VAN HALEN Demos Leaked in Perfect Quality

[Mushroom]

ALSO...the YouTube links only have about 2/3 of the outtakes. The link is everything. 3 1/2 hours. And properly organized (though with a few titles off).

Ok that’s key information, thanks!

[Romeo Delight]

That Secrets jam...

[ashstralia]

Exactly what it’s meant to sound like!

[ashstralia]

I think anyone can listen to the raw ‘secrets’ and know that only Dave Lee Roth could make it the epic song it is. Her feet are makin tracks in the winter snow…

I never noticed the pinch harmonic in the riff!

[Mushroom]

I had some time to get really fucking loaded a la Kristy and spin some tunes. Some amazing recordings, amazing sound quality for what it is. I remember reading bootleg guidebooks in record stores back in the 80’s all about VH bootlegs. Last night I lost my fucking mind. Finally 40 years later. But I’m a little unsure what we have here.

I tend to think we’ve heard all this before with a couple of exceptions.

What is new in this batch that has never circulated besides the short little snippet outtakes? Otherwise these recordings are just a better low generation copy that finally made it out to the bootleg circulation.

I never heard Red Zone. Was Red Zone previously available on a bootleg? When was it recorded?

There are at least two instrumentals, one is Red Zone, the second sounds like a piece of Red Zone is included but other entirely different riffs.

Is Light in the Sky in this batch?

Is this really part of the aborted remaster attempt years ago - is there a credible source to support this? Could these be part of the first cut distributed to the team to select for the Final Cut?


P.S. we are rolling up to the 40th anniversary for 1984. I think it’s safe to say there will be no commemorative release. Here’s hoping for a 50th anniversary release in 10 years when we are in our 60s-70s.

[Terry]

I had some time to get really fucking loaded a la Kristy and spin some tunes. Some amazing recordings, amazing sound quality for what it is. I remember reading bootleg guidebooks in record stores back in the 80’s all about VH bootlegs. Last night I lost my fucking mind. Finally 40 years later. But I’m a little unsure what we have here.

I tend to think we’ve heard all this before with a couple of exceptions.

What is new in this batch that has never circulated besides the short little snippet outtakes? Otherwise these recordings are just a better low generation copy that finally made it out to the bootleg circulation.

I never heard Red Zone. Was Red Zone previously available on a bootleg? When was it recorded?

There are at least two instrumentals, one is Red Zone, the second sounds like a piece of Red Zone is included but other entirely different riffs.

Is Light in the Sky in this batch?

Is this really part of the aborted remaster attempt years ago - is there a credible source to support this? Could these be part of the first cut distributed to the team to select for the Final Cut?


P.S. we are rolling up to the 40th anniversary for 1984. I think it’s safe to say there will be no commemorative release. Here’s hoping for a 50th anniversary release in 10 years when we are in our 60s-70s.

This stuff, along with the Donnington footage...

It's nice to see it and hear it.

To be sure.

10 years from now, should I make it that far, I can pretty much guarantee it'll be zero shits given on my part over a 50th year commemorative release of the 1984 album or anything Van Halen-related.

Love the band. Was stoked in 1996 for a full-fledged Roth reunion. When it finally happened, it was after too many years of diddling around on the part of the band and I lost a significant amount of interest.

15 years ago, as the fan I was then I would have salivated over the Donnington footage or the CVH studio outtakes.

Now, while - as I said - it IS nice to see and hear the stuff, much like the eventual Roth reunion my enthusiasm is diminished somewhat.

I mean, it's...just a function of aging, I suppose. There's nobody in particular to 'blame' because it wasn't as if a crime had taken place.

It is perhaps a bit sad that the Van Halens themselves didn't spearhead the release of this material sooner, because these latest recordings were surreptitiously released by someone else. A bit sad in that it just sort of reminds me how after Hagar left the band in 1996 the Van Halens had so much difficulty/trouble/resistance or plainly just didn't have the desire/need to get the simplest of shit right by way of what their fans wanted.

Like, whatever one thought of the Hagar years of 1985-1996, at least the Van Halens went on and continued to release new material and tour with regularity during those years. They also managed to achieve a continued degree of commercial success with a new singer, and - again, whatever one thought of the Van Hagar music to one side - ain't many rock bands that pulled THAT off.

After Hagar left, what did everybody want to see? A Roth reunion and a new CVH album. We got two CVH tracks and...Gary Cherone.

Then the Cherone thing fizzled out, and what did everybody want to see? A Roth reunion. We got three Van Hagar tracks and a Sam Halen tour (a shitty Sam Halen tour at that).

