Sammy Hagar and The Wabos: Livin' It Up Live in St. Louis (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)Absolutely great Hagar footage.
Why someone who is NOT a Hagar Fan, would view this DVD is absolutely beyond me.
So for the one star dork who asked the question why can't old gezers like Sammy get out of the way........Well, why watch the concert in the first place?
A Hagar fan who DOESN'T like this, well, I can respect, if not agree with that. But if you don't like Sammy in the first place, why waste your time?
Sam man touches on many great hits that HAGAR fans want to see. He rips loose on the guitar quite a bit so that adds to the project.
St. Louis must be an absolute AWESOME city to see Hagar play in as the audience is comepletely into the show. I've seen Sammy before, but never in St. Looo. Given I'm a die hard Rams fan, I need some stars to align for me and make a trip to kill two birds with one stone.
If you ARE a Hagar fan, you WILL love this DVD. If you are NOT a Hagar fan, you probably won't. But then agian, why would you bother?
Hat's off to the Red Rocker!
Hawk

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Sammy Hagar And The Wabos - Livin' It Up Live! - Caught live in St Louis on their sold out 2006 US tour, Sammy And The Wabos bring down the house with songs from their new album, Livin' It Up, as well as some of Sammy's famed solo work. Joined on stage for the second half of the show by legendary Van Halen bassist, Michael Anthony, the band rips through some of rock radio's classic tunes. From "I Can't Drive 55" and "Mas Tequila" to "Finish What You Started" and "Right Now", it's one big Cabo party with the "Red Rocker"! December 6, 1978-it might have started before then but I'll never forget Sammy opening for Ted Nugent at the Checkerdome in St. Louis.Opening acts aren't supposed to have the audience in the palm of their hand but Sammy sure did.His honesty and sincerity captivated the audience.The relationship between this artist and this city would never be the same.Almost 30 years later Sammy is still honest, still sincere and now more than ever, holds the St. Louis audience in the palm of his hand with a shot of Cabo in the other. Sammy fans everywhere just want to know, "What is it with Sammy and St. Louis?"It could be the relationship between Sammy and KSHE radio which dates back to the early 70's and the Montrose days.It could be all of the great solo albums.It could be the days with Van Halen.I think it's a combination of all of the above magnified by the sweat and energy of 33 plus shows that over 500,000 diehard fans have witnessed in this city.Whatever this "thing" is between Sammy and St. Louis it's real, it's heartfelt and spiritual to a degree.Once you watch the DVD you might understand. Favazz--KSHE/St. Louis Songs: Miss Tequila, Mexico, There's Only One Way to Rock, Rainy Day Women (#12/#35), The Girl Gets Around, Rock Candy, I'll Fall in, Love Again, I'll Take You There, Sam I Am, Little White Lie, I Can't Drive 55, Heavy Metal, Good Enough, Summer Nights, Right Now, Finish What You Started, Best of Both Worlds, Fight for Your Right, Cabo Wabo

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Live: Right Here Right Now Review

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(More customer reviews)I really wish there were more Van Halen live albums, because this one really cooks! Sammy Hagar sounds excellent as usual and the band plays awesome on every track.
"Judgement Day" sounds absolutely furious on this, better than the album version, in fact. "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" sounds really good. Sammy does a nice job on the Roth-era classic. "Ultra Bass" is outstanding! Finally, we get to hear Micheal Anthony at the forefront, not drowned out by everyone else. This is a very impressive solo and it's about time he got one on an album! "Pleasure Dome/Drum Solo" is incredible. Some very heavy guitar leads into a long, amazing drum solo by the incomparable Alex Van Halen. This guy has the energy of ten men, I'm sure. How he can do those lightning-quick solos for so long without collapsing is beyond me. Wow! "Love Walks In" is one of my favorite Sammy love songs and sounds superb with Eddie on Keyboard and Sammy on guitar. "Right Now" sounds great as usual, as does "Why Can't This Be Love." Well, I've highlighted some stuff by everyone but Eddie. "316" is his shining moment on this album. An amazing solo that has to be heard to be fully appreciated. His guitar work is great on every song, but this is the standout for him.
Well, everything is awesome about this one except for one thing; the sound quality. It sounds too spacious, as if they recorded in the middle of the concert hall. As a result, it sounds like you're listening to the album with a concert hall effect on all the time. Too much echo is a result, which makes it harder to differentiate things.
This is my only complaint. It is a small one considering how good this album is. If you are a Van Halen fan, you will love this. If you are a Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen fan, you will love it even more. There's only one way to rock, apparently, and this is it!

