Credit: Bill O'Leary Eddie Van Halen's classic red, black and white striped guitar affectionally named "Frankenstrat" may be the most recognizable instrument in music history. Rock journalist and author Greg Prato has shared an article he wrote for AllMusic with the Van Halen News Desk that digs deep into the origins of the guitar design. By Greg … [Read more...]
WATCH: David Lee Roth ‘Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway’ Official Video
The official video for David Lee Roth's latest single "Nothing Cold Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway" has been released. The video, created by Roth's guitarist John 5 along with Mike Savage of Vision Savage Media, includes vintage photos and video of Van Halen during their early days as they quickly rose to fame and acclaim. It was first posted by John 5 Friday (July 29). … [Read more...]
What Are The Ten Best Van Halen Deep Cuts?
Credit: Neil Zlozower Just how deep will you go when it comes to your Van Halen fix? Of the 131 songs in Van Halen's catalogue, 56 of them were released as singles. That leaves another 75 songs that can be referred to as "album tracks" or "deep cuts". Just recently, Metal Injection's Andrew Kapper posted his own ten best Van Halen deep cut list, which included the … [Read more...]
A Tribute To ‘Van Halen II’ – Released On This Day In 1979
Release Date:March 23, 1979Recorded:December 1978 - January 1979 at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, CALength:32:00Producer:Ted TemplemanPreceded By:Van HalenSucceeded By:Women and Children First Van Halen II: 1. You're No Good2. Dance The Night Away3. Somebody Get Me A Doctor4. Bottoms Up!5. Outta Love Again6. Light Up The Sky7. Spanish Fly8. D.O.A.9. Women … [Read more...]
LISTEN: ‘Unchained: The Eddie Van Halen Story’ Author Paul Brannigan Exclusive Interview
The VHND's Eric Senich talked with author Paul Brannigan to talk about his book Unchained: The Eddie Van Halen Story! Here's a rundown of the topics covered in the interview: Eddie's guitar and recorder always by his sideThe influence parents Jan and Eugenia had on EddieForget the Fab Four, Eddie's fire was lit by The Dave Clark Five!Eric Clapton was the Cream of the … [Read more...]
Sunset Sound Discovers Hand-Written Mic Setup For ‘Van Halen II’ [VIDEO]
Credit: Neil Zlozower Cue up the Indiana Jones music, Sunset Sound's Drew Dempsey has just discovered a priceless Van Halen artifact! Dempsey recently posted a video to the Sunset Sound Recorders YouTube channel in which he shares "one of the most amazing documents ever." In his hands is the hand-written microphone set up for the tracking of 1979's Van Halen II, which … [Read more...]
Deconstructing Classic Van Halen: Isolated Tracks
Wanna hear "Hear About It Later" in a way you've never heard it before? Want just that tribal beat of "Everybody Wants Some!!"? Are ya hot for Eddie's guitar licks only on "Hot For Teacher"? Then you gotta check out these videos! The YouTube channel Isolated Tracks is created by musician, sound technician and DJ Fatih Günes. He's just released eight classic Van Halen tracks … [Read more...]
A Video Tour Of Alex Van Halen’s Drum Sets Through The Years
Credit: Neil Zlozower The YouTube channel 65 Drums has gone back through the legendary career of Alex Van Halen to highlight each and every drum set he used from his early pre-fame days right through to 2012's A Different Kind of Truth! Here's the complete video with a chapter breakdown below: CHAPTERS Early Years :44Bands Leading To Van Halen 1:41Early 70s … [Read more...]
LISTEN: ‘Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen’ Authors Exclusive Interview
The VHND's Eric Senich talked with Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen authors Brad Tolinski and Chris Gill for an exclusive, in-depth discussion of Eddie Van Halen's legendary career! Throughout the interview Tolinski and Gill give their insight and opinions on a wide range of EVH topics including: Eddie's childhood days overcoming his shynessHis relationship … [Read more...]
Podcast Explores Van Halen’s Rare & Unreleased Recordings
Credit: Neil Zlozower 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 … [Read more...]
Exclusive Interview: ‘Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock’ Author Michael Christopher
The Van Halen News Desk's Eric Senich talked with music journalist Michael Christopher about his new book Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock! Below is the complete interview conducted by Senich for his podcast Booked On Rock. Christopher discusses a wide range of topics related to Van Halen including: The band's early days in Pasadena and original bassist Mark … [Read more...]
Five Favorites: ‘Van Halen I & II’ [PODCAST]
If you had to pick just five of the 21 tracks that make up Van Halen's first two classic albums what would they be? Do you favor the hit singles? The deep tracks? How about the Eddie Van Halen solo instrumentals? Hosts of the podcast The Imbalanced History of Rock and Roll Ray Koob and Markus Goldman are serious Van Halen fans. So much so that, for their most recent episode, … [Read more...]