PRS is teaming up with Jon Jourdan – the touring guitarist of Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth – on a single-pickup, single-control guitar, modeled after Jourdan’s main touring instrument.

While PRS has launched a few single-pickup models over the years – most notably the LP Junior-style PRS SE One, which developed a cult following – these are much rarer releases for the brand. In fact, Jourdan’s signature is a limited run, as just 200 guitars are up for grabs.

Featuring an all-mahogany guitar with a single PRS Metal pickup in the treble position, Jordan had the volume control moved to the tone pot's traditional location, as he typically plays with the volume wide open. This tweak ensures he won't accidentally hit it when going all out on stage.

When asked why he opted for scaled-back specs, Jourdan says, “At the end of the day, my guitar is a tool. I want it to do exactly what I need it to, so we took out all the ‘extra’ stuff I don’t need. This guitar sounds huge and is incredibly fun to play.

“There’s something about taking out any unnecessary wiring and removing the neck pickup so its magnets aren’t pulling on the strings that makes it feel alive. I can’t imagine anyone playing this guitar having a bad time.”

Other specs include a 22-fret Pattern Regular mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, and PRS adjustable stoptail bridge.

PRS’ quintessential bird inlays have been eliminated – as well as any other inlays, for that matter. However, the guitar does feature green Luminlay side dots so players can easily mark fret positions.

Priced at $4,200 (SE version, please!), there are two attractive finishes to choose from, Gunmetal Metallic and Platinum Metallic – which Mammoth fans can expect to see first-hand at the band’s ongoing The End Tour shows.

Head to PRS Guitars to find out more.

Wolfgang Van Halen has said his appearance at the Taylor Hawkins tribute show was “like closing a book” as he honored his late father before marching down his own path in the industry. But he knew that, had he failed that day, his career might have gone down in flames.

The son of Eddie Van Halen was flanked by Dave Grohl on bass, frontman Justin Hawkins, and session drummer Josh Freese at Wembley Stadium in 2022. Armed with his semi-hollow EVH signature guitar, Wolfgang led the band through three Van Halen classics, On Fire, Hot For Teacher and Panama, and though his tapping work and music videos with Mammoth have since nodded to his father’s glittering legacy, he’s steered clear of most things Van Halen since.

The consensus was that he nailed the set, but he knew he might not have recovered had he not brought his A-game.

“It was my way of being able to not only honor Taylor, but honor my dad by playing some of his material, and keep out of the mess,” he tells Andy Guitar (via Blabbermouth). “So it was definitely a do-or-die thing for me.”

“I was losing it that day,” he adds. “’Cause to me, it was, ‘If I don’t do this right, if I don’t serve this justice, then my life will be over.’”

As Andy Guitar says, the performance did little to expose those fears, but it was a big moment in his life and career, as he had only debuted Mammoth the previous summer, having played bass in Van Halen’s final chapter before that. The band has allowed him to move away from the shadow of his ultra-successful family and into his own light, but only because he “ended up playing it pretty all right.”

“I still made mistakes,” he confesses, “but it was all live and in the heat of the moment. Having Dave, Justin, and Josh there to support me, and being able to play with three idols of mine while doing such an emotional and difficult thing for me, was really special. I don’t think I could’ve done it without them. That was a day of catharsis, for sure.”

Wolfgang has previously admitted he harbored doubts about whether he could actually pull off playing Van Halen in front of such a staggeringly big audience – and one multiplied manyfold by the show’s livestream. Truth is, he made it look easy.

Mammoth released their third album, The End, last year as the band continues to rise through the ranks.

He may have kickstarted his career playing bass alongside his dad in one of America’s most important rock bands, but over the past four years Wolfgang Van Halen has proven he’s very much an artist in his own right.

So much so that he’s written and recorded everything you hear on the three Mammoth albums released thus far – including latest full-length, The End, which sees him taking his songwriting to new creative peaks.

Naturally, the son of Edward Van Halen is no slouch on guitar. You can hear plenty of fret-burning wizardry on the title track and other impressive cuts such as Same Old Song and I Really Wanna. But it’s the sheer quality of his compositions that’s helped set him apart from his peers, reimagining the stadium-conquering hooks of groups like Foo Fighters and Alter Bridge through his own melodic lens, often with staggering results.

This album, he explains, came from a more relaxed state of mind, having already escaped the preconceptions that go hand-in-hand with having one of the most instantly recognizable surnames in rock ’n’ roll…

The top-line melodies on this latest album could be your catchiest ones yet. How do you go about finding the right hooks?

Honestly, that’s one of the most important things for the average listener. They tend to listen to the vocals and main melodies. I have fun with the instrumentation and that’s always there for the musicians who want to hear something fun with the riffs here and there. But at the end of the day, the melodies are the most important thing about my music. That’s what I tend to toil [over] most.

Can you envisage where the notes are before you even pick up the guitar?

Sure, there’s a lot of stuff that comes like that. Some of the best ideas come so quickly you almost feel like you’re this vessel for the music, rather than the person creating it. Bob Dylan had this great quote where he once said, “If I knew where the good songs came from, I’d go there more often!”

It’s like he was saying it’s not even a choice. These ideas come to you and reveal themselves to you as you keep working on them until you deem them ready enough. I’m not the world’s biggest Bob Dylan fan – obviously he’s an icon and a legend – but I really loved and related to that quote.

How do these ideas usually present themselves to you?

It’s just any time, really. You just have to be ready to get it down, which is why my list of voice memos is in the thousands.

I have a button on my iPhone that goes straight to voice recording because the ideas can come fast. I might hum them in, but if I’m lucky enough to have a guitar nearby I will pick that up – and the same goes for drum beat ideas. You always say, ‘I’ll remember it,’ and then you forget within two minutes.”

It’s interesting how you sometimes only use parts for very specific sections. Something New, for example, has these higher-string dyads that only come in at the very end before the closing stabs.

It’s all about using the right things at the right time. If you do certain things too much, then you’re overdoing them. It’s nice to sprinkle these little ideas in that make people want to go back and re-listen to the song. Over-seasoning music can make things quite repetitive and boring.

You’ve worked with Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette as your producer on every album so far. What have you learned from him about the art of capturing and blending sound?

He’s the other half of the band, so to speak. Even the Beatles had George Martin. It’s important to have an outside perspective to keep the artist from second-guessing. I trust him explicitly and could never see myself doing it without him.

I don’t ever take in much information in terms of what I’d do in the future without him because I’ll always let him handle that stuff. I focus on the writing and the playing. I leave the capturing of it all to him. I trust him more than I trust myself when it comes to production.

Do you listen to The Beatles much, then?

For sure. It might be a bit overplayed, I guess, but I would say Abbey Road is a really special album to me. Front to back, I really love everything about it. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) was like metal before heavy metal existed, you know? I love that album.

Everybody has a Beatles phase at some point and there will be one album they couldn’t live without. For me, it’s definitely Abbey Road, with maybe Revolver not far behind.

You released your EVH semi-hollow signature guitar back in 2024. Is that what we’re hearing on the album?

Yeah, it was the gold relic EVH SA-126 that I got last year. That guitar ended up being the backbone of this whole record, going through the 5150 III 6L6. I used it for 95 percent of what you hear. I got the Frankenstein out for the tapping part on The End and the slap part, but other than that, it really was just one guitar.

With the second album, it was a different guitar but still the second or third prototype of that SA-126. I’ve come to know what works best for Mammoth and that’s my semi-hollow through the 5150 III, for sure.

A lot of your leads are based around the minor pentatonic scale. Which blues players left the biggest mark on you?

It’s funny, I wasn’t much of a blues guy to begin with. But I think out of all the blues-based players, I really love Angus Young from AC/DC. He sticks to what is generally pentatonic stuff but has this anarchistic way of attacking it.

That’s what makes it so attractive to me. It’s almost like he doesn’t know what he’s doing and it’s all about the way he does it, rather than the notes he’s playing. When you listen to him, it’s incredibly blues-based, but it’s the aggression he plays with that makes me enjoy it. I guess it was the same kind of thing with my dad.

Which album do you find yourself listening to the most?

Powerage is one of my favorite records. In Down Payment Blues, right after the first chorus, there’s this solo where he plays just one note for eight bars. It’s how he’s playing, instead of what he’s playing. Stuff like that is so badass. It doesn’t need to be complicated.

