It drives me insane when I hear people say “well Michael Anthony wasnt the BEST bass player, but his bg vocals and stage presence...” Ive heard this more than a few times. Bullshit. That guy was a RAGER. A solid paragon of slamming bass and the tightest bg vocals Ive ever heard. The whole time he played for them. Amazing.
Gotta love a double bass shuffle with almost a jazz swing but yet pummeling like a sledgehammer. As a drummer who has loved Van Halen Fan his whole life this is the shit you live for.!!!
Actually, the band that influenced them to swing like they did was the band Cactus. They were a massive influence on the VH bros. Carmine Appice was a big influence on Alex esoecially. Also, the punches in Eruption with the Mike and Al accompanying Ed is directly lifted from the Cactus song "Let me swim".
@@hercpanousis8987 VH used to perform Let Me Swim back in the Club Days and Alex would do his extended solo, which had parts of Ginger Baker's Toad and obvious nods to Buddy Rich in it. Cactus was indeed an influence on the Brothers, but their own Pop's influence on them cannot be dismissed. Alex has even said his first paying gig as a drummer was playing jazz in one of Jan's bands when he was 13, because the regular drummer couldn't make the gig.
@@kevinwilkins3248 I've spoken to Carmine about this in person at a clinic and he's spoken to Alex about it as well. They worshipped Cactus. Eddie's favourite bassist ever was Tim Bogart.
@@hercpanousis8987 I think you misunderstand me. I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm a lifelong VH fanatic, and have played the drums for 30+ years and Alex will always be my favorite player and biggest influence. I know how much the Brothers loved Cactus and were influenced by them. But they weren't the only influence is all I'm saying, nor should their jazz/big band roots from Jan be completely dismissed. And as far as Alex's other influences, he specifically said that Hot For Teacher was a direct nod to Billy Cobham and that Ed was a huge fan of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Alex has also specifically cited Ginger Baker, Moon, Bonzo, Rich, and Bellson as having varying impacts on him as a player, as well as obviously Appice. And probably most people know what huge fans Ed and Al were of Cream.
Nice walking bass line. And he goes all over the place during the guitar solos. Shame that Ed didn't let Mike really add in his own parts after 1984. Really adds some shades to the sound that weren't there in the later years.
I play drums and I use to an app that isolates each instrument and the vocals. I play along with the guitar and bass parts. So it’s an instrumental version with no vocals. The app does a great job removing the vocals completely but sometimes on a Roth song out of nowhere you hear one of his high pitched screams. It only happens with Roth songs because he has such a unique voice the computer thinks an instrument 😂
Could never understand why bass was mixed so lowin 1st 2 records? Recently saw Micheal Anthony talking about how broad sonically Eddie was and how prominent Alex's drums were which left not ton of room for bass to sit... Would think they'd choose betweem the bass drum and bass guitar for gets lowest freqs in a tune? What do i know ? haha i know it's hard to mix, even harder to get stand up bass that's slapping sometimes to sit right...have bottom and punch..love these Tracks ! MA is waay under rated! and he's singing too!! Thanks for posting
I actually think Mike is more audible on the early records compared to later on. It’s harder to pick him out on most stuff post-1984. Probably because he’s mostly riding the same note over and over instead of playing a real riff. Ed did him so dirty.
VH songs are....BUSY! And M. Anthony earned his$. Should it not be on principal alone then what? Being irritated at a good example? This band was a stellar production.
Mike Anthony was in a band with the best guitarist in the world and he matched him note for note.
It drives me insane when I hear people say “well Michael Anthony wasnt the BEST bass player, but his bg vocals and stage presence...” Ive heard this more than a few times.
Bullshit. That guy was a RAGER. A solid paragon of slamming bass and the tightest bg vocals Ive ever heard. The whole time he played for them. Amazing.
I hear that all the time too, and I’m tired of it!!
He’s an excellent bass player.
This is why Van Halen between 1977 and 1983 was the best band. This is incredible.
Compared to Hot for Teacher, where Ed played the bass, this sounds so much cleaner to me. Michael is a great player.
This first VH record is a treasure trove of bass licks. More please.
Michael was a bad ass on this!
Gotta love a double bass shuffle with almost a jazz swing but yet pummeling like a sledgehammer. As a drummer who has loved Van Halen Fan his whole life this is the shit you live for.!!!
Indeed
Alex is the man and has been the man for 40 plus years of my life now. My drumming hero
So much swing, Alex Van Halen is such an underrated drummer when it comes to swing & groove!
