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Thread: INTERVIEW: Eddie Van Halen Talks 'A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH'

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    Post INTERVIEW: Eddie Van Halen Talks 'A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH'

    Quote Originally Posted by nick500 View Post
    There was a great interview with Ed in Guitar World from 2012 all about ADKOT.
    nick500 posted this comment in another thread. I realized I hadn't read any Ed interviews during the ADKOT period (except for one Esquire interview). I went online now and found the interview.

    If this has been posted already, apologies. I didn't see it posted and thought I'd put it in a new thread now if any of my fellow Roth/VH freaks want to check it out. I loved this interview. I learned so much about A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH that I didn't already know. That album meant so much to me...I'd been waiting almost my whole life to have a whole album with Ed playing and Dave singing. And so many of us had dreamed in the past how cool it would be if they filled up at least part of such an album with many of those awesome unreleased songs (redone, of course) from the ol' VH demos (Templeman demos '77, Gene Simmons ZERO demos '76).

    Ed sounds really happy in this interview. You can tell, differences and troubles aside, that he still really loves Dave. You can also tell that he had come to realize after all those years that Dave was the singer for his band.

    The interview format was completely fucked-up on Guitar World's website. For most of the document, the questions and answers just ran into each other with no way to differentiate or figure out who's speaking (GUITAR WORLD or Ed). As best as I could, I separated the speakers and bolded the questions. I also underlined a few key sentences that mean something even more now that Ed is gone...and also stuff that may shine a light on the possibility that we could expect more "new" music from the band (with Ed) down the road.




    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Interview: Eddie Van Halen Talks 'A Different Kind of Truth'
    By Chris Gill August 30, 2012



    On the first leg of Van Halen’s A Different Kind of Truth tour, toward the end of the band’s set, there was a moment during the middle of Eddie Van Halen’s solo spot in the show where the world seemed to stop spinning.

    Even the techs, security staff and backstage production personnel would stop what they were doing to focus on the celestial sounds emanating from the stage, with huge smiles on their faces that mirrored Ed’s beatific grin as he unleashed a staggering cascade of notes. At that particular point in Ed’s solo, it was clear that there was no place in the world that they’d rather be.

    These moments were all the more remarkable because, not too long ago, it seemed like they might not happen again.

    The last time Guitar World spoke with Ed, in October 2009 for a co-interview with Tony Iommi, he said, “We might not record something new.” That blunt but honest statement hit fans like a ton of bricks, because it seemed like that scenario could be a likely possibility, considering that it had been five years since Van Halen released any new material and more than a decade since the band had released a full-length album.

    However, as we all know now, that was not to be the case, as in February Van Halen released A Different Kind of Truth, the band’s 12th studio album and its seventh with David Lee Roth on vocals. The most devoted old-school Van Halen fans quickly recognized several of the songs, like “Beats Workin’,” “Big River,” “Bullethead,” “Outta Space” and “She’s the Woman,” which dated back to demos recorded before Van Halen’s debut album.

    But the album also offered several new songs, like “As Is,” “China Town,” “Honeybabysweetiedoll,” “Stay Frosty” and “The Trouble with Never” that kick ass as hard as anything else in Van Halen’s catalog. The album delivered an ideal balance of truly classic and genuinely new material, acknowledging the band’s past but also paving an exciting new direction for the future.

    The band was eventually forced to cancel some of the numerous dates that had been packed into the Different Kind of Truth tour—as David Lee Roth explained in a video posted on YouTube, the “schedule has been sidelined for unnecessary roughness.” Fortunately, though, we had a chance to spend several days on the road with the group, especially with Ed.

    Talking with him, he seems no different from the Ed we’ve always known, but his attitude is much more hopeful and optimistic. He’s certainly experienced his fair share of dark days over the past decade, from his struggles with alcohol to a recently recurring battle with cancer. But it seems like now he’s conquered those problems for good and is truly enjoying life, thanks to the dedicated support of his family and friends.

    What’s truly amazing about Ed today is how he’s managed to overcome the negative elements in his life that once controlled him while at the same time relinquishing much of the control he once held over the band. Instead of sitting alone in the driver’s seat, Ed is now allowing Wolfgang—his son, and Van Halen’s bassist—to crack the whip in the studio and during rehearsals. Without all those burdens, Ed is now free to concentrate on playing guitar, writing songs, and making new gear developments.

    At long last, Eddie Van Halen is back, and he’s better than ever.

    GUITAR WORLD: The last time we talked, you said you weren’t sure if you wanted to make a new Van Halen album. What changed your mind?

    EDDIE VAN HALEN: I think I was pissed-off at the time. I didn’t want to do something new because I felt that even if we did, the fans wouldn’t like it anyway. We just snapped back and realized that, hey, we’re doing this for us, too. This is what we do. We make music for a living. Like I’ve always said, if you like what you’re doing, you’re halfway there; if someone else likes it, that’s even better. If they don’t like it, at least you like it. Not to be selfish, but you kind of have to be.

    What got the ball rolling on this album?

    Wolfgang’s enthusiasm. He was going, “Come on, come on!” We went up to 5150 and started jamming. It felt like a comfortable old pair of shoes. Working with Dave again was like we had never left each other. It was that comfortable. We’ve known each other since high school. When you have old friends, five or six years can go by when you don’t see each other, but you just pick up where you left off.

    We started recording at the studio at my house with just Alex, Wolfgang and me. Basically it’s the same way we start any record. We went through our archives of stuff we had already written. Wolfgang picked out a bunch of tunes. “She’s the Woman” was the first one. We started jamming on songs like “She’s the Woman” and “Bullethead” and reworked them. Dave was onboard from the beginning. I was already recording and engineering demos of “She’s the Woman,” “Bullethead” and “Let’s Get Rockin’,” which is now “Outta Space.” I sent Pro Tools files of recordings over to Dave, who was working over at Henson Studios, where he likes to record, which got him totally excited. He said, “Let’s get going!”

    How did you choose John Shanks [Bon Jovi, Fleetwood Mac] to produce the album?

    The most difficult part of the process was deciding whether or not we should use a producer and who we should use. We had a big list of producers. Ever since we did that interview together with Tony Iommi [for GW’s Anniversary 2010 issue], I’ve been in contact with Tony a lot. Sabbath is doing their reunion also, and they’re working with Rick Rubin. I don’t think Rick is the right producer for the kind of band that Van Halen is, but his name was in the hat. So was Pat Leonard [Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, Madonna]. Dave doesn’t have a home-studio, so he goes down to Henson to record, write and keep his voice in shape. One day he told me that he ran into this guy named John Shanks. I thought he was an odd choice, but we were open to anything. John asked what we had. I played him our three demos, and he loved them.

    It was actually Wolf’s idea for the album to be a collection of our B-sides along with three reworked songs, which would be new to our audience. Instead of the “Best Of” it would be the “B’s Of”—you know, songs like “Drop Dead Legs,” “Girl Gone Bad”… It would be a record of our more hardcore songs and none of the pop stuff. That was the initial plan for this album, but the deeper we dug, the more we found. At the same time I was writing new songs. Dave got very excited about that. We all did. We ended up recording demos for 35 songs. All of those songs were ready to go, and we were able to play them all.

    We called John again and asked, “Are you busy? Do you want to come up and take a listen?” He was like, “Whoa! You’ve got a shitload of songs here!” We pretty much left it to John and Wolfgang to pick the songs, and it all went from there.

    For the new album, Wolfgang pulled out some songs from the band’s past, which is something the group had done for previous records. For example, on Fair Warning, the band was still drawing on material like “Mean Street”/“Voodoo Queen,” which were from the demos you recorded before the first album came out.

    We were doing things like that even later. “Seventh Seal” [from Balance] is a song that I wrote before Van Halen was even a band. “Hang ’Em High” [from Diver Down] was written long before we put it on an album. Same with “House of Pain” [from 1984], which was also on the demos we recorded in 1976 with Gene Simmons.

    We approached this record no different than any other. The internet has changed everything. Now everyone knows where things came from. Before the internet nobody would have known that these were songs that we had already written but never released. When the album first came out, some people were saying that we purposely did old songs to get the public to relate to our old sound. But this record wasn’t planned that way. Whenever we make a record the first thing we do is go over what we already have in the bag that we can pick from, and then we focus on writing new material.

    When we were digging around, I was amazed how fresh some of the songs sounded. I was going, “Did I really write that way back then?” The biggest trip is that I wrote some of those songs when I was still in high school and even junior high. A good idea is a good idea no matter when you do it.

    5150 has been like a second home to you for decades now. How did it feel to work in a different studio?

    It was a pleasant experience, but I missed working at home. I’m used to the monitors at 5150. After we worked at Henson we had to redo all of the guitars and all of the bass at 5150 because I couldn’t hear them at Henson the way I’m used to. It was the same thing when Ross Hogarth did the mixing. He tried to do it at Henson, but he couldn’t hear things properly either, so we mixed at 5150 also. The process of making the record was very simple. It took us maybe three weeks to lay down all the instrumental tracks. We played live and we were super rehearsed. We made a few nips and tucks here and there, but everything was pretty much there. Part of the problem at Henson was that they were running everything through this CLASP tape system in addition to Pro Tools. With CLASP, the tape machine just keeps going and rewinding to give you that analog sound, but I don’t ever remember seeing anyone align or clean the heads on the tape machine once. Everything ended up sounding like it had a sock over it. When I took it home to listen to it, I went, “There is something very wrong here.” Al, Dave and Wolfgang came up to 5150 and agreed that we had a problem.

