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 Drum Sets 2:24Van Halen I … [Read more...]
Far Out Magazine Spotlights Van Halen’s ‘Lesser Known’ Kinks Cover
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 helped break the band in 1978 but … [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
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 … [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...]
WATCH: Van Halen Photographer Neil Zlozower Interview At Sunset Sound Studios
Photographer Neil Zlozower has shot as many classic Van Halen photos as Van Halen has recorded classic songs. That's a lot, which means he has just as many stories to tell. Zlozower sat down for a lengthy interview at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California to share the stories of his time "hangin', gettin' into trouble together and workin' together" with David Lee … [Read more...]
The Story Of Van Halen’s ‘Diver Down’ [VIDEO]
Van Halen's 1982 album Diver Down is the subject of the latest episode from The Professor of Rock. Here's what The Professor posted to YouTube along with the video, which you can watch above. Eddie Van Halen once said - "I would rather bomb with one my songs, then have a hit with someone else’s.” Much to Eddie’s distaste, his band did just THAT when Van Halen had a Top 40 … [Read more...]
Van Halen Author Greg Renoff Interview At Sunset Sound Recorders
Author/Van Halen historian Greg Renoff sat down for in-depth interview at the site of Van Halen's classic early recordings - Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. Renoff, the author of Van Halen Rising: How A Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal and Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music, had plenty of stories to tell regarding Van Halen's … [Read more...]
‘The Van Halen Story – The Early Years’ Now Available on DVD
The Van Halen Story - The Early Years has been released again on DVD! This DVD documentary chronicles the rise of four young musicians from their formative years to their transformation into a worldwide phenomenon. Witness the group's gripping tale told by the people who were there when it began - the childhood friends, fellow musicians, roadies, bodyguards, producers, and … [Read more...]
Van Halen’s ‘Diver Down’ Released 39 Years Ago Today
‘It’s not heavy metal and it’s not The Temptations, but it’s something in between.’—David Lee Roth Thirty nine 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...]
Dweezil Zappa: The ‘Diver Down’ Game Changer Tune Is ‘The Full Bug’
Dweezil Zappa calls Van Halen's "The Full Bug" the "Game Changer" tune from the band's 1982 album 'Diver Down'. In the latest sampling of his podcast Runnin' With The Dweezil, Zappa talked to guitarist Mark Tremonti (Creed, Alter Bridge, Tremonti) about the standout moments from 'Diver Down', one of them being "The Full Bug". "If you didn't think you were gonna rock hard … [Read more...]
Loudersound Ranks Van Halen’s Greatest Cover Songs
The music detectives at Loudersound have just returned from what we can assume was a very entertaining undercover mission: To come up with the ten greatest Van Halen cover songs of all time. As fans know it was Van Halen's 1978 cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" that helped launch the band's career. But there are plenty more masterful Van Halen-ized cover songs the band … [Read more...]