Our friends at Ultimate Classic Rock attempted the near-impossible feat of trying to rank all the Van Halen albums from worst to best. As they note in the introduction to their video, '“worst” in the context of one of the world’s greatest rock bands doesn’t necessarily mean bad.' That's for sure! We think there's very, very little "filler" on Van Halen's albums. So, while it … [Read more...]
Eddie Trunk Compares Van Halen’s Dave and Sammy Eras
Radio personality Eddie Trunk has called Van Halen "America's Led Zeppelin." He specifically praised early Van Halen, saying the David Lee Roth-era Van Halen recordings sound as fresh and groundbreaking today as they ever did. And now, from his book Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, we feature his thoughts comparing Van Halen's Dave Era to their Sammy … [Read more...]
In Defense of Van Halen (By a Guy Who Just Drove 4 Hours to see Them)
From MerchantsOfRock.com: Written by Kevin Cenedella There’s been a movement within people who are roughly my age to dismiss Van Halen’s music entirely. I drove four hours to see them with David Lee Roth in Greensboro North Carolina last spring, and my reaction to their reformation and tour was nothing short of “This is going to be awesome!” Much to my surprise, this … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen Voted “GREATEST GUITARIST OF ALL TIME” in Guitar World Readers Poll
From GuitarWorld.com: After nearly half a million total votes were cast, Eddie Van Halen has been named the victor in Guitar World's first-ever Greatest Guitarist of All Time poll. The tournament-style readers poll began in April with 132 guitarists, including four — Malcolm Young, Nuno Bettencourt, Jake E. Lee and Chet Atkins — who were voted in by readers. In the … [Read more...]
Irreplaceable Replacements
From GazetteExtra.com: If a band changes its members, when does it cease to be the band it started as and continue in name only? When David Lee Roth left Van Halen in 1985, the band continued under a new guise with Sammy Hagar as the lead singer. After the Van Halen/Hagar relationship soured in the mid-1990s, things got weird. The band brought Roth back into the fold … [Read more...]
Van Halen Retrospective 1978-2012 Fan-Made Video
This Van Halen video is a retrospective of their entire career, made by lennonfan101((*J*)). Don't let the words "fan-made" turn you off... he did a great job and it's worth watching! Enjoy! … [Read more...]
Van Halen Retrospective (Parts 1 & 2)
Earlier this summer, we featured Part 1 of Midnight Phil's two part Van Halen Retrospective. We're glad to say that Part 2 is finished! A message from Midnight Phil to VHND readers: "Thanks for all the amazing feedback on Part 1 of the Van Halen Retrospective! Part 2 was tricky, because it involved discussing some of the more frustrating things about the band's history … [Read more...]
Interview: Engineer Behind 5150 studios, George Saer
In the 25th episode of Pensado's Place, the engineer behind Van Halen's 5150 studios, George Saer, talks about his career and share insights about working with Eddie Van Halen. The Van Halen talk starts at 17:17 into it. A rare glimpse into the inner workings of the creative and recording process at 5150. With Van Halen working on a new album right now, it's a good time to … [Read more...]
Running with the Devil: A Lifetime of Van Halen
From SLAKE: The Los Angeles Quarterly: By John Albert The first time I hear Van Halen I am fourteen years old, riding in a car through the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. My friend Steve Darrow is riding shotgun while his dad steers the dusty old Volvo station wagon. Chris Darrow is in his forties and has long hair and a slightly drooping cowboy mustache. In the … [Read more...]
Top Ten Stadium Rock Bands—Van Halen (Video)
Here's the complete Van Halen segment from a circa 2001 music documentary hosted by Alice Cooper, "Top Ten Stadium Rock Bands." We love what they say about Van Halen: "It's hard to overestimate what Van Halen did for rock – they took it to new levels from the musicianship point of view, and from the showmanship point of view, with David Lee Roth." … [Read more...]
The Real Guitar Heroes: Top 10 Rock Guitarists Ever
From the full article at nydailynews.com: In honor of the release of 'Guitar Hero: Metallica', the News shredded all conventions to name our list of the top ten rock guitarists ever. Did Hendrix, Clapton or Van Halen get the top spot? Did Slash get cut from the list? Did metal guitarists like Steve Vai and Randy Rhoads get their due? Fans surely won't agree with all of … [Read more...]
The Top 10 Most Overlooked Band Members
Michael Anthony made Spike.com's list of "The Top 10 Most Overlooked Band Members" We all know that being in a band is a team effort. It’s never a one-man show. So it’s unfortunate sometimes when fans just assume the lead singer writes all the lyrics and the guitarist is the only one composing the music. This is why we need to give a few shout-outs to some of the most talented … [Read more...]