    How did Wolfgang adapt to working in a different studio?

    It was great to watch him work in an actual professional recording studio, with a producer, actually making a record, which was different than watching him work at 5150. He took the bull by the horns. He had a lot to say. I was shocked by all the great ideas he had, and he was very opinionated. He came up with the arrangement for “Stay Frosty.” When Dave wrote it, it was just an acoustic thing like it is on the intro. Wolf turned it into what it is. It was interesting to watch, especially John’s take on it. I think he was actually a bit intimidated by a 20-year-old kid telling him how things should go. We already knew about song structure, so basically all we needed was an outside opinion or an outside ear. I think he’s used to making records where he has to do pretty much everything for the young artists he produces, which is why I initially thought he was an oddball choice. Wolf threw John a major knuckle curveball. It shocked him, so I think he tried to lean toward working with me, but I said, “He’s a member of the band. You’ve got to deal with him too.” When I played my solos, I’d walk out of the room and let Wolf and John pick the best take. Sometimes I’d hear him arguing with John, which was funny. It was neat to watch Wolfgang stand up for what he believed in and thought was right. He’d tell John which part he thought was better, and John would sit there and go, “Okay.” John is a great guy. We weren’t there the whole time he was working with Dave, because Dave prefers to work at night and we like to start working at noon. These days I wake up at six in the morning. If we start working at night, I’m ready to go to sleep. We weren’t there when a lot of the lead vocals were being recorded, but I think Dave and John did a great job.

    It must be a relief for you to be able to relinquish some of the control over the band to Wolfgang. In the past you were almost entirely responsible for that role.

    It was a relief in a lot of ways, especially since this was the first record that I’ve ever made being sober, and I was nervous. I was glad Wolfgang wanted to do that. I said, “Go ahead!” I was as nervous as a motherfucker. Why? God only knows. I still get nervous every night before I go out onstage. It keeps you on your toes.

    On this tour you’ve changed things up quite a bit by bringing out some deep cuts that you haven’t played for a while and changing the set list around.

    That’s Wolf too. He’s in charge of the set list every night. You haven’t played some of those songs for 28 years or more.

    Did you have trouble remembering them?

    That’s why we do soundcheck every night. The next couple of songs that we’re trying to work in are “Light Up the Sky” and “As Is.” We’ll figure out the right time to do them. It’s fun. We played “Hang ’Em High” for the first time during soundcheck. That song is wicked. It has so many changes, there is so much shit going on, and it’s fast. If you slip up once the whole song is fucked. After we did it, we were all looking at each other and going, “What do you think guys? Should we take a chance?” And it was Dave of all people who said, “Fuck yeah! Let’s go out there and do it.” I thought he was going to say no. He said, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” We played it great.

    Your playing is as good as, if not better than, it has ever been. Did the hand surgery and arthritis treatment you had back in 2009 help with that?

    Definitely, but what I think helped more is that my head is clearer. I’m aware of what I’m doing now. It’s amazing that I ever did it any other way, to tell you the truth. Looking back now, I don’t see how I did it for all those years. I could not imagine going back. At the same time, I’m up there playing so I can only go by what Matt [Bruck, Ed’s guitar tech, road manager and jack-of-all-trades] tells me. When I’m up there playing I can’t tell. I know that my playing is a lot more consistent.

    It’s like all the little neurons are more connected.

    The beauty of doing my solo now is that I get to sit down. I was just talking with [Ed’s wife] Janie the other day about how the reviews mention that I sit down to do my solo like I’m sitting on my front porch or couch playing for people. Believe it or not, I can sit there and play like that all night long. It’s harder for me to play when I’m standing up. When I sit down I can really play. It’s a gas! I’m having fun. Sometimes a solo goes by so quickly and the next thing I know it’s over. I don’t mix it up too much. I used to noodle so much, but now it’s more mapped out. I know that people want to hear certain things, so I do the beginning and end of “Eruption,” a bit of “Cathedral” and “Spanish Fly” in the middle, and a few transition parts to piece everything together. I don’t remember what I did at the last gig, but Dave walked up to me afterward and said, “Whatever you did in your solo tonight was different. It was great!” But it happened so fast with me that I don’t know what I did that was different. Sometimes Matt will say the same thing, and I’ll think that I played the same thing I always do.

    Your tone is so clear. That’s probably because your fingers are like clamps on the strings.

    I dig in with both hands. That’s why my thumb is like this [holds up right hand to show thumb, which is bent back toward his wrist]. About 20 minutes before this one show, I was backstage and I walked past a tapestry that was covering the door frame. I whacked my hand against the doorjamb, and it swelled up really badly. I was able to make it through the show, but the next day I went to have an X-ray taken of my hand to make sure there were no hairline fractures or anything. The radiologist went, “Man! What’s wrong with your thumb!” I said, “Nothing. It’s this part of my hand that I hit.” He said, “Your thumb is all fucked up. It’s not supposed to bend back that far.” It’s from years of digging in with the pick. [laughs] It’s an occupational hazard. My thumb won’t bend the other way. Before the operation on my left hand I wasn’t able to stretch my fingers open all the way. I’ve never had very big hands, but I could do the splits with them. Eventually I couldn’t any more. I had a twisted tendon in my little finger that prevented me from being able to stretch. It would fucking hurt when I was playing. You can still feel the twist. When I flex the tendon it feels like it’s snapping, but now I can stretch all the way again. If it hurts I just take a couple Advil instead of a couple shots of vodka.

    Was the EVH Wolfgang Stealth that you’re playing onstage also your main guitar on the album?

    I used it for everything except “As Is,” where I used a D2H “Drop 2 Hell” guitar. The solo and some overdubs on “You and Your Blues” were a Strat. It just happened to be lying there and John went, “Here, try this!” The rest was the Stealth. I even played the whole record on the same set of strings with the exception of two strings that broke and were replaced. I’ll always leave the same set of strings on my guitars when I’m recording. If I break one I’ll just replace it instead of putting on a whole new set of strings.

    After all of these years of playing maple fretboards you now prefer a guitar with an ebony fretboard. How did that develop?

    I’m constantly changing and evolving. I thought that the Stealth, with its flat-black finish, wasn’t going to look good with a maple fretboard. I just threw out the suggestion to use an ebony fingerboard. When the guitar arrived, I started playing it, and I really liked it.

    Did you use the 50-watt EVH 5150 III on any songs?

    All of the guitars on “Tattoo” were played through the 50-watt. I used a 2x12 cabinet too. It’s really whomping. I also used it on the solo on “Blood and Fire.” It has a slightly different tone.

    You’re using a lot more wah on your solos on this record.

    Yeah, I noticed that too when we were done. I said, “I’m using an awful lot of wah on this record.” “The Trouble with Never” was designed to be kind of Hendrix-ish, so using wah on that was a given. On other spots I just stomped on it and went, “Oh great. That works.” There wasn’t a whole lot of thought given to that. You know me. I’m the kind of guy who likes to wing it. I don’t plan out my solos. The one solo that I had to plan out was on “She’s the Woman.” The original breakdown of “She’s the Woman” ended up being the breakdown in “Mean Street.” Wolfgang came up with a new breakdown that had these crazy chord changes. The chord changes were so fuckin’ weird, but I didn’t even think about them until I had to solo over it. I couldn’t just go…[plays random notes in a pentatonic scale]. It wouldn’t be in key. Instead I had to go like this…[plays melodic line from solo]. I never really worked out a solo like that before. It took me a couple of days to figure out what notes worked against those chords. If I don’t hit these particular notes [plays solo] it wouldn’t work. It flipped me out. When we did the demo, Matt punched me in, and I just sat there going, “Goddamn. This doesn’t work!” [laughs] You can’t just noodle your way through those chord changes. You have to hit the right notes. The only thing I ever really planned before was the solo in “Runnin’ with the Devil.” Other than that, nothing else was planned or written out in advance. “Blood and Fire” used to be “Ripley,” which you originally recorded with a Ripley stereo guitar.

    Did you break out the Ripley guitar again to record the new version?

    Oh yeah, but I had to send it back to Steve Ripley to have him fix a couple of the panning pots, since I hadn’t used it in quite a few years. Even before the first note is played, you can feel this huge presence at the beginning of the song, where it seems like you’re sitting in the room with a very loud amp. It’s actually two big, loud amps, since I was playing in stereo. The single-coil pickups—there are two of them because it’s in stereo—had something to do with that. It’s a hell of a sound. In the room it was really loud. The Ripley guitar sounds different than a Strat. It has Bartolini pickups and a proprietary circuit, so you have a lot of unique things going on there. Put that all together and you’re not going to sound like a Strat.

    You used a Whammy Pedal on several songs.

    It’s on “China Town.” A lot of people thought that I used a harmonizer or octave box on the intro to that song, but that is just Wolfgang and me. The Whammy is just for little parts here and there during the chorus. I don’t use it live. I just hit a harmonic instead. On “Honeybabysweetiedoll” I used a Whammy, a Boss OC-3 octave box, a Sustainer and a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler. That’s only on the intro, where all those weird noises are happening.

    The legato lines you play with the Sustainer have a very Middle Eastern sound.

    That was the point. I love that song. We have some other versions of that song that are really twisted. The main riff on the intro is all Wolf; it’s all bass. I’m just making noises. Up at 5150 when Wolf unplugged his bass, it picked up all these radio frequencies. You hear this whooshing sound until he plugs it in. I’m doing the high, cascading whistling shit; he’s tapping the main riff. The end of the song is him unplugging his bass. If you give that a good listen you can hear all kinds of weird shit going on. I also used the Sustainer on the end of “As Is.”

