Van Halen Segment on VH1's Heavy: The Story Of Metal

[@ajharvey]

To me, I’ll always consider Van Halen pure bred “rock and roll” Eddie’s driving guitar, David’s voice mixed with one of the best rhythm sections I’ve ever heard, and that train just keeps on rollin🤘🏽🤘🏽

[@elroz1675]

yes... but there are some rather heavy songs too: some that come to mind are "I'm on Fire", "Romeo's Delight", "Girl Gone Bad", "House of Pain". And from the Hagar period: "Judgement Day" and "Pleasure Dome".

[@leoromanopinelo4761]

@@elroz1675 Humans Being, Don’t Tell Me... there’s a lot

[@oldguitarguy7528]

Sorry, its ed and dave

[@brianowen9380]

The sound from Van Halen 1 was ahead of it's time, in 1978

[@ronaldlee6115]

You've apparently been receiving stimulus checks to supplement you're 4th of July fireworks purchases. DLR

[@tim46387]

Saw them in 79. They had opened for Sabbath 2 months prior and broke off and came back as the headliner. Amazing show. Roth dissapeared from the stage while the band had the crowd in awe, and the spotlight hits the top of the 30 foot speaker stack and Dave is up there holding a pitcher of beer. That was a show to remember. Spokane Washington

[@RollTideRising]

Those first 6 Van Halen albums IN MY OPINION are the best born in 67 perfect time to be alive

[@ronaldlee6115]

The best time to be alive is tomorrow when you wake up. DLR

[@telefunkenyou47]

If you were born in 67’ then 80’, 85’, 00’ were turning points in your life. 67’ - 80’ were good. 80’ - 85’ were great. 85’ - 00’ were even better. 00’ - 22’ it all came crashing down at free fall speed. 22’ - ?’ We’d trade all the technology to go back to 80’

[@akfreed6949]

Van Halen has ALWAYS been better than any POS Chickenfoot

[@chadhickes8563]

Van Halen saved and changed Rock n Roll.

[@ugaais]

Born in 1970...I look back and smile, I was a kid in the 70’s, a teen in the 80’s, in my 20’s in the 90’s....what a great time to be alive, anything before 9/11 was great, then the PC ass hats FK’d up all the fun...my motto then was work hard, play hard, and FK hard...lol now I’m 49 with a family, a business, now a respectable person in my area if they could only have seen me in my prime..lol

[@MetalHeart8787]

Yes im with you on that Born Oct 1970, and Loved the 70's & 80's. im 50 & Still Love Heavy Metal. recently started doing vlogs about The Albums i liked.

[@kdm71291]

I know what you mean....I was born in '63...the youngest of three...my folks grew up during the depression and WWII, so I have that musical influence as well as some remnants of '60s music....experiencing the diversity of the '70s...into the '80s and then the '90s........so much good stuff! Van Halen's debut album was released the year I began high school...I was slowly absorbed and embedded, haha! Today's music? All I can say is thank God for Gretta Van Fleet....keeping blues-based rock alive!

[@shaunclifton5281]

Nothing compares to pre 85 Van Halen.

[@scout805]

Talent Wise? Plenty Were Equal if not better. (Opinions) Pretty Boyz? Yea VH started it, Motley Crue knew they needed a Pretty Blondie Front man to hit it big. And they Did!

[@lucasberglund2620]

I actually think that when Sammy joined Van Halen, they were even bigger. Like their live shows with sammy is next level.

[@cristianconnolly2709]

I love both van Halen versions dlr and sh eras. To me it's better to have both than Say 78-95 of pure dlr or 78-95 of pure sammy. This way i get to enjoy both versions of van Halen, and makes it a more diverse/versatile band.

[@erichand7548]

Shaun Clifton post compares, and surpasses

[@shaunclifton5281]

@@erichand7548 Van Hagar is dead. It was Journey part 2.

[@cubsblue9577]

Don't get me wrong I love Van Halen but in my opinion anyone who ever considered them heavy metal doesn't know what they're talking about

[@rowanmelton7643]

They're hard rock. The reason they ever get confused with metal is because they heavily inspired the glam metal scene

[@ronaldlee6115]

You should be a rock critic! Proof of GED diploma please!...DLR

[@capnmo6718]

Yeah, I agree. There are definitely some heavy-as-you-can-get tunes (Atomic Punk, On Fire, House of Pain), but overall VH is hard rock with pop sensibility.