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Plays fine, sounds sublime. Fom a well cared for personal collection. Buy with confidence--see my feedback. Thanks and enjoy this great CD!

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Van Halen Live: Right Here, Right Now (1993) Review

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(More customer reviews)It's as simple as that because basically it's the only full concert filmed and edited professionally and released to DVD and will be the last one at the rate Van Halen is going! So buy it and enjoy!
I've been a huge Van Halen fan since the 80's and own all of thier material. I personally think this is their best concert of all time. I have a copy of the U.S. Festival and while it is truly a classic, the video is horrible due to the bootlegs. But that's understandable! Live without a net is really good, but that whole 80's era and the overall look of the band is cheesy. Some of that stuff including the clothing is hard to look at because I grew up in that era. There are a couple nice Van Halen concerts that aren't released to DVD that a Van Halen fan may want to get if you haven't had a chance to see them. The pay per view material such as the 1998 Australia concert with Cherone is ok, but again, you can tell Cheron didn't quite fit in. The band tried to make it work, but it wasn't there. The only other concert that comes close to right here, right now is the Toronto show on their Balance tour filmed at a jam packed Molson Ampitheatre. Good set list, great sound but the band was a little banged up. Alex was in a neck brace and Eddie was hurting. But the band still sounded tight, they put on a great show and the sound was great. The Balance songs aren't as good as For Unlawful, but it's still a great show and Eddie's playing was sharp.
But Live Right here right now is some of the best Van Halen concert footage from one of the best bands in the world that you'll find anywhere. However, the one discouraging thing about it was they took video footage from 2 different nights and edited them together. So for example you have Eddie performing the same solo but notice him wearing different clothing. No big deal because the music is the same and sounds great, but why do that! The songs they perform are great, the music is fantastic and Eddie's sound is right on, but what may be the best of all is the fact that the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was their best material top to bottom and it shows in this concert. I've had it on VHS since it came out several years ago and finally updated to DVD. Not an overall big improvement on the video since it came from VHS, but it beats re-winding and fast forwarding.

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Studio: Wea-des Moines VideoRelease Date: 06/08/1999Rating: Nr

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Van Halen - Live Without a Net (1986) Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD features the complete New Haven concert from the tour to support the bands first album with Sammy Hagar. Live Without a Net takes you back in time to 1986 when the second incarnation of Van Halen was still green; A time when the band was full of energy, fun and love for one another. A time when the music was the most important thing for all of them. Indeed, this is a different band than what we see five years later on the Van Halen Live: Right Here, Right Now DVD from 1991. Here we see Sammy Hagar even picking up lead guitar duty on the keyboard ballads Love Walks In and Why Can't This Be Love. In addition to that two Hagar solo tracks: There's Only One Way To Rock and I Can't Drive 55 are incorporated into the bands set as if they were Van Halen songs. In the not too distant future egos would inflate and each band member would exist as a island on stage, but for the time being it's 1986 and this is Van Halen in their prime.
Only three stars because there's nothing special here. No special features and the new DTS and DD 5.1 audio mixes could have been better.


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Item Name: Van Halen - Live Without a Net; Studio:Warner Strat. Mkt.

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Balance Review

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(More customer reviews)It's hard to believe that a full decade has passed since the release of Van Halen's "Balance," one of the more underrated albums' in VH's catalogue. Although there were a lot of great bands popular in 1995--Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine--it was still refreshing to have a kick-ass new Van Halen album out. Although "Balance" was released in the days of grunge and alternative rock, it still managed to sell over two million copies.
"Balance" takes up where "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" left off, but the music is overall heavier, and has more of an edge. Gone were the synthesizers and more pop oriented songs that that were prevalent in the first two Van Hagar albums. "Balance" rocks hard like its predecessor, but it is also somewhat darker. I take the general theme of the album to be the loss of a relationship, or going through a major life-change, and then getting back in "Balance."
The band sounds very focused and tight. Bruce Fairbain did a great job of getting the best out of the band and gave the CD a tight, crisp production. It goes without saying that Eddie's playing is terrific and each song has one or two killer solos. Mike and Al provide a killer rhythm section as usual.

