Michael Sweet likes the David Lee Roth era of Van Halen more than the Sammy Hagar era.
“Alex Van Halen Says Van Halen ‘Not the Same’ After David Lee Roth Left: ‘Magic Was in the First Years,’” the Stryper frontman wrote on Instagram. “Well, there ya go. Straight from the horses mouth. And what I’ve been saying all along.”
“I love early Van Halen — everything with [singer David] Lee Roth… My opinion is that the early Van Halen with Roth was the better Van Halen. And the reason why I say that is because of the energy,” Sweet also said on the Cobras & Fire podcast in 2019.
The singer continued, “There was some kind of a fire lit under all of them, especially on those first three albums and tours, that was undeniable. Yeah, Sammy’s [Hagar] awesome, he’s a legend, he’s amazing, they sounded great, they had hits with Sammy and sold a ton of albums — not to take any of that away, but, man, I miss the old Van Halen.”
“And I personally believe, while they’re still alive — I don’t care how old they are — if they can still play and sing, their best album still lies within them,” Michael also added.
Sweet previously said he could help Van Halen create another classic album like their early ones. “I was just speaking out of respect — nothing but respect for Van Halen coming from me,” he talked about it in the same podcast. “You’re never gonna hear any disrespect.”
The vocalist then shared, “And I felt like, as a producer, writer, singer, guitar player, I would be a perfect candidate to help make that happen. And for people to laugh at that, that’s fine — you can laugh all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s true.”
“It’s beyond confidence. I mean, I have a lot of confidence, but if I don’t have the track record to back it up, I’ve got nothing, and I think I have the track record,” Sweet replied when the interviewer said he appreciated his confidence.
In his new book, ‘Brothers,’ Alex Van Halen said that Roth leaving Van Halen in 1985 was the most disappointing moment of his life until his brother Eddie’s death. Alex believes the band was never the same after Roth left. The magic was in the early years when they were more experimental.