[@MGdelOeste]

Well, I think it's quite evident they have heavy metal songs, specially on their first records. Although I would also say that generally they are more of a hard rock band, or something in between the rock and metal fields. But they influenced tons of metal bans proper, they are really important, specially Eddie's approach.

[@MGdelOeste]

@@rowanmelton7643 Lots of glam metal bands, specially in the late 80s, were less metal than early Van Halen

[@vhsorion]

VH IS THE GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME

[@isthatyoujaunwayne4183]

Thank u for posting this. Rooted for VH when they came on.

[@admtech69]

1:15 Van Halen played the starwood at the latest in '77, Slash would have been 11-12 years old at a nightclub selling ludes, I call BS.

[@DannyGadish]

slash is bs

[@Fla_Law_Dog]

You've obviously never been outside of your gated community. Drive around the right neighborhoods and you'll see children slinging all kinds of shit on every corner.

[@tennesseeridgerunner5992]

@@Fla_Law_Dog If you look at Slash's lineage, I doubt VERY seriously that Slash grew up in Watts or East L.A. Besides, why do you think there are such places as "gated communities" and what is wrong with them? They certainly aren't constructed to keep the residents in, soooo there must be some other kind of reason for such security measures, right? As a property owning, tax paying citizen, I certainly don't want any children who are capable of "slinging all kinds of shit" or their irresponsible parents anywhere near where I live.

[@wlarrry]

he was an LA kid

[@tennesseeridgerunner5992]

@@wlarrry What I meant was that Slash did not come from the poor areas of L.A.

[@AlsCollectibles]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing

[@mattblatchley2061]

great clip, thanks!

[@michaelhughesiowa]

Half European, half Midwestern American. The quintessential California band.

[@ronbaker3677]

After getting tickets to their first tour back in 1978, our ride didn't show up so we hitchhiked took buses and trains and finally made it to the show at the Aragon theater in downtown Chicago. What a night but then we had it make it home somehow. Those were the days

[@ronaldlee6115]

And, now you are receiving UBI?....DOA...DLR

[@domingospoetalopes3923]

"- Van Halen is not so British!" That's right.

[@Theheavymetalshop]

You cant go wrong with a positive verb- DLR

[@ronaldlee6115]

Especially when the simpletons are reading into it. DLR

[@lancehurley9743]

In 1980 a little album called British Steel came out...

[@lancehurley9743]

Kevin Prima no,British Steel didn’t but,Priest put out an album in 1977 called Sin after Sin..this album contains a track called Dissident Aggressor ..it is the First modern metal song as we know what metal is today..but people and critics missed it ,not much is even said anywhere about it..what sounded like it before?? Absolutely Nothing..at the very height of the disco era

[@curtpozzi5527]

@@lancehurley9743 let's not forget the first three Rainbow albums with Dio. Now that was heavy metal before it was called "heavy metal".

[@jswiddop313]

Goodbye, Eddie.

[@DavidSmith-ke1xb]

Cool, I remember that. Bought that vinyl record with change in the fourth grade. Love kiss too. Rock on. Stay safe all.

[@mcarlkv53]

“I’m gonna abandon my spirit to them which is exactly what I attempt to do. You work yourself up into that state and you fall into the supplication of the demon gods.” - David Lee Roth (Rock, April 1984, page 30)

[@jesusdaniel8707]

Van Halen was ahead of their time in the 1980s

[@ronaldlee6115]

Van Halen was ahead of their time in the 70's...DLR

[@richardkey4289]

This was the band I saw at my 1st concert, ' Rail' w/ VH, women & children first tour- Dave hung his mic out into the crowd, soon the whole arena was chanting " disco sucks!"...! Good times.

[@ronaldlee6115]

The salesman/showman has lustfully outwitted the lemmings! over the cliff with you all! DLR

[@motleycrue24]

Slash "ya i was selling drugs outside the clubs, ya im so cool"

[@matthewJ142]

So black of him lol

[@denisemarie7991]

I mean, i think he was just giving facts, no?

