MA talks about unreleased material

[Silexxx]

https://themusicuniverse.com/michael-anthony-talks-eddie-van-halen-tribute-ideas-sammy-hagar-era-reissues/

“We’re gonna go through all the Sammy stuff and there’s other stuff that we’re going through — different recordings and stuff like that. Interestingly enough, we got [former Van Halen studio engineer] Donn Landee… he’s kinda overseeing the whole thing,” Anthony shares. “Right now, I’m just hearing about it as they’re announcing, but there is a plan of what we’re going to do. I’m obviously going to be vocal about it because I would like to have kinda hand in there, even if it’s just sonically, certain things are sounding like and what Donn’s doing. And hopefully we’ll be following up and doing Roth stuff, too. Who knows?”

Anthony also states the future releases would likely include previously unreleased studio material.

“There is movement in there and we’re digging back into stuff,” he confirms. “Obviously, there’s a lot more stuff even at Ed’s 5150 studio — a lot of that stuff. I know either Wolfie or Alex will start going through that stuff there and seeing what there is, but yeah, there’s a ton of stuff.”

Anthony also confirms he has his own archive of videos that have never been released.

“I do have videos. I used to know people that collected really quality bootleg stuff. I’ve got stacks of bootleg stuff. I’ve got shows that are almost album quality that I’ve gotten from certain people that used to dig around and find stuff for me. You know, just back in the day there was always that one sound guy who would accidentally record something — record a live show for himself (laughs), all of a sudden there it is. I’ve got a bunch of stuff like that,” he adds. “I do have some video. That’s one thing that we didn’t do a hell of a lot that we probably should’ve done was where everybody started doing behind-the-scenes stuff, studio stuff, whatever… Very early 80s or whatever, you’d play somewhere like the Capital Center in Maryland or something like that — and they would record it for us, you know, and I’ve got a few videos — live videos like that — that the house would do for you… that have never been out.”

[Vinnie Velvet]

They all have tapes of shows from the CVH days.

That includes Dave, Al, Mike, even Pete Angelus.

So why don't they all come together, pull in whatever they have and release a stellar CVH live album along with video. It could be a box set collection of live songs 1978-1984.

[MasonL]

The Brothers' biggest mistake was letting that Faker Hagar in the band. His mediocre, made for children garbage can't hold Classic VH's jockstrap, yet many people have been fooled into thinking that VH was one continuous band that just switched singers and carried on. No. It's not at all the same.

[Terry]

"Right now I'm just hearing about it as they're announcing it"...

Doesn't sound much like he's in the loop far as the decision-making goes.

Not even sure how useful it is to know there is unreleased CVH stuff in the private collections of ex-band members: useless to me if I never get to see/hear it.

[Rikk]

I used to be excited to finally hear the unreleased studio material from 2000 when they DID start making a reunion album...until I heard that basically it was just early versions of YOU & YOUR BLUES, AS IS, etc. I like that stuff, but it was just fine on ADKOT...and what exists are only demos. Dave wasn't kidding when he said (around 2013 or something) that he and Eddie hadn't written a song together in years.

[Jérôme Frenchise]

Who's supposed to be the "we" he uses? He and...?

Don Landee produced Van Hagar, so he isn't concerned with real VH stuff and shouldn't touch, or even brush against it.

[Rikk]

Donn Landee produced Van Hagar, so he isn't concerned with real VH stuff and shouldn't touch, or even brush against it.

That said, as far as I know, Donn Landee was the engineer for the first six records. BUT...as I've pointed out and can be heard in the Sunset Sound YouTube series...a 4-CD box set of outtakes from the six-pack was already produced at Warner's behest around 2004-5 (including remixed versions of the 26 songs for the '77 demo tape) and the brothers vetoed it.

Eddie said in an interview that he wanted to make ANOTHER album (after A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH) around 2013...but Dave dragged his feet (he had already refused to come down to 5150 to make that previous album, doing his own vocals at another studio) and wasn't very interested. So, they ended up going with the live album (an album a lot of fans hate but I happen to enjoy for its rawness).

