Alex Van Halen

good call mike......alex is definitely a lot more techincal than he shows on the van halen albums.....i think he's like eddie though.......prefers to stay out of the spotlight when he can......just wants to play......
i wish the van halen brothers would get off their asses and do something though.....they are far too talented to let it all fall apart...............
 
AVH is my and has been my hero ever since my dad introduced him to me when i started drumming 6 years ago i have been tryin to play that hot for teacher part for 3 years and i cant do it however much i try and i would love to see him do a clinic with thomas lang he is one of the most inspirational drummers to me anyway.
 
Zardoz said:
Eddie is definitely the most talented, while Michael Anthony.....well.....

Ok...jump into a fray with my first post...sheez. As I read through so many of these posts one thing becomes clear. A constant barrage of "technical playing" makes one a great drummer. In other words, if one isn't Neil Peart or Carl Palmer, you can forget about being considered great by certain types of folks. The style has to fit the music. Can you just hear Peart style drumming with Van Halen or AC/DC? It just won't work. That certainly doesn't mean AVH, Phil Rudd, or Eric Carr aren't exceptionally good drummers. They are. It's sorta like folks who argue about football statistics. Roger Staubach didn't have near the QB numbers that Danny White had with the Cowboys, but who would argue that White was a greater QB than Staubach? Same is true for musicians. Even bass players. As a long time bass player, I gotta say that Michael Anthony is a great player. While he might not slap and pop away like Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, but he has some of the best bass fills of any rock bassist out there. And, yes, he was a major influence of mine.

Listen to the musician in context of the music and you can find greatness.
 
Stu_Strib said:
Or you can jam to Tone Loc "Funky Cold Medina" since that is a sample of Jamie's Cryin'..

Actually, the tune that samples Jamie's Cryin' is Wild Thing. Funky Cold Medina is a good tune too. :)
 
Alex Van Halen is a champion!!! He's one of the ol' time greatest rock drummers. I think one way to describe his drumming would simply be "Cool"! The guy was a solid drummer and his style of drumming suited the type of music being played perfectly.

I love all the albums from Van Halen 1 right up to OU812 preferably and those albums are ageing like fine wine. I've been a fan of Alex since I was a kid in the early 80's and I'm just as big a fan now. I've shown heaps of dudes the "Live Without a Net" video (thank God it's on DVD now!) over the years and blown them away at the sheer power of that concert and the awesome vibe it generates. The guys are having such a good time and they convey that feeling to the audience and to the viewer!! It never fails to amaze me at how entertaining they are and the audience is just captivated........

Of course it helps to have a powerful stereo with very powerful bassy speakers so you can blow your friends ear drums off as they soak up an awesome, entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable audio & visual experience. Sammy Hagar's singing in that concert is incredible. I'm waiting for a live Van Halen DVD with Dave Lee Roth fronting the band in a well recorded concert from the early 80's.

I guess I'm lucky that I can appreciate both singers!

Enjoy Alex's beats.... the dude ROCKS!!!!!!!
 
I guess I'm lucky that I can appreciate both singers!


I like them both. I think as for truely strong voice it would go to Sammy. As showmanship and character goes it would be Dave. There is a VH compilation out (not sure how old) that has a song from Dave then Sammy and so on through the whole thing. I like that better than first half is Dave and second is Sammy.
Alex is one of my biggest influences and one of the reasons I started to play drums in 87. Got my double bass and H. F. T. was the first song I wanted to learn. Wasnt it everybodys?
 
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BIG Alex Van halen, simply one of the top ten drummers
of all time. love the differnt styles he puts in his drumming.
perffect timing and the list go's on.
 
DogBreath said:
I first saw Van Halen in concert back in 1980 or '81. It was an amazing show, but everything was kind of lost in the shadow of David Lee Roth. Not that I'm complaining. He's a tremendous showman. Alex Van Halen was great way back then, and it's been interesting following his drumming from album to album.

I don't think that the band Van Halen gets enough credit for bringing rock and roll back into the mind of a world that was being hypnotised by disco.

van8.jpg


"I look at Van Halen as social workers. What we're really doing is creating jobs for rock critics." - Alex Van Halen, Creem Magazine, May 1984

I also saw them at that time DB, and decided after the Diver Down tour I would never pay money to see DLR ever again ! Both times I saw him (Women and Child 1st, DD tours), Dave was so out of it he couldn't get words out !! Sammy Hagar, best thing to happen to VH EVER !!! Alex Rocks !! I saw them w/ Sammy and the energy was OVER THE TOP !
 
neilpscuz said:
Sammy Hagar, best thing to happen to VH EVER !!!

