The project that made David Lee Roth finally leave Van Halen
For a long time, it felt like David Lee Roth might forever regret his decision to leave Van Halen. While the singer didn’t exactly lose it all, he did lose the chance, as many people saw it, to create a rock legacy.
As the decades have passed, it has become abundantly clear that Roth’s position as one of the more iconic frontmen in rock history was cemented long ago. But even he might have been wondering why he left Van Halen at a few points in his career. The truth is, the classic rock act, headed up in the most part by guitarist Eddie Van Halen, revolutionised rock music.
At the end of the 1970s, rock and roll had started to look bland for the first time since the 1950s. Even though bands like Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin were still able to fill up stadiums around the world, they seemed to be getting too big for their audience to take seriously anymore, feeling more like musical gods among men. Even though hard rock was still flying off the shelves, it took Van Halen to make the genre feel alive again.
Taking cues from classic rock and heavy metal, the guitar riffs of Eddie Van Halen sent shockwaves through the music community. Instead of playing the usual way, Eddie would play with both hands on the fretboard, resulting in a flurry of notes that opened up the playing field for any artist willing to play a mile a minute.
Outside of Eddie’s intricate licks and solos, the band had an ace in the hole with David Lee Roth. Taking cues from artists like Jim Dandy from Black Oak Arkansas, Roth was one of the most energetic frontmen ever to grace a stage, feeling at home whenever the spotlight was on him and turning every concert into his personal circus.
As the band started to hone their craft on their albums, though, Roth had started to take issue with how Eddie was constructing the songs. Since Eddie had rediscovered his love of playing the piano, many of his guitar tracks fell by the wayside, with tracks like ‘And the Cradle Will Rock’ dominated by the distorted piano sound.
Even though the band would learn to compromise so everyone would be happy, Eddie put his foot down when it came time to make the album 1984. Recording in his 5150 home studio, Eddie was adamant about keyboards having a prominent role on the record, which resulted in some of the biggest songs of their career, like ‘Jump’ and ‘I’ll Wait’.
While Roth would grin through his teeth for most of the sessions, he would find some time to let loose when recording his first solo EP, Crazy from the Heat. Instead of filling out the project with originals, many of the songs on the record were a collection of covers that renewed Roth as a performer, turning songs like ‘Just A Gigolo’ and ‘California Girls’ into some of the most celebrated songs of the summer.
Having no problem working on his own, Roth would soon turn his attention to a solo career, no longer wanting to be confined to what Eddie’s songs sounded like. Shortly after the tour for 1984, Roth had a bitter falling out with Eddie, leading to the band soldiering on with ‘Red Rocker’ Sammy Hagar while Roth released his solo debut, Eat Em and Smile.
Looking back on that time, though, Eddie thinks that the band started breaking up when Roth went solo, saying, “At first, Crazy from the Heat was great because Roth laid off me a bit. Little did I know that he was testing the waters”.
Even though both musicians weren’t on speaking terms for the longest time, they would eventually reconcile in the 2000s, with Roth returning for a full tour with Eddie’s son Wolfgang filling in for Michael Anthony. Although Crazy from the Heat may have been a good time for Roth to make, the division between him and his guitar legend partner had already begun to fracture.
