EVH and the whole "tons of music" laying around

[buckshotjenkins]

I think Ed's got a mountain of tapes. Though, he probly has scores of cassettes that have some off the cuff wizardly on there. Most are probly from a drinking night where the tape ran for a while, and the nuggets of gold need to be picked out from the bathroom breaks and the non great moments. I record this way, and while I'm not Eddie, I get some great things on tape...but to get it I gotta listen back to a "session", and that is waaaay more boring than just hitting record and playing again. You get a lot of recordings, and while some things will be cool, (IF you can ever recapture the original nuance to the riff) it's tedious to listen back, and it's not always understandable what you pulled out of thin air.

Maybe he really chopped the good riffs out of longer tapes as he went, so he has fewer but very cool riff-rich tapes...but he probly has 50 pounds of cassette tapes with random pieces, solos and riffs. Ed is a killer, so I don't know if he trades a night of playing for a night of careful sifting very often. Matt Bruck knows Ed about as good as anyone...have him research the stash...and put scores of cool ideas on an ipod. Wolf can help. If Ed's ideas were put down during the Dave era(s), then they probly got attitude and balls.

[Terry]

I'd tend to agree that there probably isn't much in the way of finished, unused tracks recorded from previous album sessions laying around. Am basing this mostly on the 6-pack remasters and various cd upgrades of the back catalog; nothing in the way of a deluxe edition for anything so far. Some reports have 13 tracks cut and mixed for 1984, including 'Eat Thy Neighbor' and a cover of 'In the Midnight Hour'. Nothing has materialized, either on an official release or in bootleg form. There are a couple of guitar/drums jams on youtube reported to be Van Halen demos recorded in the early 1980s.

I'd also agree that the 'tons of music' Ed is referring to are most likely him 'noodling around' while leaving the record button on. How much of that is actually any good is an open question, although when one looks at the amount of song structures on ADKOT taken directly from the 1976/1977 Simmons/Warner demos and completed 1980s demo stuff like 'Ripley' being used for 'Blood and Fire'...well, that's over 2/3rds of ADKOT right there, so my supposition is all that recorded noodling didn't amount to much far as ADKOT went.

This line of thought is a bit disconcerting far as prospects for another Van Halen album go, because it seems like they drained the well and refiltered the water to get enough material for this one. I mean, what are the 'new' ADKOT tracks? You and Your Blues, As Is, Honeybabysweetiedoll, Stay Frosty...I can't recall if the Big River music was an old demo tune or not.

I'd be more interested in the bulk of live CVH recordings lying around that aren't being put to good use. The band will go to the old demo well to cobble a new album together, but strangely won't embrace releasing actual footage and recordings from their heyday. Strange.

[DLR Bridge]

They re-worked about 6 or 7 on ADKOT. I can think of another 15 or so by title. Gotta put the varments to bed. I'll try to jot down a list.

[wolfsbane]

When you talk about music laying around, what vibe/sound is it?

ADKOT is completely Dave oriented VH. I believe/agree that it is old demos, a 1984 leftover/demo, The 2000 sessions and a couple new songs.

This 10 albums of material - is it Hagar-type stuff? Is it stuf from 1987-1996? Do you hear the difference between the two styles?
Does anyone believe that the music is the same for Roth and Hagar and the only difference are the lyrics?

[78/84 guy]

They have 4 albums of music without a real singer !!! They should go back and fix those !!

[BenJammin]

I really hope ADKOT isn't their swan song and I believe they have enough steam for at least one more album (if they continue to get along and Ed stays sober) although it may be a repeat of the Diver Down model... a handful of covers and a few extra originals.
This is what they do and their only true purpose in life it seems so don't sell them short and I think they'll return the favor. As much as I love CVH, I really never expected them to get back together in their late 50's to give us what they have but I honestly cannot see them doing this into their middle to late 60's.

[DLR Bridge]

Glitter
Gentlemen Of Leisure
Believe Me (Take It Back)
Angel Eyes
One More Time
Show No Mercy (No More Waiting)
We Die Bold
Babe Don't Leave Me Alone
Light In The Sky*
Woman In Love*
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Piece Of Mind
Eyes Of The Night
Honalulu Baby
Here's Just What She Wanted
The Shape You're In

*Similar titles to existing tunes, but different none the less.