God I wish I had this back then. I'm a bass player from '72. Anthony got screwed by them...straight up guy
And God killed off Ed early as punishment
People dont realize how much big band swing influence was on those early VH albums.
Yep Jan Van Halen's influence on his sons. Not to mention some of Alex's influences were Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, and Billy Cobham.
Actually, the band that influenced them to swing like they did was the band Cactus. They were a massive influence on the VH bros. Carmine Appice was a big influence on Alex esoecially. Also, the punches in Eruption with the Mike and Al accompanying Ed is directly lifted from the Cactus song "Let me swim".
@@hercpanousis8987 VH used to perform Let Me Swim back in the Club Days and Alex would do his extended solo, which had parts of Ginger Baker's Toad and obvious nods to Buddy Rich in it. Cactus was indeed an influence on the Brothers, but their own Pop's influence on them cannot be dismissed. Alex has even said his first paying gig as a drummer was playing jazz in one of Jan's bands when he was 13, because the regular drummer couldn't make the gig.
@@kevinwilkins3248 I've spoken to Carmine about this in person at a clinic and he's spoken to Alex about it as well. They worshipped Cactus. Eddie's favourite bassist ever was Tim Bogart.
@@hercpanousis8987 I think you misunderstand me. I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm a lifelong VH fanatic, and have played the drums for 30+ years and Alex will always be my favorite player and biggest influence. I know how much the Brothers loved Cactus and were influenced by them. But they weren't the only influence is all I'm saying, nor should their jazz/big band roots from Jan be completely dismissed. And as far as Alex's other influences, he specifically said that Hot For Teacher was a direct nod to Billy Cobham and that Ed was a huge fan of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Alex has also specifically cited Ginger Baker, Moon, Bonzo, Rich, and Bellson as having varying impacts on him as a player, as well as obviously Appice. And probably most people know what huge fans Ed and Al were of Cream.
Nice walking bass line. And he goes all over the place during the guitar solos. Shame that Ed didn't let Mike really add in his own parts after 1984. Really adds some shades to the sound that weren't there in the later years.
That “Alright!” caught me by surprise 😂
Yeah that kinda jumps out at you out of nowhere doesn't it??
Michael should have been louder in VH mixes. it would not have taken anything away from Eddie's awesome guitar parts.
Those bass lines are awesome.
I always thought that the bass should have been more prominent, Mike kills it every time!
The f'n drums though ... phwoar
That swing!! Man i love the swing and groove on their early stuff. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent
Totally was not expecting the random “ALL RIGHT!” at 2:46 😂
I play drums and I use to an app that isolates each instrument and the vocals. I play along with the guitar and bass parts. So it’s an instrumental version with no vocals. The app does a great job removing the vocals completely but sometimes on a Roth song out of nowhere you hear one of his high pitched screams. It only happens with Roth songs because he has such a unique voice the computer thinks an instrument 😂
Thank you for upload. Have been a VH since 1981.
Awesome stuff! We guitar freaks want to hear EVH by himself on this monster track! Thanx again....EVH R.I.P.
It's been available for a long time now. Search YT
OMG! Awesome bass lines! And you can barely hear it in the mix. The Gene Simmons demos were mixed better than VH1.
So tight!! Damn!
As Dave sings: all right!
Could never understand why bass was mixed so lowin 1st 2 records? Recently saw Micheal Anthony talking about how broad sonically Eddie was and how prominent Alex's drums were which left not ton of room for bass to sit...
Would think they'd choose betweem the bass drum and bass guitar for gets lowest freqs in a tune? What do i know ? haha i know it's hard to mix, even harder to get stand up bass that's slapping sometimes to sit right...have bottom and punch..love these Tracks ! MA is waay under rated! and he's singing too!! Thanks for posting
I actually think Mike is more audible on the early records compared to later on. It’s harder to pick him out on most stuff post-1984. Probably because he’s mostly riding the same note over and over instead of playing a real riff. Ed did him so dirty.
If you want to see someone stand up and slap the crap out of a bass, check this lady out. :) ruclips.net/video/ghCUHcTZ53Q/видео.html
Great band!
🎙️👄🎸🥁🎸🎤👅
This is refreshing... Ed was mixed very well on the album, but if I wanted to hear bass I had to turn one speaker off!
Galloping, nice
....i am a guitarist. Ed is Eternal. but on this, it is porn for bass players. i believe michael kept up just fine with Ed though the years....
Is he palm muting or is that just the kick drum?
VH songs are....BUSY! And M. Anthony earned his$. Should it not be on principal alone then what? Being irritated at a good example? This band was a stellar production.