You can hit one note with attitude and that’s all that matters. And Angus’s tone is unbelievable, with all those Marshalls just cranked to hell. The last time I saw AC/DC was on the Black Ice tour. They leave you deaf for days – it’s the best! I don’t think I’ve ever been at a show that loud; it must have been around 120dB. It was otherworldly. I started bringing earplugs to shows after that, but it’s okay if it’s Angus – he’s earned it.

What kind of riff do you play to test out a guitar?

I think it would be something by AC/DC. I’ll usually do Night Prowler because it has those big chords, which can tell you a lot about guitar. And then for single notes I might do Beating Around The Bush or something like that. I think those classic open chords can show you what a guitar is about right away. You can hear how the acoustics resonate together.

Your first big gig was playing bass in Van Halen. A lot of the material probably came very easily to you, but what would you say were the more challenging songs on the setlist?

I think it was mainly a matter of delving into the feel. The big hits were about the groove and locking in with my uncle [Alex Van Halen on drums] to create a great rhythmic base. Me being a drummer first helped because I could understand what was needed. I also had to keep dad in check whenever he made a mistake.

On the last tour in 2015, I really tried to get the guys to play every single B-side we possibly could, stuff like Dirty Movies, which is a really unique song. Michael Anthony [bass] was doing these interesting harmonics for that intro. Stuff like that was really experimental and I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he did.

His contributions to that track in particular were quite out there for a person who is usually holding down the groove. Dirty Movies was one of those tracks where I had to really remember how it was played on the record and check myself every time in order to ensure I didn’t mess it up.

In Mammoth you are very much going for a modern rock style that’s notably different from the sound your father pioneered in Van Halen. But the rhythmic slap and harmonic idea from The End is something that could have sat on 1981’s Fair Warning, with a Mean Street kind of feel.

Totally. It’s very percussive. It’s funny because it wasn’t supposed to be a Mean Street thing. It was actually a slap bass part. I was showing Elvis this idea but only had a guitar, so asked him to imagine it on bass. And he told me it sounded cool on guitar. It was his idea to have it carry on through the verse.

That’s when I asked him how the hell I’m supposed to sing and play it all on stage and he said, “That’s a problem for future you!” So while I was writing the melody, I was trying to play the part without thinking and eventually got it right where I was able to separate what I’m singing from what I’m playing.

I think it helps that I’m a drummer first because I’ve gotten used to that kind of separation. It was tough, but I figured it out. We’ve been playing it live and I feel confident enough.

You have forged your own path as a musician, but were there any things your dad showed you early on, to help speed up the process?

Dad never really pushed me in any direction. He just let me organically follow whatever I wanted. That was his main mantra – “Just play” – that’s why I’ve got it tattooed on me in his own handwriting, which came from a Christmas letter he gave me.

That’s as detailed as it gets. Just play. It’s that simple, really. You need to enjoy yourself and follow what makes you happy. That’s what music is all about. It should give you purpose and make you happy, and help forget about all the bullshit.

What do you remember about your first guitar?

I remember that dad got me a custom-made little Wolfgang for when I was 12. Later on, when I was in middle school, I really liked the band System Of A Down and got an Ibanez Iceman because their guitarist Daron Malakian had one. So I got one of those and had fun playing along to old-school riffs like Toxicity.

Your dad took a lot of influence from jazz fusion mastermind Allan Holdsworth, who also inspired some of the modern metal players you would later listen to.

My dad and him were very close. Allan played an incredibly avant-garde and dissonant style of guitar. I think his whole approach was so cool.

I love how Allan was very much himself. He never tried to follow any trends; it was always about his own vibe, which was very abstract and experimental.

That’s why his legacy is so apparent when it comes to players like Fredrik Thordendal in Meshuggah, who are one of my favourite bands. Allan was always very much his own artist, and truly one of a kind.

• The End is out now via BMG
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

It was September 2024, and Wolfgang Van Halen was flying out for his first-ever live shows in Mexico, opening for Metallica, when it hit him. Something was not right. It was a panic attack, a big one, and he had never experienced anything like it.

The experience left such a mark on him that it would inform the lyrics for Mammoth’s latest studio album, The End – a recording shaped by panic, anxiety and dread.

Speaking to the Rolling Stone’s Music Now podcast, Van Halen elaborates on exactly how bad it was. He was already wound up pretty tightly before they took off. These shows were a big deal and they were being played at altitude. Mexico City is 7,350 feet above sea level. That got into Van Halen’s head big-time.

“Being a singer, anytime I’ve been in a place that has a really high-altitude elevation, it’s very tough,” he explains. “You’ve always got to prepare yourself, like, for a show in Denver stuff like that. And after looking at the elevation and seeing it was going to be the highest show I’d ever played, I was super nervous just for a show of that magnitude, obviously on that crazy stage.”

He had good reason to be nervous. Performing at altitude is not easy. It’s harder to breathe up there. The air is drier. Singers, in particular, have to be meticulous with their preparation. It didn’t help that Van Halen is a nervous flyer.

“I’m really good at psyching myself out anxiety-wise, and I didn’t get a lot of sleep before the flight,” he continues. “I already hate flying to begin with. I’m just a very anxious person.”

On the plane, Van Halen tells Rolling Stone that it was everything, everywhere all at once happening to his body.

“My vision started closing,” he explains. “I thought I had had a panic attack before. If you think you’ve had a panic attack, you probably haven’t. It’s like your body betrays you.

“My vision closed up. I felt like I was gonna throw up. I started sweating profusely, but I was freezing – and it was really crazy. I’d never been aware of how badly that could happen. That feeling of feeling like everything was over and ending.”

He has learned to use this anxiety in Mammoth’s songwriting. Speaking to Guitar World, he says writing is “therapeutic” – a release for all those tensions.

When writing for The End, he not only had the panic attack as source material, he had the Los Angeles wildfires of January 2025, when he had some of his late father, Eddie Van Halen’s most-sacred gear packed up and ready to go at a moment’s notice. All of that was weighing on his mind.

“With the way I write, it’s very much a therapeutic release. Working those thoughts out is a way of calming the voices in my head and subduing my anxiety,” he said. “I was working through a lot this time around. The vocals were recorded in January while we had everything in 5150 packed up and ready to go at any moment, because of the Los Angeles fires.

“There’s a lot of nerves, stress and anxiety there. I was thinking about all of my dad’s instruments and all of his belongings before I could even think about mine. We had a U-Haul truck filled with everything. It was tough to be creative in that environment.”

Wolfgang Van Halen's full interview with Guitar World is available to read online.

Don’t let the finality of The End fool you. Despite the connotations of the title of Wolfgang Van Halen’s third and latest album as Mammoth, the hard rocker’s thrilling new era has only just begun.

When Guitar World catches up with him over Zoom, the musician – progeny of Eddie Van Halen, and a dynamic master-tapper in his own right – is riding high from leading his live band through a series of opening dates on Creed’s Summer of ’99 tour. It’s put the ever-rising act in front of huge arena crowds and had Van Halen sharing laughs backstage with his old Tremonti bandmate and Creed guitarist, Mark Tremonti.

Each night so far, Mammoth has electrified the masses with The End, the tapped-and-slapped ripper that roared to the top of the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts over the summer, and which is likewise affixed to one of the most memorably goofy-and-gory music videos of 2025 – featuring vampiric maulings aplenty and a scene where Wolf’s mom, Valerie Bertinelli, punches out a ghoul during a mid-concert bar brawl.

It’s been a fun few months, to say the least, but Van Halen also explains that The End arose out of a long period of tension and turmoil – its songs reflecting an existential dread informed by terrifying natural disasters and general anxiety.

“During the last show we played with Metallica in Mexico in 2024, I had a really traumatizing panic attack on the airplane,” he says. “I’d never had that before, and that was the impetus of my lyric writing when it came to the subject material on The End.”

As such, The End marks a highly personal exploration of identity, the weight of expectation, human connection and more. But despite that heady thematic whirl, The End – recorded at his late father’s 5150 Studios with longtime collaborator and producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette – remains a jubilantly rocking offering full of energized anthems, phase-glazed soloing, grungy melodicism and daringly funkified struts.

It feels like you’re poking at some interconnected ideas on songs like The End, Same Old Song and Something New.