Finally, Roth rejoins and we get...Eddie's none too talented teenage kid on bass. As if Ed's early 2000s personal dissolution wasn't enough of a freak show element on its own, the band opted to combine Dave's Return with Bring Your Kid To Work Day.

Bah, whatever. My bitterness over all those wasted years and bad decisions shouldn't be a wet blanket over enjoying the recent CVH bootleg releases...sometimes it's hard to look back and be reminded about how great that fucking band was and how it devolved into the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight, but the manner in which these CVH materials have surfaced is just sadly all too typical of how Van Halen has fucked things up for close to thirty years now: it took someone NOT in Van Halen to get this stuff out there. Even after Ed died, the business concern known as Van Halen still fucks things up (just the fact that there was loose talk or an attempt to reconstitute the band in any form without Ed is ample evidence of it).

[Mushroom]

Terry, I feel your pain but I don't share your outlook.

I was spinning some of these demos over the weekend.

Red Zone: 3 or 4 versions, the final version is sick, mind boggling.

Dance the Night Away: 5 versions, with extra riffs and noodling.

On Fire: From the Ted Templeman demos, wild lead guitar licks and a groove better than the original release.

I could go on, there's some cool shit in there

[ZahZoo]

I believe most have been excited to hear these high quality outtakes from the golden era. I honestly had given up on hearing anything remotely this great ever again.

Once the joy of digging into this stuff and the appreciation for the great musical talents of these guys sets in... it's not hard to be reminded of just how fucked up the band has been in managing their catalog and legacy the last quarter century.

So one day it's like... Wow!! This is like Christmas morning! The next day back to business as usual... Fuck those lazy, incompetent bastards!!

[Terry]

Yeah!!

What Zah said!!!!

[Kristy]

I'm not really big on demos but...

This is exactly what should have been released ages ago on those rather bone dry 2015 remasters. I wanted to see photos of those sessions (particularly Fair Warning) and 1984. Interviews from Eddie to Landee and what took place, what gear was used, what mics, etc yet it seem the shitheads at Warner Brothers still don't give a fuck.

[Rikk]

I'm not really big on demos but...

This is exactly what should have been released ages ago on those rather bone dry 2015 remasters. I wanted to see photos of those sessions (particularly Fair Warning) and 1984. Interviews from Eddie to Landee and what took place, what gear was used, what mics, etc yet it seem the shitheads at Warner Brothers still don't give a fuck.

The fact that Warners were the ones who paid for all these remixes in the first place, looking to make a Van Halen archive box set in 2004...I think they knew (at least in 2004) that they had something that could pull in a nice amount of profit with a minimal investment of some studio time to make fresh mixes of old multitrack material. And Brian Kehew (the engineer) did a really nice job. Most of these new mixes and outtake selections are really beautifully done.

So, again...to me, it's not Warners not giving a fuck. They gave a fuck enough to get all this stuff mixed, compiled.

No, the problem...again...is this stuff was all ready to go. And the fucking band...THE FUCKING BAND...again pulled the mother fucking plug. "Why should we give the fans a great set of outtakes, demos, unreleased songs, with great photos and liner notes? Why make our fans happy? They owe us! We owe them nothing!"

I seriously hate Alex Van Halen. And I hate Wolfgang Van Halen even more.

I seriously get almost as much joy knowing that Wolfgang and Alex are probably shitting their pants angry that we have and are enjoying these tracks as the joy I'm getting from listening to these pieces of the Holy Grail that is Van Halen's brilliant, unreleased lost legacy.

There's a saying I used to always say with fellow Hendrix fans when discussing the stuff we demanded get released (before Eddie Kramer finally started releasing a TON of the stuff we'd been waiting for):

"Free the tapes!"

[Vinnie Velvet]

These demos are amazing. Really showcase the power of the band at the time.

America's Led Zeppelin indeed. No question.

[Mushroom]

Is Light in the Sky in this batch?

The answer is NO! And that’s ok.

[Mushroom]

I seriously get almost as much joy knowing that Wolfgang and Alex are probably shitting their pants angry that we have and are enjoying these tracks as the joy I'm getting from listening to these pieces of the Holy Grail that is Van Halen's brilliant, unreleased lost legacy.

Keep telling yourself that but I don’t think it’s true. We tend to project how we feel/think onto others. Here’s my projection: I think they don’t give a shit because what’s done is done, cat is out of the bag. But fire that asshole who leaked the material.

[Mushroom]

Mushroom has more hot takes:

I’m the One (1977 alternate take with alternate vocals): the vocals are off, out of key on numerous occasions.

D.O.A. Take 1 is awesome.

Secrets, extended… no vocals.

Red Zone (Act Like it Hurts)… take 2 is best

Still a ton of gems to put on repeat.

There’s enough good material they could have released at least one record as a power trio after 1984.