Dave or Sammy?

[Goldtop]

It's been touched on plenty of times. Most of us probably have an opinion on the subject, so what's yours?
Who do you prefer as frontman for Van Halen? Why? Please feel free to elaborate.

To answer my own question, I'm a DLR man. To me, the REAL Van Halen was/is the one with the four original guys. I can (almost) accept Michael Anthony not being involved anymore, but to me without DLR they weren't Van Halen.

And yes, I like Sammy as a solo artist, or even in some of his other projects like The Waboritas, Chickenfoot, whatever.

Lloyd/Goldtop/Queen of Clubs

 

[Proxmax]

i never like sammy hagar as VH singer.
but david is just a shadow of himself now.

 

[themike]

DLR will always be the singer of Van Halen to me - but with that being said, nowadays Diamond Dave is pretty pathetic live while Sammy is still AMAZING. I saw a concert on TV a few weeks ago from 2010 and he was rocking hard...

 

[Shawn@PRS]

Dave, please

 

[geese_com]

Dave for the attitude. Sammy for the signing. Gary for little bit of both.

 

[Goldtop]

Dave for the attitude. Sammy for the signing. Gary for little bit of both.

Thanks for that. It's my mistake that I didn't somehow include Gary Cherone in the original post. Maybe as a 'neither' choice...

Lloyd/Goldtop

 

[WEDGE]

Dave was the MAN

Sammy was good and i liked his material, great live.

Gary was embarrassing. Saw them in Madison Square Garden with Gary and when he came out barefoot in brown silk pajamas.....it was downhill from there. Too bad too because the band was smoking that night but he was way way out of his element. And I loved him in Extreme but not in VH. Footnote is that Creed opened for them and having never heard of them up to that point they KILLED live.

 

[moyboy]

Dave for sure. Saw VH in Toronto last year... he's gotten slower with age but that's to be expected. Eddie was just smiling the whole time which was good to see.

 

[crgtr]

Sammy is a far better singer. IMO. Dave is all show. And he's a nut-bag. Gary is a better singer & performer than either but his time with VH was doomed before it started. The band was falling apart at the seams & there was no way Gary had a chance. I saw VH with Gary & he killed it! Great show. Once again, just my opinion.

 

[garrett]

DLR

It's a shame the Gary Cherone thing was such a debacle. He's an incredible singer with Extreme. I was excited when he joined VH, and then soooo let down when I heard the album. He tried to change his style to fit VH and it just didn't work at all.

 

[WEDGE]

DLR

It's a shame the Gary Cherone thing was such a debacle. He tried to change his style to fit VH and it just didn't work at all.

Well said...he killed with Extreme but in VH he was nothing like his former self, if he had unleashed like he did in Extreme it would have worked, although the songwriting on his VH album was sub par IMHO and only so much he could do with it....

 

[markie]

Dave is the man...................... despite being a douche!

 

[vchizzle]

Dave is goofy as all hell and Sammy has that stupid party guy mentality and image...my problem with both of them, is that those things come out in the songs and I don't particularily like either of those things in the songs. But, I prefer more songs with Dave. Sammy is obviously better vocally. Gary never had a chance despite being a great singer.

Sammy is a far better singer. IMO. Dave is all show. And he's a nut-bag. Gary is a better singer & performer than either but his time with VH was doomed before it started. The band was falling apart at the seams & there was no way Gary had a chance. I saw VH with Gary & he killed it! Great show. Once again, just my opinion.

That pretty much sums it up.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Dave all day.

 

[Hopeful Sinner]

Guess I'm the odd man out here. I love the DLR era and the first VH release is one of the best guitar albums of all time. But, the Hagar records brought a more refined quality to the songs. IMO YMMV etc... For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance are also two of the greatest guitar records ever. Again, just my opinion YMMV and all that jazz...

Who is this Gary Cherone you all speak of??? Haha

 

[hippietim]

Dave for me. But Sammy did some brilliant stuff with VH - When It's Love is probably Sammy's finest singing. I hate all of Sammy's solo stuff but I love him in a band - Montrose, HSAS, Van Halen - there's some brilliant stuff there. Gary was very good in Extreme but he never struck me as having an exceptional voice - good technical skills for sure but his tone and vibe didn't stand out to me.

Diamond Dave's vocals on those original Van Halen recordings kicked ass. Back in the day, Dave had more soul and vibe in his vocals than Gary has ever had - Gary may have more range and chops but he never sounded as good as Dave.

Rank by vocal chops: Sammy, ................ Gary/Dave (tie but Sammy is pretty far ahead though)
Rank by showmanship: Dave, ................................................................................ Gary/Sammy (tie but these guys are way behind)

 

[11top]

SAMMY is the vocalist. It's ALL about the music.

 

[veinbuster]

I liked Sammy's voice well enough, but I thought the band was more fun with Dave.

 

[swede71]

I consider 1984 and 5150 Van halens masterpieces.As a band and for the vibe i prefer the Dave era.IMO one of the best rocknroll bands of all time.

 

[Mgamm1ll]

I've seen Van Halen twice the last couple years and... I've decided I'd be fine if I never see them again. Dave just needs to sing the songs the way that's on the records. I think Sammy had more great songs than Dave. Panama made me want to learn guitar...