Sammy would never write Atomic Punk, and Right Now would never occur to DLR's amusing turn of phrase. Different artists, different bands, IMO. Each with a place in history.

This is the best comparison I ever heard, thank you !

The Hagar era cast a broad pop-rock net which is fun to crank at a party. Roth era was a heavier, more sophisticated rock that appeals to more specific group of music enthusiasts. I'm a fan of both eras really.

I love both eras. But the DLR era was truly magical. The music, the lyrics, the vibe, the chemistry remains unmatched. DLR for the win!

The Roth era of Van Halen was my favorite

I'm a Eddie the guitarist player, songwriter fan. If you're hung up with the singer you're missing out on some amazing music in both eras

Just saw Sammy and Michael in Cabo. At 77 he still brings the vocals. Love all incarnations of Van Halen. True fans do too.

Instead of choosing sides cant we all just enjoy both eras of Van Halen I look at the Hagar era as a more mature version of VH, and with how fragile Ed could be with his personal issues, I think we're extremely lucky to have what we have, and instead of saying Dave was the greatest and Sammy sucked , cant we all just agree VH was a legendary American band that gave us alot of great music. And just be thankful for the great songs and music they gave us ! Both Sam and Dave were great in their own way , but the man behind them writing the songs was 95% responsible for the music we got. And thankfully we had Ed playing guitar on every song VH did and that to me is more important than who the better singer was. That just how I like to see it .

Still can't decide. Love the sings from both eras, I've seen both live. Just saw the best of both worlds show in NJ. All great. Why choose?

Man, I guess I'm the only Hagar fan. I didn't hate Roth, but I just think Hagar had a better voice. And it's not even close to me. It's never easy to replace a singer because it changes the sound of the band.

Dave for all the reasons you mentioned. I agree with Eddie, they were 2 separate bands. Roth Van Halen was ground breaking great hard Rock

Without DLR there would be no Sammy era. Dave era set the standard

They r both amazing .

Question: Who do you like more?? Answer: Yes!

Sammy won the lottery when he got the gig. Dave and Ed had built the vehicle that would carry Sammys career to heights it would never have reached.

Dave and his raunchy, alpha male lyrics by a fucking mile.

I love both eras. Very different but both great in their own way and both had my favorite guitarist of all time writing the music. No need to choose! Enjoy them both!!