    You brought out the Phase 90 for the solos on “Outta Space” and “Stay Frosty.” Was that to replicate the classic early Van Halen sound?

    It’s very straight ahead. I wanted to stay true to the original version [Let's Get Rockin'].

    Dave’s guitar playing often gets overlooked. He’s really good at fingerpicked, country-style blues like he plays on the intro to “Stay Frosty.”

    Yes! He is great. He played guitar on that song up until the band came in, and then I took over on acoustic. He played that on a nylon-string flamenco guitar. It’s an interesting sound. But he can really fingerpick! Even on our first album, a lot of people thought that I played the intro to “Ice Cream Man” but that was Dave.

    His lyrics on the album are full of wit and personality with a lot of street wisdom.

    Some of his lyrics are hilarious. Dave’s good. He’s a very well-read person, and it shows in his lyrics. I don’t know of anybody else who can write lyrics that are so out there, yet in. Some of the stuff is blatant, but a lot of it makes you think. It’s tripped-out and deep, but not so deep that you can’t relate to it. I think he’s brilliant.

    Considering the reception to the album and the tour, and the fact that you recorded so many songs, it seems like there’s good motivation to continue moving forward for a while.

    Oh yeah. As far as I know, when we’re done with this cycle we’ll take a little break and make another record. That’s what I hope to do. I’m pretty sure that’s what our intention is. We truly are a band; it’s not just a one-off thing. I don’t want to say it’s a rebuilding process. If anything it’s a continuation. It feels more like a band and a family than it ever has, and not just because three quarters of it is family. Working with Dave has been very productive. We’re all very opinionated about things, but it’s all for the benefit of the music. We’re working together better than ever. I see us doing this for a long, long time. When things feel right, why the hell not keep doing it?

    By the way, did you know that Kristy hasn't been laid in 3,180 days?

    Jesus, that's really sad. I hope she breaks out of that rut she's in. She just seems crazier all the time. Poor fuckin' bitch.

    I think being older and wiser you’re no longer concerned with all of the distractions that took your focus away from the music.

    I was just thinking about that before you got here, because I had the feeling that you’d ask me what’s different now than it used to be. I think I finally put my finger on it. It wasn’t really us; it was people around us. When you’re doing drugs, drinking and partying, you start believing the shit people tell you. Those days are gone. We’ve gotten rid of people who don’t belong here. Now it’s truly just the band. We have no problems with each other at all. We’re here to do a job, and we love doing our job.

    You seem to be genuinely happy now. You went through quite a dark period for a while, and we were worried about you.

    So was I. But I can’t think of anyone on the planet who is more lucky and blessed. Not only do I get to play with my brother but I also get to play with my son. If my dad was still here now that would really make things amazing. I have a wonderful wife, wonderful friends, and a son who doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs. I’m just a guitarist in a kick-ass rock and roll band. What more could I ask for?

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    I gotta say, this broke my heart. He sounded really happy. It also upset me to read him saying that this was just the start and they were looking forward to doing another album after the tour. I get the feeling that Dave is the one who doesn't love recording as much. I'm really hoping he's game to put new vocals on older material. I think he's probably very affected by Ed's death, and out of respect for Wolf wanting to do this, he would be up for it. But who knows what's really going on with those guys?

    Hope this was a worthwhile read. Again, sorry if it's already been posted. I haven't seen it posted anywhere and I certainly haven't read it before. The last interview in my Eddie Van Halen GUITAR WORLD book is from the first reunion tour with Dave.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rikk View Post
    nick500 posted this comment in another thread. I realized I hadn't read any Ed interviews during the ADKOT period (except for one Esquire interview). I went online now and found the interview.

    If this has been posted already, apologies. I didn't see it posted and thought I'd put it in a new thread now if any of my fellow Roth/VH freaks want to check it out. I loved this interview. I learned so much about A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH that I didn't already know. That album meant so much to me...I'd been waiting almost my whole life to have a whole album with Ed playing and Dave singing. And so many of us had dreamed in the past how cool it would be if they filled up at least part of such an album with many of those awesome unreleased songs (redone, of course) from the ol' VH demos (Templeman demos '77, Gene Simmons ZERO demos '76).

    Ed sounds really happy in this interview. You can tell, differences and troubles aside, that he still really loves Dave. You can also tell that he had come to realize after all those years that Dave was the singer for his band.

    The interview format was completely fucked-up on Guitar World's website. For most of the document, the questions and answers just ran into each other with no way to differentiate or figure out who's speaking (GUITAR WORLD or Ed). As best as I could, I separated the speakers and bolded the questions. I also underlined a few key sentences that mean something even more now that Ed is gone...and also stuff that may shine a light on the possibility that we could expect more "new" music from the band (with Ed) down the road.




    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Interview: Eddie Van Halen Talks 'A Different Kind of Truth'
    By Chris Gill August 30, 2012



    On the first leg of Van Halen’s A Different Kind of Truth tour, toward the end of the band’s set, there was a moment during the middle of Eddie Van Halen’s solo spot in the show where the world seemed to stop spinning.

    Even the techs, security staff and backstage production personnel would stop what they were doing to focus on the celestial sounds emanating from the stage, with huge smiles on their faces that mirrored Ed’s beatific grin as he unleashed a staggering cascade of notes. At that particular point in Ed’s solo, it was clear that there was no place in the world that they’d rather be.

    These moments were all the more remarkable because, not too long ago, it seemed like they might not happen again.

    The last time Guitar World spoke with Ed, in October 2009 for a co-interview with Tony Iommi, he said, “We might not record something new.” That blunt but honest statement hit fans like a ton of bricks, because it seemed like that scenario could be a likely possibility, considering that it had been five years since Van Halen released any new material and more than a decade since the band had released a full-length album.

    However, as we all know now, that was not to be the case, as in February Van Halen released A Different Kind of Truth, the band’s 12th studio album and its seventh with David Lee Roth on vocals. The most devoted old-school Van Halen fans quickly recognized several of the songs, like “Beats Workin’,” “Big River,” “Bullethead,” “Outta Space” and “She’s the Woman,” which dated back to demos recorded before Van Halen’s debut album.

    But the album also offered several new songs, like “As Is,” “China Town,” “Honeybabysweetiedoll,” “Stay Frosty” and “The Trouble with Never” that kick ass as hard as anything else in Van Halen’s catalog. The album delivered an ideal balance of truly classic and genuinely new material, acknowledging the band’s past but also paving an exciting new direction for the future.

    The band was eventually forced to cancel some of the numerous dates that had been packed into the Different Kind of Truth tour—as David Lee Roth explained in a video posted on YouTube, the “schedule has been sidelined for unnecessary roughness.” Fortunately, though, we had a chance to spend several days on the road with the group, especially with Ed.

    Talking with him, he seems no different from the Ed we’ve always known, but his attitude is much more hopeful and optimistic. He’s certainly experienced his fair share of dark days over the past decade, from his struggles with alcohol to a recently recurring battle with cancer. But it seems like now he’s conquered those problems for good and is truly enjoying life, thanks to the dedicated support of his family and friends.

    What’s truly amazing about Ed today is how he’s managed to overcome the negative elements in his life that once controlled him while at the same time relinquishing much of the control he once held over the band. Instead of sitting alone in the driver’s seat, Ed is now allowing Wolfgang—his son, and Van Halen’s bassist—to crack the whip in the studio and during rehearsals. Without all those burdens, Ed is now free to concentrate on playing guitar, writing songs, and making new gear developments.

    At long last, Eddie Van Halen is back, and he’s better than ever.

    GUITAR WORLD: The last time we talked, you said you weren’t sure if you wanted to make a new Van Halen album. What changed your mind?

    EDDIE VAN HALEN: I think I was pissed-off at the time. I didn’t want to do something new because I felt that even if we did, the fans wouldn’t like it anyway. We just snapped back and realized that, hey, we’re doing this for us, too. This is what we do. We make music for a living. Like I’ve always said, if you like what you’re doing, you’re halfway there; if someone else likes it, that’s even better. If they don’t like it, at least you like it. Not to be selfish, but you kind of have to be.

    What got the ball rolling on this album?

    Wolfgang’s enthusiasm. He was going, “Come on, come on!” We went up to 5150 and started jamming. It felt like a comfortable old pair of shoes. Working with Dave again was like we had never left each other. It was that comfortable. We’ve known each other since high school. When you have old friends, five or six years can go by when you don’t see each other, but you just pick up where you left off.

    We started recording at the studio at my house with just Alex, Wolfgang and me. Basically it’s the same way we start any record. We went through our archives of stuff we had already written. Wolfgang picked out a bunch of tunes. “She’s the Woman” was the first one. We started jamming on songs like “She’s the Woman” and “Bullethead” and reworked them. Dave was onboard from the beginning. I was already recording and engineering demos of “She’s the Woman,” “Bullethead” and “Let’s Get Rockin’,” which is now “Outta Space.” I sent Pro Tools files of recordings over to Dave, who was working over at Henson Studios, where he likes to record, which got him totally excited. He said, “Let’s get going!”

    How did you choose John Shanks [Bon Jovi, Fleetwood Mac] to produce the album?

