Few bands have more highly publicized internal strife than party metal pioneers Van Halen. The pairing of Eddie Van Halen, a relatively shy musicians musician, with David Lee Roth, a spotlight-obsessed vaudevillian showman, proved an artistically fruitful but nonetheless tumultuous arrangement. The group first split with Roth after the extraordinarily successful album 1984, replacing him with Sammy Hagar and giving birth to the much-less-memorable Van Hagar configuration. Fans clamored for a reunion, and they got their first teaser in 1996 at the VMAs when the Van Halen brothers and Diamond Dave appeared on stage together. The awkwardness was obvious, however, and shortly after that bizarre appearance, Eddie said of a possible reunion, If we started in Toledo, Ohio, we'd never make it to Cleveland. Verbal barbs were traded back and forth while both Hagar and Roth rejoined and re-vacated the lineup. In 2012, the band managed to release an all-new album with Roth on vocals, producing the single Tattoo which amazingly recaptured much of the melody and energy of classic Van Halen, albeit with some concessions to middle age. Unlike other bands on this list, the last reunion was more or less a success, a tale of friendship eventually overcoming ego and angst but boy, what a hell of a long time it took.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
