Tool guitarist Adam Jones told Guitar World that when he first heard Van Halen it was as if the clouds parted and an alien had just landed in the form of a guitarist named Eddie Van Halen. "The first time I heard Van Halen, a friend’s babysitter played the first album for me," Jones told Guitar World's Richard Bienstock. "It was like the clouds parting, or like aliens had … [Read more...]
Van Halen’s ‘Balance’ Released On This Day In 1995
Balance is Van Halen's fourth and final album with vocalist Sammy Hagar Released January 24th, 1995, Balance became Van Halen's fourth consecutive number 1 studio album. It quickly went double platinum— just two months after it's release—proving that this hard rock outfit could do just fine, thank you, during the new grunge era. It was later certified triple … [Read more...]
Watch: Parrot Sings Along To Van Halen
All the bills are paid, I got it made in the shade an' all I n-n-need is Tico the singing parrot to kick off the weekend! Meet Tico, the parrot who's recently made internet headlines thanks to a series of videos uploaded by his owner Frank Maglio. The videos feature Tico singing along to various classic rock songs performed by Maglio on the guitar. Maglio launched his … [Read more...]
Van Halen’s ‘Unchained’: The Greatest Guitar Riff Of All Time?
Could Eddie Van Halen's guitar riff to "Unchained" be the greatest of all time? Dweezil Zappa and Nuno Bettencourt make the argument that it may very well be. "'Unchained' really is possibly the greatest guitar riff of all time," said Zappa in a recently released clip of his podcast Runnin' With The Dweezil, which you can hear above. "It can fire you up like nothing else. … [Read more...]
New Alex Van Halen Book
Nice to see the GREAT Alex Van Halen get recognized! Modern Drummer has put together a special book that is entirely devoted to Alex Van Halen! Modern Drummer Legends: Alex Van Halen is the second installment in the 'Modern Drummer Legends' series, and is the one and only Alex Van Halen drum book! Includes Alex’s 1983, 1993, and 2008 Modern Drummer cover stories. … [Read more...]