With the way I write, it’s very much a therapeutic release. Working those thoughts out is a way of calming the voices in my head and subduing my anxiety. I was working through a lot this time around. The vocals were recorded in January while we had everything in 5150 packed up and ready to go at any moment, because of the Los Angeles fires.

So there’s a lot of nerves, stress and anxiety there. I was thinking about all of my dad’s instruments and all of his belongings before I could even think about mine. We had a U-Haul truck filled with everything. It was tough to be creative in that environment, and I’m already a really anxious person, you know?

How close had the wildfires gotten?

At one point there were four separate fires within two miles of us – you’re just kind of sitting there watching the news and watching the LAFD be the incredible heroes they are. It was the winds that were the scariest, just how it would carry over miles. We were incredibly lucky. I know a lot of people who weren’t. It was a terrible time to be in the area.

How long did it take to get back into the recording sessions?

There were about two weeks where we couldn’t work more than an hour without getting some sort of alert – I didn’t have the brainpower to focus on it, because I was just like, “I need to make sure Frankenstein [Eddie Van Halen’s iconic parts guitar] is safe.”

Once stuff started to calm down, that’s when we really started slamming. There were two ideas I wanted to finish, but we didn’t have the time. They might show up on something else in the future.

Getting into some of the urgency that is on the record, there’s a really dramatic tempo pivot that kicks off the record, in the intro to One of a Kind.

I thought it’d be fun to really start this off with something different, almost like a jump-scare. You’re kind of lulled into this one thing, and then it explodes. But it was also fun to play with something that we hadn’t before, which was a dramatic time change.

It’s almost Sabbath – not the arrangement itself, but with how Sabbath get halfway through a song, and then they start chugging on something else and it’s badass. I also thought it was fun to tie that to the lyrical motifs of the song.

What’s the song about?

A lot of stuff on the album is about somebody losing themselves to some sort of negative influence. By the end of the song, that negative influence wins. That’s why I thought about ending on that really gross note – how it hits that last note and just feeds back for a little bit.

Something else that jumped out at listeners is the tapping intro to The End.

There’s a little callback in the intro to Source of Infection off of Van Halen’s OU812, where I think maybe Donn Landee says Take one, and then Dad does all this tapping stuff. I actually yelled that into the pickup of the guitar on The End, which was pretty funny.

But yeah… I had that idea for a bit, but it seemed a little over the top. I almost used it as a challenge of, like, “How can I make a song out of this?” It was one of the last ideas I pulled out for pre-pro. It was very inspiring and we had a lot of fun doing it.

People have been trying to sleuth out the slapping technique of your verse riff, too.

I really need to post a how-to video, but I haven’t had the time. But it’s literally just a slap bass part. And you’re plucking harmonics. Originally, the idea was to use it on the bass – like that one moment right before the first chorus, where it drops and the bass is playing it. But when I was showing my producer, Elvis Baskette, I was like, “I have this idea – imagine this on a bass,” and I did it on the guitar. Then he’s like, “Dude, you should do that on the guitar.”

Was it easier to throw that down on bass guitar or to transpose it onto Frankenstein?

On the guitar you almost have to lay back and be real soft with it, whereas with the bass you can dig in more, because obviously they’re bigger strings. But I found that the more I relaxed while doing it on guitar, the easier it was to get the sound I wanted.

An Instagram video you posted reveals you’ve got some electrical tape covering the D string, near the pickups.

That’s just a studio trick to make sure there’s no buzz. It was just to deaden any possible extraneous noise. Obviously, I don’t really have a problem doing the riff live now, but when you’re recording, you just want it to be as quiet as possible.

You’ve used Frankenstein on earlier Mammoth records. Have you learned anything in particular about how to harness the sound of that guitar over the years?

Not really. But any moment I have it in my hands… just being able to hold something that my dad had such a history with is nice, since my dad’s not around anymore. It’s a little bittersweet, but it’s a nice thing to have on the record with me. I think that’s why I try to bring it out on every record.

Do you have that same kind of connection with other pieces of gear at 5150?

Pretty much everything, yeah. I mean, just the fact I’m recording in 5150 is enough. But because Frankenstein is arguably one of the most famous instruments in music history, let alone guitars… the emotional and historical weight of it all is a lot to handle. You almost have to push it to the side and just enjoy the moment.

How defining a factor is your own signature EVH SA-126 on this record?

I have a ’burst – I believe it was the second prototype of the 126 – and that was the backbone of Mammoth II. Pretty much everything recorded on The End was the goldtop 126 I have now, other than the Frankenstein guitar parts. It’s just been so fun to have this instrument that Matt Bruck, Chip Ellis and I put together become the defining sound of what Mammoth has become.

How about the guitar amps?

Amp-wise, it’s pretty straightforward, and it’s what we’ve been using on tour, which is the 50 watts. I have the EVH 5150 III 6L6, and the specific one I have in the studio is the one I used for the Taylor Hawkins tribute shows [in 2022]. The cabinet, too.

I Really Wanna has some great phases running through it. Can I assume that’s a classic MXR in there?

Yeah! The other effects I used were just fuzzy sorts of vibes. We have this Foxx Tone pedal we used a lot. We always had a layer of Uni-Vibe… or maybe it was a Univox? Elvis is the guy for all the effects.

I’m never really relying on an effect unless it’s something extremely specific – like on Happy, we used the MXR Rockman [X100 Analog Tone Processor] for this clean lead over the chorus, so it really cuts through. And during The Spell there’s a lead thing starting in the second chorus where we’re doing wah, just to sweeten it up.

The Spell is driven by those funky sharp-ninths. Where did that song come up in the process?

I was thinking of Lenny Kravitz when I was writing that song, paired with a ’70s rock vibe. It felt vintage, because I’m doing what I guess people call the “Hendrix chord.” But I also think of the last note Dad hits on You Really Got Me – a lot of Van Halen songs end with that big note. But that’s definitely one of my favorite choruses on the record. I’m happy with that one.

You mentioned Happy earlier – that song feels like one of the larger vocal showcases on The End.

With that initial vocal melody in the verse, I was basically thinking of Failure and Nirvana. And in that headspace, I was like, “We should straight-up do a Smells Like Teen Spirit sort of thing and have the guitar solo be that vocal melody.”

That song starts off with the lyric “I need control – it shows.” How could that line speak to the broader experience of making music on your own as Mammoth?

You could certainly make that comparison, but with the overarching theme of the record and anxiety, I think it’s more about trying to find your comfort zone amid chaos. That’s a criticism I never saw coming, honestly. Like, “He’s really selfish because he plays everything.”

I always thought it was just a fun thing for me to do. I’ve been in bands before where it’s been a collaborative effort, and it’s very much still a thing with me and my producer, Elvis. He helps me to avoid second-guessing myself, and he tells me when I should keep digging on something.

But a lot of people say things like, “Why don’t you just have other people on the record? It’ll deepen the sound,” or some real ethereal bullshit like, “You’ll give it more zhuzh if you have more people on it.” [Laughs] I don’t know… this is exactly how I want it, and I’m very happy with it.

The music world faced a great loss this summer with the death of Ozzy Osbourne. The day he passed, you performed his song Mama, I’m Coming Home in Hartford, Connecticut. How did Ozzy’s death impact you at that moment?

I think it was around three o’clock that day when we all looked at our phones and everybody went silent. It was really tough. We felt like we needed to do something, because how could you not? He affected everything we do, forever. It would’ve felt weird to go out there and try to play Crazy Train or Paranoid. Mama, I’m Coming Home felt like the right thing to do.

I was very nervous because I didn’t have all the lyrics memorized, and I didn’t even know how to play it. But we sat in the dressing room and listened to it over and over again. We played through it two-and-a-half times in soundcheck, and then we kept doing it acoustically backstage. I don’t even remember the rest of the show because I was so focused on Mama. I didn’t want to mess it up.

You didn’t play Crazy Train that night, but was that a formative song for you to work your hands around, as a developing guitarist?

Absolutely, which is why it was such an insane thing to be asked by Ozzy and Sharon to play it at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction he had last year. And knowing my dad’s connection with Sabbath… he would tell me all the time about that tour in 1978 where Van Halen opened for them. One of my dad’s favorite riffs of all time was Into the Void.

You had to pull out of Black Sabbath and Ozzy’s Back to the Beginning farewell concert in Birmingham. What would you have played? Was there a plan in place?