[@massapower]

And sadly the majority of bands today don't even have an ounce of VAN HALEN!😎✌

[@scottyp947]

why can't we stay young forever?

[@ugaais]

Kevin Prima class of ‘88 here loved our era

[@denisemarie7991]

@Kevin Prima class of 88 right here... best teenage years.

[@timothybebee5448]

I know. Look at today. October 24th of 2020? Eddie Van Halen dead at the age of 65 from throat cancer. Back in our younger years we thought the years of our youth would go on and on and on. We have a ride awakening when we're now middle aged people and our kids are living in our young generation years how time flies. What great times.

[@timothybebee5448]

No the 70's and early 80's rocked baby!!

[@guadalahonky4002]

Would life be as precious if we lived forever? Instead, ask yourself everyday, 'May I find true happiness. May all others find true happiness.' It works.

[@LRS905]

"Heavy metal was about MACHO"...and Rob Halford on screen, lol

[@jonesy2111]

Lol! That's so fucking funny!

[@elrockerchido]

Well he was, right? I mean, he DID fucked many people... his own way

[@gina4319]

When I was running with the devil I asked the red horn what he thought of Eddie. he said, and I quote "Edward Van Halen is one of God's Crowning Achievements! 🤘 "

[@EDOGG62]

I'll always say that the DLR period was real rock. It had grit, soul, and groove. Sammy seems to be a really great guy, and has a phenomenal range and pitch, but for ME they turned soft then. Like a Night Ranger pop/guitar rock thing.

[@akfreed6949]

Van Hagar became Journey 2.0

[@telefunkenyou47]

I’ll admit that I still get excited when I see chicks from the late 70’s early 80’s. I can almost smell the aqua net and I liked those cute little boots they wore. Boy, My hand is getting sweaty just thinking about all the hand and hip I got back in the day at Aloha roller rink! I even held two girls hands at the same time! Girls back then would make you do they’re friends too! I sh*t you not. I wish I could go back and tell everyone how much they meant to me. I still think about every classmate from Kindergarten thru high school. Lori Riley from Simonds Elementry School. I’ve always wondered where you went and I knew that a school somewhere was very lucky to have you in it.

[@jabbastwin]

Yeah he said Adrian Belew. He's just an over looked guitar hero of mine.

[@MrStalkerhunter]

@1:50 what song is that?

[@Mike-oz5pp]

I honestly think VH blew "everybody" off stage that they played with How in the world do u follow that? & the fact that he was living with & battling cancer throughout his career is just astonishing

[@SuperGaleford]

Jack Blades looked more like David Lee Roth than David Lee Roth.

[@patrickbevelock2171]

Funny thing. Van Halen is hard rock

[@doggo7405]

Van Halen was absolutely mainly metal and also hard rock. When the first album came out in 78 it was heavy as fuck, heavier than hard rock bands of the time. Also Van Halen used many techniques that will be used much more in metal than in hard rock. Also you have count two other things: first, the fact that the idea of "Metal" changed during the years and a lot of glam band that were called metal then aren't now; the second thing is that Eddie influenced much more metal than rock, especially with his solos. All beeing said Eddie was simply one of the biggest rock heroes of history that "belongs" both to rockers and metalheads.

[@denisemarie7991]

That video for Jump.... man. DLR flying by on the harness with goggles on and a boombox on his shoulder is the most iconic image for me........that and Eddie's friggin smile. Legend.

[@denisemarie7991]

You are probably right.... i have been watching so much van halen lately, its all a blur... lol.

[@reset-xs9ql]

you're describing the Panama video sweets..

[@Elvisnevergothigh]

Um, that was a tualy Panama and a killer video

[@guadalahonky4002]

The story of the front cover of Women & Children First. One day in late December (1980), the {Van Halen} showed up at Norman Seeff ’s Los Angeles studio. Seeff recalled that he immediately sensed that all was not well with Van Halen. “Working with a rock group is always a challenge,” he recalled in a 2012 interview with M Music & Musicians. “There are times when a group comes in for a session, and I perceive there is tension among the members.” Seeff knew he needed to get the four musicians doing something, and fast. Seeff suggested that Eddie plug his Ibanez guitar into an amp brought along as a prop for the session. Someone put a tape of the still-unreleased Women and Children First into Seeff’s stereo and turned it up-loud. The guitarist began playing along to the tracks as Seeff worked. Smiles soon radiated from the four musicians. A fat joint was lit, and someone cracked a pint of whisky. While Eddie jammed, the others laughed and sang. medium.com/cuepoint/the-private-photo-shoot-that-sparked-a-war-inside-van-halen-ac6fa2cda7b

