Author Martin Popoff believes a live album from Van Halen during the original David Lee Roth-era of the band could have gone down as one of the greatest live albums of all time.
Popoff, who is the author of the brand-new book Van Halen at 50, recently wrote an article for Goldmine magazine listing 20 bands who had that precious window of time to capitalize on their notoriety and “at-the-top-of-their-game” skills by releasing a live album. At the very top of that list was Van Halen. Below is what Popoff wrote:
I think we can agree that Van Halen wins this thing–or loses this thing, depending on how you think about it. Famously, Alex Van Halen was always against live albums, which is a shame, because there’s hardly an explosive, hard-rocking band with more four-way, jazzy, Who-like chemistry that’s ever been. That a live album never happened in that space where the guys were starting to fight with Dave (or when they made their covers-heavy album Diver Down) is such a squandered opportunity, if anything, just for the sake of rock ‘n’ roll history. Warner Bros. should have demanded one to close the chapter, a double blast of Diamond Dave in 1985. Without much attention put to the tapes, it could have been one of the greatest live albums of all time, let alone of the ’80s. As it stands, partly given the dearth of good concert records albums at that time, you’d have to say that Iron Maiden takes that prize with the aforementioned and perfectly timed Live After Death.
Read Bands Who Missed Their Live Album Window at Goldminemag.com.
Martin Popoff’s Van Halen at 50 Is On Sale Now At The Van Halen Store!
‘Van Halen at 50‘ is the new hardcover coffee table book by rock ‘n’ roll author Martin Popoff! This is a gorgeously crafted book of 50 of Van Halen’s career highlights augmented with crisp and often rare photography. It’s hardcover with nice embossing and spot-varnishing, and there’s a foldout timeline. 192 pages. Buy a copy now at the Van Halen Store!