No way....DLR over Sammy anyday!
OU812 is a good Cd thou despite having Sammy....I like AFU Naturally Wired....
Alex is a beast on that one.....
 
neilpscuz said:
Sammy Hagar, best thing to happen to VH EVER !!!

You are kidding right?

DLR is what made VH great. DLR solo was a catastrophe I will admit. But Sammy cannot sing the old songs at all. Van Hagar is just a pop rock band. Definitely not even close to the innovative band with DLR.

DLR screwing up the lyrics at shows and being hammered is part of what made them great. His arrogance, stage presence and being almost like a stand up comic on stage was amazing!

Remember, even on their studio albums, Dave was constantly messing up with his timing (Listen to the break in unchained), laughing and joking (Bottoms Up, Unchained, Ice Cream Man, Everybody Wants Some and so many others) that people should have realized that DLR is DLR. It is his "don't give a crap" attitude that made the music fun. He was just having a great time and people loved it. They never tried to hide the mistakes.

I hope someday they will do a reunion with DLR. I am sure that it wont happen though.

Alex usually kept pretty simple beats so that Eddie and DLR could go nuts. He laid a great foundation.
 
i have been drumming for 17 years and i would
have to say when it comes to all out drumming
alex van halen is king. i have been following big
al's career since age 5 hes a true drummer/musician
love the styles he puts in his playing.to me hes the best
hands down. ps nice drum site.
 
Unfortunately, I never had the chance to see Van Halen...but I've loved all of their stuff. I tend to lean towards Sammy over Dave, but both of them were great. I absolutely love the 5150 album.

Alex is a phenomenal drummer. His drumming always amazed me. Of course, how could you not go crazy hearing "Hot For Teacher"?

I would love for them to do a reunion, whether it'd be with Sammy or Dave.
 
mikei said:
You are kidding right?

DLR is what made VH great. DLR solo was a catastrophe I will admit. But Sammy cannot sing the old songs at all. Van Hagar is just a pop rock band. Definitely not even close to the innovative band with DLR.

DLR screwing up the lyrics at shows and being hammered is part of what made them great. His arrogance, stage presence and being almost like a stand up comic on stage was amazing!

Remember, even on their studio albums, Dave was constantly messing up with his timing (Listen to the break in unchained), laughing and joking (Bottoms Up, Unchained, Ice Cream Man, Everybody Wants Some and so many others) that people should have realized that DLR is DLR. It is his "don't give a crap" attitude that made the music fun. He was just having a great time and people loved it. They never tried to hide the mistakes.

I hope someday they will do a reunion with DLR. I am sure that it wont happen though.

Alex usually kept pretty simple beats so that Eddie and DLR could go nuts. He laid a great foundation.

amen ! :) totaly agree.. allthough i really liked hagars voice in the song dreams
 
infernal drummer said:
amen ! :) totaly agree.. allthough i really liked hagars voice in the song dreams
Amen. Love the song dreams. My daughters even do. That is a good album!
 
Alex was one of my heroes when I first started playing back in the mid 80s. I still pop in VH cds to jam along with. He always has at least one of those fills that sounds like he's falling down the stairs and landing on his feet. Sometimes, it sounds totally random but he still manages to pull it off. Very Bonham-esque, in that balls out, just going for it kind of way.
 
Alex Van halen, what a great drummer the pure best
in my book. i have been drumming since 1966 so
i have pretty much seen and herd them all. BIG AL!
IS THE MAN IT DOESNT GET ANY BETTER THAN HIM.
 
I gotta say I like his solos. Sure he can get a little sloppy but that's what rock and roll is about (for me, anyway). Plus Alex is one of the last remaining rock drummers who seem to have that jazz/big band drummer thing going like Bonham Baker, and Mitchell. Most rock drummers today sound like all they listen to is other rock drummers. There are exceptions but on whole... He also seems to get a little better as time goes on (I sat and watched all the Alex solos on youtube one day!). Plus he just looks like he's having the time of his life. Roth was right. He said you can replace him and the band can go on but Alex is really the heart of VH. Take him away and they're half as good.

---LG
 
themac5150 said:
He always has at least one of those fills that sounds like he's falling down the stairs and landing on his feet.

That's such a cool and funny way to describe some of his fills coz it makes perfect sense. It reminds me of the percussion you'd hear in Bugs Bunny cartoons when a character would fall down the stairs. Seriously though, Alex can rip awesome fills flawlessly! Songs like "Girl Gone Bad" from "1984" and "Get Up" from "5150" come to mind. Also the way he maintains and carries a song like "Source of Infection" from "OU812" is so cool man... heavy duty, kick ass drumming by one of the best!
 
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