If there was one band that the guys and gals during my high school years all agreed on, it was Van Halen.  They were THE party band in high school:  we dudes marveled at the pyrotechnic guitar wizardry of Eddie Van Halen, the gals fawned all over David Lee Roth, and we all loved the songs.  Myself, I was nuts for the first five albums… and then…  the clown show took over.

I know, I know, I’m in the minority but I was totally cool when the band and Roth went splitsville and the Red Rocker Sammy Hagar came on board.  Sure, Roth was a great frontman for the band and brought tons and fun and swagger but at some point the focus was more on him (blame MTV and the media) and less on the rest of the band, which was the draw for me.  Plus, something about the 1984 album started moving the band in a slightly more commercial direction and away from the all out guitar centered assault from past albums.  While those rockers were still there, the prominence of keyboards was adding a different shade to the VH palette as Edward was branching out into newer territory.  It felt as if he needed a new creative foil to bounce ideas off of and Sammy Hagar was that man.  As for Roth, he was now in total control and free to pull together a hot shot band of hired guns to do his bidding.

Enough of the history lesson…  what about the resulting albums from VH with Hagar and Roth as solo artist?  March 1986 was when 5150 was dropped on the public, headed up by debut single “Why Can’t This Be Love” which was about as far removed from anything previously released by Van Halen or Sammy himself.  While I admit it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, the song was catchy and certainly “feel good” and was a decent teaser for the album.  But when the album dropped I was jazzed…  finally new Van Halen!  But…  a different beast altogether and one that was a bit shocking but still totally cool.  Opener “Good Enough” was a great blend of styles and an excellent showcase for what the new band could do-  Sammy in full throated roar and the band rocking hard; “Dreams” a dead on classic with a positive lyric and fab chorus; “Best Of Both Worlds” and the title cut examples of great EVH riffs with an early days swagger; and “Love Walks In” a vocal showcase for Hagar and part of that new creative direction the band was heading in.  Toss in the humorous “Inside” to show off the new band of brothers vibe on top of a handful of other cool ditties and the new VH (or “Van Hagar”, as some called them) was ready to take on the world.  I caught the band on tour at this time and it was a fantastic show-  these guys were having a blast on stage and their chemistry and on stage banter was infectious.  To this day, one of my all time favorite concert experiences.

So… how did Roth answer?  With a damn good album himself.  Always the showboat, the Diamond One pulled out all the stops with debut single “Yankee Rose” and its hilarious video (something that VH shied away from for 5150) featuring Roth as voodoo shaman needing “a bottle of anything and a glazed donut…  TO GOOO!”  Interestingly enough, I didn’t quite mind the Roth antics as a solo artist-  he DID make some entertaining videos and it certainly was all about him but hey, this time it was HIS band.  And what a band!  Steve Vai on guitar and Billy Sheehan on bass were a pyrotechnic tag team, featuring lots of flash and incendiary playing on songs like “Shy Boy” and its buzzsaw unison lines; “Bump & Grind”‘s sexy swagger; “Tobacco Road”‘s raunch ‘n roll; and the “talking guitar” featured on “Yankee Rose”.  Still, Roth was able to express his creativity with this band as well-  everything from Sinatra cool on “That’s Life” to the swinging “Ladies Night In Buffalo” to the sun ‘n fun of “Goin’ Crazy”.  Eat ‘Em And Smile took the party blueprint from Roth’s former band, cranked it to eleven, and still took it a notch higher courtesy of dual flamethrowers in Vai and Sheehan.  A fun, fun album.

So who is the winner?  Whew…  tough call.  There is something about 5150 that is unique and is a great example of how two separate artists can play to their strengths and create a piece of work that can stand on its own.  One drawback for this album is that it sounds a little dated due to the Simmons electronic drums that Alex Van Halen included in his kit, but it’s not a huge knock.  Still, a lot of great, well crafted rock music with classic Hagar melodies that still sounds great today.  As for Eat ‘Em And Smile, the songs and performances are strong and play well to the strengths of each musician on the disc.  However, it seems that Roth’s main goal here was to keep the party hearty element alive and not stretch the boundaries too far (that would come with next album Skyscraper) from what made him famous in the first place.  The songs (originals and covers) fit his voice to a tee and he let the band do their thing to excellent results.

For creativity and memorable songs…  the winner is 5150.  For serious ass kicking and overall vibe…  the winner is ‘Eat Em And Smile.  And the one that I play most today and is the winner of this showdown (by a nose, I must add) is Eat ‘Em And Smile.