So, when did Van Halen become hair metal.
lol
Since always. Since they maybe invented it? f*ck if I know, but putting VH in some other category than one one which has Bullet Boys, Motley Crüe, Winger, or any of that other shit is just splitting great big pink hairs. The further back in time the hair metal era slips the less likely it looks like anyone on earth will have any use for it. This is one of the most completely spent and totally done-with genres of music I can think of. "If the music's too slow, you aren't drunk enough."
The most pathetic thing about this video, and there are many, is that somebody somewhere still thinks Runnin With the Devil is a song worth hearing in any setting. It's not. Even compared to the rest of VH's work it's super bad. It slow as hell and nothing happens except the sound of homoerotic yelping and squeaking from dipshit.
They still play that shit every day on the New Classic Power Rock stations stinking up the middle of the FM dial in every city in America. "Oh yeah! I hate this song!"
I can't fault the guy for the Breath-rite strip. If he needs it to do his job, he needs it. Even with hair so short (they clearly were going out of their way to make sure their hair wasn't too long, it's shorter than mine and I just got it cut a week ago) the fat, and wearing nothing notable to speak of to a gig that probably paid each member $10k per song, they still don't look half as stupid as they did during their prime. In short, they aren't pathetic NOW, they were pathetic THEN.