The album begins with the hard hitting "The Seventh Seal." It starts with an atmospheric Buddhist chant leading into the song. This is a really cool, heavy dark song with an almost hypnotic riff. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" is a balled in the vein of "Why Can't this be Love," but doesn't have the dated, cheesy keyboards. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" is about the breakup of a relationship, not the hope of one as it is in "Why Can't this be Love." I take the mid-tempo "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" to basically mean that love is not enough to stop a suicide. The album lightens up a bit with the fast-paced "Amsterdam" and "Big Fat Money," two good, hard rockers. "Strung Out" is a sound-byte of Ed apparently ripping a piano apart, which leads into the majestic balled "Not Enough." "Aftershock" is an excellent rocker and has one of EVH's best solos on the disc. "Doin' Time" is a very cool drum solo that leads into the instrumental "Baluchitherium." It's catchy, infectious groove and killer solos make it a favorite of mine. "Take Me Back (Déjà vu)" remains my personal all-time favorite Van Halen song from the Sammy Hagar era. It's a beautiful, bittersweet, semi-acoustic song with the theme of wanting to return back to an earlier time in your life. The album ends with the depressing "Feelin'" a song that deals with getting though life alive, without getting burned. It's by far the most morose song VH ever wrote.
"Balance" was Van Hagar at it's best. It was also their last album. About a year and a half after it's release, Sammy Hagar and Van Halen parted ways. In hindsight, by listening to this dark CD, you can almost get the sense that although the band still sounds cohesive, this was destined to be the last Van Hagar CD.

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No Description AvailableNo Track Information AvailableMedia Type: CDArtist: VAN HALENTitle: BALANCEStreet Release Date: 01/24/1995

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Montrose Review

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(More customer reviews)I've always liked the hypothetical question, "If aliens landed on Earth and asked you what is rock 'n' roll, what album would give them to help answer their question?"
Well, this debut album by Montrose would be a good place to start. This was definitive '70s hard rock -- sort of a missing link between Led Zeppelin and Van Halen. Ronnie Montrose could have been a guitar hero icon, like Jimmy Page or Eddie Van Halen if he had stayed focus and had been more prolific. He certainly had the chops.
This album served as a template for future hard rock bands: a guitar, a bass, some drums and a singer whose seductive growl could peel the paint off your bedroom walls. In this case, the singer was a then-unknown kid name Sammy Hagar. Thanks to producer Ted Templeton, Hagar's dynamic voice is brought front and center into the mix. The effect is a perfect blending of Montrose's sonic guitar riffs -- replete with multi-layering, tons of phase shifting and the best guitar/motorcycle sound I've heard on a rock record -- with Hagar's angst-laiden vocal pyrotechnics.
The songs themselves are just straight-ahead, balls-to-the-wall rock. There's no subtlety here, no important message to be delivered a la U2 or R.E.M. (For example, in "Rock Candy," Hagar manages to yelp, "Your like rock candy, baby, sweet and sticky..." Yet, he pulls it off without sounding incredibly goofy or trite.) And the songs here are extremely catchy, making you want to sing along, as well as shake a little bit of that which mama gave you.
"Rock The Nation" is a joyful anthem to teenage revealry and one of the best known songs from the album. "Bad Motor Scooter" -- a personal favorite -- has the best phase shifting guitar I've heard. Montrose's guitar can be heard stretching sonically from one speaker to another and then back again with breathtaking results. "Space Station #5", after some weird and pointless electronic noodling that opens the tune, blasts into a scorcher that is heavily reminiscent of Led Zepplin's "Communication Breakdown." Hagar even does his best Robert Plant impression here with no apologies.
If you have never heard Ronnie Montrose's guitar work, perhaps you'll recall The Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein" or "Free Ride." Montrose was a member of that band and that is his guitar you hear dominating those songs.
If you are a fan of bands like Zeppelin or Van Halen, than you are bound to love this collection. In subsequent years, Montrose a made a couple of more albums with this line-up with mixed results. Though the Hagar/Montrose collaboration spawned a few more good records, none were as good top to bottom as this debut effort.
The only problem I can see is that if you buy it you will want to play it VERY LOUDLY. And when the aliens ask you, "What are you listening to...?" Just say, "My friends ... THIS is rock 'n' roll."

