Half the reason anyone would attend a Van Halen show would be to see the guitar genius in action. The band took pride in creating bulletproof hooks whenever they went into the studio or onstage. But the main attraction was always Eddie Van Halen teaching a guitar clinic. It was completed with a barrage of notes that would take most inexperienced guitarists years to figure out. The band had an equally strong frontman throughout their career. But there was one aspect of their sound that Eddie never connected with.
When putting together his first bands as a teenager, Eddie was always drawn to the sound of heavy guitars before the vocals. Eddie fell in love with the tones he heard coming from early Cream records. He was doing his best to emulate Eric Clapton’s sounds.
By the time the brothers began touring the California club circuit, they had already begun to shift toward a heavier sound. They were playing riffs that could have come from an early Black Sabbath album. The band had the musical side of their sound down to a science. But it wasn’t until David Lee Roth came into the fold that things began falling into place.
Roth’s unstoppable charisma onstage transformed him into a glorified cartoon character every time he performed. He was usually swinging a sword and playing a court jester role alongside Eddie. However, when Michael Anthony joined, the band’s vocal power increased.
Coming from the band Snake, the bassist was best known for his extremely high-harmonisation vocals. It added a sonic sheen to some of Van Halen’s most famous records. Anthony could easily carry an entire show on the strength of his voice. But Eddie later stated that he was never a fan of the bassist’s singing style.
When discussing the various elements of the Van Halen sound, Eddie Van Halen didn’t think Anthony’s voice had as much swagger as the others. He said, “Mike’s voice is like a piccolo trumpet.” But he isn’t a singer. He has a range from hell. Mike was born with an extremely high voice. I sing with more soul than he does. And, while people always talk about Mike’s voice in Van Halen’s songs, it combines Mike’s and my voices. “It is not just him.”
Eddie eventually took over the microphone for the song ‘How Many Say I‘ by Van Halen III. Anthony’s high tenor is a key component of the band’s early success. Despite, Roth’s magnificent performance in songs like ‘Runnin’ With the Devil’ or ‘Dance the Night Away’, Anthony’s voice always fills out the low end of the mix. It made the band sound like a hard rock choir.
Anthony’s time with Van Halen ended when Eddie’s son Wolfgang took over bass duties. He continued to showcase his talents with former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar. He worked on a variety of projects, including The Circle and the supergroup Chickenfoot. Van Halen may have sold out stadiums throughout the 1980s. But without Anthony’s voice, they would have lost a key component of their identity.