[@guadalahonky4002]

@Joel Camara Amazing to know 35MM film of the first album cover shoot exists that has never seen the light of day. Perhaps now it might, if the Van Halen Estate allows it. -- One last story: When I was working at Pacific Video in Los Angeles in 1990, the security told me he used to throw David Lee Roth of the edit suites for smoking pot in them.

[@francojoeulm.florin3545]

When did Van Halen become metal

[@alexkx8599]

What year did this come out?

[@edsnotgod]

Jump was VH biggest hit, smoked Boy George and his karma chameleon lolol haha

[@ronaldlee6115]

You smoked what with Boy George? DLR

[@kdm71291]

I have heard VH described as "Southern California Party Rock".......which is true, but the best way to genrefy them is to say that Van Halen is Van Halen!

[@ChristianTrogu-xb7lj]

Ke banda x dios

[@claysmell]

VAN HALEN's first album was totally different at the time. It was all Eddie. The rest of the guys, including Roth (as much as he would contest this), were simply back up for Eddie. He's a living legend. No guitarist has changed music as much as he has.

[@claysmell]

@MorbidManMusic What's not true?

[@claysmell]

Charlie Suel yeah agreed - I would say he's the original glam guy and definitely helped change the show of it all. Definitely more showman than musician imho.

[@nicolassosolic3760]

I agree! EVH rules! Hi from France :)

[@claysmell]

@Alan Roberts There's a good argument for Hendrix, no doubt. Malmsteen is more niche, and though he's a great guitarist I don't see breadth of influence as big. I'd vote Randy Rhoads higher on the influence scale than Yngwie.

[@claysmell]

@Kevin Prima- I was indeed "alive back then". I might be older than you.

[@ENGlishJELLo-yk7up]

Most bands of the 80's talk about Van Halen. Every singer wanted to be David Lee Roth and every guitarist wanted to be Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen set the stage for that big hair and spandex wearing music that followed after. Until Grunge Rock killed it all off!

[@imahcaiyo9920]

Van Halen on Heavy metal: On Fire. Atomic punk.Runnin with the devil.. ligh up the sky... On Hard rock : Beautiful girl.. Jamie's cryn... Everybody want some... Summer night.. sucker in 3 piece..Panama.. On Speed metal and thras metal: loss of control.. i m the one.. get up.. source of infection..

[@carloslozada470]

Eddie is all that matters

[@christiancibulka1886]

@Kevin Prima more like 30% without Eddies riffs Van Halen wouldn't have been as successful.

[@cstepaniuk8611]

No love for the rhythm section guys? They’d’ sound empty without Alex and Michael.

[@jonesy2111]

@Kevin Prima Absolutely Roth is every single bit as important and crucial to their magnificent success.... no doubt whatsoever!

[@jonesy2111]

@Kevin Prima Its so obvious and because of Roths 'cocky', flamboyant and percieved ego some people assume he wasn't that talented but as a matter of fact he was one of the best frontmen of all time and was a key element in the great success and appeal of VH. Have you read Running with the devil? Written by their great manager Noel Monk? He says the same

[@jonesy2111]

@Kevin Prima He was also considerably smarter and more cultured than the other guys as well. I think he struggled at times because they could be so lazy and short sighted. VH are the greatest of rock bands (if not the greatest) but the type of band that was not destined to last or age gracefully

[@josemon5682]

Fix the static

[@user-kp1ry3so2s]

Gives it the vintage feel

[@Tedroy]

Lot of good backyard parties before they became famous.

