Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography (49 page)

EVH: People think they know what I should do. A lot of fans are complaining that Van Halen should put out a new record now. Everybody is going, “Eddie should do this. Eddie should do that.” I’ve got all kinds of music that I could put out if I wanted to, but they don’t take into consideration the other members of the band. Maybe the singer doesn’t want to do that. I play classical piano. I play a little bit of cello. I write all kinds of different music that certain singers or certain musicians don’t want anything to do with. So what do I do? When people see Van Halen or Black Sabbath, it conjures up a certain image in their minds. If there’s just one albino pubic hair outside of that image, they won’t accept it. And if we do put something out, the first thing people are going to say is that it isn’t as good as the classics. Okay. Put it in your closet for 20 years and then it will be classic.

People forget that we put three new songs—“It’s About Time,” “Learning to See” and “Up for Breakfast”—on
Best of Both Worlds
in 2004. The reviews didn’t even mention those songs. When we played the new songs live, people would just stand there. Nobody said anything about them. Why go to all the trouble, spend all of that time in the studio and spend tons of your own money—there aren’t even any record labels anymore to put our shit out—to record a new album when people are only going to complain about it or ignore it or somebody is going to download it from the
Internet
for free? We might not record something new. There’s an element of satisfaction and joy to creating something new, but not when it comes solely at your own expense and when people are just going to shoot it down, no matter what you do.

These were some complex statements by Edward. The most distressing of which was “We might not record something new.” Ed also seemed to still be hung up on his classical piano and cello trip, and suggested, “Maybe the singer doesn’t want to do that.” This was distressing to fans and supporters. From my perspective, Edward had the opportunity for years and years and years—and still does—to put out a solo record of classical piano and cello music. In fact, most fans would absolutely die to possess such a product. That product should be released as “Edward Van Halen,” not “Van Halen.” David Lee Roth should not have to worry about adding vocals to a classical piano piece (nor should anyone really [see “How Many Say I”]). Like Dave said, his specialty is ass-kicking. Edward is perfectly welcome and able to write hours of material on piano, cello, saxophone, clarinet, or triangle. What he did not seem to understand or was simply frustrated by was that fans want classic Van Halen album number seven. One would think that the validation of 15,000-30,000 people per night over nearly eighty shows in 2007 and 2008 would dictate that fans most definitely strongly desired a new VH studio album. All of those fans attended those shows without even a single note of new material. A lot of fans, like myself, considered it a mutual understanding, as if, “We’ll take this tour, for sure, guys. But next time, we need something new—although we’d still go if you didn’t write another note because we are loyal to a fault.”

There is simply a disconnect in some of Ed’s words. To put
all
new material into the same bucket, meaning the new Hagar songs from 2004 versus any new music with Dave, is a real mistake. Ed’s own comments about Dave’s poor radio ratings when he briefly took over for Howard Stern in New York City apply perfectly in this scenario. People just stood there when the band played those three songs in 2004 because they were not that good. In fact, at least 100% lyrically, they were awful. There may have been something musically redeeming in those songs, but as had happened over and over again in the past, Ed’s new music was consistently ruined by Sammy’s horrific lyrics.

To think that people would just stand there when the band actually does perform new material with Dave does not fit the analogy he made about the 2004 Hagar material. He also seemed overly concerned about people downloading it without paying for it, even though Alex stated back in 2004 that he didn’t care at all if people downloaded new material. The price of a VH concert ticket in the twenty-first century is the equivalent of purchasing ten albums as it is. Edward also came off positive that no matter what they did, that it would not get good reviews. This is tough to explain because Ed is well known for statements like “fuck the critics.” He was worried people would say the new material would not be as good as the classics, that people would complain about it, that people would ignore it, that people would not accept it, and that people would shoot it down. The obvious conclusion could be that the epic failure of
Van
Halen
III
and the 2004 tour had a profound effect upon Edward. He was perfectly successful just where he was with a successful tour behind him, working with his son, a new wife, the EVH Brand. Why risk it all by putting out new material?

He said that everyone was saying what he should do, which was essentially put out a new album with Dave. It seemed like a logical, no-brainer decision. But again, Ed would move on Ed time. That meant the world would have to wait at least another entire year for the dream to come true. In fact, Ed would distract himself with work on the EVH Brand and Dave would have to simply wait him out, find some healthy distractions of his own, and cooperate fully with Eddie if
anything
was to ever come about again.

