I love this list, ranking the Hagar Era Van Halen solos. It’s no secret that I’m a huge Van Halen fan, and as a child born in the late 70’s I was exposed a whole lot more to the Hagar-era of Van Halen than the original lineup. I love them both, but it’s cool to finally see someone do a writeup of Edward Van Halen’s guitar solos explicitly during the Van Hagar era.

Hagar Era Van Halen Solos

The author of this list linked at the end of this post is about the best Van Halen Sammy Hagar-era solos. Its’s a rarity. The author thinks it may be the first list, which is crazy when considering the last full studio album with Hagar was back in 1995. Many lists have been made, but the vast majority focus on the original Van Halen lineup.

There’s definitely a different feeling to the Hagar albums — 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance than the ones the band did with Roth. Arguably, that was going to happen anyway as synthesizers were already sneaking into albums — famously all over 1984, but even earlier in “..And the Cradle Will Rock”.

Overall, the list is great, though I disagree with the pick of “Humans Being” being the top pick. I love the song as a whole, but the solo itself is dominated by EVH running up the scale. It definitely has its moments, but I feel there are stronger selections on both 5150 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. But that’s the cool thing about creating lists like this. To the hardcore fans of a given band, it’s a great starting off point for discussion and creation of your own list with your own opinions and insight.

I think I may create my own.

Source: The Daily Herald Extra – ‘Van Hagar’ guitar solos get their ‘Judgement Day’