End of the day, average VH fans wouldn't give a shit about outtakes from 5150, OU812 and the others. Average fans wouldn't give that much of a shit about VHIII outtakes or stuff from its supposed follow-up.

Average VH fans think of the band with Dave. The argument is over. Dave fans won. The band's last eight years of activity proved that.

Average fans want something like the 4-CD set of six-pack outtakes, packaged with a Blu-Ray (or DVD) of classic footage or an entire show from those days. Hell, Noel Monk's inventory lists the master tape of the Capitol Center 1984 pro-shot concert.

And even then, they missed the boat. Archive sets like this used to sell boatloads in the late 90s and into around 2006. Then, the drop-off really started.

But even now, bands like Genesis, Jethro Tull, Yes, KISS, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones release massive box sets full of material to this day. And there IS a market for them.

Mike hearing something second-hand doesn't exactly give me faith. The guy isn't exactly "in the loop." The last thing he did that was "in the loop" was a shitty "reunion" tour for which he got a pay cut.

Van Halen is the laziest band the world has ever seen. They may still have loyal fans...but they haven't exactly been known for rewarding loyal fans.

John Lennon has been dead since 1980...but he's had more actual releases since his death than the band Van Halen has had since 1980. And that's pretty pathetic.

I won't believe anything 'til I see the press release...and even then I'll still be a little doubtful.

But I won't pretend I wouldn't be excited for such a release, provided it has a lion's share of stuff from the only good frontman the band ever had.

[Von Halen]

Van Halen is the laziest band the world has ever seen. They may still have loyal fans...but they haven't exactly been known for rewarding loyal fans.

I have been saying this for many many years now. Everybody slags on Gene Simmons, but I wish VH had put out half the stuff he's put out for his fans. But, their lack of care for their fans proves just how fucking great they were. They give us zero extras and we still hang on to hope and we still worship that music.

[FORD]

Who's supposed to be the "we" he uses? He and...?

Don Landee produced Van Hagar, so he isn't concerned with real VH stuff and shouldn't touch, or even brush against it.

Don Landee engineered the Van HALEN 6 pack, but he's credited as the producer on the first two Van Hagar albums (actually along with the ballad loving pussy Mick Jones from Foreigner on 5150). Those two albums sounded like shit. No I don't mean because of the synthesizers, cheese ballads, or even Hagar's screeching. I mean the actual sound of the recordings. OUsucksass2 was probably the 2nd worst album of 1988 in terms of having no "bottom end" to it at all. The first one was Metallica's "And Justice For All".... but they did it on purpose as some sort of half assed tribute to Cliff Burton, by making his replacement Jason what's his face practically inaudible. Maybe Landee didn't like Sobolewski's bass playing? Who the Hell knows?

[Rikk]

The first one was Metallica's "And Justice For All".... but they did it on purpose as some sort of half assed tribute to Cliff Burton, by making his replacement Jason what's his face practically inaudible. Maybe Landee didn't like Sobolewski's bass playing? Who the Hell knows?

Metallica has been really good at releasing archive box sets full of amazing bonus material. The band was not known for leaving songs off of albums, but they still dig out everything possible (audio & video) to give fans an overdose of unreleased material every time.

But they REALLY MISSED THE BOAT with the JUSTICE set. I did enjoy the audio/video material in that set...it's an amazing album. But I cannot for the life of me figure out why they didn't think it was finally time to do a thorough remix of the original album. Listen to those JUSTICE songs live in the pro-shot Seattle video that came with BINGE & PURGE. I'm not saying Newsted was as good as Burton...but those songs come to life when you hear them with audible, driving bass lines.

[Rikk]

I have been saying this for many many years now. Everybody slags on Gene Simmons, but I wish VH had put out half the stuff he's put out for his fans. But, their lack of care for their fans proves just how fucking great they were. They give us zero extras and we still hang on to hope and we still worship that music.

Truth. Sho nuff. The band pisses on us for four decades. But we'd still kill to hear some honest-to-goodness outtakes from albums like the debut or DIVER DOWN. No matter how much I resent the band for treating us all like shit, I still get that kick-in-the-ass feeling every time I blare FAIR WARNING in my vehicle.

