From GuitarWorld.com: Eddie Van Halen made his first Guitar World cover appearance with the January 1981 issue, during the magazine's second year of publication. The cover beckoned readers to ponder if the young EVH was the world's greatest guitarist, while the original headline (on page 35) dubbed him The New King of Heavy Metal Guitar. Here's part one of that classic … [Read more...]
Van Halen News
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...]
Chickenfoot Members Praise Van Halen
Ever wonder what the members of Chickenfoot think of Van Halen? Here's what Joe Satriani and Chad Smith have said about them: . "The power and virtuosity that Eddie displays on every record is staggering. His timing and his tone make him so much fun to listen to. The first time I heard VH on the radio I stood up and cheered, because I felt that Eddie was doing what so … [Read more...]
Video Interview with Ted Templeman
“I’ve worked with such legendary guitar players as Allan Holdsworth, Ronnie Montrose, Eric Clapton, Lowell George and Steve Vai, but none of them come close to having Ed’s [Eddie Van Halen's] fantastic combination of chops and musicianship. I rank him along with Charlie Parker and Art Tatum as one of the three greatest musicians of my lifetime. Unfortunately, I don’t think Ed … [Read more...]
Studio Encounter with Eddie Van Halen
Guitar legend Nuno Bettencourt was recently at Henson Studios to do some writing and mixing. Unbeknownst to him, his favorite rock band from his youth were secretly using the very same studios to record their upcoming album. Inspired by his chance encounter with Eddie Van Halen that day, Nuno wrote a story about it, which he contributed to the upcoming hardcover photo book, … [Read more...]
Van Halen Turbo-Pop
Here's a tale from Van Halen's 1979 "World Vacation" tour, from David Lee Roth's autobiography "Crazy from The Heat": Pretty soon, we were opening for bigger and bigger bands. In early '79, we were playing at the Los Angeles Coliseum, some ninety thousand people, Aerosmith was top bill. And I had an idea of a way to make an entrance, having gone down to the stadium to see … [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...]
“Van Halen Asteriods” Game is Back!
A couple years ago, someone created a Van Halen video game that you could play online. "Assteroidz, Diamond Dave Edition" is basically a Van Halenized Asteroids game, done in an endearing way that features David Lee Roth & Van Halen imagery and sound. The world stood still went the game went offline over a year ago, but it's now back! Enjoy! Click here to Play! … [Read more...]
Van Halen Update 7/13/11
The return of Van Halen draws near, but the details are still unclear. The Van Halen News Desk wades through all the rumors on the 'net so you don't have to! Here's this week's news/rumors on Van Halen: 1) ALBUM & TOUR RUMORS: Melodicrock.com reports that a "known and trusted source close to ground zero" says that Van Halen's US tour will commence in NOVEMBER and that it … [Read more...]
Hot for Waldo
Breaking News, VH fans - Waldo has been found! We finally found the answer to the one question the whole world wants to know: Whatever happened to Waldo after graduation? The "Waldo" in this video is actually solo artist/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Keith Kessinger. … [Read more...]
Van Halen Update 7/6/11
Not much new here, but here's a quick update on the new Van Halen album. Some new rumors have surfaced since our last update, but we are hearing that most of them are not true. Here's what we know as of now: Album Release Date: We are hearing it is tentatively September or October, 2011. First Single Release Date: Unknown. Album Title / Song Titles: Unknown. (We hear … [Read more...]
Van Halen Voted “#1 American Rock Band of All Time” in Gibson.com’s READERS POLL
Over the July 4th Weekend, Gibson.com’s editorial and writing staff voted Van Halen the #6 American Band of All Time. But when the PUBLIC spoke in their READER'S POLL, VAN HALEN topped ALL other bands! The people have spoken! From Gibson.com: Gibson.com Readers Poll – Top 25 American Rock Bands The readers picked many of the same bands that made the final … [Read more...]