BraveWords.com writer Martin Popoff recently offered his opinion of which kids who share parents delivered the best music for the rock generation, in an article for Goldmine Magazine.
Guitarist Eddie Van Halen and his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, landed at #2 on Popoff's Top 20. According to Martin:
"Ticking many of the boxes, brothers Alex and Eddie were fiercely loyal to each other and had played together since early childhood. They were also in a band of only four members, all the way through. Alex is one of the most respected drummers of all time, and also way up the list in terms of having his own style and sound. Eddie was responsible for the vast majority of Van Halen’s music, and, to my mind, is the only “guitar hero” there is that can be on a list of the two most important and legendary, along with Jimi Hendrix."
Who came in at #1? Where did Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott of Pantera and Damageplan place? Find out at this location.
Van Halen drummer, Alex Van Halen, will release his autobiography, Brothers, on October 22 via Harper Collins Publishers. The audio book edition of Brothers contains an unreleased song composed by Edward and Alex Van Halen. Titled "Unfinished", it is the last piece of music they wrote together and can be heard as Alex narrates his story.
Alex has shared a snippet of the above-mentioned "Unfinished" via social media. Listen below, and pre-order the audio book here.
Harper Collins issued the following book description:
In this intimate and open account - nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you’ve ever read - Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate.
Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen’s love letter to his younger brother, Edward, (Maybe “Ed,” but never “Eddie”), written while still mourning his untimely death.
In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers’ childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother - the kind of mom who admonished her boys to “always wear a suit” no matter how famous they became - a woman who was both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behavior. But mostly his is a story of brotherhood, music, and enduring love.
"I was with him from day one,” Alex writes. “We shared the experience of coming to this country and figuring out how to fit in. We shared a record player, an 800 square foot house, a mom and dad, and a work ethic. Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the experience of becoming famous, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of spending more hours in the studio than I’ve spent doing anything else in this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only hope to achieve in a lifetime."
There has never been an accurate account of them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward’s life and death.
Brothers includes never-before-seen photos from the author’s private archives.
Further pre-order options can be found at Harper Collins.
