Still No Michael Anthony Touring With Van Halen

Session1969 · #1 12-28-2011, 10:37 AM

What a messed up deal for the fans of Van Halen who are bass players. I waited years for Dave to get back with VH and still no Michael. Not even guest appearences from time to time? That's just messed up. I boycotted them when I found out in '06 and I still do to this day. No offense to Wolfgang, either. It must be awesome to play music with Dad but why couldn't they have him on keys ? LOL !

odin70 · #2 12-28-2011, 10:42 AM

To me thats like boycotting The Roling Stones because Bill Wyman is not with em. Michael Anthonys bass playing was not the reason why i used to love Van Halen. Van Halen is Eddies band..he is the sound of Van Halen.

kaputsport · #3 12-28-2011, 10:44 AM

No, it is like boycotting Led Zeppelin because JPJ is not there. While he may not be the sound, it is the original band and original members.

Too many egos, and BS. Just shut up, suck it up, and go play on stage. Make some money and your fans will love it.

I hate these half or 3/4 reunion bands touring.

R Baer · #4 12-28-2011, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odin70

To me thats like boycotting The Roling Stones because Bill Wyman is not with em. Michael Anthonys bass playing was not the reason why i used to love Van Halen. Van Halen is Eddies band..he is the sound of Van Halen.

Maybe so, but I still have zero interest in seeing VH playing with Eddie's kid on bass.

hdracer · #5 12-28-2011, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odin70

To me thats like boycotting The Roling Stones because Bill Wyman is not with em. Michael Anthonys bass playing was not the reason why i used to love Van Halen. Van Halen is Eddies band..he is the sound of Van Halen.

Bill left on his own and was replaced with a world class bass player. Eddie fired Michael and replaced him with his inexperienced kid. Big difference.

DBCrocky · #6 12-28-2011, 10:49 AM

This year I found out that the Detroit Lions actually had fans. Who would have guessed?

Now I am finding out the Michael Anthony has fans. Who'd have thunk it?

odin70 · #7 12-28-2011, 10:50 AM

I would say that JPJ was far more important to the sound of Led Zep than M.A ever was for Van Halen. I wouldnt care if his not there anymore, but of course i respect other opinions.

Richland123 · #8 12-28-2011, 11:03 AM

I was just wondering who sings all those high harmony vocals that Michael used to sing live.

Limeman · #9 12-28-2011, 11:05 AM

What many fail to see is that M.A. sang all the high parts that were a VH vocal trademark. I have not seen them live with Wolfgang, but my guess is Eddie's son is failing to fill M.A.'s shoes, be it on vocals or bass. IMO, VH was those 4. Without M.A., they are a pale shadow of themselves. At least Dave is back, for the time being, that is.

bassist4dalord · #10 12-28-2011, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richland123

I was just wondering who sings all those high harmony vocals that Michael used to sing live.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Limeman

What many fail to see is that M.A. sang all the high parts that were a VH vocal trademark. I have not seen them live with Wolfgang, but my guess is Eddie's son is failing to fill M.A.'s shoes, be it on vocals or bass. IMO, VH was those 4. Without M.A., they are a pale shadow of themselves. At least Dave is back, for the time being, that is.

+1. Anthony's bass playing is replaceable, IMO. His backup vocals, however, are not. This shall be interesting.

Eddie's son, Wolfgang, is playing bass. He's 2 months older than me. Why am I in college???? 20 years old, on tour with Van Halen..

**twocargar** · #11 12-28-2011, 11:11 AM

In Sammy Hagar's book, he goes into detail about the way Anthony was treated and eventually cut off from getting the royalties from the VH trademark (both Sammy and Dave got equal shares I believe). It's a shame because MA definitely contributed to the band's sound. Eddie's a sad shell of a guitar god now.

Nev375 · #12 12-28-2011, 11:11 AM

If Michael had died or become too ill or injured to play bass then I would embrace the kid as a replacement.

But that's not what happened, so I think the backlash from the fans is justified.

Bredian · #13 12-28-2011, 11:15 AM

Roth is as important to VH as Perry is to Journey. While Sammy is a great singer, very energetic, Roth brought more character to the performance and the songs.

Would like to see MA there for the vocal difference, but likely only his bass playing would reflect the years in the trenches with the rest of the group, hard to duplicate and will likely be more obvious in recordings.

buzzbass · #14 12-28-2011, 11:17 AM

I saw them on tour with Wolfie last go 'round. It sucked. And, they seemed to be using Mike's backing vocals on a tape or something. It sure as hell wasn't Wolfie singing those parts.

Session1969 · #15 12-28-2011, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odin70

I would say that JPJ was far more important to the sound of Led Zep than M.A ever was for Van Halen. I wouldnt care if his not there anymore, but of course i respect other opinions.

I wouldn't be so sure. JPJ's voice wasn't crucial to Zeps sound the way Michaels was to VH. BTW, both are huge influences of mine. The songwriting and choruses are what made hits for them. Not just flashy guitar playing and backflips.

gttim · #16 12-28-2011, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Session1969

I wouldn't be so sure. JPJ's voice wasn't crucial to Zeps sound the way Michaels was to VH. BTW, both are huge influences of mine. The songwriting and choruses are what made hits for them. Not just flashy guitar playing and backflips.

I think Michael cut his own throat when he refused to learn to back flip while playing bass and singing harmonies. That would have really made the difference I think. That or kissing Eddie's ass on a continual bases. Maybe more of the later. Still, back flips would have been cool!

spade2you · #17 12-28-2011, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bredian

Roth is as important to VH as Perry is to Journey. While Sammy is a great singer, very energetic, Roth brought more character to the performance and the songs.

Steve Perry vs. Journey is slightly different, but interesting. He became the face and sound of Journey. His also went wild and fired their bassist for no known reasons, among other antics. He was also known for being quite off kilter.

Steve Perry wasn't so much fired, but he refused to tour and the band decided to do what they can without him. I think both parties lost out, but I'd rather pay a Steve Perry clone than to pay for a Journey show that had a high chance of being canceled due to a flaky singer.

frtlsbss · #18 12-28-2011, 11:34 AM

I Love Chickenfoot!
Yeah, Sammy's voice is about done, at least for that application, but the band has the energy & chops to compensate, and MA's backing vocals are right there, solid as ever.

fenderhutz · #19 12-28-2011, 11:35 AM

Van Halen is not Van Halen without Michael Anthony. Who is going to do the harmonies that made those songs sound great? You can get anyone to fill in for bass in that band, back up vocals however, he was unique. I am guessing they are playing to a click and have those backups on cue.

JonahTheAmazing · #20 12-28-2011, 11:39 AM

Michael Anthony is a good guy. I watched the interview with him on That Metal Show, and Eddie Trunk asked him the same thing that's on our minds. Although it's a shame he's not with VH, it's good to see them playing. I won't boycott the decisions, but I do agree that Van Halen is Eddie's band.