Alex Van Halen has shed yet more light on the elusive Van Halen album that he’s seemingly been working on with Steve Lukather – and it’s closer to being finished than any of us previously thought.
In fact, according to Alex himself, the record effectively is finished – and it sounds like it was finished before Eddie passed away in 2020. The only thing the band was missing was a vocalist to sing on the new tunes.
Last year, Alex Van Halen caused quite a stir when he revealed that a new Van Halen album was in the works. At the time, he said Lukather was onboard to help finish it, and while Lukather initially confirmed this, he later said, “I will not ever play a guitar note on a VH song ever!”
As Lukather explained, he was simply brought on to help go through a “ton” of unfinished recordings that Alex and Eddie had put together that “never saw the light of day”.
Now, Alex has set the record straight, revealing that an entire Van Halen album had practically been completed prior to Eddie’s death, complete with drums, bass, and – most notably of all – Van Halen’s guitar parts.
When asked if Eddie’s old recordings were going to be used for this next album, Alex explained to KazaGastão (via Blabbermouth). “Well, these are recordings that were going to be the next [Van Halen] record, and that were stopped because [Ed] didn't live that long.
“The drums are already recorded. The drums, the guitar and the bass are already in there,” he continues. “What we didn't have is a vocalist, and obviously the subtleties and the glue – we call it the glue or the spackle.”
Van Halen confirms these recordings also feature Wolfgang Van Halen on bass, and that he and Lukather had attempted to recruit Paul Rodgers to sing on them: “It was very difficult for him to bring himself to say, 'No, I can't. Count me out.' I respect that.”
As for Lukather’s involvement, Alex says he was brought in to help smooth over the missing “glue” and “spackle”. He was on hand to help sort through the recordings and provide some "connective tissue”.
“Luke can play anything,” Alex notes. “I went to Steve's house several times and we played a piece of music and he goes, 'Yeah, I got it. That's it. That's all we need.' Then he can do all the connective tissues. He knows where to put the solo, as far as structure and organization.
“I've been fortunate enough to have Steve Lukather, who was a good friend of Ed's, and we're working on putting a record together, but it has to be of the quality and the level of where we left it. Not just to say, 'Hey, here's some music that we made. If you like it, that's great.' No. It has to be the quality that we expect.”
When the album will see the light of day remains to be seen. There’s been no official word about the project as of yet, and all that’s known has been pieced together from Alex’s various interviews. But, whatever the case, the new Van Halen record is very real, and it will be coming.
Back in 2024, Alex Van Halen shared Unfinished – the last song he ever wrote with his brother.
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