    The most difficult part of the process was deciding whether or not we should use a producer and who we should use. We had a big list of producers. Ever since we did that interview together with Tony Iommi [for GW’s Anniversary 2010 issue], I’ve been in contact with Tony a lot. Sabbath is doing their reunion also, and they’re working with Rick Rubin. I don’t think Rick is the right producer for the kind of band that Van Halen is, but his name was in the hat. So was Pat Leonard [Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, Madonna]. Dave doesn’t have a home-studio, so he goes down to Henson to record, write and keep his voice in shape. One day he told me that he ran into this guy named John Shanks. I thought he was an odd choice, but we were open to anything. John asked what we had. I played him our three demos, and he loved them.

    It was actually Wolf’s idea for the album to be a collection of our B-sides along with three reworked songs, which would be new to our audience. Instead of the “Best Of” it would be the “B’s Of”—you know, songs like “Drop Dead Legs,” “Girl Gone Bad”… It would be a record of our more hardcore songs and none of the pop stuff. That was the initial plan for this album, but the deeper we dug, the more we found. At the same time I was writing new songs. Dave got very excited about that. We all did. We ended up recording demos for 35 songs. All of those songs were ready to go, and we were able to play them all.

    We called John again and asked, “Are you busy? Do you want to come up and take a listen?” He was like, “Whoa! You’ve got a shitload of songs here!” We pretty much left it to John and Wolfgang to pick the songs, and it all went from there.

    For the new album, Wolfgang pulled out some songs from the band’s past, which is something the group had done for previous records. For example, on Fair Warning, the band was still drawing on material like “Mean Street”/“Voodoo Queen,” which were from the demos you recorded before the first album came out.

    We were doing things like that even later. “Seventh Seal” [from Balance] is a song that I wrote before Van Halen was even a band. “Hang ’Em High” [from Diver Down] was written long before we put it on an album. Same with “House of Pain” [from 1984], which was also on the demos we recorded in 1976 with Gene Simmons.

    We approached this record no different than any other. The internet has changed everything. Now everyone knows where things came from. Before the internet nobody would have known that these were songs that we had already written but never released. When the album first came out, some people were saying that we purposely did old songs to get the public to relate to our old sound. But this record wasn’t planned that way. Whenever we make a record the first thing we do is go over what we already have in the bag that we can pick from, and then we focus on writing new material.

    When we were digging around, I was amazed how fresh some of the songs sounded. I was going, “Did I really write that way back then?” The biggest trip is that I wrote some of those songs when I was still in high school and even junior high. A good idea is a good idea no matter when you do it.

    5150 has been like a second home to you for decades now. How did it feel to work in a different studio?

    It was a pleasant experience, but I missed working at home. I’m used to the monitors at 5150. After we worked at Henson we had to redo all of the guitars and all of the bass at 5150 because I couldn’t hear them at Henson the way I’m used to. It was the same thing when Ross Hogarth did the mixing. He tried to do it at Henson, but he couldn’t hear things properly either, so we mixed at 5150 also. The process of making the record was very simple. It took us maybe three weeks to lay down all the instrumental tracks. We played live and we were super rehearsed. We made a few nips and tucks here and there, but everything was pretty much there. Part of the problem at Henson was that they were running everything through this CLASP tape system in addition to Pro Tools. With CLASP, the tape machine just keeps going and rewinding to give you that analog sound, but I don’t ever remember seeing anyone align or clean the heads on the tape machine once. Everything ended up sounding like it had a sock over it. When I took it home to listen to it, I went, “There is something very wrong here.” Al, Dave and Wolfgang came up to 5150 and agreed that we had a problem.

    How did Wolfgang adapt to working in a different studio?

    It was great to watch him work in an actual professional recording studio, with a producer, actually making a record, which was different than watching him work at 5150. He took the bull by the horns. He had a lot to say. I was shocked by all the great ideas he had, and he was very opinionated. He came up with the arrangement for “Stay Frosty.” When Dave wrote it, it was just an acoustic thing like it is on the intro. Wolf turned it into what it is. It was interesting to watch, especially John’s take on it. I think he was actually a bit intimidated by a 20-year-old kid telling him how things should go. We already knew about song structure, so basically all we needed was an outside opinion or an outside ear. I think he’s used to making records where he has to do pretty much everything for the young artists he produces, which is why I initially thought he was an oddball choice. Wolf threw John a major knuckle curveball. It shocked him, so I think he tried to lean toward working with me, but I said, “He’s a member of the band. You’ve got to deal with him too.” When I played my solos, I’d walk out of the room and let Wolf and John pick the best take. Sometimes I’d hear him arguing with John, which was funny. It was neat to watch Wolfgang stand up for what he believed in and thought was right. He’d tell John which part he thought was better, and John would sit there and go, “Okay.” John is a great guy. We weren’t there the whole time he was working with Dave, because Dave prefers to work at night and we like to start working at noon. These days I wake up at six in the morning. If we start working at night, I’m ready to go to sleep. We weren’t there when a lot of the lead vocals were being recorded, but I think Dave and John did a great job.

    It must be a relief for you to be able to relinquish some of the control over the band to Wolfgang. In the past you were almost entirely responsible for that role.

    It was a relief in a lot of ways, especially since this was the first record that I’ve ever made being sober, and I was nervous. I was glad Wolfgang wanted to do that. I said, “Go ahead!” I was as nervous as a motherfucker. Why? God only knows. I still get nervous every night before I go out onstage. It keeps you on your toes.

    On this tour you’ve changed things up quite a bit by bringing out some deep cuts that you haven’t played for a while and changing the set list around.

    That’s Wolf too. He’s in charge of the set list every night. You haven’t played some of those songs for 28 years or more.

    Did you have trouble remembering them?

    That’s why we do soundcheck every night. The next couple of songs that we’re trying to work in are “Light Up the Sky” and “As Is.” We’ll figure out the right time to do them. It’s fun. We played “Hang ’Em High” for the first time during soundcheck. That song is wicked. It has so many changes, there is so much shit going on, and it’s fast. If you slip up once the whole song is fucked. After we did it, we were all looking at each other and going, “What do you think guys? Should we take a chance?” And it was Dave of all people who said, “Fuck yeah! Let’s go out there and do it.” I thought he was going to say no. He said, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” We played it great.

    Your playing is as good as, if not better than, it has ever been. Did the hand surgery and arthritis treatment you had back in 2009 help with that?

    Definitely, but what I think helped more is that my head is clearer. I’m aware of what I’m doing now. It’s amazing that I ever did it any other way, to tell you the truth. Looking back now, I don’t see how I did it for all those years. I could not imagine going back. At the same time, I’m up there playing so I can only go by what Matt [Bruck, Ed’s guitar tech, road manager and jack-of-all-trades] tells me. When I’m up there playing I can’t tell. I know that my playing is a lot more consistent.

    It’s like all the little neurons are more connected.

    The beauty of doing my solo now is that I get to sit down. I was just talking with [Ed’s wife] Janie the other day about how the reviews mention that I sit down to do my solo like I’m sitting on my front porch or couch playing for people. Believe it or not, I can sit there and play like that all night long. It’s harder for me to play when I’m standing up. When I sit down I can really play. It’s a gas! I’m having fun. Sometimes a solo goes by so quickly and the next thing I know it’s over. I don’t mix it up too much. I used to noodle so much, but now it’s more mapped out. I know that people want to hear certain things, so I do the beginning and end of “Eruption,” a bit of “Cathedral” and “Spanish Fly” in the middle, and a few transition parts to piece everything together. I don’t remember what I did at the last gig, but Dave walked up to me afterward and said, “Whatever you did in your solo tonight was different. It was great!” But it happened so fast with me that I don’t know what I did that was different. Sometimes Matt will say the same thing, and I’ll think that I played the same thing I always do.

    Your tone is so clear. That’s probably because your fingers are like clamps on the strings.

    I dig in with both hands. That’s why my thumb is like this [holds up right hand to show thumb, which is bent back toward his wrist]. About 20 minutes before this one show, I was backstage and I walked past a tapestry that was covering the door frame. I whacked my hand against the doorjamb, and it swelled up really badly. I was able to make it through the show, but the next day I went to have an X-ray taken of my hand to make sure there were no hairline fractures or anything. The radiologist went, “Man! What’s wrong with your thumb!” I said, “Nothing. It’s this part of my hand that I hit.” He said, “Your thumb is all fucked up. It’s not supposed to bend back that far.” It’s from years of digging in with the pick. [laughs] It’s an occupational hazard. My thumb won’t bend the other way. Before the operation on my left hand I wasn’t able to stretch my fingers open all the way. I’ve never had very big hands, but I could do the splits with them. Eventually I couldn’t any more. I had a twisted tendon in my little finger that prevented me from being able to stretch. It would fucking hurt when I was playing. You can still feel the twist. When I flex the tendon it feels like it’s snapping, but now I can stretch all the way again. If it hurts I just take a couple Advil instead of a couple shots of vodka.

    Was the EVH Wolfgang Stealth that you’re playing onstage also your main guitar on the album?

    I used it for everything except “As Is,” where I used a D2H “Drop 2 Hell” guitar. The solo and some overdubs on “You and Your Blues” were a Strat. It just happened to be lying there and John went, “Here, try this!” The rest was the Stealth. I even played the whole record on the same set of strings with the exception of two strings that broke and were replaced. I’ll always leave the same set of strings on my guitars when I’m recording. If I break one I’ll just replace it instead of putting on a whole new set of strings.

    After all of these years of playing maple fretboards you now prefer a guitar with an ebony fretboard. How did that develop?

