No Michael or Sammy in Guitar Hero: Van Halen

[Andy Chalk]

No Michael or Sammy in Guitar Hero: Van Halen

Despite the promise of "classic images" of the band, Activision [http://www.activision.com] has confirmed that Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar and that other guy will not appear in Guitar Hero: Van Halen

An Activision representative confirmed with 1984 [http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/guitar-hero-van-halen-ditches-michael-anthony-sammy-hagar-209285], images of the band from that period will still feature Wolfgang - despite the fact that he wasn't actually born until 1991.

David Lee Roth, of course, is almost universally regarded as "the" Van Halen frontman, but Hagar was with the band for more than a decade, during which time Van Halen achieved its greatest commercial success. Michael Anthony, meanwhile, was with the group for over 22 years until he was unceremoniously dumped in favor of Eddie's son Wolfgang.

Tensions between the members of Van Halen are about as surprising as a sunrise but Anthony and Hagar deserve better than this. White-washing their contributions to the band's long and successful history is unadulterated douchebaggery and although it's impossible to say how much the band had to do with the decision, it's worth bearing in mind that this isn't the first Michael Anthony revisionism we've seen: In 2007 the bassist was temporarily removed [http://idolator.com/289397/van-halens-official-site-places-wolfgang-in-time-machine] from several songwriting credits.

via: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=217279]


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[WrongSprite]

Doesn't this essentially stop it being GH: Van Halen?

I don't know anything about the band, so sorry if I'm wrong.

 

[Andy Chalk]

No no, no need to apologize.

 

[tendo82]

Okay Diamond Dave is awesome, but Van Halen was more of a band when Sammy Hagar was on board. Before that it was Eddie playing a guitar solo while David Lee Roth high kicked and screamed a few nonsensical lyrics.

So I'm guessing that means Dreams, Why can't this be love? and the Crystal Pepsi classic Right Now won't be included with this package.

 

[MrLS]

Well that kinda sucks, Even tough i will never buy another Guitar Hero game seeing how much Activision ruined it, i guess this is bad news for all die hard Van Halen fans looking to see all the diffrent line-ups.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Okay Diamond Dave is awesome, but Van Halen was more of a band when Sammy Hagar was on board.

I guess, since I don't have the authority to fire you, I'll just have to have you killed instead.

 

[LANCE420]

No, in the history of music, there have been many bands that have relied one a single musician to make their music. John Foggerty of CCR, Angus Young of AC/DC, AND David Lee Roth of VAN HALEN.

Ask any hardcore fan of Van Halen, and they will all tell you the same thing. David Lee Roth was the best of the band. When Sammy Hagar joined the band became poor and nonviable. Any fan of Van Halen who tells you Hagar is better than Roth is going to hell for lying.

David Lee Roth was a master showman. With him Van Halen was regarded as one of the best live bands around.

 

[GyroCaptain]

Okay Diamond Dave is awesome, but Van Halen was more of a band when Sammy Hagar was on board.

I guess, since I don't have the authority to fire you, I'll just have to have you killed instead.

I've occasionally accused David Lee Roth of sounding like a cackling baby in jest, but I'll help. David Lee Roth = approximately one Van of what makes a Van Halen.

 

[Banana Phone]

I'm probably gonna be locked away in the looney bin for this, but I only like one Sammy Hagar song, and it's from his solo years. Roth is the only Van Halen lead in my books.

You are correct. But it's the loss of Michael Anthony that saddens me the most.
Michael>>>Wolfgang

 

[scnj]

Activision have made a dick move?! Noooo, it can't be! Stop the presses!

 

[TraumaHound]

And that's like GH:Metallica not featuring James Newsted at all

Jason Newsted...also omitted are Cliff Burton and Dave Mustaine, for those counting.

I understand them selling the GH: (Insert Sellout Band Name Here) games with whatever current line-up is in the band; makes it much easier to market and relate to the vacant-staring culture who can only live in the now (mostly based on what's on the tv right now.) Nevermind that so many of us remember and prefer the original band line-ups, they're not who'll be in the commercials so they can't possibly be in the games.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Band lineups change, sure, and sometimes past members don't really rate a mention. Cliff Burton was a huge part of Metallica and should be recognized as such in any kind of Metalliwhatever; Mustaine, not so much. Same thing with Iron Maiden - would a GH: Iron Maiden (which makes a hell of a lot more sense than VH, by the way) need to pay much attention to Clive Burr or Paul Di'Anno? Mention them somewhere in an in-game retrospective maybe, but they wouldn't need to actually show up in the game. But if it had been made during the years when the band was without Bruce Dickenson and Adrian Smith, those two would still have to feature prominently. They're just too central to the band to ignore.

DLR is One True Frontman, yes, but denying the existence of a decade of Sammy Hagar and the major commercial success that went with it is just a shitty, shitty thing to do. And screwing Michael Anthony like that? Even worse. The funny thing is, I don't think VH has enough mainstream appeal to really drive its own Guitar Hero, but the big VH fans out there, the ones most likely to buy the game, are the ones who are going to feel most alienated and pissed off by the exclusion of Anthony and Hagar. It's an incredibly bad decision.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

And that's like GH:Metallica not featuring James Newsted at all

Jason Newsted...also omitted are Cliff Burton and Dave Mustaine, for those counting.

I understand them selling the GH: (Insert Sellout Band Name Here) games with whatever current line-up is in the band; makes it much easier to market and relate to the vacant-staring culture who can only live in the now (mostly based on what's on the tv right now.) Nevermind that so many of us remember and prefer the original band line-ups, they're not who'll be in the commercials so they can't possibly be in the games.

*Facepalm*

Gah, but they do mention Cliff in a few of the Metallifacts videos, and Mustaine really wasn't seen as enough of an influence by some. My main beef is that Rob has only been on for one album, Cliff has been on for 3 I believe, and Jason was with them on 4, and Jasons time was when the band reached its commercial heights. I mean with Cliffs death I could understand, but why do they have John Lennon on the Beatles:Rock Band than...

I was amazed that Jason Newstead was omitted. Surely he could have been an unlockable character or something. Not that there is anything wrong with Rob; he's just the new kid on the block still in comparison to Jason.

I feel the same about Sammy Hagar being omitted from VH. It's like ignoring the contribution that guy made to VH to make them what they were in their heyday.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Wait a minute... I should probably be embarrassed about not knowing this (although I honestly couldn't possibly care less about the rapidly-breeding GH franchise) but are you telling me GH: Metallica actually does omit Burton and Newsted? I thought you were speaking hypothetically.