Not really. It was all very down-to-the-wire. The rehearsal schedule kept moving, because obviously it was an incredibly monumental thing to put together. I don’t put missing the show on anyone – it was a crazy thing to organize.

But the rehearsal dates for this tour kept looming over everything, and the rehearsal dates for Back to the Beginning kept changing. We just weren’t able to do both, and that really sucked, but I’m happy I was able to do the Hall of Fame thing, so at least I got to see Ozzy, give him a hug and talk to him a little bit.

Are you excited to transition from doing these six-song shows with Creed into playing the fuller, hour-and-a-half sets on your own headlining tour this fall?

This is going to be our craziest tour yet. Up until now, all the headline shows we’ve done have been mainly performance focused. We didn’t have much of a show built around it other than lights and a backdrop.

This time we’re bringing stuff we’ve never brought out before. And now that we have three albums of material to pick from, I’m excited to really cater the set wherever we go. It’s going to be a good time.

We don’t necessarily want to ruin a surprise, but are you going to be killing any vampires on stage during The End?

[Laughs] No, there’s not going to be much acting. Our show is just going to be a bit more souped up in comparison to what it’s been before.

• The End is out now via BMG.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Wolfgang Van Halen is an authority on all-things-Van Halen, so when he joined up with Ola Englund to demonstrate how to play his new Mammoth single The End – and deliver a tapping masterclass in the process – we tuned in, ready to take notes.

During the interview the Mammoth bandleader touched on his two distinct approaches to tapping, which he differentiates between two of Eddie Van Halen's most famed guitar solos. Not only that, he explained how to play them.

“Being the Van Halen spawn, I look at tapping in two different ways. There’s Eruption, and there’s Hot For Teacher,” he details, EVH guitar in hand, in the video below. “The Eruption tapping is when you're barring [with your fretting hand] and it's very straight. The Hot For Teacher tapping is more rolling and rhythmic.”

Wolfgang explains it was the Hot For Teacher tapping school of thought that shaped The End, which features an equally explosive lead run during the intro. Rather appropriately the song’s music video also nods to the Van Halen track.

“It’s super simple,” he says of that particular line. “Since I'm a drummer first, I take everything rhythmically. Then you have to try singing on top of it later, which is funny.”

Notably, the rhythm starts with the open E string on the 'four-and' beat of the bar, ensuring that the second group of taps sync with the following bar. In a previous interview, he also explained how his dad’s tapping techniques differ from most players, and it makes a huge difference to the sound.

While speaking to Englund, Wolfgang was also keen to address comparisons between The End’s slapping riff – which he recorded on Eddie’s iconic Frankenstein guitar – and Van Halen’s 1981 hit, Mean Street.

“Obviously, I understand the connection, but I wrote this as a bass slap part, and when I showed it to my producer [Michael "Elvis" Baskette] just before recording, I was like, ‘I don't have a bass, but it sounds like this…’ and he said, ‘You should do it on guitar.’”

Trapping his guitar pick in the crook of his third finger, Wolfgang explains, “What you're doing is, you're slapping [with your thumb] and popping with these two fingers [first and second].”

“Hit the open E, then you're gonna do the mute percussion [one hit with each hand], then you're hitting the A and G harmonics at the seventh fret [with percussive hits in between].”

The end phrase syncopates with a drum flam for added tightness. It's a bit of a mouthful, so it's probably best to watch the master at work in the full video.

In related Wolfgang news, he has spoken about how he took a huge career risk covering Van Halen songs with Dave Grohl, and has revealed he’s stopped listening to his dad’s music.

A full-fat rock band like they used to make in the 1970s, the recently rebranded Mammoth features Ronnie Ficarro on bass alongside guitarists Jonathan Jourdan and Frank Sidoris, drummer Garrett Whitlock, and Wolfgang ‘Son of Eddie’ Van Halen on guitar and vocals.

“First and foremost, Wolf plays everything on the album,” says Ficarro. “In fact, he's a monster bass player! So my job is to try and recreate his basslines whenever we play live.”

Amid the heavyweight sounds of his bandmates, Ficarro’s live bass guitar parts punch through with great clarity and power – and you can attribute a lot of this to the new EVH bass gear he’s been using.

“With Mammoth I play an EVH prototype that was built by Chip Ellis at the Fender Custom Shop. The relic finish is vintage white over black, which matches Wolf’s EVH SA-126 guitar. There are only two that exist!

“It’s fitted with EVH custom bass humbuckers and a 6-way pickup selector switch, but I keep things in the second position most of the time, which is everything on. It’s the setting that sounds the closest to my Gibson G3.”

If you’re wondering where Ficarro gets his pickup-trashing pick approach from, check his influences. “I started with The Beatles, The Kinks, The Zombies, and The Stones, but the bass player I gravitated to the most was Paul McCartney.

“Later on I discovered Mike Dirnt’s bass playing with Green Day. I’d never heard a bass sound like that before. I was using flatwound strings, and felt picks! But Mike’s bass was bright, and alive! I was hooked.”

In terms of his tone, Ficarro sticks to a tried-and-tested approach. “I’m pretty aggressive with my right hand, which in itself creates a tone that I like. New strings also help me get the bounce and response against my pick. I don’t scoop any mids. Your tone can make or break a sound of any band.”

What were you doing before Mammoth?

“I played in a few touring rock bands, and worked with some pop artists. The most notable would be I Am Ghost, Falling In Reverse, and JMSN.”

When did you first take up the bass?

“I found my Dad’s Höfner bass in his bedroom closet when I was 13. Piano wasn’t doing it for me, and trumpet made my lips bleed, but the Höfner was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. Inevitably, my dad caught me playing it one day.

“I thought he’d be mad, but he took me straight to The House of Guitars! We walked out with my first bass, which was a MIM Fender P-Bass in Arctic White.”

How has your bass playing evolved since then?

“I’ve spent a lot of time working on my tone. New gear helps, but I always wanted to have my own sound. I used to practice all day, everyday, but I’ve never had a bass lesson, so any kind of evolution has just come naturally.”

What sort of gear did you have in those early years?

“I had a Fender P-Bass and a Peavey Basic 50 amp, and then a Peavey 210 combo. I ended up trading my P-Bass for a 1978 Gibson G3 bass.

“My first Ampeg was a SVT-3 Pro, and that thing was a tank! I also had a SVT-2 Pro with an SVT-810E Classic cabinet. Nowadays, I play a Fender Super Bassman through a 610 Neo cab. I also have an EICH T-900.”

What bass sound do you aim for when you play live?

“I take a DI out of my pedalboard, and another DI out of my amp, so the signal is split. I set one to be dirty and quite bright, while the other is more round and full. Then I mix them both together, which gives me the best of both worlds.”

Fingers or pick?

“I prefer the sound of a pick, but it ultimately depends on what the song calls for. Each has their own vibe.”

Can you play slap bass?

“I’m self-taught, so I have my own way of playing slap bass. I never really had an application for it until Wolf put a slap bassline in the new single, The End. Luckily I can play it!”

What was it like making the video for The End?

“If you’re not having fun playing a rock anthem like that then you’re in the wrong business! The video was so much fun. It was directed by Robert Rodriguez, with a bunch of cameos. At one point Slash is just chillin’ while some people get eaten.”

Are you a 4-, 5- or 6-string man?

“4-strings! That’s all Jaco needed! If I ever need a lower note then I'll just grab another bass and de-tune it.”

Are you a bass player who spends hours practicing?

“I’ve always spent hours practicing, which includes learning any songs that I like. I’ll learn songs by ear, and just try to figure out how the bass player got that particular sound. I still play everyday, even when I’m home from tour.”

How would you define your role in the band?

“My role is to support the low-end, as well as cut through a wall of guitars. As much as anyone else, it’s the bass player’s job to make the song feel good. I just try to be cool, and be on time!”

Wolfgang Van Halen has paid tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne with a beautiful and heartfelt performance of Mama, I’m Coming Home in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Mammoth bandleader had pulled out of Back to the Beginning due to scheduling conflicts, but from the other side of the Atlantic, while supporting Creed on a US tour, he paid homage to the man who helped forge the sound of heavy metal.

“It fucking sucks that we are in a world that doesn't have Ozzy Osbourne anymore,” he told the crowd. “It was right before we went out to soundcheck that we found out, and we felt like we had to do something. Just mentioning it wasn't enough.