    I’m constantly changing and evolving. I thought that the Stealth, with its flat-black finish, wasn’t going to look good with a maple fretboard. I just threw out the suggestion to use an ebony fingerboard. When the guitar arrived, I started playing it, and I really liked it.

    Did you use the 50-watt EVH 5150 III on any songs?

    All of the guitars on “Tattoo” were played through the 50-watt. I used a 2x12 cabinet too. It’s really whomping. I also used it on the solo on “Blood and Fire.” It has a slightly different tone.

    You’re using a lot more wah on your solos on this record.

    Yeah, I noticed that too when we were done. I said, “I’m using an awful lot of wah on this record.” “The Trouble with Never” was designed to be kind of Hendrix-ish, so using wah on that was a given. On other spots I just stomped on it and went, “Oh great. That works.” There wasn’t a whole lot of thought given to that. You know me. I’m the kind of guy who likes to wing it. I don’t plan out my solos. The one solo that I had to plan out was on “She’s the Woman.” The original breakdown of “She’s the Woman” ended up being the breakdown in “Mean Street.” Wolfgang came up with a new breakdown that had these crazy chord changes. The chord changes were so fuckin’ weird, but I didn’t even think about them until I had to solo over it. I couldn’t just go…[plays random notes in a pentatonic scale]. It wouldn’t be in key. Instead I had to go like this…[plays melodic line from solo]. I never really worked out a solo like that before. It took me a couple of days to figure out what notes worked against those chords. If I don’t hit these particular notes [plays solo] it wouldn’t work. It flipped me out. When we did the demo, Matt punched me in, and I just sat there going, “Goddamn. This doesn’t work!” [laughs] You can’t just noodle your way through those chord changes. You have to hit the right notes. The only thing I ever really planned before was the solo in “Runnin’ with the Devil.” Other than that, nothing else was planned or written out in advance. “Blood and Fire” used to be “Ripley,” which you originally recorded with a Ripley stereo guitar.

    Did you break out the Ripley guitar again to record the new version?

    Oh yeah, but I had to send it back to Steve Ripley to have him fix a couple of the panning pots, since I hadn’t used it in quite a few years. Even before the first note is played, you can feel this huge presence at the beginning of the song, where it seems like you’re sitting in the room with a very loud amp. It’s actually two big, loud amps, since I was playing in stereo. The single-coil pickups—there are two of them because it’s in stereo—had something to do with that. It’s a hell of a sound. In the room it was really loud. The Ripley guitar sounds different than a Strat. It has Bartolini pickups and a proprietary circuit, so you have a lot of unique things going on there. Put that all together and you’re not going to sound like a Strat.

    You used a Whammy Pedal on several songs.

    It’s on “China Town.” A lot of people thought that I used a harmonizer or octave box on the intro to that song, but that is just Wolfgang and me. The Whammy is just for little parts here and there during the chorus. I don’t use it live. I just hit a harmonic instead. On “Honeybabysweetiedoll” I used a Whammy, a Boss OC-3 octave box, a Sustainer and a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler. That’s only on the intro, where all those weird noises are happening.

    The legato lines you play with the Sustainer have a very Middle Eastern sound.

    That was the point. I love that song. We have some other versions of that song that are really twisted. The main riff on the intro is all Wolf; it’s all bass. I’m just making noises. Up at 5150 when Wolf unplugged his bass, it picked up all these radio frequencies. You hear this whooshing sound until he plugs it in. I’m doing the high, cascading whistling shit; he’s tapping the main riff. The end of the song is him unplugging his bass. If you give that a good listen you can hear all kinds of weird shit going on. I also used the Sustainer on the end of “As Is.”

    You brought out the Phase 90 for the solos on “Outta Space” and “Stay Frosty.” Was that to replicate the classic early Van Halen sound?

    It’s very straight ahead. I wanted to stay true to the original version [Let's Get Rockin'].

    Dave’s guitar playing often gets overlooked. He’s really good at fingerpicked, country-style blues like he plays on the intro to “Stay Frosty.”

    Yes! He is great. He played guitar on that song up until the band came in, and then I took over on acoustic. He played that on a nylon-string flamenco guitar. It’s an interesting sound. But he can really fingerpick! Even on our first album, a lot of people thought that I played the intro to “Ice Cream Man” but that was Dave.

    His lyrics on the album are full of wit and personality with a lot of street wisdom.

    Some of his lyrics are hilarious. Dave’s good. He’s a very well-read person, and it shows in his lyrics. I don’t know of anybody else who can write lyrics that are so out there, yet in. Some of the stuff is blatant, but a lot of it makes you think. It’s tripped-out and deep, but not so deep that you can’t relate to it. I think he’s brilliant.

    Considering the reception to the album and the tour, and the fact that you recorded so many songs, it seems like there’s good motivation to continue moving forward for a while.

    Oh yeah. As far as I know, when we’re done with this cycle we’ll take a little break and make another record. That’s what I hope to do. I’m pretty sure that’s what our intention is. We truly are a band; it’s not just a one-off thing. I don’t want to say it’s a rebuilding process. If anything it’s a continuation. It feels more like a band and a family than it ever has, and not just because three quarters of it is family. Working with Dave has been very productive. We’re all very opinionated about things, but it’s all for the benefit of the music. We’re working together better than ever. I see us doing this for a long, long time. When things feel right, why the hell not keep doing it?

    By the way, did you know that Kristy hasn't been laid in 3,180 days?

    Jesus, that's really sad. I hope she breaks out of that rut she's in. She just seems crazier all the time. Poor fuckin' bitch.


    I think being older and wiser you’re no longer concerned with all of the distractions that took your focus away from the music.

    I was just thinking about that before you got here, because I had the feeling that you’d ask me what’s different now than it used to be. I think I finally put my finger on it. It wasn’t really us; it was people around us. When you’re doing drugs, drinking and partying, you start believing the shit people tell you. Those days are gone. We’ve gotten rid of people who don’t belong here. Now it’s truly just the band. We have no problems with each other at all. We’re here to do a job, and we love doing our job.

    You seem to be genuinely happy now. You went through quite a dark period for a while, and we were worried about you.

    So was I. But I can’t think of anyone on the planet who is more lucky and blessed. Not only do I get to play with my brother but I also get to play with my son. If my dad was still here now that would really make things amazing. I have a wonderful wife, wonderful friends, and a son who doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs. I’m just a guitarist in a kick-ass rock and roll band. What more could I ask for?

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




    I gotta say, this broke my heart. He sounded really happy. It also upset me to read him saying that this was just the start and they were looking forward to doing another album after the tour. I get the feeling that Dave is the one who doesn't love recording as much. I'm really hoping he's game to put new vocals on older material. I think he's probably very affected by Ed's death, and out of respect for Wolf wanting to do this, he would be up for it. But who knows what's really going on with those guys?

    Hope this was a worthwhile read. Again, sorry if it's already been posted. I haven't seen it posted anywhere and I certainly haven't read it before. The last interview in my Eddie Van Halen GUITAR WORLD book is from the first reunion tour with Dave.
    That should complete Kristy's life, even if she never gets laid!

    Thanks for posting that bro! Haven't read that in a long time.

    Man, I still can't believe he's gone....
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    Quote Originally Posted by Von Halen View Post
    That should complete Kristy's life, even if she never gets laid!

    Thanks for posting that bro! Haven't read that in a long time.

    Man, I still can't believe he's gone....
    What an honor for her, huh???

    Absolutely, bro. I'd never read it. Somehow passed me by. I know what album I'll be listening to now when I start making dinner. It's been...3 days...since I last listened to ADKOT?

    I, too, cannot fucking believe he's gone. It just doesn't seem real. In my mind, ADKOT is the new Van Halen album. But it's fucking 8 years old. And Eddie Van Halen is dead.

    It's fucking crazy. So fucking sad about it.

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    By the way, did you know that Kristy hasn't been laid in 3,180 days?

    Jesus, that's really sad. I hope she breaks out of that rut she's in. She just seems crazier all the time. Poor fuckin' bitch.

    LOL. Brilliant. This is like the brown M&M clause.

    BTW....Trump fucking SLAUGHTERED Biden tonight. Slaughtered.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Baby's On Fire View Post
    LOL. Brilliant. This is like the brown M&M clause.
    LOL!!! Great version of the M&M clause, isn't it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Baby's On Fire View Post
    BTW....Trump fucking SLAUGHTERED Biden tonight. Slaughtered.
    I grew up in Burlington, Ontario. I live outside Chicago now. I don't want to turn this awesome EVH interview thread into a political thread. I will simply say this: I don't know how you could possibly feel that way (or why you'd post it here). DEBATE POLL: Biden - 53% ... Trump - 39%. But please don't ruin this thread by turning it into a fucking Trump fight. I can't wait 'til this election is over.

    But yes...I was hoping people would catch that. Even Eddie feels sorry for her!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rikk View Post
    I grew up in Burlington, Ontario.
    Same here, we probably know some of the same people.
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    I think ADKOT is a fitting ending for Ed and VH.

    Its a fucking stellar album back to front.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Diamondjimi View Post
    Same here, we probably know some of the same people.
    Do you know Paul Coneglio?
    Chris Oxford?

    Worth a try!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rikk View Post
    Do you know Paul Coneglio?
    Chris Oxford?

    Worth a try!
    Nope..