CHAPTER 45 

Waiting Patiently

By mid-July 2010, various outlets started carrying stories that Van Halen had completed a new album and that a new single would be released soon. With Janie as the spokesperson, her simple response to
Rolling
Stone
was “What is going around is exactly that, rumors. I don’t have any updates at this time.” In August, Steve Greenlee of the
Boston
Examiner
ran with the headline: “Van Halen to Record, Tour with David Lee Roth” and said that “
Billboard
is reporting that something is imminent.” Later that September, Irving Azoff let slip the notion that Van Halen would be touring in 2010. All that writer David Kreps at
Rolling
Stone
could conjure up for a response was, “So far no plans for a tour have been announced.”

For Christmas 2010, Edward became a video game.
Guitar
Hero
Van
Halen
was released in December and featured nearly every classic Van Halen song on the game, as well as other modern rock tracks picked by Wolfgang. For that holiday season, Eddie personally released the message, “I would like to thank all of you for your continued support. Have a safe and happy holiday and a rockin’ new year! See you soon! Eddie.” Ed also amped up his EVH Brand output that Christmas offering up such non-guitar products as “premium” flip flops, ties, bandanas, beanie hats, and a wide variety of t-shirts all featuring, in one way or another, Ed’s classic, patented striped design.

By the end of the year, VHND reported that the band was in fact eager to tour but insisted on doing so behind new material. During Ed’s quiet time in 2010, he was constantly writing, and did in fact confirm that he had already worked with Dave. The wheels were in motion, they were just churning very slowly, or perhaps more accurately, deliberately. It should have been obvious to anyone that the band was not working slowly because they were adding 32 tracks of vocals and 54 tracks of guitars. Not in the slightest. Almost definitely, the time it took was the result of two things. First, Dave and Ed could probably only take being in each other’s presence for a short time, especially under the high scrutiny of the studio environment. Secondly, the filter for suitable material was likely so incredibly specific that the band was stockpiling songs and would end up pick only the very best ones. It’s not the classic Van Halen approach to do fifty takes of a song. Chances are that there are far more leftover songs than the ones that would be selected, and chances are that the ones that were selected were likely recorded in just a few basic takes like any other classic Van Halen song. The band was not becoming Pink Floyd or Radiohead.

On the Cover of
People
in 2011

To start off 2011, Valerie and Tom were married on January 1. Edward and Janie both attended their small, private ceremony (save for the exclusive
People
magazine spread). One rather bizarre aspect of this event, however, was the fact that Eddie wound up on the cover of
People
magazine to start off the new year (he was featured in a small inset photo of himself, Valerie, Tom, and Janie). Many people read about the fact that Edward and Valerie had each attended the other’s second wedding ceremonies, something that most people would consider as healthy as eating salad every single day. A picture of a heartily laughing Edward with his arm around Tom was featured in the exclusive spread. Just a few days later, on January 4, Wolfgang and Edward attended the Alterbridge concert in L.A. with Edward watching stage-side as Wolfgang sat in on drums. Wolf would forge a strong bond with the band Alterbridge (which features former-Creed guitarist Eric Friedman).

At the NAMM convention in January, Edward unveiled his new
EVH Stealth and Wolfgang guitars, as well as a 50-watt version of his increasingly popular 5150 III amplifier. Ed appeared a bit heavier than normal, but in his case, heavier simply meant healthier. “He [Eddie] is actually using this guitar [Wolfgang Stealth] in the studio right now… getting ready for the new album,” said Chris Cannella, an EVH Brand employee. Chris also told
Vintagerock.com
: “You’re gonna see a lot more of Ed this year… hopefully by the summer.” Ed’s appearance at the NAMM show was nothing but gracious and kind, and he stopped and posed for pictures and gave autographs.

Back in the Studio and into the Smithsonian

On January 21, super-producer John Shanks updated his Twitter account with the simple message: “here we go kids… vh.” He also posted a picture of the EVH Brand logo from one of Edward’s amplifiers. Shanks production credits covered the entire spectrum of the music industry with artists as diverse as Bon Jovi, Backstreet Boys, Kelly Clarkson, Jane’s Addiction, Fleetwood Mac, Keith Urban, and Hanson, amongst many others. This was not an insignificant “tweet”—this was the unofficial/official word go. Just five days later, Edward turned 56 years old.