“We've played through this maybe three times,” he adds, his voice breaking. “So please bear with us, and sing the fuck along with us.”

The weight of the song, and what covering it means to Wolfgang Van Halen, is clear throughout the performance, and his voice is absolutely superb throughout. The guitar solo he unfurls on his gorgeous green-colored EVH SA-126 Special isn’t half bad, either.

“Love you, Ozzy,” he says as the final notes are drowned out by a screaming crowd.

The guitarist had seemingly put the decades-long Eddie Van Halen-Randy Rhoads rivalry to bed last year when he joined Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, and Maynard James Keenan to cover Crazy Train at Ozzy’s Rock Hall induction.

After soundcheck that night, Wolfgang had shared an image of himself and a smiling Ozzy, looking like the royalty he is, on a pitch black throne. The shot was taken backstage at the Rock Hall ceremony.

“Legend,” his caption read. “Thank you for everything, Ozzy.”

Mammoth are currently readying their third album, The End, having released a blockbuster horror-themed music video for its opening track. But he says not all songs on the record will be as laden with shred.

“Not everything needs a guitar solo,” he believes. “That might be stupid for the son of Eddie Van Halen to say, but, for me, what brings me purpose with Mammoth is writing the songs.”

Elsewhere, the tributes to the Prince of Darkness have been pouring in, while Tony Iommi has spoken at length about what Back to the Beginning meant to Ozzy.

Wolfgang Van Halen may have descended from one of the greatest guitar soloists who ever lived, but that doesn’t mean he’s tied to the concept of guitar solos. Instead, he has very much his own approach to songwriting – and it’s one that doesn’t see solos as a necessity.

This year, Wolfgang has released two show-stopping singles from his forthcoming album under the Mammoth moniker. Title track, The End tipped its cap to the Hot For Teacher music video with a glitzy guitar solo, but The Spell doesn't quite follow suit in the fretboard pyrotechnics department

As such, he says listeners shouldn’t expect him to light up his fretboard on every song as he outlines the key differences between his and his father’s distinct playing styles.

“I think the songwriter leads more than anything,” he tells SiriusXM (via Blabbermouth). “What makes me happy, what brings me purpose with Mammoth, is writing the songs. That is why I think there are some songs that don't even have a guitar solo.”

He understands that adopting this approach on some of The End’s impending cuts might result in kickback. But he isn’t concerned about the naysayers.

“Whenever there is a song that doesn't have a guitar solo, people are, like, ‘Dude? What?’” he explains. “It’s more about the song and how it is crafted together. Not everything needs a guitar solo. That might be stupid coming from the son of Eddie Van Halen to say, but, for me, that is where I get my most joy from, crafting the song piece by piece.

“There are definitely more guitar solos [on the album],” he develops, before shifting the focus. “But again, that is not what it is about for me. But it is there, and I am going to give my A-game.”

The guitarist, who believes that his dad’s game-changing shredding “kind of ruined” guitar music for a while as a legion of copyists came out of the woodwork, has revealed that parts of The End were tracked on Eddie’s famed Frankenstrat.

During the moments he does let rip, however, Wolfgang always has sage soloing advice given to him by his father.

Mammoth’s third album follows the release of his EVH signature guitar, the SA-126 Special, and a well-received budget version. “The goal was to put together a guitar that didn’t exist yet,” Wolfgang had said upon his signature's release.

Wolfgang Van Halen has explained why he’s dropped the ‘WVH’ tag from his newly rebranded band Mammoth, after he stealth-launched the moniker change with their latest single, The End.

After processing the star-studded, zombie-plagued, and Hot For Teacher-referencing music video that launched the track, fans were curious to note Wolfgang’s initials had been removed from the band name, which changed from Mammoth WVH to Mammoth.

It’s a subtle change, but one that Wolfgang says reflects his initial vision for the group.

“It’s what I’ve always wanted it to be. It’s just that we didn’t have the trademark,” he explains to KOMP 92.3. “And so now that we do, we can finally be what I’ve always wanted to be. I mean, I always say 'Mammoth' at the shows anyway. Now it’s just official.”

As Mammoth WVH, the band has released two albums. Notably, on the covers for both those releases, Mammoth I and Mammoth II, there was no sign of his initials anywhere.

Though he admits his initials made the name “a mouthful” from a marketing standpoint, there was certainly some logic in it. When your dad was one of the greatest guitarists to ever walk this earth it doesn’t hurt to lean into the family name.

But Wolfgang has always stated that he wants to do things on his terms and be remembered as the guy from Mammoth, not the guy whose dad is Eddie Van Halen.

“I think people are sitting there waiting for me to outdo my dad in some way, but that’s impossible,” he said last year. “I’m not him. I’m doing my own thing.”

While there is an element of musical and reputational separation, Wolfgang is still keeping his late father close in other ways: He tracked The End’s slapping parts on his famed Frankenstein Strat.

He’s also taken one lesson from his dad about soloing to heart, and even walked down the aisle to a song EVH had written about him.

In related news, he guitarist recently become the first star to pull out of Black Sabbath’s final show due to scheduling conflicts, as Mammoth set out on tour in the US with Creed.

Wolfgang Van Halen has shared a clip of him tracking the slap guitar section of his new song, The End, on his late father's legendary Frankenstein guitar.

After dropping his initials from the band name and releasing a new Mammoth single – which boasts a star-studded, horror-theme music video that’s a must-watch for many reasons – Wolfgang has now offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the song's making. As always, his dad’s presence shines on with him.

“Fun fact,” his new Instagram post reads. “I recorded the main tapping of the song, and the slap part with the Frankenstein! Makes me feel closer to Pop that such an important part of his history can live with mine every time I record.”

The heavily modded six-string, which boasts that iconic red, white, and black striped design, was one of Eddie Van Halen's most cherished axes. It was his weapon of choice as Van Halen changed the face of guitar music with Eruption in 1978, and it barely left his side thereafter.

Notably, Wolfgang has used the guitar in the studio before, and it can be heard on each Mammoth record so far. On Mammoth I it was used for the solos in Mammoth and Feel, and on Mammoth II it was used for his show-stopping, tapping-lavished Take a Bow guitar solo.

“You feel the history,” he had said after using it on his debut album, a record he finished in the wake of his dad’s passing. “It’s kind of terrifying holding it, just because arguably it is the most famous guitar in musical history. It’s definitely quite the thing to hold it.”

“It's kind of crazy,” Wolfgang later said of the instrument while on the promo trail for Take a Bow. “There are certain notes where it's like, ‘Wow, that sounds like Van Halen I.’”

This time around, Wolfgang is continuing to enjoy the connection that the Frankenstein creates between him and his late father.

Further still, the slapping part itself is indicative of Wolfgang’s musical mentality. He doesn’t want to be known simply as ‘Eddie Van Halen’s son’ and is intent on establishing himself as Wolfgang the artist – but he still wants to honor Eddie’s legacy while doing so.

Here, he's embracing modern techniques beloved by the likes of Tosin Abasi and his personal guitar hero, Intervals’ Aaron Marshall – who have both given him their seal of approval in the comments – as a reflection of his voice on the instrument. The solo, meanwhile, is blazingly Van Halen, and with it, he keeps things firmly in the virtuosic family.

Breaking down the slapping technique in the comments section, Wolfgang explains, “[My] right hand is slapping and then popping two separate strings to get those harmonics and the left hand is filling in the sort of percussive rhythm.”

In related news, filmmaker Simon Alkin released an exhaustive documentary on Eddie’s guitar-modding journey and how the Frankenstein came to be late last year. Told in Eddie’s own words via a score of interviews captured over the years, it gives a unique insight into the legendary instrument.

“The guitar I wanted to play did not exist,” Van Halen had said at the time. Now its future remains in very safe, and very familiar hands.

Wolfgang Van Halen and his band Mammoth (which has now seemingly dropped the ‘WVH’ tag) have returned with a wild new song that goes big on the two-hand tapping – and it's joined by a horror film-inspired music video video that boasts an all-star, werewolf-fighting cast.

There’s a wiff of From Dusk Till Dawn in the video for The End. The band arrives at a club and are greeted by Danny Trejo, who tells them that certain regulars don’t like loud noises – playing ballads would be advised. The mystery letter that had sent Mammoth there, however, asks for a rock show that will kill – and that it does.