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    Quote Originally Posted by Baby's On Fire View Post

    BTW....Trump fucking SLAUGHTERED Biden tonight. Slaughtered.
    Yeah I loved that bit where he said the 540 little kids that had been stolen from their parents and put in cages were being kept clean. He was the least racist person in the room.
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    It's a great interview and it makes me sad too, because Ed really seemed to have gotten his life and health together and was creative again.
    I think Wolfgang had the idea to try to do a double album at the time too. It wasn't that long ago, only eight years.

    It's possible that maybe after that Tokyo Dome disc that Ed might have started having health issues,
    and with Dave, I think Ed's health would come first and foremost, before any attempt at new music or tour or anything.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    Yeah I loved that bit where he said the 540 little kids that had been stolen from their parents and put in cages were being kept clean. He was the least racist person in the room.
    Yeah, that part was so hilarious. He really taught everyone a lesson when proving that the kids locked in cages didn't have to roll around in their own feces. That was demonstrable proof that his acts of kindness/greatness with regards to the cleanliness of the child-cages represented another sheer lapse of judgment from the Nobel Peace Prize-receivership board!! The speech would write itself: "Donald J. Trump, this year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, fought racism and intolerance more than any other President since Lincoln, possibly more than Lincoln, by not allowing thousands of children to sleep in their own diarrhea by cracking down on his staff, making sure they don't leave shit in the cages of imprisoned kennel children!"

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    Quote Originally Posted by nick500 View Post
    It's a great interview and it makes me sad too, because Ed really seemed to have gotten his life and health together and was creative again.
    I think Wolfgang had the idea to try to do a double album at the time too. It wasn't that long ago, only eight years.

    It's possible that maybe after that Tokyo Dome disc that Ed might have started having health issues,
    and with Dave, I think Ed's health would come first and foremost, before any attempt at new music or tour or anything.
    The only part that has made me uncomfortable has been Dave making public declarations before Eddie died, declaring the band over and basically saying something to the effect that he represents the band going forward. He could have been frustrated that maybe he wasn't hearing back from the brothers/Wolf concerning the band and what was going on... At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. I fully believe the story that he and Eddie had a sort of goodbye phone call near the end. No matter what had happened between them, Dave still called Ed & Al after their dad died (even though they were warring each other at the time, with both EAT 'EM & SMILE and 5150 being recent releases).

    When Ed was falling apart during the 2004 "reunion" tour, Sammy wasted no time afterwards blaming the band (and not himself) for the insane ticket prices and happily telling the world that Ed was an alcoholic with terrible health. Sammy actually made fun of Ed's unorthodox approach to dealing with his cancer and actually made comments saying he didn't blame Valerie for leaving him.

    Did Sam have a right to reveal the tragic state of Ed's life at the time and question whether or not he was actually cured of his cancer or dealing with it in a responsible manner? Let's just say that Sam's repeated public pleas for the brothers to just be friends with him again were pretty disgusting, considering he was blaming their not-getting-along during the tour as the only possible reason they weren't talking to him.

    Sure enough, Ed dies, Sammy releases new "facts" almost every day (keeping his name in TMZ's daily news briefs) about what he knew before Eddie died and his relationship with Eddie. The son of a bitch actually claimed Eddie said, "What took you so long?" when he did call Eddie at the beginning of this year!!! (Yeah, Eddie was dying, getting as much time as he could with his family and trying to be happy his last months...but he actually Several of the things he claimed don't jive with things he said in public during the last year (including claiming earlier this year that a reunion was "inevitable"...even though he said they agreed to not let it be known that they were talking because he didn't want fans to jump on the rumor-mill about a reunion).

    I don't believe for a second that Azoff wouldn't have made a public mention of the archives (and Al & Wolf going through them) the day after Ed's death if there hadn't already been talk with him about going through them to start looking for music to release for possible archive releases (i.e. a posthumous album).

    My only worry with all this is Dave. He doesn't like recording the way he likes touring. Hopefully, he'll be happy to come down and start recording new vocals on material that's been pulled out of the vaults and prepared for possible album release...especially without the promise of a tour at the end of it all.

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    I may be mistaken, but I think Hagar didn't comment on the 2004 reunion tour until a few years later, when [Hagar] put out his autobiography and went on a promo tour for it. Not that anybody with eyes and ears needed Hagar's confirmation that Ed was in bad shape for that 2004 tour. A lot of what Hagar had to say regarding the 2004 when he released his autobiography had to do with making sure everybody knew what went wrong wasn't Hagar's fault, in that Hagar had signed a contract he couldn't get out of without being on the spot for severe financial penalties, etc. Most of those excuses rang hollow to me, because Hagar also said he was well aware that Ed was fucked up when they first started meeting in late 2003, remained fucked up while they were recording the new BOBW tracks, couldn't get through a full setlist during tour rehearsals, couldn't play well. So the underwhelming result of the live shows certainly wasn't a shock to Hagar. One never heard Hagar ever offering afterward to refund anybody's tickets out of [Hagar's] profits from the tour. Nope. Sammy took the money at the time, then went on to make some more money out of it by telling the behind the scenes of that tour four years later with his book. Eddie was fucked up on booze and whatever else at the time: what's Sammy's excuse?

    Sammy making those public pleas to the Van Halens over the last several years via comments in interviews...just a lack of class. That those pleas - which I think were ultimately made just so Sammy could wiggle his way back in for another Van Halen tour - went unfulfilled by the Van Halens did indeed make it all seem a bit pathetic on Hagar's part.

    I mean, I dunno. I don't really know what Hagar's relationship with the Van Halens had been like since 1996. I get the feeling that outside of the 2003-2004 period, he hasn't had much if any contact with the Van Halens. So, how meaningful of a friendship could it have been at the end? Doubtless, the band probably got along better with Hagar on a friendship level from 1986 to 1993 or so than they had with Roth when he was in the band. Historically, Ed and Sam were probably good friends. Historically. Someone you've barely been in contact with for the last 15 years of your life...doesn't sound like much of a friendship to me.

    Regarding Roth's comments in 2019 in advance of his Vegas stint, well, the guy had to say something about the state of Van Halen. The first question out of the gate Roth was gonna get asked about his Vegas solo gigs was "what is up with Van Halen?" I have no idea as to if Roth knew how sick Ed was, or how much contact Roth had with the Van Halens after the 2015 tour. I seem to remember Ed making some interview comments in 2015 along the lines of him and Dave not having a strong friendship, and not spending any time together when they weren't working. Roth said something like "Ed doesn't wanna answer the phone this time" in 2019, but I don't think that was necessarily Roth commenting on Ed's health, rather that as far as Dave could tell Ed wasn't interested in performing anymore.

    A perhaps more telling indicator is how Roth and Hagar have behaved publicly since Ed's passing, with Hagar blathering non-stop to the media about Ed, and Dave's relative (and respectful) silence.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Terry View Post
    I may be mistaken, but I think Hagar didn't comment on the 2004 reunion tour until a few years later...
    The only reason I know Sam did (I didn't remember this and only learned this the other day) was when I went back to the Links one evening a few nights ago and looked at the last time I had posted there, it was 2005. I was posting criticisms of Sam because in 2005, he made a public statement criticizing the Van Halen brothers for charging exorbitant ticket prices on the 2004 "reunion" tour. I believe he made this claim because he was asked about the lackluster sales on that particular tour, with many empty seats in the arenas. The sack of crap was justifying why the dates weren't sold out by calling the brothers greedy for over-charging fans.

    He's just such a piece of shit. He sees what kind of shape Ed is in the first day they meet at Ed's house.

    It takes three months to record three songs because, as Sam sees, Ed is in no shape to record.

    Rehearsals go horribly, with Ed is horrible shape.

    The concerts are an embarrassment to the band's history, both because of Ed being a complete drunk (also not cleaning himself for a week at a time and wearing the same clothes) but also because of Sam's extra-obnoxious onstage behavior, fatter than ever and dancing like a drunk redneck with no sense of rhythm, saying really stupid things on stage...just displaying his usual lack of wit or wisdom. He also dressed like a homeless man during a Goodwill store shopping spree.

    Then, the tour is done. He attacks the brothers, blames Ed publicly for how badly the concerts went and calls the brothers greedy ('05). He wasted no time getting that out there. Then, he just went into greater detail in his book. Lots of people write honest autobiographies...but his really seemed like it was just designed to dig up as much dirt as possible on different people. He needlessly told an embarrassing story about Stephen Stills trying to score coke on a plane after a weekend vacation in Cabo. And the things he said about the brothers...

    ...and then when all that died down, he started his usual weekly/yearly rants about wanting to be friends with the brothers again or made comments that the reunion was "inevitable."

    Unfortunately, he was in his own delusional brain wonderland. He truly believes Van Hagar sold 60 million records or whatever number he's gotten it up to in his own mind. He still claims that Van Hagar outsold Van Halen...such a freaking lie. The sales of two original band albums actually outsell the entire Van Hagar category. I looked it up. That's a fact.

    As Ed himself said, "The public kind of expects Dave to be in the band. He's the Van Halen singer the public wants." He said that a few years ago, making it clear that Dave is going to be the singer in the band from now on.

    It's like the Sam vs. Dave was went on for years...then the 80s/90s ended, each line-up tried a reunion, the Sam one was a joke, the '07/'08 tour turned out to literally be the band's biggest tour ever (I'm not just saying that...that WAS the band's most successful tour ever number-wise) and Dave stayed 'til the end. For Christ's sake, Ed died and 9 out of 10 purchased or streamed songs in the week after were Dave songs. The war is OVER. It's done. Dave is the ONLY singer for Van Halen. History will show that. The public has spoken. His records are timeless...the others are unfortunately dated and simply not as good and bogged down by bad lyrics and lame singing. It's done.