[@mindeloman]

6:08 appears to be the beginning of a 12 year bender for eddie. You see photos from the 1995 tour and then in late 1996 with the whole Dave fiasco on the MTV music awards, he looks like a different person. Not sure what started it. I know he was having severe hip pain from 20 plus years of high impact performance. He had to have a hip replacement surgery. I wonder if all the pains and pain meds is what did. Then throw in a healthy dose of mid-life crisis, his mom died in 2002, (according to Roth, a strong 4' 11" maternal influence woman) and valerie divorcing him. By 2003-2004, he was an absolute wreck of a person. When i heard the circumstances on how and who he married in 2009, i was thinking, shit......someone that is going to take advantage of him. Today i think, his second wife must be a saint of a woman. She pulled him from the darkest of holes. No fan fare. No media appearances with her. She stayed mostly private. When you see eddie in 2015 on his last tour, he looked very good and his playing was off the charts tight and neat. He looked like the elder statesman of rock that he was. She should get the credit she deserves to help bring the eddie we all knew and loved, back to us.......even if it was just for a brief time.

[@jacsig]

mindeloman Eddie's mom died in 2005. His 2nd wife who works in the porn industry did take advantage of him, by marrying a man who she knew had cancer. And she had nothing to do with him getting sober. It was all Alex and Wolfie. Read Valerie's book. And while Janie was busy making dance videos with her dance partner and posting them on UTube while he was dying of a brain tumor which is a horrible death, Valerie Bertinelli who always loved Eddie and actually gave a damn about him was visiting him in the hospital while he was undergoing treatment and comforting him.

[@peteguitar]

TEETH METAL???? Yeah sure -- I think the guy with the BAD TEETH that said that - JUST MADEIT UP!

[@CorpseGrinder1967]

VH were never heavy metal, they were hard rock, or just plain out rock. And I loved what they were. If I wanted Heavy Metal, I put on Priest,Maiden, Accept, etc or any of the new thrash band that were coming out at the time.

[@elroz1675]

ok. yes. But also there are some rather heavy songs too: some that come to mind are "I'm on Fire", "Rome's Delight", "Girl Gone Bad", "House of Pain". And from the Hagar period: "Judgement Day" and "Pleasure Dome". You'd say these are not Metal?

[@MGdelOeste]

Why are you so fuckin purists when it comes to metal/rock genres? I tell you something, Van Halen has pure metal songs along with more rock-inspired ones.

[@tallahoramismo]

The thing is that Van Halen together with Scorpions, ACDC, Deep Purple are some of the pioneers of heavy metal. These guys are as influential to heavy metal as black sabbath and judas priest are. They gave birth to metal bands from the 80's through the 90's, and are the ancestors of today's metal bands.They're very influential especially to the power metal genre. They are very important to heavy metal. All heavy metal descended from these guys. People might think they're not heavy metal and they're just almost there, but they're definitely honorary metal bands.

[@BrendanJSmith]

I just really wish David Lee Roth had stayed with Van Halen through the '80s. Van Hagar feels more at home in the early '90s.

[@sean-xm9661]

The 1st two post Dave era VH albums are stellar...then theres,a gap then there is ...for unlawful carnal knowledge. ...

[@jonesy2111]

The first four are what legends and greatness are made of

[@reset-xs9ql]

a gap in what ? time? a couple of years. there was no studio album or live one, for that matter, between OU812 and for unlawful..

[@dirtywhiteboyzindahood1252]

1984

[@c0smicc4nc3r4]

flawless album, most played in my collection!

[@dirtywhiteboyzindahood1252]

@@c0smicc4nc3r4 1984 was my favorite ..

[@ronaldlee6115]

Yep! That year came and went...DLR

[@97warlock]

DLR use to be so cool. Now its like ... um. Not sure just a bit odd. My fav era of Van Halen is 77-82

[@ronaldlee6115]

Dave is always cool and the Universe evolves around him!....DLR

[@danielcarpineto1475]

Hard l rock

[@smedleybutler8787]

Definitely not a witchcraft band. Only the most talented one would get signed. Warner Brothers still sent the master to Idol room

[@jswiddop313]

Eddie Van Halen looks fucking scary with his angry face like that! 6:07 - 6:13

[@dougg1075]

Why has Roth never been in the news with a girlfriend or wife .. ever?

[@maggiemae7749]

Good question. But does have a daughter. He mentioned her on his podcast

[@leerichards3682]

He has a daughter, after seeing the amount of cash flow the mother was aquiring from the simple act of giving birth he wised up, Watch your back, Watch your cash, Fool me once, Never, ever Twice

[@denisemarie7991]

Good question... he always seemed a little gay, no? He had a freddie mercury vibe going.