Telling his band to keep things “civil”, Wolfgang launches into an unapologetically incendiary tapping run that nods to his late, great father, Eddie Van Halen, as none other than Slash looks on approvingly.

Wolfgang then hurtles into a nifty, harmonic-laced verse riff, backed by some commendable slap bass from Ronnie Ficarro.

Trejo had strictly told the band “No solos!”, but as the band go about their business, half the audience gets savaged before their eyes by, erm, zombies, werewolves and vampires. In the crowd, there's also a now-zombified Myles Kennedy, who goes on an impressive killing streak.

Wolfgang, meanwhile, then struts through the maelstrom while delivering a tastefully virtuosic solo. Full of EVH-inspired tapping licks and fast-but-tasteful runs, it stays true to his father's solo lesson about melody first, virtuosity second.

The way he looks into the camera as he does so, waltzing over the tables as chaos ensues around him, is a direct salute to his father's moves from the Hot For Teacher video.

Wolfgang has also nailed the fine balance between honoring his father's playing style and establishing his own. We've seen him deliver some other show-stopping tapping solos, but this might be his best, and most individualistic, yet.

Wolfgang's mother, Valerie Bertinelli, who recently shared her thoughts on a Van Halen biopic, also features, throwing punches while Slash continues to look nonchalantly on, enjoying the show.

Fretboard pyrotechnics aside, this feels like the first big rock video in quite some time and, importantly, neither the song nor the playing gets overshadowed by the blood-soaked visual entertainment. Horror effects icon Greg Nicotero (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Sin City) has more than played his part.

“I’ve had the tapping idea on the intro for The End since before Mammoth,” Wolfgang reveals. “I was able to fit it into this world. It’s still over-the-top and shreddy, but it’s also melodic and controlled.

“Overall, I was doing some different things on the record, and I knew this was going to be a big step. Once we finished The End, it felt really special to me.”

The dropping of the ‘WVH’ moniker feels like a big moment for the band, too. Historically, Wolfgang has written and performed all instruments on their records and has previously said he’s a drummer first. But this might be the dawn of a more collaborative future for the band.

Either way, the song is great, the video is sheer class, and it’s a genius promotion for the band’s Autumn U.S. run, with Myles Kennedy in support. How’s that for marketing?

The tour starts, poetically, on Halloween in a currently unspecified location, and lasts through to December 7, where the tour wraps in another to-be-confirmed location. It’s all very mysterious.

Before that, Wolfgang will feature at Black Sabbath’s blockbuster final show in Birmingham, England, this summer, having played Crazy Train at Ozzy's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction last year.

Wolfgang has also recently spoken about how he helped bring Van Halen back from the brink in the early 2000s, and gifted his guitar hero his brand-new signature guitar, the EVH SA-126 Standard.

Wolfgang Van Halen has proposed a theory about the impact his father’s revolutionary electric guitar playing had on the ’80s music scene.

There will always be a surge of those who follow in the wake of trailblazing guitarists and attempt to follow in the footsteps of their heroes. To that end, Wolfgang recently discussed how Eddie’s game-changing shred acrobatics diluted the originality of other guitarists as countless players did their best Eruption impressions.

“In a way, Dad kind of ruined the musical landscape, because instead of everybody wanting to find out who they are, they wanted to be that,” he says in a new episode of the WTF with Marc Maron Podcast [via Exclaim].

Wolfgang goes on to observe that those ’80s guitarists who attempted to do their best Van Halen impressions missed the one thing that was most important about his father's playing, and that wasn’t his dazzling technicality.

“People focus on the guitar playing, but, overall, it was the fact that Dad is a great songwriter,” he adds. “And that’s what I shoot for, too. It’s not about flashy stuff.”

As for his own playing as a direct descendant of the late guitar game-changer, Wolfgang notes that “just sharing blood with my father is enough to upset people”, but he's been “able to carve out my own thing”.

For Wolfgang's own music, he was wary of adding to an over-saturated scene of Eddie-lite licks. Instead, he focused not on what came before him, but rather explored his musical personality to find his own sound; something he feels others should have done.

One of the main ways Wolfgang achieved this was by playing all the instruments on his Mammoth WVH records.

“I think people are sitting there waiting for me to outdo my dad in some way, but that's impossible. I'm not him. I'm doing my own thing and if anything I'm outdoing him in that way... I'm a better drummer than him and no one says that!”

Speaking earlier last month, Wolfgang said his father instilling his songwriting-first approach was one of the most important lessons he ever gave him.

“I approach guitar playing more as a producer and more as a drummer than a guitar player,” he said at the time. “Rhythm is always the first thing for me and melody is the second.

“A really core thing for me that my dad always instilled is that a solo should be melodically memorable… You can play a solo that's one note that can be way more impressive than a solo that's 2000 notes. It's not really the speed at which you play.”

While he champions Intervals maestro Aaron Marshall in his chat with Marc Maron for his “singer as a guitar player” approach, Wolfgang adds another noteworthy guitarist to that pile of OG shredders: Paul Gilbert.

“He’s one of the shredder guys from the ’80s. He was one of those guys that came a little bit after Dad that I think took it in an interesting direction,” Wolfgang notes.

In related news, Sammy Hagar hopes Wolfgang can still participate in the ongoing Best of All Worlds tour, with further dates in Europe and South America eyed.

Wolfgang Van Halen has revealed he'd like to collaborate with rock royalty Dave Grohl and Myles Kennedy.

In an interview with Help Musician's I Never Thought It Would Happen podcast, Van Halen talked about how, despite being a multi-instrumentalist, he still has a bucket list of collaborators.

“I would really love to collaborate with my really good friend – he sings for Alter Bridge and for Slash – Myles Kennedy,” he revealed. “I think he is a wonderful human being, and an incredibly talented singer and guitar player. So I would I would jump at an opportunity to collaborate with him for sure.

“It'd also be fun to collaborate with one of my biggest inspirations, Dave Grohl. I'm basically ripping him off with Mammoth and the way that he started with Foo Fighters recording everything himself. I've kind of modeled the way Mammoth exists because of him. So if he didn't exist, I wouldn't.”

In the same interview, Van Halen also talked about the beauty of recording all instruments on the Mammoth WVH albums and the artist-producer trust that’s required, especially when recording to tape.

“My producer Michael Baskette and our engineer, Jef Moll, they're practically the other half of the band. I play all the instruments and write everything for Mammoth. 

“There's obvious frustration some days [when] you're not feeling it. But I think that's the wonderful thing about doing it yourself is that's like, if this isn't working, let's just do another thing and come back to it.”

He continued, “And so while I can fully focus on that, [they can focus on] the production aspect and the recording, the complications. We record to tape for drums and guitar because I use my father's studio 5150. 

“All the tape machines are there and ready to go. So it's like why don't we use it? But yeah, because of their high skill and my trust in them, there's really nothing to doubt or worry about when it comes to the production of Mammoth.”

Despite Van Halen very much steering the Mammoth WVH ship, the project's collaborative spirit extends to the live setup. “The fun duality of Mammoth is that I have a live band of really great friends and musicians to perform and reinterpret the music live, but also having my fun artistic expression in the studio.”

Mammoth WVH are touring extensively this year. The band recently supported Slash feat Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators in the UK and Europe. They kick off their US headline tour on May 4 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and are also touring with Metallica and Foo Fighters this summer.

For Wolfgang Van Halen, 2023 was a huge year. He spent an enormous chunk of it on the road with his band, Mammoth WVH – opening for Metallica’s M72 stadium tour shows in the United States, Europe and Canada as well as the Alter Bridge Pawns & Kings tour and finishing the year with his band’s first tour as the sole headlining act. 

Thanks to his guidance and vision, the EVH brand has continued to grow, with new releases like the Frankenstein series and MIJ Wolfgang Signature model, and he brought the revolutionary semi-acoustic electric SA-126 model to its final stages of completion. Somehow, he even found time to make the biggest commitment of his life by marrying his longtime girlfriend, Andraia Allsop, in October. 

Another landmark event in a year filled with many of them was the release of Mammoth WVH’s sophomore effort, Mammoth II. Whereas the first Mammoth WVH album was recorded over a three-year period, Mammoth II was completed in less than half a year, with tracking starting in September 2022 and mixing completed in February 2023. 

