by Ryan Gray

Created on: February 23, 2011

As a fan of Van Halen’s music for three decades, it took some time to reach a verdict on this one. So many classic tunes are generated just by the band’s name.

In the end the wording of the question made the decision: “Who was the better SINGER?” We’re not talking about which man the band had more success with or which man had more classic songs with the band. The better singer in this case is the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar. He could sing fast songs or slow songs – loud or soft; and he didn’t need any talking or yelling mixed in.

There is no doubt Roth was a better entertainer. He could perform in front of people and cameras for hours. And he could run full speed, jump up in the air, do the splits, bounce around, and lots of other things to keep people entertained.

But consider some of the classic hits the band had with Hagar – “Dreams”, “Black and Blue”, “When It’s Love”, “Poundcake”. Those songs would not have had the same level of success with Roth’s deeper, yet flamboyant sound. And Diamond Dave’s vocal range wasn’t the same as Sammy’s.

While many Van Halen fans argue that the band’s early music was its best, there are several of the early classics that would have been big hits even if Hagar had the microphone. Tunes such as “Runnin’ With the Devil”, “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love”, “And the Cradle Will Rock”, and “Dance the Night Away” were destined to be all-time favorites.

The main reason for that was the work of Eddie Van Halen on guitar. He was ultra-talented, and it was impossible not to notice those talents during the first 10 years of the band’s existence. That is why so many fans salute the early years with Roth as Van Halen’s finest.

But as Roth himself told everyone, “Life goes on without me.”

Many music historians and even fans of the group insist that Van Halen with Roth and Van Halen with Hagar were two completely different bands. And there was nothing wrong with that. Van Hagar, as they are often referred to, still had some hard-rocking songs. But there were more love songs, more synthesizers and fewer guitar solos. The band went from an angry rebellion to a big party.

It seems that any stage of Hagar’s career could be described using those last three words. And while this particular party didn’t produce any number-one singles, there were plenty of memorable tunes for fans to enjoy.

“Say boys. That might just call for a toast.”

Both versions of Van Halen produced a volume of classic songs that many people can remember by heart. And they can probably recall certain things they were doing with those songs playing in the background. But when matched up note-for-note, the singing was better at “Cabo Wabo” than “Panama”.

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