Rumor has it that when David Lee Roth was the front man for Van Halen, he would do his damnedest to prevent Eddie from playing all of that poppy crap he kept tapping out on his little Casio at night (under his covers with a flashlight and a cigarette while Valerie tossed and turned and labored under the nightmares of Alex peeking through the window at her and Eddie’s lovemaking…but wait, was it really just a dream?). Obviously a few keyboard items would end up on the records from time to time—and in the case of Jump, ended up as the band’s only number one hit.

I believe the rumors. Granted, I haven’t had the time to do all of the research (I do have some kind of life), but for me, once Sammy Hagar joined the band, the songs took such an incredibly candy turn to pop music that the albums could dissolve in water. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; I know for a fact that many people less inclined to ROCK THEIR ASSES OFF actually prefer the watered-down beer of Van Hagar, and this opened up a lot of people to the virtuosic guitar playing of the toothless wonder.

Decide for yourself. Because I love all of you so and would do nearly anything for you (except Michael Cesari, aka Medium Happiness, the guitarist for the explosively popular band the Shallow Divers—he can kiss my ass with his bizarre and cruel hatred of the victims of theft; see his blog article here) I have included in my article a little jukebox player I have concocted with some songs from both eras. As you listen, please try to note how much freaking better the guitar playing is on the Roth era songs. For more regarding the controversy between the singers themselves, click here.

For more on the Gary Cherone era, please slam your head in a door.