I think Ed and Alex, moreso Ed pretty much ran the band and was sick of Dave's shit and Dave thought he was Van Halen so those egos just could no longer tolerate one another. It's evident they( Ed/ Alex) treated Michael Anthony as a stand in bass player and not a full member of VH and that's why Sammy and Mike became such good friends as they were outsiders to their own band. I think Van Halen itself caused the breakup and there was no stopping it. I don't blame Sammy at all. He was invited to come sing after Ed jammed with him at FarmAid and at the time they all said it was a good fit.
Eddie wanted to take the band in a new direction which he certainly did whether we liked it or not and at that point I don't think Ed cared that it didn't sound like old Van Halen. I didn't really love the Van Hagar in 1986-1995 I kept hoping it would sound like old VH and it never did. So onward ten years or so I listened again with an open mind and found Ed's genius in those songs as well.....Yeah Sammy was going for POP radio or that's just how he was writing those days and maybe Ed was too but I doubt Ed cared about the radio play, he had enough money already.
