I'll always remember the day in 1978, I was in a music store (remember those??) browsing through albums, and heard Eruption come on over the store stereo system. I cocked my head sideways and thought "mother of god...WTF is that?!?" I walked right up to the cashier and asked who it was, "Not sure, some band called Van Halen". I bought the album right then and wore that thing out.
I saw Van Halen in March of 1979 in Utah, and it was a life changing experience for me. His guitar playing was nothing short of phenomenal. There aren't enough expletives to describe the effect it had on me. After I overcame my initial gut reaction to go home and chop up my guitar into little pieces, that single experience had more to do with pushing me to new levels of playing than anything else. And for that, I'll always be grateful.
I'm just glad to see he has sobered up, and seems to have his life on track. He's always been socially awkward, and sometimes I think that has come across as him being a douchebag. In this video, I think he comes across as being genuinely humble and grateful for what he has. I'm glad to see it. I think it's awesome that he wants to play with his son. (and I love Michael Anthony) The old Van Halen is dead, there ain't no going back, so who he decides to bring together to play with him now is his own business.