Women And Children First - Released 40 Years Ago Today Van Halen’s ‘Women and Children First’ album has just turned 40 and like a bottle of David Lee Roth’s best party-ready whiskey, it’s only gotten better with age. To celebrate the anniversary of the classic Van Halen album released on March 26th, 1980, the podcast The Rocker Life recently released an episode … [Read more...]
Alex Van Halen
Unearthed Complete Footage: Van Halen in Fresno, 1978!
Screen capture from the 1978 footage, embedded below Van Halen's first world tour absolutely STUNNED unsuspecting audiences around the world. Watch INCREDIBLE footage from that tour below! Finally, ALL of the precious 1978 footage from Fresno is available online, for the first time! Watch the audience-filmed footage below, some of which has never been seen before! On … [Read more...]
The Greatness Of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ Explained
This is fantastic. Our favorite musical mechanic, Rick Beato, has gone under the hood once more to reveal a close-up look at the lean, mean engine of classic Van Halen. This time around he decided to dissect the many parts that make up the band’s classic hit single “Jump”. Beato is a musician/producer who has a long-running popular podcast series called “What Makes This … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday, Alex Van Halen! Top Ten AVH Songs
Happy Birthday, ALEX VAN HALEN! “Big Al”. It’s the perfect nickname, really. We’re talking about the man who has led many-a-Van Halen classic song with some of the most mammoth-like beats in rock history. Alexander Arthur Van Halen was born May 8th, 1953 in Amsterdam, Netherlands to a Dutch musician father Jan and Indonesian mother Eugenia. “Little Alex” and his little … [Read more...]
Exclusive Review: ‘Eddie And Dave’ Off-Broadway Play
EDDIE AND DAVE runs through Feb 17th in Manhattan VHND reader Tom James and his wife Heather caught the 2:30pm matinee of “Eddie And Dave” on Eddie Van Halen’s recent birthday (Jan. 26th). The Stage 2 theatre was close to full. It included a fair number of older season-ticket holders mixed with a diverse age and gender cross-section. Tom's review is exclusively for VHND … [Read more...]
AUDIO: Sammy Hagar Reaches Out to Alex Van Halen, Invites David Lee Roth to Upcoming Festival
Sammy Hagar is still talkin’ ‘bout Van Halen, Van Halen still ain’t talkin’ ‘bout Sammy. During his recent visit to Eddie Trunk’s “Trunk Nation” radio show, Hagar revealed that he reached out to Alex Van Halen last month but to no avail. “This is the first time I’ve ever told anyone this. I reached out to Al on his birthday [on May 8th],” said Hagar. “I sent him a nice … [Read more...]
30th Anniversary Roundtable Discussion: Did Van Halen Bite Off Too Much With ‘OU812’?
30 years after the release of Van Halen's OU812, our friends at Ultimate Classic Rock hosted a roundtable discussion about the album. Featuring UCR staff, along with VHND's Jeff Hausman, and Van Halen Rising author, Greg Renoff, they tackle five big questions about the album. Read everyone's answers to question #1, below, and continue to read the rest at UCR. From … [Read more...]
Watch These Guys React to Hearing ‘Aint Talkin’ Bout Love’ For The First Time
The two guys from the very popular "Lost in Vegas" YouTube series ("Home of the Unbiased Reactions") have ... believe it or not ... never heard Van Halen's ''Ain't Talkin' Bout Love.'' Watch their reaction. Their enthusiasm for the newly discovered song is infectious! Doug from VHND reflects on this video: I absolutely love this video! I really get a kick out of these … [Read more...]
What Makes Van Halen Great?
Watch Musician/Producer Explain What Makes Van Halen — and specifically, ’Runnin’ With The Devil’ — Great What is it that makes a great Van Halen song so great? Is it the guitars? Is it the vocals? The drums? The bass? Actually, the answer is a collective "yes" to all of the above and you’re about to find out why. Rick Beato is a musician/producer who has released a … [Read more...]
Going Mad in Wisconsin: Van Halen Destroys 7th Floor of the Sheraton Inn
In 1978, Van Halen was a four-man party looking for a place to happen. For the third stop of their first world tour, the band checked in to Madison, Wisconsin’s Sheraton Inn. The problem was, the seventh floor didn’t survive their visit. Inside the liner notes for their second album, Van Halen II, the band thanks, among others, “The Sheraton Inn (seventh floor), Madison, … [Read more...]
Van Halen 40th Anniversary: ‘In The Studio’ Interviews
One of the greatest debut albums in rock history turns forty and Redbeard at InTheStudio interviewed the original band members Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth, and Michael Anthony to recall those halcyon days marauding like Vandal hordes from Pasadena to Hollywood's Sunset Strip forty years ago, resulting in Van Halen containing "Runnin' With the Devil","Ain't … [Read more...]
Video: Ludwig Alex Van Halen Signature Supraphonic Snare Drum
In the video above, Alex's tech, John Douglas, shows off the Ludwig Alex Van Halen Signature Supraphonic Snare Drum — a replica of Alex's 2015 6.5x14 Supraphonic. Watch as John gives us a look at how Ludwig's first ever artist signature Supraphonic came to be. Also, note that you can hear a little bit of Alex's drum solo from the 2015 tour in the video. Find more info on the … [Read more...]