    The rest of the world knows that. We know that. The only people that don't know that are places like The Links, where posters literally claim that the most exciting thing the band could release now is the unreleased 2nd Gary Cherone album...where posters say the best thing that could come out of the archives now would be a Blu-ray of LWAN...where Norton will yell at you or ban you for saying anything bad about Sam.

    This is a DLR forum...but let's face it: it's also a VH forum. And I came here because I want to talk about VH while having the freedom to be allowed to bitch about those years VH unfortunately had another singer who eventually turned out to be the garbage that many of us already knew he was.

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    The part which screams embellishment or a straight out lie is Sam and his texting with Ed as a 'love fest'... texting is what you do when you do not want to talk to someone
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jetstream View Post
    The part which screams embellishment or a straight out lie is Sam and his texting with Ed as a 'love fest'... texting is what you do when you do not want to talk to someone
    Bingo.

    "It was a love fest" (Sam talking about texting with Ed). Then Ed stopped texting Eddie back a month before. He also ignored a text a week before.

    What did Ed and Dave do? They had a goodbye phone call in the last week or two (or that's the word).

    If you have time to have a goodbye phone call, hearing someone's voice, saying the things you need (including "I love you" and all that), then the other person you're just sending a few texts to is a lot further down your list.

    The fact that Sam KEEPS talking to the press about these texts is telling. The fact that with every story, they become more significant... Sam must have been ignored a lot as a kid or something. As someone whose job involves much analyzing of people's actions in order to determine reasons for possible anti-social behavior, I can say that while Dave may have his own reasons for being such an over-the-top extrovert, Sam is very obvious when he keeps screaming, "I need to remind everyone how important I am over and over again!"

    Ed's dead, Sam. This isn't about you. You're the relief quarterback who fumbled the ball four plays in a row and eventually, they got the regular quarterback in the game again and the team had a few more Superbowl wins when the team had been written off as finished.


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    Which, regarding the 2004 tour and the half-filled venues, I don't think had as much to do with the ticket prices being high due to the greed of the Van Halen brothers and the cost of attending in and of itself keeping prospective concertgoers away. More to do with that tour being under the microscope from the get-go in terms of personal cell phones shooting footage from the first gig, and Ed's condition being readily visible and audible: who wants to pay premium prices to see Van Hagar perform badly? In addition, those new BOBW tracks were substandard even by Van Hagar's diminished yardstick. The word-of-mouth of how poor the gigs were got out instantly from the first show.

    Have no recollection of Hagar making the comments in 2005, but it's no surprise that he did. The weird passive-aggressive stance he took with the Van Halens post-2005 was, even for Hagar, just bizarre. Trashing the 2004 tour as if he had no part in it, trashing the Van Halens...then spending the next decade or so with a steady stream of comments to the press that he'd still be up for another reunion tour.

    And, as Jetstream says, a relationship with someone where you're communicating solely by infrequent texting...that isn't even a relationship to me. Certainly not a meaningful one.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vinnie Velvet View Post
    I think ADKOT is a fitting ending for Ed and VH.

    Its a fucking stellar album back to front.
    For me, ADKOT...a bit of a mixed bag.

    It's this odd thing in that while I think it was a smart move to re-record the old demos, which by default made the band channel the CVH sound...I dunno. While in theory I would have preferred the band cook up an album of new tracks, most of the new tracks they did cook up didn't work as well for me as the revamped old demos.

    You And Your Blues and The Trouble With Never struck me as lesser tunes found on some of Roth's lesser solo albums.

    Stay Frosty is okay.

    Honeybabysweetiedoll I like.

    China Town and As Is hit it out of the park.

    I like the revamped demos.

    I guess my own personal stumbling block is constantly comparing ADKOT to the 6 pack stuff, rather than putting it within the context of when it was made.

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    Regret not buying the red vinyl......my cd sounds like shit...I can get better sound asking alexa to play it.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Terry View Post
    For me, ADKOT...a bit of a mixed bag.

    It's this odd thing in that while I think it was a smart move to re-record the old demos, which by default made the band channel the CVH sound...I dunno. While in theory I would have preferred the band cook up an album of new tracks, most of the new tracks they did cook up didn't work as well for me as the revamped old demos.

    You And Your Blues and The Trouble With Never struck me as lesser tunes found on some of Roth's lesser solo albums.

    Stay Frosty is okay.

    Honeybabysweetiedoll I like.

    China Town and As Is hit it out of the park.

    I like the revamped demos.

    I guess my own personal stumbling block is constantly comparing ADKOT to the 6 pack stuff, rather than putting it within the context of when it was made.

    Compare it to an average (if you can use that word) CVH album. It might be under 30 minutes long, there are 9 songs but one is an instrumental, 2 are covers and a couple were reworkings of old material.

    ADKOT had 13 songs no covers no instrumentals.

    To me this lack of content argument has always made no sense whatsoever.

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    Unfortunately, he was in his own delusional brain wonderland. He truly believes Van Hagar sold 60 million records or whatever number he's gotten it up to in his own mind. He still claims that Van Hagar outsold Van Halen...such a freaking lie. The sales of two original band albums actually outsell the entire Van Hagar category. I looked it up. That's a fact.


    DLR solo also way outsold Sammy by an even wider gap proportionately than VH outsold Van HAgar.

    Counting CFTH, DLR had 4 platinum albums (ALAE went platinum but WB wouldn't certify it). He sold roughly 9 million albums in the US alone.

    Sammy had one platinum album.

    Where is this rumour Dave and Ed had a goodbye call? I haven't seen that.

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    Terry and Rikk, you should really watch what you're saying about Clichegar (even if it's true). That BIG WET STINKY PUSSY Bertt might try to ban you for life!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rikk View Post
    The only reason I know Sam did (I didn't remember this and only learned this the other day) was when I went back to the Links one evening a few nights ago and looked at the last time I had posted there, it was 2005. I was posting criticisms of Sam because in 2005, he made a public statement criticizing the Van Halen brothers for charging exorbitant ticket prices on the 2004 "reunion" tour. I believe he made this claim because he was asked about the lackluster sales on that particular tour, with many empty seats in the arenas. The sack of crap was justifying why the dates weren't sold out by calling the brothers greedy for over-charging fans.

    He's just such a piece of shit. He sees what kind of shape Ed is in the first day they meet at Ed's house.

    It takes three months to record three songs because, as Sam sees, Ed is in no shape to record.

    Rehearsals go horribly, with Ed is horrible shape.

    The concerts are an embarrassment to the band's history, both because of Ed being a complete drunk (also not cleaning himself for a week at a time and wearing the same clothes) but also because of Sam's extra-obnoxious onstage behavior, fatter than ever and dancing like a drunk redneck with no sense of rhythm, saying really stupid things on stage...just displaying his usual lack of wit or wisdom. He also dressed like a homeless man during a Goodwill store shopping spree.

    Then, the tour is done. He attacks the brothers, blames Ed publicly for how badly the concerts went and calls the brothers greedy ('05). He wasted no time getting that out there. Then, he just went into greater detail in his book. Lots of people write honest autobiographies...but his really seemed like it was just designed to dig up as much dirt as possible on different people. He needlessly told an embarrassing story about Stephen Stills trying to score coke on a plane after a weekend vacation in Cabo. And the things he said about the brothers...

    ...and then when all that died down, he started his usual weekly/yearly rants about wanting to be friends with the brothers again or made comments that the reunion was "inevitable."

    Unfortunately, he was in his own delusional brain wonderland. He truly believes Van Hagar sold 60 million records or whatever number he's gotten it up to in his own mind. He still claims that Van Hagar outsold Van Halen...such a freaking lie. The sales of two original band albums actually outsell the entire Van Hagar category. I looked it up. That's a fact.

    As Ed himself said, "The public kind of expects Dave to be in the band. He's the Van Halen singer the public wants." He said that a few years ago, making it clear that Dave is going to be the singer in the band from now on.

    It's like the Sam vs. Dave was went on for years...then the 80s/90s ended, each line-up tried a reunion, the Sam one was a joke, the '07/'08 tour turned out to literally be the band's biggest tour ever (I'm not just saying that...that WAS the band's most successful tour ever number-wise) and Dave stayed 'til the end. For Christ's sake, Ed died and 9 out of 10 purchased or streamed songs in the week after were Dave songs. The war is OVER. It's done. Dave is the ONLY singer for Van Halen. History will show that. The public has spoken. His records are timeless...the others are unfortunately dated and simply not as good and bogged down by bad lyrics and lame singing. It's done.

    The rest of the world knows that. We know that. The only people that don't know that are places like The Links, where posters literally claim that the most exciting thing the band could release now is the unreleased 2nd Gary Cherone album...where posters say the best thing that could come out of the archives now would be a Blu-ray of LWAN...where Norton will yell at you or ban you for saying anything bad about Sam.

    This is a DLR forum...but let's face it: it's also a VH forum. And I came here because I want to talk about VH while having the freedom to be allowed to bitch about those years VH unfortunately had another singer who eventually turned out to be the garbage that many of us already knew he was.
    In contrast, Dave didn't drag out an addiction-riddled Eddie on tour in 2007 unlike what Sam did in 2004.

    The eventual 2007 tour was to begin in February of that year but was postponed because of Ed's issues. He entered rehab and of course the tour didnt begin until the fall of that year.

