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...]
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...]
The Eddie Van Halen-Inspired Hairdos On ‘Stranger Things 4’
Ah yes, the good ole 1980s. Remember those hairdos? The people behind the making of Stranger Things certainly do, specifically Eddie Van Halen's rockin' "do"s from that decade. So much so they decided to pay homage to a few of them in the latest season of the hit Netflix series. Stranger Things' lead hairstylist Sarah Hindsgaul shared the inspiration behind the wigs used to … [Read more...]
‘Diver Down’ 40th Anniversary Tribute!
‘It’s not heavy metal and it’s not The Temptations, but it’s something in between.’—David Lee Roth Forty years ago today, April 14th, 1982, Van Halen released their most unique, odd, and light-hearted album. Enjoy our tribute to Diver Down! Diver Down, Temperature Up By John Scanlan Before the making of Fair Warning, Roth had moved to an apartment block … [Read more...]
Donn Landee’s EVH Guitar Miking On ‘Diver Down’ Revealed! [VIDEO]
Veteran engineer Bill Jackson shared one of Donn Landee's guitar recording techniques during a recent visit to Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles! Jackson spent quite a bit of time working with artists at Sunset Sound including Prince. While there, he said he liked to study the techniques of other engineers who were working at Sunset Sound at the time. One of those … [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...]
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...]
Far Out Magazine Spotlights Van Halen’s ‘Lesser Known’ Kinks Cover
Credit: Neil Zlozower The pop culture website Far Out Magazine has given Van Halen some love for their cover of the Kinks song "Where Have All The Good Times Gone". As Far Out's Tyler Golsen points out in his article, Van Halen played up to six different Kinks songs in their early club days. Their cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me" would be the single that … [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...]