The Eddie Van Halen album fans never got to hear: “It wouldn’t be Van Halen”
Given how long he was on this Earth, it’s a shame we never got any more material from Eddie Van Halen. Although he created wonderful albums with Van Halen and had the odd guest appearance on someone else’s record, there was so much going on in that musical brain that it could probably be studied by scientists for years to come. Just when David Lee Roth left the fold, we missed the chance to get the true Eddie Van Halen solo album.
Then again, it’s hard to think of Eddie coming out with a solo album in the midst of the 1980s. He had already really been the boss in his band (hell, it’s named after him), so it wasn’t like things would be all that different when working on his solo stuff.
At the same time, Roth was the one who turned many of Eddie’s iconic licks into classic songs. Think about a track like ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love’. The riff itself is killer, but everyone remembers ‘Diamond Dave’ hamming it up on the microphone and Michael Anthony roaring in on backing vocals.
Although things worked out for the best with Sammy Hagar, Eddie recalled wanting to put a band together that played any style he wanted, telling Guitarist in 1993, “When Roth quit, it left us going ‘Hmmm’. I was planning on doing a solo record with Alex and Mike but having a different singer on every track: Joe Cocker, Phil Collins, Pete Townshend. It wouldn’t be Van Halen. But logistically, it would probably be getting finished now, what with everyone’s scheduling?”.
While everyone’s schedules can be a nightmare when it comes to rock and roll, there would probably have been more than a few singers who would have gone the extra mile for Eddie. Outside of the millions of hair metal bands that sprung up in Van Halen’s wake, hearing someone like Robert Plant or Joe Cocker playing alongside Eddie’s licks is a match made in rock and roll Valhalla.
Then again, Eddie had a slightly different idea for someone who was clearly a connoisseur of rock music: his mechanic. After working on a similar car for Sammy Hagar, Eddie was recommended that ‘The Red Rocker’ join, eventually getting his phone number and immediately hitting it off in the studio.
But given the idea, what would that imaginary solo album actually look like? Well, the closest that we probably have to something like that is what Slash is doing these days. Back on his 2010 solo album, the Guns N’ Roses guitar maestro made all his favourite artists come to him, leading to songs with major left-field choices like Adam Levine and Fergie next to Chris Cornell and Ozzy Osbourne.
Considering where guitar music was in the 1980s, though, there’s a good chance Eddie could have made an entirely instrumental album, and people would have still bought it. Remember, this is right around the time that artists like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani were breaking onto the scene, so the idea of Eddie mixing together his signature techniques with actual pieces of music would have given us 12 different versions of ‘Eruption’ for the price of one.