[Nitro Express]

Don Landee was as legendary in his realm as Eddie and Dave were in theirs. The guy was a true mad scientist. David Bertinelli was sharing some stories about 5150 being built. David’s older brother Drew was the contractor and private studios were against the zoning so they said they were building a racketball court when filed for the building permit. The whole project was motivated by Eddie constantly practicing in the main house and Valerie having to get up real early to be on sets and having to have a quiet atmosphere to memorize scripts. All of Eddie’s noise was driving her nuts. So let’s turn the guest house/gymn into a practice space.

David said Ed wanted some recording equipment to record demo tapes. So Ed and Don Landee got all this used equipment from LA studios. David said he walked in when Don was hooking all the stuff up and he said it was a mess of wires and electrical circuits and he’s thinking holy hell how is he ever going to make all this stuff work? Don got it working after being there for days. Ed was on tour and when Ed came back and Don showed him what could be done with their garage sale equipment Ed is just stoked. He’s like we can make abums here! Why pay some studio when we can record here for free?

Only Don could run the studio. The patch bay was completely unmarked. Only Don had it memorized. 5150 became Ed and Don’s mad scientist laboratory. Don had a reputation around the recording industry is he could fix anything. He knew equipment like no other and he was a true sound engineer. He knew how to make things sound good. You could bring Don in and he could make the magic happen.

[Rikk]

Don had a reputation around the recording industry is he could fix anything. He knew equipment like no other and he was a true sound engineer. He knew how to make things sound good. You could bring Don in and he could make the magic happen.

Y'know, I DO love ADKOT. But one thing I wasn't crazy about was the sort of slightly-muffled, over-compressed sound of the album. It sounded nothing like the old days. Now, I know it wasn't the old days anymore...but can you imagine how much better that album could've sounded had Ted & Donn returned and the album be recorded completely at 5150? It's a bit sad. I never cared as much as some of the die-hards that Mikey wasn't back. I think Wolfie is a shitty solo artist, but he held his chops on bass and the backing vocals on ADKOT were adequate (though, admittedly, the magic old harmony sound was lost a bit).

If I had a choice between ADKOT (still a VH album I cherish) being produced better or having Mikey back, I would've chosen it being produced better in a heartbeat. Ted & Donn returning would have made it almost a complete reunion.

Hell, this never would've happened, but imagine if they'd produced it back at Sunset Sound with Donn at the boards. That would have been pretty fucking cool.

[Rikk]

And to add to what I just wrote about Mikey and my not caring much that he didn't come back, I always viewed him a bit as the traitor. He went off with Hagar and made an ass of the band's legacy. I don't hate Mikey...I don't even hate Hagar (I still think Montrose was pretty awesome, at least the debut). I just don't think Hagar ever belonged in Van Halen. But Mikey went and fucked off with Hagar and made his loyalties clear. So, if it took Wolfie being Eddie's new musical buddy to get Dave back (it was Wolfie's idea), then great. At least Dave came back.

All I know is...I got to see VH with Dave three times (because I was only 9 when they broke up the first time). I got a 13-song reunion album that I STILL listen to regularly (unlike a lot of reunion albums I own).

[Nitro Express]

I have been saying this for many many years now. Everybody slags on Gene Simmons, but I wish VH had put out half the stuff he's put out for his fans. But, their lack of care for their fans proves just how fucking great they were. They give us zero extras and we still hang on to hope and we still worship that music.

Gene isn’t an egg head musician. Gene is very grounded and always viewed KISS as a business and a brand and he was totally committed to it. Now the artsy fartsy people hate this kind of thinking but marketing is all about matching the product to the customer. KISS were all about giving the fans what they wanted.

Van Halen were so caught up in their own la la land they never really cared about what the fans wanted. VH did what they wanted and were fortunate a lot of people loved what they did. VH was like the soup Nazi. People were willing to put up with bullshit because the soup was so good. VH were lucky that way.