“Because of my touring commitments,” Wolfgang Van Halen says, “we only had a limited amount of time. I would prefer not to do that again. Arguably, we came out with a better record in a fraction of the time, so maybe that is the way to do it. I wanted to avoid the sophomore slump, so this album needed to be as good or better than the first one. I’m very OCD and a perfectionist, so I wouldn’t have released it if I wasn’t proud of it anyway.”

In truth, Mammoth II showcases a massive progression from Mammoth WVH’s debut album. The melodies are strong, dramatic and catchy; the production is expertly crafted with lush, sophisticated layers, epic cinematic soundscapes and hard-hitting punch; and the performances are skillfully and passionately executed, with Van Halen’s powerful drumming, numerous dazzling solos and notably improved and matured lead and harmony vocals standing out. Like before, Wolfgang performed everything himself, recording all of the instrumental and vocal parts.

Also like before, he relied on the phenomenal talents of producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette, who played a critical role as Wolfgang’s creative partner. A musical renaissance man with more than 25 years’ experience as a producer, engineer and mixer who, like Wolfgang, is also an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist, Baskette helped Van Halen craft a compelling sonic universe filled with a multitude of guitar textures and ear candy that surprises listeners with new discoveries after repeated playbacks.

Although Mammoth WVH is a solo act in the studio, on stage Wolfgang is accompanied by a highly capable “band of brothers”: guitarists Jon Jourdan and Frank Sidoris, bassist Ronnie Ficarro and drummer Garrett Whitlock. 

On the headlining tour, which began in November, the band is performing a 90-minute set featuring 14 to 17 songs, depending on that night’s setlist. “I hope people dig the new album because we’re going to play most of, if not all of it, across the different sets that we have planned,” Van Halen says. “It’s so much fun to play the new songs with the band.”

In the following interview, Wolfgang Van Halen shares the details of the creation of Mammoth II. 

How does your songwriting process for Mammoth II start?

“Usually it starts on guitar. A lot of my ideas stem from just me and an acoustic guitar – a Takamine that you can hear at the end of Waiting. I like to make quick minute-long demos of whatever ideas I have but without any structure. 

“There are some idea showcases where I put every variant of the idea I have back-to-back, like eight bars of each. Then I’ll get with Elvis [Baskette, producer] and he’ll be like, ‘This one is good. Keep working on that. Let’s explore this.’ 

“From there I finish everything up and we get to work. I record my demos using Logic and keep them as bare and bold as possible, especially the drums. When I go into the studio I’ll flair it up and add personality to the drums and allow it to be a sort of spontaneous, in-the-studio writing process.”

You upgraded 5150 before you recorded the album and replaced the old SSL mixing board with a Neve. Why did you choose the Neve? 

“I think the results speak for themselves. Sonically there is a big difference between this album and the last one, and part of that is because this one was done completely in 5150 from start to finish. The first album was recorded over a three-year period in three different studios. This album sounds more cohesive because all of the tracks were recorded in the same place, and you can hear that. 

“With Elvis driving the board it was really magical. We were recording to tape, and I also got a Ludwig 45th Anniversary Vistalite Pro Beat green sparkle drum kit that sounds amazing. It’s the one I’m playing in the Don’t Back Down video. It was kind of unfair how much we had on our side in terms of sonic awesomeness. I’m very proud of it.”

The Neve is a great-sounding board for recording drums and guitars. Did that influence your decision?

“It did, but really anything compared to the last board that we had in there, which was barely working, would have been an upgrade. The Neve was such a wonderful board that was within my budget, and it was a no-brainer to get it, considering it’s half the size of the SSL yet has twice as many channels. 

“It’s also not a power suck like the other board, which would get so hot that we’d have to keep the air conditioning on all the time so it wouldn’t fucking melt, and that would get noisy. The power supply is much more efficient so we’re saving a lot of money with the Neve in the studio because it doesn’t run as hot or hard. It’s whisper quiet. What an upgrade!”

You’ve developed a great working partnership with Elvis. What does he contribute to your projects?

“People don’t realize the importance of Elvis in this process. I truly think that if I never said that I’m playing everything on the albums, people never would have known. 

“But because I did, a lot of negative haters used that as a basis to criticize me after the first album came out, which was a big surprise. They would say things like, ‘He’s got no natural back and forth in the studio, that means it’s really uninspired material, blah, blah.’ If people didn’t know that I was playing everything, they wouldn’t say that.

“At the same time, they fail to realize that Elvis and I literally are doing that back and forth in the studio. He is the other half of that creative bounce. When I’m stuck on something or if I’m on the right track, he helps me either keep digging or go somewhere else. He really is that friction that is needed to complete the creative process. 

“He is absolutely integral to the process, and so is his engineer Jef Moll. You put me, Elvis, Jef and their assistant Josh Saldate in the studio and you get a Mammoth album. I need all of them. Then we have Matt Bruck there as well and my uncle Patrick [Bertinelli] to document everything, and it’s a pretty easy process.”

Does Elvis help with the song arrangements? 

“Definitely. He’d be like, ‘This part needs to go here. This part needs to go there. You need to make this and that happen.’ He really pushes me, but there’s no animosity. If he tells me something isn’t good enough, I know that it’s always for the betterment of the song. 

“I’ve worked enough with other songwriters to know that some people like to go, 'Hey, let’s do this and do that,' because they want to say that that’s the part that they wrote. They don’t want to collaborate to make the best of it. With Elvis and me, it’s really for the betterment of the song.”

Can you give me an example of where he’s improved one of the songs on the new record?

“He helped push the melody out of me for Better Than You. I wasn’t sure where I was going, and our collaboration brought out that sort of dichotomy that I really love in the song, which is the sing-songy Beatles-style melodic quality juxtaposed with the Meshuggah-influenced sludgy heaviness of the main riff.”

How does your recording process start in the studio? Since you’re one guy performing all of the instrumental and vocal parts, do you have everything mapped out in advance? 

“I have my RFJ Logic demos, which means Ready For Jef, that I send to Jef and he preps them for Pro Tools. Then we sync the tape machines and Pro Tools, and then we start tracking drums. Instead of recording separate sections, like doing the intro, then the verse and then the chorus and piecing everything together, we’ll record as much of the entire song as I can do until I fuck up, which is usually about half of the song. 

“They’re a lot of big, long takes, so it’s like full performances. The drum tracks are usually done in three big chunks for the whole song. We put together performances rather than stitching together smaller individual parts. 

“From there, we move on to bass. That went very quickly. My uncle Pat usually hangs out the whole time at the studio, but when I started recording bass tracks he had to go home for two days. When he came back, I was already done with the bass. 

“Then we get into guitar, which is really fun. The bulk of the work is devoted to recording rhythm guitar tracks. From there, we split duty between recording vocals, guitar solos and overdubs. I was writing everything as we were doing it, so usually I’d wake up, record or write melodies for the vocals and lyrics and pull my hair out over that.” 

“When I’m writing lyrics I have to go to a different mental place and get out of being the usual me. And that’s not always a really fun place to go to, but we got it done. Then we hop back and forth between recording vocals and solos. If I sing really hard one day I’ll record solos the next day to let my voice recover. 

“Recording solos was tough. I had a lot of ideas this time around that I felt like were good spots for solos, and there are more solos on this album compared to the first one. I put more stress on myself, trying to figure out where to go. Luckily throughout the process it just came to me and we figured it out.

“The only solo that I was really worried about was the one on Another Celebration at the End of the World. I didn’t come up with anything until we got in the studio and we were like, let’s just try something. I knew I wanted a repeated, rhythmic tapping thing that goes through the stabs, but I didn’t know what notes to do or how I was going to do it. Basically every solo was just a little bit of fucking around until we found the right path to go to.

“That’s how the solo for I’m Alright came around. I wanted to do an ’80s wah solo, but I got so tired of operating the wah that I had Uncle Pat do it. That story has been so telephone gamed through so many random pull quotes that people now think that my other uncle, Alex [Van Halen], played the fucking solo. 

“The amount of clickbait that people got out of a completely wrong version of that story during that week was just so fucking dumb. As a joke, I included Pat in the credits on the back of the album. I thought it’d be really funny: ‘Wah operation on I’m Alright solo by Patrick ‘Uncle Pat’ Bertinelli.’ 

