Michael Anthony thought David Lee Roth formed a supergroup with great musicians to outdo Van Halen.
The bassist recently spoke to Ultimate Guitar and talked about what he felt when he listened to DLR’s ‘Eat ‘Em and Smile’ album:
“Yeah. I mean, I haven’t heard it in a long time. And I actually don’t even know if I’ve heard the whole album ever in its entirety. That’s a great album. I mean, I’m friends with Billy [Sheehan]. And Steve [Vai]. Obviously, they’re both great frickin’ players. It was great.”
Then, he shared what he initially thought about Dave’s band:
“At first, my thoughts were, ‘Is Dave just trying to put together a band to try to kick our ass? To try to put together the best players that he could get?’ Because obviously, between Greg [Bissonette] and Steve and Billy, shit right there, you got some great musicianship.”
Anthony lastly added:
“But I thought it was good. The playing was great on that album. Those guys are all great. And on top of that, it was just Dave being Dave.”
Anthony’s Role In Van Halen After Roth’s Departure
Roth left Van Halen in 1985 to pursue a solo career, leading Eddie Van Halen to find a new singer. Sammy Hagar became the new lead vocalist. In a 2022 interview with Darren Paltrowitz, Anthony discussed working with Hagar after Dave’s departure:
“No, not back then really as much now and then. I might sing something when Dave couldn’t show up to a soundcheck, but that was just like a cover where we were at in a song, going over something. However, I never really started doing that much until after Sammy joined the band because he doesn’t go and do soundcheck very often.”
The musician continued:
“When we were there, people would have come to soundcheck like VIPs as you saw in Las Vegas. After a while, it’d be boring to see Eddie, Alex, and myself. We’re fun to watch. So we would work up a few songs from the actual form, the early Van Halen era, and play for those fans, and I would sing them.”
Anthony also previously expressed that he holds no grudges against Roth and is open to playing with him. He said he’s ready to play with anyone now.