I'd add Young And Wild but I don't think they wrote that one. Great riff, though. It's solo later showed up in Where Have All The Good Times Gone?

I think the thing that makes the retooled songs from ADKOT work so well is the fact that Ed was about 25 years ahead of his time with his riff writing. I truly hope there's a follow up. Another blend of old and new tunes would work just fine for me.

[TJMKID]

I really hope ADKOT isn't their swan song and I believe they have enough steam for at least one more album (if they continue to get along and Ed stays sober) although it may be a repeat of the Diver Down model... a handful of covers and a few extra originals.

I'd even settle for a 4-song EP with "Babe Dont Leave Me Alone" and a re-worked "Summer Nights" with Dave vocals ----- KILLER SHIT in 2014 ---- make it happen, boys !!

[TJMKID]

I can't recall if the Big River music was an old demo tune or not.

Demo was called "Big Trouble":

[Mushroom]

Eddie has a brother who plays drums. I am 99% sure they jam and try to piece together riffs and passages. Otherwise, imagine Ed and Al playing an Eddie riff, stop, try another Eddie riff, stop and play another riff ad nauseum. NOT. They play in a recording studio. They've had nearly 15 years to do that since =VH= III. Some must be garbage in garbage out due to Ed's incoherent condition every now and then. Exhibit 1 is the 3 Van Hagar tracks on the best of.

What about all the old cuts on ADKOT? Musicians have a fondness for particular songs or music they have written that they feel are unfinished. Not because the "well was dry" Please that's an absurd jump to conclusion.

Ed's 10 albums in the can is plausible but 1/3 of his statement is probably bullshit, 1/3 of =VH=the music is just OK, and 1/3 is kick ass. So I estimate at least another 33 kick ass tunes from the mighty =VH= that we have never heard.

[ZahZoo]

What I find amazing about ADKOT is other than rehashed demos that had been heard in similar form previous... all of the material sounds like fresh riffs, melodies and song structures. Nothing really sounds "re-used" from previous VH album releases. There's a few vibes from the past like Blood and Fire & She's the Woman, but the rest tastes like fresh meat not frozen in time!!

That's quite a tall order to accomplish by any artist who's been producing music as long as VH has...

Not many bands to compare that have most members alive and together for 35+ years... Stones, Springsteen, ZZ Top, AC/DC... they all stick within a formula, sound and structure... of recent new releases maybe a song or two seems totally new and fresh. Especially ZZ Top & AC/DC... 70% sounds recycled riffs in a slightly different key.

Van Halen did the impossible in my opinion... 13 tracks of new, fresh in your face material. If there is a follow-up album... only then will we know if the well has fresh water or recycled muck...

[fourthcoming]

I have a tune I believe is called "Wild Fire" on a couple of old boots.........was that a VH original? Always liked that tune.

[DLR Bridge]

I have a tune I believe is called "Wild Fire" on a couple of old boots.........was that a VH original? Always liked that tune.

Me too. Don't think it's theirs. May be Spooky Tooth or someone else. Been meaning to check into that. My version of that has back up vocals that don't necessarily sound like Mike. What do you think?

[DLR Bridge]

Van Halen did the impossible in my opinion... 13 tracks of new, fresh in your face material.

Seriously. No easy feat. Evolve yet stay the same. They pulled a rabbit out of the hat with this CD. I can only hope that after all of the talk of going with Interscope as a means of the brothers wanting their frontman to be content, that there's more new music on the horizon. Who inks a big deal for one record? But then again, did we ever find out just how big the deal is?

[chefcraig]

I have a tune I believe is called "Wild Fire" on a couple of old boots.........was that a VH original? Always liked that tune.

Me too. Don't think it's theirs. May be Spooky Tooth or someone else. Been meaning to check into that. My version of that has back up vocals that don't necessarily sound like Mike. What do you think?

Yep, it's an old Spooky Tooth track. That was the band that featured Gary Wright ("Dream Weaver") and Mick Jones from Foreigner. The band's general obscurity stems from the fact that they were pretty much awful.