As if January 2011 were not a busy enough month for Ed already, it was capped off by an incredible honor. A replica of the original Frankenstein guitar, referred to as Frank 2 (the replica that Edward played on the 2007-2008 tour) was acquired by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Museum director Brent Glass said, “The museum collects objects that are multidimensional, and this guitar reflects innovation, talent and influence. The guitar moves the museum’s instrument collections into more contemporary history.” Edward told
Smithsonian
Magazine
that the original Frankenstein had been retired. “It took so much abuse from endless touring and recording,” he said. “I wanted to pay some respect to it and let it survive and not let it get destroyed completely. At the same time it became something so well known beyond my wildest dreams that its value made it a target for theft and I wanted to protect it. I still play it every now and then. It’s priceless to me.”

In March, Sammy Hagar released his autobiography
Red
which has been cited many times in this text. Sammy and Michael Anthony had moved on with a new group called Chickenfoot including guitarist Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. The group was well-received, but sounded simply like substitute VH music. Sammy’s book sold well and was in part spurred on by his revealing comments about Edward. Given some of those comments, writer Andy Greene of
Rolling
Stone
suggested to Sammy that he had completely burned his bridge as far as ever working with Eddie again. “I don’t consider [it] burning bridges at all,” Sammy said. “When I first joined the band, dirt was going back and forth between us and the former lead singer. I didn’t burn any bridges. They eventually put the bridge back. Time washes everything clean. To be honest, Valerie [Bertinelli] said almost all the same stuff in her book about Ed. The only thing I did was talk about my personal relationship with him.”

TMZ
caught Edward, Janie, and Alex leaving a restaurant on St. Patrick’s Day. A paparazzi videographer asked Ed if he had a lucky charm of any kind. He was holding Janie’s hand and raised it up and said, “Right here!” Edward was in the zone, but he had taken a long, hard road to get there.

Tiger Parenting

Many social trends were highlighted in the early twenty-first century including bullying and gay intolerance. One trend that was covered was called “tiger parenting” that specifically referred to some Asian mothers as “tiger moms.” Lac Su, a psychologist and author of I Love Yous are for White People, wrote an article about tiger parents for CNN in early 2011. While it is clear that Edward loved his mother, he did make several statements at various times that questioned her harsh parenting skills. Ed recalled that she told him he would be a “nothing nut, just like your father.” Edward said flat-out that that was damaging to his self-esteem. Eugenia was also the one to bash Alex’s hands with a wooden spoon, lock Eddie guitar in a closet, and never even really accepted Ed and Al’s success as musicians—the exact thing she did not want them to be. Su wrote that “abusive parenting is motivated by [the mother’s] unhappiness.” Tiger moms are so consumed with the achievement goals they set for their children that they often belittle them in the process. Lac Su wrote something that mirrored Edward’s experiences in a way: “Now in my mid-thirties, I’m sure I appear successful and happy on the surface. I’m a published author, a successful executive, and I have a Ph.D. in psychology. In spite of this, my parents’ approach failed. I’m torn to pieces on the inside. I’ve been through countless hours of psychotherapy, and my lack of self-worth beckons me to rely on alcohol to numb the pain.”

Onward and Upward

By mid-2011, Edward had not touched alcohol for three years—his longest stretch since he was twelve years old. Wolfgang was now a ripe twenty years old, no longer a child. In May, Slash told U.K.’s Rock Radio, “I’m a
huge
Van Halen fan. They’re finishing [up their new album right now], actually. I don’t wanna speak on their behalf, but one of the guys that works for us works for Van Halen in the studio and he told me that they’re in the mixing stages.” In June, Alterbridge guitarist Mark Tremonti said,
“
Recently, I was in Los Angeles and Wolfgang invited me to his Dad’s house and I got to go to 5150 studios and watch Eddie and Alex and Wolfgang play their new record from front to back. So I was one of the only people who have heard the new Van Halen. It was incredible.”

On July 11, 2011, David Lee Roth changed his website to read only the following two words: “Get ready.” The world was ready and waited patiently for the return of the world’s greatest rock band led by the world’s greatest living rock guitarist, Edward Van Halen.