Kevin's Watch

What a coincidence, I was just giving the old VH cd's a run-through. The DLR era is just fun, rock & roll in the true sense of the word. Diamond Dave can't sing for shit but he's the ultimate performer, and let's not forget Eddie introduced fretboard tapping to a wide audience (no, I'm not saying he invented it.
VH is a completely different band with Hagar, but I've never really liked his voice for some reason. The music is much more mature, though.
Gary Cherone is just painful to listen to with VH.

Bonus YouTube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wxuQ9szJ3A&feature=fvst

I have a couple things to say:
If you think DLR can't sing...you try and do it...I dare you.
DLR Van Halen was ground-breaking, absolutely new: Eddie taught the entire world a different way to play guitar, much like Page and Hendrix did...only more so.
All Hagar did was make the world ready for Poison, and make me puke.
I understand what Malik said about expanding/maturing/growing, and I'm also a huge Rush fan.
But Rush went from rock [albeit smart, quirky rock] to challenging, complex, experimental rock. [Compare 2112 to Moving Pictures..both great, utterly different]
Van Halen--> Van Hagar went from leading/breaking the mold to doing magic tricks for 12 year olds.
And really...if you think Eddie became a better guitar player with Hagar...well, he gained some minor technical proficiency, maybe..but you'd have to show me exactly what/where...all he lost was every scrap of creativity/invention/ideas.