Alex Van Halen’s long-awaited memoir, “Brothers,” hits stores on Tuesday, but the buzz has been heightened this week after he dropped some bombshells that didn’t make it into the book.
The book begins with the drummer and his brother Edward’s childhood in the Netherlands before moving to Southern California, where they formed their eponymous band and would change the face of hard rock. It tells the story of the unbreakable bond between them.
Forever.
Interestingly, this story ends around 1984, with original frontman David Lee Roth either splitting up the group or being ousted, depending on whose story you believe.
In an interview to promote the book ahead of its release, Alex revealed some surprising names who were slated to sing for the great Van.
It’s been more than four years since Halen and the guitar wizard passed away, and he also talked about why a memorial concert for his brother Edward had never been held until now.
“Brothers” (provided by HarperCollins)Sammy Hagar, who replaced Ross at the mic, spent the summer traveling in honor of his Van Halen days, but he’s not even mentioned in the book.
Alex continues to respond to Hagar’s own revelations about an unflattering portrait of Eddie Van Halen published in 2011, detailing how the guitarist’s drinking and drug abuse destroyed their friendship. The consensus is that he’s angry.
Van Halen became one of the greatest melodramas in music history. Hagar was first replaced by Singer in 1996, and Ross was quickly dumped in favor of Extreme frontman Gary Cherone.
When it became clear that things weren’t going well for Cherone, the band went on a hiatus, but then returned to Hagar, who went on a disastrous 2004 tour.
Ross returned for the final time in 2007 and remained in his rightful place until his final VH tour in 2015.
Not only do you need mathematicians and scorecards to figure all of this out, but it turns out Van Halen had an even more active revolving door of lead singers than previously thought.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Alex admitted that he had plans to record an album with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 2000s.
“When you get a dog, you don’t expect it to be a cat,” Drummer said. “You get Ozzy, you get Ozzy. You put on some music and he’ll sing, it’s going to be great.”
But at the same time, Osbourne met with MTV to discuss her reality show, The Osbournes, which became a pop culture blockbuster and halted all musical activities.
“If that had happened, it would have been phenomenal,” Osborne admitted to the magazine. “Eddie and Alex have been great friends of mine for a long time and I’m disappointed they never got together. At the time, ‘Osborne’ was a hindrance to making new music.
unfortunately. “
Alex said he and his brother also jammed with the late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who died by suicide in 2017.
The timeline provided is a little shaky, but it seems like he was around the same time as Osborn. He stated that Cornell was “at a very vulnerable time in his life,” which was likely just before the grunge icon joined Audioslave in 2001, and that his untimely death was mentioned. He said it was not right before.
Even stranger, it may have come from the infamous recording vault that Van Halen kept in Eddie’s home Studio 5150. According to Alex, there will be lots of “little snippets” of music, and they’ll discuss ChatGBT, OpenAI, and how to analyze his brother’s playing patterns to construct fresh guitar solos.
And let’s say it happens. Who can sing? loss? Hagar? Cerrone? Ozzy?
Try Robert Plant. Yes, it’s the frontman who turned down a dump truck to reinvent Led Zeppelin and chose to take a nontraditional path, partnering with bluegrass songstress Alison Krauss.
“You’re going to think I’m (expletive) out of my mind,” Alex said of bringing up Plant’s name. “But when the conditions are right, things will become clear.”
There doesn’t seem to be a tribute show or tour in Eddie’s honor in the offing. According to Alex, Ross will sing, Joe Satriani will play guitar, original bassist Michael Anthony will return to the group for the first time since 2004, and plans to tour under the Van Halen name are in motion.
However, when Alex told Ross that he had to pay tribute to his brother at one point during the concert, the frontman said, “The fuse went off…the vitriol that came out was unbelievable.”
So, the melodrama continues and will only get more dramatic when “Brothers” airs next week and more revelations are revealed. The book is available for pre-order now, with the option to purchase an audiobook narrated by Alex himself, which comes with a bonus in the form of “Unfinished,” the last music the brothers recorded together.
this week’s record
Keep an eye on this spot as we highlight new or upcoming records from a different artist each week. It could be a repress of a groundbreaking recording, a special edition, or a new collection of a legendary artist.
This week we are looking forward to the Halloween season.
“Return of Halloween Nugget: Haunted Underground Classics” (Courtesy of Liberation Hall)
Various Artists: “Return of the Halloween Nuggets: A Haunted Underground Classic”
When Liberation Hall’s record label subsidiary Rockbeat Records released Halloween Nuggets in 2022, they had no idea it would lead to multiple spinoffs.
“Return of Hollywood Nuggets: Haunted Underground Classics” is the third installment in the bestselling series.
This fall brings devilish dance parties and terrifying gatherings.
This compilation features 18 deep cuts of spooky music from the ’50s and ’60s.
Among them are “Gorilla” by The Chandels, “Castin’ My Spell” by The Spellbinders, and “Creature from Outdoor Space” by The Sonny Day & Tony Ray Combo. “Knives and Lovers” by Frankie Stein & His Ghouls and “Were Wolf” by Carl Bonafede & The Gemtones.
This collection includes 1962’s ultra-rare Betty Lovett song “Witchcraft in the Air,” 1959’s Vincent Price’s spooky classic “House on Haunted Hill,” and 1953’s absolutely awful Also included is a radio trailer for the B-movie “Robot Monster.” It is widely regarded as one of the worst films of all time.
Return of Halloween Nuggets: Haunted Underground Classics has an insanely cool new cover design by New York illustrator Cliff Mott, and the record is available on limited edition orange and black splatter vinyl. It is pressed in
Also available on CD and digitally. The CD and digital configuration includes two classic monster movie trailers as bonus tracks.
Look for “Return of Hollywood Nuggets: Haunted Underground Classics” online and at all respectable vinyl retailers.
To contact music columnist Michael Christopher, email rockmusicmenu@gmail.com. Also, check out his website at thechroniclesofmc.com.