[@jacsig]

Becuz he's gay.

[@JoeR203]

I know that guy is British, but damn man, go see a dentist!

[@skylineXpert]

Only 60 vh1 eruption guitars were ever made.

[@capnmo6718]

I’m always confused when people say VH tunes were all about chicks and having good times. Nonsense. Did anyone actually listen to their tunes?

[@mcmlxv9827]

Van Halen metal? No, they're Rock and Roll. One of my favorites. Angus Young called Van Halen a "pop band."

[@sugekightinfulleffect9472]

Party rock heavy rock start of hair rock

[@bartobruintjes7056]

He was jealous.

[@tylerpatterson4787]

David Lee Roth one time said Van Halen were big rock!

[@rgs4x]

coke is a hell of a drug.

[@scout805]

It's not for Everyone!

[@Jimberlin]

Not just coke buddy

[@bufferzone3247]

Yup they were the best. Were. And then there is DLR today. Someone tell Dave its time to retire.

[@denisemarie7991]

DLR could still rock... but he tries too hard to be like the 23 year old version of himself. He has super short hair now, long side burns, dresses like barry manilow, but still tries to move around like he used to. Wiggling his hips. It just ends up looking weird. when they played Kimmel, when he bashed his nose, he should have just come out in jeans and a t-shirt.... ok, they could have been skin tight jeans, and just sung his heart out. Instead it just came off as super cheesy. I think eddie was embarassed.

[@c0smicc4nc3r4]

Metal, and plays Ac/Dc lmao

[@MrBobbit666]

There was a lot of metal around when van halen was in their prime but they were rock and not even hard rock AC/DC was hard rock but they weren't even metal

[@MGdelOeste]

Van Halen were more metal-sounding than ACDC

[@MrBobbit666]

@@MGdelOeste more glam and dlr was pretty camp really

[@ii1825]

Could the audio on the video be any worse? Unlistenable.

[@gmasterg13]

Here we go again. One more time Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Van Halen = hard rock, hard rock blues, heavy rock. Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, old Scorpions=Heavy Metal. And Motorhead is not Metal!

[@gmasterg13]

@Marcos Perez Esteves no, tengo 70 y 80 y tu?

[@MGdelOeste]

Well, if we take early 70s Sabbath into account as well as old Scorpions, we can say Van Halen had more than a few proper heavy metal songs.

[@prog1962]

Van Halen..YES Glam Metal.. NO

[@policyjunkie3312]

Van Halen’s not hair metal

[@edsnotgod]

Sure they are

[@diegorivas1991]

No, but they set that template for all the hair metal bands.

[@Smileatlife37]

Van Halen isn't METAL!!

[@scout805]

VH Roots came from the Metal Tree, but like so many they grew a new branch! The Talent level is Good as Any!

[@ddsssa]

Why? Could you argue? VH is the most influential in LA and for all guitar players.

[@denisemarie7991]

What defines metal?

[@erichand7548]

Sammy is better.

[@c0smicc4nc3r4]

"He's a cop"

[@joshofofw945]

Van halen 1 & 2 for me ,the rest are garbage

[@bartib48]

Angel Landicho Van Halen 1 and 2 are great, but you should really listen to the rest of their albums all the way to balance. All of their albums are spectacular to me

[@mojodojo5533]

Garbage? Really?

[@smokesletsgo2374]

Women and Children First and Fair Warning are garbage? lmao...

[@jacsig]

Yeah and that garbage album F.U.C.K. won a Grammy.

[@tylerpatterson4787]

We can debate the Roth Hagar thing forever but I still like both eras of the band, 2 completely different bands.

[@hoobeydoobey1267]

On the part of Sabbath tour, I was a northern Ohio kid. The paper pumped VH up for months ahead of time. Didn't know they were coming in tour, but wanted to hear their music. Sabbath came to town (Cleveland). I was excited to hear VH and was disappointed. Some clapped for them, some didn't and chanted for Sabbath. Finally after a music-induced headache, Sabbath hit the stage and rocked the roof off. VH's 1984 was a good, musical album. The stuff before that had a couple of good songs mixed in with garbage. MTv is what made VH due to Roth's persona. Overall, the band were good musicians, but the song selection was split horrible/good.