After Sammy's departure was final, and the Diamond Dave reunion fell through, the guys were on the lookout for a new singer. There were many considered, once again for the job. The Internet was flying with speculation, but many seemed to agree that former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone was the lead candidate for the job.
Gary Was born and raised in the Massachusetts, and is one of five boys. As he grew up, he followed his dreams of being a rock and roll star. His first major act was as the lead singer of a band called "The Dream". Although their popularity wasn't soaring through the charts, they were being noticed by many people. Eventually, in 1985, The Dream became "Extreme" (pictured right), featuring Gary on vocals, the same drummer Paul Geary, and well noted guitarist Nuno Bettancourt. They would soon after get a bass player, Pat Badger. They were then signed in 1987 to A&M Records and were ready to start making music. Their most popular album was definitely the 1990 release "Pornograffitti", featuring "Hole-Hearted" and the acoustic ballad "More than Words", which topped the charts at #1. The band would release "III Sides to Every Story" in 1992, but did not get as much radio play as their previous album. They did manage to get a world tour deal, plus a couple kick ass appearances in the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert which was in London's Wembley stadium. Extreme then released "Waiting for the Punchline" in 1994, which would be their last studio album. Extreme parted their separate ways in 1996, and each member remained active in many side projects. In 1996, Gary Cherone became the luckiest of his former band members with an audition with one of the greatest bands ever, Van Halen.
After a few delays (due to a last minute track replacement), Van Halen released their latest installment with the group's third lead singer. The album was simply entitled Van Halen III. Apparently the writing and recording process went somewhat smoothly, because they ended up with so many tracks that Ed originally wanted to release it as a 2CD set! I guess the guys at Warner Bros. thought a little different. The first song to hit the radio was a good rocker called "Without You". The intro started out with Ed scrapin his strings with a quarter to get a really cool harmonic/scraping effect. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and stayed there for 7 weeks. "Fire in the Hole" was the next track to be released. Personally, I thought it was cool, but it did not spark the interest of many radio listeners. Neither did "One I Want", which I never ended up hearing on the radio. And "Dirty Water Dog" was released in Japan only. By then, most people had heard all they wanted to of this album. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it lacked the craziness of a Dave album, or the power and feeling of one from Sammy. I think many fans agree, but like me they are willing to see how this Gary thing is gonna turn out. He only has one "Van Halen" album under his belt, and there is more to learn as time goes on. Maybe they can find their niche in the future. I think Gary has a great voice, but sometimes his style of lyrics don't seem to fit. I mean they're good, but they don't seem like Van Halen.
So the question remains, what is in store for the third installment of Van Halen? Well, nobody knows just yet. Whether the guys want to admit it or not, it was somewhat of a rocky start. Take the magazine Guitar World, for example. Edward used to always win something in the year end polls, whether it be him for an MVP or the group for Best Rock Album, but the only award they were given this year is a first place finish for Biggest Disappointment. So what will it take to get things rockin' again? Hell, everyone has their opinions, but if you want mine, here they are:

The boys are currently back in the studio in efforts to get another album out by the end of the year. I just hope, for the sake of Rock and Roll, they take some of my advice. I'd like to see them go out as the greatest band in history, of course they might need Sammy back for that one, but hey, that's just me.