate Van Halen at all and believe, more or less, that they represent everything I despise about the worst excessss of America, about the worst excesses of the 80s, and about so many of the people I went to school with. It also makes me reflect on how much of my youth was spent listening to music I didn’t really like just because it was the least bad thing on the radio at the time.

Blaming Van Halen for the worst excesses of American rock in the eighties is like those people who blame Nick Hornby for the bloated ills of English football in the post-Premiership era, i.e. a spectacular cause and effect fallacy.

Pretty much everyone else who followed in VH’s wake were pygmies who lacked Dave’s wit, charm and intelligence or the musicianship of the other guys. The hair metal hordes bear as much resemblance to Van Halen as the Oi bands do to Ramones.

[ad hoc]

Represent =/= are responsible for

[Hot Pepsi]

Nah, I love Kiss. Kiss are....Kiss. Like nobody else...and nobody else like 'em.

[Hot Pepsi]

Represent =/= are responsible for

Exactly.

It might be more generous to say that *I associate* VH with all those awful things. It’s contextual. Somebody just hearing them now for the first time would not be transported back to shitty memories of junior high in middle America in 1985.

Their massive popularity as well as the gross strip-club aesthetic they promoted were a symptom of bigger problems, rather than a cause. They were partly responsible for the popularity of hair metal, most of which is awful. But to pin that all on them is like blaming Nirvana for Nickelback and Staind.

[gavc23]

We had a similar argument once when a colleague accused Van Halen of being cliched. I tried to argue that they invented most of the cliches he tried to pin on them, they only became cliches when the world and his Quiet Riot copied them.

I’m not going to defend Quiet Riot.

[WOM]

Nope. Both hits are covers. That puts them one beneath The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

I heard Jump at a wedding I was at last weekend. It was fucking glorious. It's all about context. (and not being able to see them)

[Bored Of Education]

"Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal band. The band's name was inspired by a conversation with Rick Parfitt of the British band Status Quo, who expressed desire to name a band "Quite Right", and his thick English accent made it sound like he was saying "Quiet Riot"

[Gerontophile]

Incandenza wrote:

They're not even as good as The Pasadenas.

Sorry, but I fear The Pasadenas have not had their point in history more vocally shouted to all concerned.

That was shocking. This is much better:

I have no comment about Van Halen.

[Bored Of Education]

Oh, that's the Pasadenas!

[Toby Gymshorts]

Van Halen:



The Pasadenas:

[Various Artist]

They had bigger, erm, fruits?

[Toby Gymshorts]

Very possibly.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

When my kids got into Michael Jackson - in the weeks after his death - Beat It came on the car stereo and I said "And that...of course...is Eddie Van Halen doing that guitar solo" and my wife was like "What? Really?" I"m like 'how did you get through the '80s not knowing that?' I thought everyone knew that.

Erm. *cough*

[ad hoc]

That fact is something I may possibly have known briefly back then, but obviously I haven't remembered it. And indeed why should I.

Anyway, proof that Van Halen's songs aren't terrible, if they are rendered by a better band

[WOM]

That fact is something I may possibly have known briefly back then, but obviously I haven't remembered it. And indeed why should I.

You seem rather defensive about your inability to remember mundane Van Halen-related trivia. Is there something you need to tell us?

[ad hoc]

It's Michael Jackson related trivia

[Benjm]

If you think of it as Van Halen related then it is automatically more trivial, to minimise your non retention of historical footnote angst.

[Ray de Galles]

I speak as a fan of Aztec Camera when I say that cover of 'Jump' is pathetic (and I mean that solely in the pejorative sense).

[WOM]

It's Michael Jackson related trivia

I quibble with that, but let's not fall out over it.