“Sammy could do anything”: The moment Van Halen’s sound was transformed
When Van Halen first burst onto the scene, they were a breath of fresh air. Their sound was hard rock, a style people were accustomed to and wanted more of, but Eddie Van Halen’s playing, song structure, and energy were leagues above any of their potential competition.
Of course, it wasn’t just Eddie who contributed to that sound; David Lee Roth was a massive part of making Van Halen stand out. He was one of the best frontmen around, as his voice and movement matched the band’s style and made them captivating to everybody who watched.
“When Eddie came along, nobody played like that,” recalled Gene Simmons when talking about Van Halen, “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.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be with David Lee Roth and Van Halen. The singer ended up leaving the band after the friction between members became a bit too much, and they could no longer continue making music together. Given how much of a legendary frontman Roth was shaping himself out to be, many thought this would be the end of Van Halen, but instead, the band reached new heights.
Sammy Hagar took up vocalist duties, and as a result, the band started garnering number-one albums at an outstanding rate. Hagar slid into the band perfectly, their ideas aligned, and it felt as though we were entering a new phase of Van Halen, one that kept the raw energy but was more experimental and polished.
Eddie Van Halen was happy with the way that the band progressed. “From the first second, Sammy could do anything I threw at him,” the guitarist said, “It just opened up a whole new door. Finally, we felt like we were four people with a common vision. All of a sudden, everything felt complete.”
Hagar was always adamant that if he was going to join the band, he wanted to actively contribute to it. He wasn’t happy with being a replacement for David Lee Roth but wanted to be an exciting addition, helping to write songs and create something original. This meant the band evolved rather than just remaining stagnant.
Hagar was so persistent on being original that he refused to sing David Lee Roth songs. “What I brought to Van Halen was just who and what I am,” he said, “It was Sammy Hagar, who and what I was at that moment, but very inspired by Eddie Van Halen’s musicianship… He inspired me to write songs… Goosebump songs.”
