Absolutely love this Buzzfeed profile of David Lee Roth. I came of age in the "classic" Van Halen era, and Roth was always goofy and weird in the most endearing rock 'n' roll manner possible. Certainly he can be a bit much after a while, but he's a true American original, and has managed to remember after all these years that it's supposed to be fun, that being able to jump up on stage and goof around and get a bunch of strangers -- whether it's twelve or 12,000 -- to get crazy to what you're doing, that's just about the best thing in the world.
Eddie and Alex don't seem like they've been having much fun for quite some time, but then they also seem somewhat more shy and reserved, and it's gotta be hard for even most extroverts to keep up with people like Roth or Hagar. Hopefully they have an album of completely new material to come, but in the meantime, Roth's energy and humor are welcome things in a fractured industry whose current stars are more concerned with brand-building than in the joys of creating and communicating.
Eddie and Alex don't seem like they've been having much fun for quite some time, but then they also seem somewhat more shy and reserved, and it's gotta be hard for even most extroverts to keep up with people like Roth or Hagar. Hopefully they have an album of completely new material to come, but in the meantime, Roth's energy and humor are welcome things in a fractured industry whose current stars are more concerned with brand-building than in the joys of creating and communicating.
Here's this, too.
ReplyDeleteGreat article, reminds me a bit of some of Klosterman's stuff. I don't necessarily buy the musical connection between hair metal and black metal, but he pursues the contention from the viewpoint of a fan, which is always cool.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sure I've seen Decline Part II at least 20 times over the years. Fantastic movie.
This is also cool.
ReplyDelete