Well, ok, that’s not what he said. This is what he actually said in a phone interview with Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles.

“I’ve made this statement a million times - some people don’t like it, some people do - but Joe is the best guitarist I have ever played with,

It’s the man’s opinion and if people don’t like it them piss on ‘em. Most would argue that Eddie Van Halen is a better player, but how do you really compare the two? Both are great, both are legends, but everyone always wants to pull out the “Eruption card” without even hearing The Satch’s solo albums.

It could be quite a one sided debate if they were really compared in depth. I hear that you can hear a lot of Joe Satriani’s work on Coldplay albums these days.

(Image: Newscom.com)

Chickenfoot, the super-group that features Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith is hitting the road for a handful of shows in May. I reported back in October that the band was recording and they have planned to release the album early this summer. Below are the confirmed dates as of right now.

• May 14 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
• May 15 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC
• May 17 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
• May 19 - The Roxy Theatre - West Hollywood, CA
• May 22 - Park West - Chicago, IL
• May 24 - The Mod Club Theatre - Toronto, ON
• May 26 - Middle East Upstairs - Cambridge, MA
• May 28 - The Fillmore NY Irving Plaza - New York, NY
• May 29 - TLA - Philadelphia, PA

(Image: Newscom)

Joystiq.com has reasons to believe that Activision is planning a Guitar Hero: Van Halen. I’m not a big enough Van Halen fan to want to run out and buy it the first day it comes out, but I could bet that it would be a fun game. Guitar Hero: Metallica was released yesterday and I have yet to play it. Might save that for my son’s birthday coming up.

Joystiq has been informed that Activision’s next artist-oriented Guitar Hero release will be based around Van Halen. According to Joystiq’s source, the game is set to arrive sometime after Guitar Hero: Metallica and will include several songs hailin’ from the Californian rock band’s catalogue, including “Jump,” “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher.” You can also expect a smattering of songs from other bands, like Judas Priest’s “Pain Killer,” Tenacious D’s “Master Exploder” and Weezer’s “Dope Nose.”

Read more on this story at Joystiq.com. This was also rumored early last month.

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Aerosmith pretty much started the band based Guitar Hero line and the latest band rumored to get an upcoming release on the game is Van Halen. Deservingly I guess, Eddie Van Halen is a guitar hero. How many rock and metal guitar players has he influenced over the years. While his playing and style may be slightly dated compared to some of the guitar players out there today, he’s still an amazing talent. Besides, I don’t like to compare guitar virtuosos of yesterday to players of today. A lot of guitar players these days play for speed more than feeling.

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I haven’t wanted to talk about this because it’s just been pure speculations and rumors, but there has been a lot of words flying around about Guns N’ Roses doing full blown stadium tour. What’s the big deal about that? Well, everyone is wondering how the hell Axl plans on filling those seats. They don’t believe that Guns N Roses has the pull they once did, even with the release of Chinese Democracy. You really do have to wonder if it’s possible for them to fill stadium seats and sell tickets. While there is no doubt that they will sell a  significant amount of tickets, it’s just hard to think of them filling stadiums by themselves with a support act.

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Here is the first single and title track from Sammy Hagar’s upcoming November 18th release, Cosmic Universal Fashion on Loud & Proud/ Roadrunner Records. You know Sammy’s history. I shouldn’t have to feed you Sammy’s resume of countless hits and albums sold. If you don’t know the name by now, then you have been in the dark for way too long.

The title track and first single, “Cosmic Universal Fashion,” was written in an online collaboration between Hagar and a young Iraqi band in Baghdad, with the music video produced in the same spirit as the classic Van Halen video for “Right Now.” The album also features a rousing cover of the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party).”

Sammy also worked with other well known musicians on this album such as ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, fellow Van Halen Alumni Michael Anthony, The Cult’s Billy Duffy, Guns N’ Roses Matt Sorum and Journey’s Neal Schon. On another note, Sammy also has his own brand of Tequila called Cabo Wabo and if you like a good, smooth tequila then you should really give it a try. Video is after the fold…

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I hate the term “Super Group”, but this one could be interesting. You have Sammy Hagar, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, RHCP drummer Chad Smith and Joe Satriani on guitar. Billboard reported:

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Unlike the rest of the Van Halen camp, former VH front-man, Sammy Hagar said that he’s cool with either candidate using the song because the lyrics fit the times. I used to dislike Hagar as a singer for VH and not do much as a person, but lately, perhaps I’m opening another part of my mind and realizing that Hagar was a great VH front-man, with some really memorable songs during his time in the band and seems like a pretty good dude.

When I wrote the lyrics to ‘Right Now’, I intended them to inspire people to not sit around and wait for something they believed in but to go out and get it, to make a change however they needed to,” he said in a statement. “Whether it was McCain who used the song or if Obama had chosen to use the song, with the current political climate, the lyrics still have the same meaning, and we all need to do something to make a difference, every action counts. In fact, I still feel so strongly about this that I wrote a new song ‘Cosmic Universal Fashion’ with a young Iraqi musician in an attempt to motivate a new generation to the same affect. I am pleased to be associated with the lyrics to my original song and the new one in hopes that both will make people move to make a difference.”

Universal Cosmic Fashion Video after the fold.

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Former Van Halen front-man and dude that makes some kick ass tequila, Sammy hagar had some words to say about the recent Van Halen reunion. Now I think he’s got a great point in saying that Michael Anthony should have been there for it to be a true VH reunion, but I don’t think that they’re trying to push the fans away. Here is what he said on The Tour Bus, a syndicated radio show.

“They just keep going, making more and more mistakes,” Hagar said. “The reunion with Dave was the greatest thing they could have done, but why didn’t they just keep Mike one more time?! They just can’t do the right thing by the fans. I don’t know why that band… There’s just something quirky to where they… It’s almost like they wanna just push ‘em [the fans] as far as they can and see if they’ll still come back.”

So how did you feel about this change made in Van Halen. Was it a good decision by VH or was it kind of…stupid?

Remember this? When Van Halen’s 1984  came out there was a bunch of controversy over the album cover over a baby…who also happens to be an angel…smoking a cigarette. Back then this was a big deal. Yep, that’s right…this was controversial back then. Kind of funny if you think about it. I wonder what these people that thought this album cover as taboo think of some of the album covers of today.

Image Source: Amazon.com