    Early on it was a success, but at times Eddie still wasn't himself. The band took some more time off after shows in November until late January 2008 - by which time a whole new Eddie emerged. Vibrant, nailing every single solo and riff, etc. He was finally in good health.

    Just goes to show you that Dave cared about Eddie and the band. Van Halen was Dave's baby as much as Eddies. He wanted to make it work.

    For Sammy, Van Halen was just another project to make money. And he still did it with a sick Ed as well.
    Last edited by Vinnie Velvet; 10-26-2020 at 10:28 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Von Halen View Post
    Terry and Rikk, you should really watch what you're saying about Clichegar (even if it's true). That BIG WET STINKY PUSSY Bertt might try to ban you for life!


    LOL!!!

    Upcoming night this week at RIKK's home...

    RIKK sits at his desktop computer (yes, I still have a desktop), head in his hands, sobbing...

    screaming...

    CRYING...

    BAWLING...

    LOSING HIS FUCKING MIND!!!!!!

    His wife walks into the living room. "What's wrong, honey?" Mrs. Rikk asks, looking hugely concerned.

    "It's happened," he sighs, breathing heavily. "It's finally happened."

    "What?" she cries. "What's finally happened?"

    "IT happened!" he snaps.

    "WHAT? WHAT???"

    Rikk only manages a slow, mournful wail, his face buried in his hands again.

    "Please don't tell me they're going to release more Star Wars movies with that awful Kathleen Kennedy woman!" she screams, frightened.

    "N...n...no, that's not it," he manages to stammer.

    Mrs. Rikk looks thoughtful...then suddenly a look of horror appears on her face. "Did VON, SESH & TWONA find out that you own LIVE WITHOUT A NET on DVD??"

    "No," Rikk mumbles. "I think everyone already suspects that. That's not it."

    "THEN WHAT??" she wails.

    Rikk slaps his hand on his desk and stands up. "Brett saw that I was making awful comments about cheesehead at the Army. He banned me at the Links!! I can never post there again!!!"

    Mrs. Rikk starts crying. "No!! PLEASE, NO!!!"

    "YES!!! IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED, HONEY!!!"

    She marches over to him and slaps him hard across the face. "I WARNED YOU!!" she screeches, her lips trembling. "I FUCKING WARNED YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WARNED YOU THAT IF YOU KEPT SAYING BAD THINGS ABOUT SAMMY HAGAR, YOU WOULD LOSE YOUR MEMBERSHIP AND...BE...BE...B-B-BANNED AT THE LINKS!!!!! BUT DID YOU LISTEN? DID YOU??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

    Rikk is bewailing in pure, utter sorrow.

    Mrs. Rikk continues. "I BEGGED YOU!!!!!!!!! I PLEADED WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!! 'LET IT GO, RIKK,' I IMPLORED YOU. 'BRETT IS SO MIGHTY! HE WILL NOT SIT STILL FOR ONE MINUTE!! HE WILL STAND UP TO YOUR HONESTY AND INTEGRITY AND SIMPLY B-B-BAN YOU FROM THE...THE...LINKS!!!!' BUT YOU JUST HAD TO BE THE BIG MAN! YOU JUST HAD TO SPEAK YOUR MIND, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT THERE'S NOTHING BRETT HATES MORE THAN PEOPLE SPEAKING THEIR MINDS!!! THERE'S NOTHING HE HATES MORE THAN PEOPLE CRITICIZING BAD MUSIC AND MEDIOCRE TEQUILA!!!"

    They sit silently, the wind and rain howling outside their home.

    "The tequila's actually pretty good," Rikk offers, meekly.

    "SHUT UP, RIKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she shrieks.

    She throws herself to the floor and then screams at the sky before howling:

    "DEAR GOD, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

    They are both sobbing, convulsing.

    Mrs. Rikk is crying with a deep, emotional pain she never knew possible.

    Rikk's eyes are filled with so many tears, his world looks like an apocalyptic flood.

    Mrs. Rikk realizes that there are lives will never be the same. She cannot believe it has come to this. Life held so much promise...and then...

    Blood is dripping out of Rikk's nose.

    They both know there is no hope. It is truly over.

    Eventually they sit in a silence broken only by the occasional sniffling or barely-contained choking.

    Finally, she speaks: "I'm leaving you. I cannot do this anymore."

    "But, honey," he pleads...

    "Don't 'but honey' me, you reckless bastard."

    Rikk begins to blubber like a baby.

    "You knew you were flying this close to the sun," Mrs. Rikk utters, gesturing towards him with her thumb and index-finger pressed against each other. "But you just had to keep riding the whirlwind! YOU HAD TO BE THAT MUCH ON THE EDGE!!!"

    "I'm a loner, baby! I'm a rebel!"

    She stares at Rikk with utter contempt: "Well now...you truly are a loner."

    Rikk begins sniveling like a baby, grabbing his thirty-eighth Kleenex. "I can fix this, baby. I can fix this."

    "There is no fixing this," she whispers with an empty, hollow drone.

    They are silent. Then she whispers again.

    "You knew how much Brett hates freedom." Mrs. Rikk sounds utterly beaten. "Our lives are over."

    Rikk thinks he may throw up, but he holds it together. A lightbulb goes off in his head head: "What if I tell Brett that I own LIVE WITHOUT A NET on DVD??"

    Mrs. Rikk smiles faintly. "He has been challenged," she says in a tired voice. "He would see through such an empty gesture."

    Rikk nods his head, knowing she is right.

    They sit silently.

    Rikk's daughter is watching from the hallway. They thought she did not hear what they were saying, but she heard every word.

    She knows her daddy made a bad mistake, but she cannot help but be proud. Her daddy stood up to the man. Yes, theirs is a family that cannot post at the Links anymore...at least not without an alias and an IP-blocker. But her daddy stood up for freedom.

    She is proud. She is proud even when she goes downstairs to the home theater area, opens the media cabinet built into the wall, looks at the hundreds of concerts on the shelf...and sees Rikk's copy of LIVE WITHOUT A NET sitting between MONTREAL '84 and BALTIMORE '08.

  38. 5 users say thank you to Rikk for this KICKASS post:

    FORD (10-26-2020),Hardrock69 (10-27-2020),twonabomber (10-26-2020),Von Halen (10-26-2020),ZahZoo (10-27-2020)


  39. #26
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    If Brentt declares himself "Emperor of all Van Halen forums," we are in BIG TROUBLE!

    Maybe we are already in DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION!
    Hey Jackass! You need to [Register] or log in to view signatures on ROTHARMY.COM!

  40. Thanked twonabomber for this KICKASS post:

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  41. #27
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    I remember at DDLR someone came in and tried to get us to ban someone for something he said on some indie singer/songwriter's fan forum. And I was just "uh...okay?"

  42. 2 users say thank you to twonabomber for this KICKASS post:

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  43. #28
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    AND Kathleen Kennedy needs to GO!

  44. Thanked twonabomber for this KICKASS post:

    Rikk (10-26-2020)


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    Quote Originally Posted by twonabomber View Post
    if brentt declares himself "emperor of all van halen forums," we are in big trouble!

    Maybe we are already in double secret probation!
    maybe we'll be banned from like the band???

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    Quote Originally Posted by twonabomber View Post
    AND Kathleen Kennedy needs to GO!
    A-fucking-men!!!!!

  47. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Von Halen View Post
    Terry and Rikk, you should really watch what you're saying about Clichegar (even if it's true). That BIG WET STINKY PUSSY Bertt might try to ban you for life!
    Meh.

    Just have no use for him or his site. Not even a hate thing. Just indifference. Doubtless he has no use for me, either.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rikk View Post
    maybe we'll be banned from like the band???
    Like, we're not even allowed to listen to the band anymore?

  49. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vinnie Velvet View Post
    In contrast, Dave didn't drag out an addiction-riddled Eddie on tour in 2007 unlike what Sam did in 2004.

    The eventual 2007 tour was to begin in February of that year but was postponed because of Ed's issues. He entered rehab and of course the tour didnt begin until the fall of that year.

    Early on it was a success, but at times Eddie still wasn't himself. The band took some more time off after shows in November until late January 2008 - by which time a whole new Eddie emerged. Vibrant, nailing every single solo and riff, etc. He was finally in good health.

    Just goes to show you that Dave cared about Eddie and the band. Van Halen was Dave's baby as much as Eddies. He wanted to make it work.

    For Sammy, Van Halen was just another project to make money. And he still did it with a sick Ed as well.

    Ed was more than a bit fucked up at the Tampa gig I saw in 2008. I will say Ed did clean up for the tour, and the initial 2007 dates/leg showed Ed playing well. The 2008 dates were uneven far as Ed's playing went.

    Ed didn't quite reach 100% on a consistent basis until the 2012 tour.

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    Rikk?

    That was one of the greatest pieces of Roth Army theatrics I have ever seen.
    Hey Jackass! You need to [Register] or log in to view signatures on ROTHARMY.COM!

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    By the way, I remember that interview. That was back when I had a subscription.

    Many (times a billion) kudos to Wolfy for everything.

    Ed was an awesome guy. I feel absolutely devastated for Wolfy, Val and Janie.

    His Dad left too soon. I at least got to have my Dad from the age of 0 until I was 51. Wolfy should have been given the same time frame.

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    Ironically, a stock pick I am looking at this morning has the stock code of GOED.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hardrock69 View Post
    Rikk?

    That was one of the greatest pieces of Roth Army theatrics I have ever seen.
    "YOWSER!!!"

    Muchas gracias, my amigo!!

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