The Pagemeister Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Alex's Brush with Bonzo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingzoso Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 In a fair fight, John Bonham would knock Alex Van Halen the fuck out. In a fair drum battle, Bonzo would kill Alex Van Halen. How is that for a fair and honest analysis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigante Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 What Kingzozo said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NealR2000 Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 In semi-seriousness, I don't believe Bonzo was a fighter in his sober state. He only became destructive or aggressive when he got the booze in him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dark Lord Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 8 hours ago, kingzoso said: In a fair fight, John Bonham would knock Alex Van Halen the fuck out. In a fair drum battle, Bonzo would kill Alex Van Halen. Pretty much says it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey g Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Not the biggest VH fan, but the only drumming that stands out to me is on "I'll Wait"...and I don't even know if that is the song's title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the chase Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 10 hours ago, kingzoso said: In a fair fight, John Bonham would knock Alex Van Halen the fuck out. In a fair drum battle, Bonzo would kill Alex Van Halen. How is that for a fair and honest analysis? I don't know.. if John Bonham was that tanked... Alex is a pretty big guy. AVH has steadily improved as a drummer over the years as well. When I saw him in 2007-08 he was real good, better than the previous 2 times I saw him.. Maybe not as good as JB at his peak but... for me was the highlight of the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecongo Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 It makes me sad Bonzo was such a belligerent drunk. I so wish he could've gotten help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpense Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 After seeing the video, it probably explains why Alex gave Jason Bonham the cold shoulder when Jason introduced himself to Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in_the_evening Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 18 hours ago, kingzoso said: In a fair fight, John Bonham would knock Alex Van Halen the fuck out. In a fair drum battle, Bonzo would kill Alex Van Halen. How is that for a fair and honest analysis? Agreed. I don't know if it's the production or what, but Alex's drums always sound so thin. No muscle at all to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dark Lord Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 1 hour ago, in_the_evening said: Agreed. I don't know if it's the production or what, but Alex's drums always sound so thin. No muscle at all to them. Exactly. And they often have a "boop" sound to them. Still love Van Halen though; it's just that Bonzo's tone was amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juxtiphi Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I don't think there was another kit in the whole of Rock history that had as full a sound as Bonham's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rover Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I enjoy AVH's drumming. I respect him greatly. But he as is all others, imo, in the shadow of JHB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the chase Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I get the critiques of AVH's drum sound. He tapes the tone out of his snare drums. The Simmons pads on 5150 sound terrible. I like electronic drums when used right. I don't think they worked in VH's case. His greatest sounding recording by far was For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge with the late Andy Johns behind the board. Kind of a shame this is turning into a "who's a better drummer" thread. To me it's more about a fan meeting one of his heroes and not in the best way. I'll give Alex credit. I've never heard him mention this incident. I've never heard him criticize John Bonham either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flares Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 JB was a brilliant drummer. Away from the kit, the jury's out for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FavouriteTipple Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Whatever about who did or said what 40-odd years ago, it's always been pretty obvious to my ears that Bonzo was an influence on AVH's drumming. I've said for years that AVH is one of the few drummers who had a similar swing as Bonzo in their playing. It's no coincidence that VH used to cover The Rover in their early days. I love Alex's drumming on VH's 1984 LP, good round sound and fun tunes. Also has Hot For Teacher, which will always be one of the greatest music videos ever made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rover 75 Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I too like AVH, but would not compare him at all to Bonham. There are certain influences of Bonzo's here & there I hear in his playing, but that's about it. Don't get me wrong, he is a solid player, fits very well for what they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in_the_evening Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 On 1/29/2016 at 9:48 PM, The Dark Lord said: Exactly. And they often have a "boop" sound to them. Still love Van Halen though; it's just that Bonzo's tone was amazing. TOTALLY. When I try to explain AVH's sound, it does sound like they are almost "saying" "boop". Again, I put it down to production, AVH is a pretty amazing drummer especially on the last tour given some of the Youtube pieces I have seen. Def love the Roth VH stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithril46 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 In the studio Alex is a "good" drummer but not even comparable to Bonzo. Live, however, he is much more powerful and reckless, but even so, at best 70% of Bonzo- his very best. Fighting wise, anybody who knows much bout such things knows not to assume much. John Lennon, in fact, was known to be a serious ass-kicker, believe it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MortSahlFan Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 I'm guessing Bonzo was a big influence... He tries to emulate his snare.. Billy Squire and his drummer tried to completely fill in the gap in 1981, a year after Bonham and Led Zeppelin died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithril46 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I think a missing link here is that EVH's lead AND rhythm style was so full that Alex and M Anthony had to do a lot of holding back. Great as JImmy is, Bonham filled a lot of holes that Jimmy had a hell of a time filling after Bonzo's death. Again IMO Alex played much better live, and even in the studio Eddie filled up a ton of space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpense Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 On 7/16/2016 at 6:35 PM, MortSahlFan said: I'm guessing Bonzo was a big influence... He tries to emulate his snare.. Billy Squire and his drummer tried to completely fill in the gap in 1981, a year after Bonham and Led Zeppelin died. Per Alex his strongest influence was Ginger Baker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MortSahlFan Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Eddie said Clapton was his influence (as did Billy Squier) which to me seems like a diversion. It's like Neil Peart saying Keith Moon was his favorite, though I don't see a trace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmywalnutz Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Bill On 1/28/2016 at 10:35 PM, juxtiphi said: I don't think there was another kit in the whole of Rock history that had as full a sound as Bonham's. Bonzo could get a full sound out of buckets , coffee cans with spandex fastened to the top by using rubber bands. Bill Ward stated that he had the touch and power of that we'll never see again. In the same interview he was quoted as saying " Bonzo could always find the sweet spot with amazing accuracy" He went on to say that he witnessed Bonzo pummel Jason's kiddie kit and was amazed. High praise coming from a guy that from 69-73 was as close to Bonzo in regard to power as anyone. AVH is an excellent drummer but he's not even in the same league as Bruford, Powell, Palmer, Baker or even Les Binks. I know Alex gets buried in the mix but he's just not remotely close to Bonzo. I love Van Halen too. I own one Motley Crue album ( Too Fast For Love) and an early boot rip , I think Tommy Lee is better than AVH. I forget the nut who played the bass 'name but say he played with Billy Sheehan ,he would have gotten more acclaim. I love Van Halen too. But it's not even close In a fight who knows? I've seen plenty of small framed wiry guys kick the !@#$ out guys twice the size. I saw a U.S. Army Ranger take an ass kicking from a friendly, early teen skinny. He didn't realize he had fists the size of sledgehammers until his face was being tattooed. Even the JH's knew better. Back on track, My buddy used always says Tito Puente was better than "Bozo" . IMHO, John Henry Bonham was and still is peerless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I will say this about Alex...he kept his solos short (never longer than 5 minutes) and it was always early in the set (usually after the second song) when the audience's energy was still amped and fresh. With the drum solo out of the way so soon, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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