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No Description AvailableNo Track Information AvailableMedia Type: CDArtist: MONTROSETitle: MONTROSEStreet Release Date: 01/10/1989

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Chickenfoot Review

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(More customer reviews)Having read several reviews on this site, I have decided to add my own observations concerning the phenomenon known as "Footfest". It seems that most of the critical reviews of Chickenfoot come from those who are either highly trained musicians looking for "shock and awe", critics who have analyzed the music to death, and die hard DLR VH fans who never cared much for SH anyway. They most likely claim lack of technique, uninteresting song structure, or some other complaint as the reason for thier low opinion of Chickenfoot.
To these individuals I would offer this: let us not forget that the #1 litmus test of a rock album is: DOES IT ROCK? IS IT FUN TO LISTEN TO? DOES IT CARRY YOU AWAY FROM YOUR DAY TO DAY CONCERNS? Sure I like my prog-rock like the next guy but folks - this is the type of rock and roll that a lot of us have missed for quite some time with the semipermanent hiatus of EVH. And with that in mind I must say that Chickenfoot has accomplished something very special. As for Led Zep good I wouldn't go that far yet but time will eventually tell how great this debut is. For now though I am head over feet grateful that these guys got together and did this.
The music reflects the chemistry between Satriani, Hagar, Anthony, and Smith. As I listened to each track I do acknowledge and welcome the classic VH2 vocals, but I do not think it sounds like VH. I have never heard EVH use some of the darker elements as Satriani does. And I sure have never heard Michael Anthony's bass lines like this and whadayaknow? He's a pretty good bassist! His rhythm section counterpart Chad Smith is tight and crisp and at times even Bonhamesque.You can tell that these four guys really enjoy each others company and most likely care about each other. And isn't that an important part of wanting to be in a band in the first place? It certainly shows in the music. There isn't really a bad track in the bunch. No filler. Each song is a fun, toe tapping, head bobbing, rocking good time! And isn't that what it's really about? The chops are there...the technique is there... but they are played to suite the structure of each song. And that is testament to the 4 musicians who have given us the disk of the summer! Good luck EVH! I do have some hope that Chickenfoot will motivate you and DLR but I'm not holding my breath...not for anything this good at least. You have too much bitterness. Too much denial. Too much ego. Frankly I think you are finished...I mean how could you let Mikey go? You're...
running out
running out of time
running out
running out of tunes
running out
running out of blame
running out!!!
running out!!!
running out!!!!
WELL DONE - LONG LIVE THE FOOT!!!!!

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UK 12-track 2-LP vinyl set includes one bonus track, 'Bitten By The Wolf'. The Rock supergroup of the year comprising of Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani & Chad Smith!! Simply named Chickenfoot, this instant classic album combines all the best elements of the individual members forming this supergroup. Sammy Hagar's voice is clearer and warmer than ever. Joe Satriani's guitar style is showing a rockier side, a heavy sound with great solos in the best guitar hero rock tradition. Michael Anthony delivers his loud and groovy bass line, while his backing vocals, combined with Hagar's lead voice, bring back that great sound of Van Halen's albums. Chad Smith shows all his love for hard hock music with thunderous drumming - a real pleasure throughout the whole album. The album features instant classics, like the first single 'Oh Yeah' or the second single 'My Kinda Girl' [for which a big production video clip is about to be filmed]. From the opening track 'Avenida Revolution' through heavy rock and roll gems like 'Get it On' and 'Soap on a Rope' to the ballad 'Learning To Fall', an hour blast without one filler track. Presented in a picture sleeve with heat sensitive ink so that when you place a warm hand on the cover, it reveals the photos of the band members beneath!--This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

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Chickenfoot (Deluxe Limited Edition with DVD) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was skeptical about this CD and only recently purchased it when the Delux package was $13.99 at Bestbuy. I put this in the CD player of my car, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This isn't some rehash of a Sammy Hagar solo album or left over Van Halen ideas. This is something new, fresh, a tour-de-force to my ears. Sammy sounds great, Joe Satrani is amazing [as always], Michael Anthony is finally able to be in a band where he can show off his talents, and Chad Smith is a great time keeper. I'm not sure what else I can add that the other comments have not already stated other than BUY THIS NOW!!!!!!!!!

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Deluxe limited edition includes the debut album CD with bonus track, plus a DVD featuring 60 minutes of bonus video and live performances!
Track listing:
1. Avenida Revolution
2. Soap On A Rope
3. Sexy Little Thing
4. Oh Yeah
5. Runnin' Out
6. Get It Up
7. Down The Drain
8. My Kinda Girl
9. Learning To Fall
10. Turnin' Left
11. Future In The Past
12. Bitten By The Wolf (bonus track)

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