“Beat Van Halen”: The classic band with one very simple plan
Van Halen was a band that couldn’t have worked were it not for a number of different factors falling into place.
Firstly, you had the excellent musicianship of Eddie Van Halen. His unique approach to guitar playing and ability to play with speed were remarkable enough to make him the honest driving force behind the outfit. The innovative tapping technique he implemented so freely was the perfect thing to get listeners excited, but what he was smart about was knowing not to solely rely on his skills for audience participation.
You might hear the song ‘Eruption’ and be impressed by it, but you wouldn’t listen to it for a whole hour, as it would become stale and predictable. So he worked out a way of playing which implemented this exciting technique but also made room for rhythm, melody and all the quintessential components of good songwriting.
Alongside this, he had band who could keep up with him and a frontman who was happy sharing the limelight with the lead guitarist and could also deliver vocal performances that would be taken seriously as an accompaniment. I genuinely believe that if Van Halen didn’t have David Lee Roth on side for those early years, they wouldn’t have made as big an impression as they ended up doing.
Gene Simmons once spoke about how good a frontman Lee Roth truly was. When you have the flamboyant demon/superhero/bassist that was the mind behind Kiss complementing your ability to hold a crowd, you know you’re doing something right.
“When Eddie came along, nobody played like that,” said Simmons, “I’m not even talking about the quality of the songs or Dave completely taking the frontman to the nth level… I mean, at that time, Dave was the king. There’s nobody. If Jagger stood next to him, it would be like, you know, a sixth grader. He really took it all the way, the whole band, the musicianship, the songwriting.”
Things weren’t built to last with David Lee Roth and Van Halen, though. While the combination was the perfect way to get the band off the ground, creative differences stood in the way of any kind of longevity. Lee Roth eventually parted ways with Eddie and co to start his own band, and their aim was simple: beat Van Halen. The main thing that Lee Roth needed was a guitarist with the same level of talent as Eddie. These kinds of musicians don’t come along too often, but in a small apartment in Hollywood, the answer to his problems sat awaiting a call.
“When the word was out that David Lee Roth was putting a band together and he was looking for a guitarist, I mean, it was probably the most coveted rock guitar position,” said Steve Vai, recalling the moment he heard about the open spot he would soon fill, “I was in my little apartment on Fairfax Street in Hollywood, and as soon as I heard that news, I turned to my roommate and I said, ‘That’s my gig’.”
Vai is undoubtedly one of the greatest guitarists on the planet, with an ability to write instrumental songs that can hook a listener from start to finish, and paired with the panache of Lee Roth, they combined a recipe unfailable in The David Lee Roth Band. While audiences enjoyed the music a lot, they never quite overcame the Van Halen-shaped hurdle that Roth was adamant on leaping over.
“Dave didn’t do what he set out to do, which was beat Van Halen,” admitted Vai. He went on to say that the reason they could never quite better Van Halen was because while they were talented, they didn’t have the knack for songwriting that their rivals did.
“We didn’t have the songs. Van Halen had the songs for that kind of success,” he mused, “They’re good songs, but Eddie, he’s got his whole ear for writing. That’s the secret. That’s the secret sauce. You can’t replace that […] We had great music. I love the music, but when I say we didn’t have the songs, I’m talking about those specific things that cross over at radio.”
