Could Eddie Van Halen's guitar riff to "Unchained" be the greatest of all time? Dweezil Zappa and Nuno Bettencourt make the argument that it may very well be. "'Unchained' really is possibly the greatest guitar riff of all time," said Zappa in a recently released clip of his podcast Runnin' With The Dweezil, which you can hear above. "It can fire you up like nothing else. … [Read more...]
Nuno Bettencourt On The ‘Nasty’ Van Halen Song ‘Dirty Movies’
Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt thinks "Dirty Movies" isn't just good, it's nasty good. "To me ['Dirty Movies'] was a rock funk that went right through me and it was about the pocket," said Bettencourt in a recently released clip of Dweezil Zappa's podcast Runnin' With The Dweezil. In it the two discuss their love of Van Halen's 1981 album 'Fair Warning' including the track … [Read more...]
‘Mean Street’ & “Dirty Movies’ Covered By Liquid Charlie [VIDEO]
Liquid Charlie has returned and this time he goes undercover for a trip down "Mean Street". Charlie posted his cover of the Van Halen classic from 1981's 'Fair Warning' album with the comment, "Had a lot of fun making this one!" A short and sweet comment as he lets the music do the talking! Check out the video of Charlie performing both guitar and vocals above. Also, see … [Read more...]
Dweezil Zappa Breaks Down His Favorite Van Halen Album: ‘Fair Warning’ [VIDEO]
Guitarist Dweezil Zappa said Van Halen's 1981 album 'Fair Warning' marked the moment the band was firing on all cylanders. "For me that was the apex of the creativity of the band," said Zappa during an interview with Sunset Sound Records. "The sonic character of that record is what I wanted to hear more and more of." Zappa and host Drew Dempsey sat in Studio 2 at Sunset … [Read more...]
Watch Fan Halen Guitarist Play Every Riff From Van Halen 1 In 10 Minutes
Guitarist Derek Fuller has performed Eddie Van Halen's classic riffs more times than he can remember but this is one performance he'll likely never forget. The guitarist for the Van Halen tribute band Fan Halen stopped by Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood to perform every classic riff from Van Halen's 1978 debut album in just 10 minutes. "This is truly a bucket list for … [Read more...]
Documentarian Sam Dunn: ‘The Definitive Van Halen Story Is Yet To Be Told’
Canadian documentarian Sam Dunn says a Van Halen documentary remains the "Holy Grail" of stories yet to be told. Dunn (Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Super Duper Alice Cooper) was asked by Death Angel's Ted Aguilar during an "Alive & Streaming" YouTube interview if he had a bucket list of documentary ideas. "Van Halen, for me, … [Read more...]
Loudersound Picks Out The Best Of Van Halen Album Catalogue
The staff at Loudersound has gone through their Van Halen album collection to highlight the ones they say are most worthy of a needle drop. "Van Halen albums have it all: One of the most innovative guitarists of all time, your choice of rock star frontmen, and some great tunes," writes Paul Elliott. "If ever a back catalogue epitomized the American Dream, it's the albums of … [Read more...]
Steve Lukather On Wolfgang Van Halen’s ‘Distance’ & The VH Riff He Wishes He Wrote
Add Toto's Steve Lukather to the growing list of Wolfgang Van Halen fans. Lukather recently made an appearance on the podcast Talkin' Rock with Meltdown and gave his thoughts on Wolfgang's debut single "Distance". "It's great," said Lukather. "I wrote [Wolfgang] a note, saying, 'Wow! Congratulations, man, so proud of you.' I'm sure his old man is smiling down from heaven … [Read more...]
Hear Never Before Heard Outtakes/Alternate Endings Of Early Van Halen Tracks [VIDEO]
Sunset Sound continued its Van Halen November series with parts 2 and 2.5 of their interview with engineer Brian Kehew. This time Kehew takes us into the studio to hear never before heard outtakes and alternate endings of classic Van Halen tracks. Kehew was hired by Warner Bros. around 2005 as an independent contractor to sort through their archives to find material worthy … [Read more...]
Anthrax’s Scott Ian Calls Eddie Van Halen ‘The John Lennon And Paul McCartney Of Hard Rock’
Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has paid Eddie Van Halen the ultimate tribute by saying his musical skills were those of both John Lennon and Paul McCartney combined. Ian talked about Eddie's legacy during a recent appearance on Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast. "There's not a bad song from 'Van Halen I' to '1984' -- for me, there's nothing that I don't love. Every … [Read more...]
Engineer Brian Kehew Talks Unreleased Van Halen Songs With The Van Halen News Desk
Ah, wow, man. Wait a second, man. Waddaya think “Hot For Teacher” is gonna sound like this time? It’s hard to imagine hearing Van Halen’s classic “Hot For Teacher” and not being able to recite every lyric word for word. Even harder to imagine is hearing the song with an entirely different set of lyrics but that's exactly what engineer Brian Kehew has revealed. In a recent … [Read more...]
40 Years Ago: Valerie Bertinelli Meets Eddie Van Halen
Embed from Getty Images 40 years ago today, all-American Valerie met all-electric Eddie.The time was August 29th, 1980, during Van Halen's 1980 "Invasion” tour. The place was Hirsh Memorial Arena in Shreveport, Louisiana. TV actress Valerie Bertinelli ventured backstage with her brothers, huge Van Halen fans who hoped to meet the band using their famous sister as a life-size … [Read more...]