by Pratt » Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:22 pm
Actually ...
I can only assume we've had this conversation before, but for the record ...
I liked Van Halen long before (well 2-3 years) I ever heard of Rush. I was 11 years old and there wasn't a song on Van Halen (I) I didn't like. Favorite song: "Ice Cream Man". At camp in the summer of 1979, I met another kid who was a *huge* fan and brought a boom box and casettes (remember those things) with him every day. Van Halen II had come out just before the summer and we listened to both over and over (although I liked their first album much better). When we both came back to camp the following summer we were both VH fans; Women and Children First was charting and "Cradle Will Rock" was one of my favorite songs. All through the school year, I carried a 3-ring binder with my own drawing of the VH logo on the cover (which I started drawing EVERYwhere).
It was around this time I discovered Rush. When "Fair Warning" came out, I really wasn't all that impressed, plus like any true teenage fan I rarely listened to anything but my favorite band (unless it was on the radio). FW was kind of a flop. "Diver Down", though I liked, even if it was half covers. Hell, I always liked their cover tunes.
By the time 1984 rolled around (I was 17 now), I was off the Van Halen bandwagon. I was convinced that Van Halen had sold out and the only song I liked off that album was "I'll wait".
Then Hagar joined the band (and the drama started). 'Nuff said. In retrospect, with the band being almost two decades old you might be convinced that I was never much of a fan. But from my perspective, it was 5 of my formative years and I only really liked the original lineup anyway.
I'm glad you had a great time at the show. Hell, I probably would have gone if someone else bought the tickets (at $100 a pop nowadays I don't go to shows anymore). It would have been interesting to see and I'm sure they would have played songs I like.
peace,
-p.
