It’s the biggest question among Van Halen fans: Will we ever get to hear what’s in the 5150 vaults?
The fascination with Van Halen’s vast collection of unreleased material was pretty intense back in the 80s and 90s but with the emergence of the internet, it grew to mammoth (pun intended) proportions. The Wax Audio Show podcast recently released an exceptionally well-produced episode on the history of Van Halen’s rare and unreleased recordings. It is a must listen.
Here is a quick rundown of what you’ll hear in the episode hosted by Tom Compagnoni and Kyle Hopkins, followed by the episode in its entirety. A bit of fair warning (pun intended again), the guys drop more “F” bombs than Eddie delivers dive bombs throughout the episode. Not exactly safe to blast while at work.
Episode Highlights
- What’s in the 5150 vaults and will it ever be released?
- Thoughts on Eddie’s passing
- The earliest known recording of Van Halen, then known as Mammoth (The VHND takes a hit in this segment by the way. Ouch! It’s all good fellas. By the way, if you ever decide to paint your shoes red, black and white, let us know.)
- The pre-fame club day demos
- The Gene Simmons & Warner Bros. demos
- The 70s demos that became the 2012 A Different Kind Of Truth songs
- The 1977 Pasadena Civic bootleg
- Isolating the tracks on Van Halen’s studio albums
- Studio outtakes
- Eddie Van Halen’s Star Fleet Project recordings from 1983 with Brian May
- Eddie’s TV and movie music from the mid 80s
- The demos and unreleased music from the 1986 album 5150
- The Japanese-only release “Crossing Over” from 1995
- The Mitch Malloy demo from 1996
- Eddie’s soundtrack instrumentals from 2006
- Leaving on a high note: David Lee Roth & Van Halen in 2015
Listen To The Wax Audio Show – Van Halen Rare and Unreleased
Listen to more episodes of the Wax Audio Show podcast at their website HERE.