“When I added that, it actually held back the album cover design by a day because they had to wait until Pat signed a work-for-hire contract. We paid Pat $1 so we could legally have that there, which was amazing. They just updated Apple Music to show credits, and you can see it says, ‘Guitar Technician Patrick Bertinelli.’” 

Was the Ludwig your primary kit?

“That was the only kit, but we used a different snare for every song. We were in the storage locker picking up stuff for recording, and I asked Al if it would be cool if I borrowed a couple of his snares. 

“He was like, ‘Sure!’ so I ended up using a different snare for every song. I can’t remember the exact ones that we used. I’m Alright has a big washy, ’80s-esque, almost Def Leppard kind of snare, and I went with tighter sounding snares on songs like Right? and Optimist. It was really fun to go through the selection process.”

It sounds like you took a similar approach with the guitar solos. Each solo has its own sonic personality.

“The biggest part of that was the sunburst SA-126, which was the third prototype of that model. That is basically all the guitar on the album. It was such a monumentally important guitar to the whole process. You can really hear the tones and how different it is and how dynamic it is, from the heavy, chuggy stuff to the clean tones at the beginning of Take a Bow.

“It’s such a versatile guitar. This album is an incredible showcase for what the SA-126 is capable of.” 

How was your bass rig set up? Did you mic an amp, record direct or do both?

“We have this Ampeg B-100R combo that I like to use. We mic the back of it as well as the front. For some reason, Dad figured out that when we mic the back of it, it gets this rumbly, low quality that miking the front doesn’t produce. Elvis was so surprised when we did that on the last album. He was like, 'Wow! Holy shit! It really works!' It really adds to the overall bass tone.

“For the first album, I didn’t want to use the same basses that I played with Van Halen, so I played a Music Man StingRay on every song. This time around I used the Music Man for half of the songs. I also used my blue striped Frankenstein bass, which I like to call the Wolfenstein. 

“That was the first bass I recorded with on the album, which I played on Another Celebration. That was it, other than a song that didn’t make the cut yet where I used a five-string tuned to drop A just to get that low note. I’m excited about working more on that song, so it’ll probably show up on the next album.”

What was your main guitar amp?

“It was the EVH 5150 III 50-watt 6L6 that I used for the Taylor Hawkins Tribute show at Wembley Stadium. I ended up using it for both of the tribute shows – we did the second show at the L.A. Forum in the middle of recording. I named the 50-watt head Noel and the cabinet is Liam.”

Because they always fight?

“Because I played them at Wembley and because Oasis played there. It’s a British connection. And the cabinet makes the noise. [Laughs] That amp/cabinet and the SA-126 were the winning combo on this album. That’s also what I have with me on tour all the time, which is why we sound so good.”

What’s special about that amp? Did (EVH amp designer) James Brown do a little extra magic on it? 

“It’s straight up bone stock with no mods. Anybody can buy the stock amp at a store and get that same thing that we had. It’s attainable. I call it ‘special’ because I used it at those tribute shows, and in the studio there’s a certain something special about the way it sounds and records. It just seems right, and it matches everything well.”

How about effects – pedals, rack processors, outboard, plugins?

“When it comes to effects, it was pretty much whatever Elvis suggested. He’d go, ‘Hey, let’s try this.’ There were so many moments like that throughout recording. Elvis would plug in random guitar pedals and work them in, and there were so many layers of stuff that it got to the point where I don’t even know half the shit that we were using. I know we used a Uni-Vibe pedal. I had all of my usual EVH pedals, like the phaser, flanger and wah.

“When it comes to my music, there are rarely any parts that need a specific effect. My pedalboard on stage is there for whenever I feel like adding something, not something that I need to do, although occasionally I may need a delay for something like the Distance solo. But every solo is just bumping up to the red channel and doing whatever hits me at the time.

“We definitely had a lot more fun this time around with effects. I let Elvis go nuts and we’d keep going until we found something that sounds cool. You can really hear that throughout the whole album because there are so many layers. I think you hear something new every time you listen to it. On the choruses for Take a Bow there are three different guitar tracks playing the low riff and each one has a different effect, like a flanger on one and a phaser on the other.”

You used your dad’s classic Frankenstein guitar and his number-one Marshall amp to record the Take a Bow solo. What inspired that?

“When I started making the album I thought it would be fun to use a different guitar of his for every solo. But then it turned into, 'Let’s just boil it down to one moment that feels really special.' When I first wrote the solo section for Take a Bow, it started as a looped section of the main riff. As I was recording the solo I sat there for three or four hours and came up with all these fun parts. 

“The solo section got longer and longer, which made the whole song longer. It felt like such a special moment that I didn’t want to change it. So that’s where that whole buildup comes from. And it felt like such a departure, or really an elevation from anything I’ve done before. 

“It felt like a really special moment to celebrate by using the Frankenstein and the original Marshall through one of Dad’s OG Marshall cabs from the club days at the same time. It was really cool to be able to have that special moment in my career, songwriting and guitar playing marked by something so important. It was like having my dad right there with me.”

Did you use a Variac? 

“Yes, we did. That’s the authentic secret to that whole combo.” 

Miles Above Me has a lot of thick midrange guitar tones, especially on the solo.

“One of my favorite stories about the tracking of that song is the intro of it. You can hear when Elvis unmutes the second guitar track that comes in because the feedback hits right away and the guitar screams. 

“The guitar was feeding back uncontrollably the entire time before I started playing, but you only really hear it at the very beginning after he unmutes the track. That was one of my favorite moments because the guitar was just screaming and you could hear it in between every take.”

The guitar and bass tones on Optimist are really heavy, especially on the middle section about two and half minutes into the song. 

“Again, that was the SA-126. That guitar is just fucking stupid-versatile.”

When is the SA-126 coming out?

“We will be able to talk more about that next year when everyone will be able to get their hands on it, finally. It’s taken a while, but that’s exactly what Dad did with the Wolfgang, road-testing and crash-testing it. It just gets better with each revision we’ve made as we’ve gone along. 

“I’m really excited for people to finally get it in their hands. It’s such a rare thing and such a wonderful opportunity to be able to design a brand-new instrument that’s ideal for what I’m doing. But it’s capable of so much more. I can’t wait to hear what other people use it for. I’ve had such a wonderful time with Matt (Bruck) and Chip (Ellis) designing it. It’s just a dream.”

How did you create that dissonant electric guitar sound heard at the end of Erase Me? 

“There’s this one harmonic that’s right around the third or fourth fret. That’s just that harmonic played on every string at once with the phaser pinned up all the way going nuts. You can hear the effect start to wane because I turned the phaser down a little bit as it lets go.” 

While you were recording you posted a photo of your dad’s white 1962 (Les Paul) SG TV – the guitar with horn that he sawed off when recording Dirty Movies. Where do you use that guitar?

“I call it the 'Les G.' I used it on Like a Pastime for the melody on top when the song comes in, and also for the harmony to the rhythm part. The low part is the SA-126. I also used it for that melodic, almost retro ’80s line.”

What effects did you use on the intro? 

“We used the EVH flanger and phaser and a straight-from-the-amp sound and blended the three together. It ended up not being as washy and effected as I thought it was going to be.”

Did you use any other guitars on the record?

“I used one of Matt’s Teles for a demo, but that idea never got fleshed out fully. But other than that, no. It’s kind of crazy how much that one sunburst SA-126 is the backbone of the entire album. From the clean intro to the djent parts of Take a Bow that’s all the same guitar. 

“The SA-126 is way beyond a typical semi-hollow. There’s really nothing else like that guitar. It takes its inspiration from a classic design, but the way we put it together, the pickups, and pretty much everything else, make it a different sounding guitar. It’s like a hot rod, but with a souped-up modern engine. Nothing like this existed until we made it.”

What gauges do you prefer for your strings and picks? 

“My picks are Dunlop Max-Grip .60mm nylon. I used them on the 2012 and 2015 Van Halen tours, but a while back I went through every single type and gauge of pick that Dunlop makes. I was like, ‘What if there’s a different pick out there that’s perfect for me?’ It turns out there wasn’t, and I had been using the one I needed from the start. 

“It was fun to get that confirmation. They’re very versatile. They’re capable for all of the fast passages in my soloing, but they’re equally great overall for strumming and power chords. 

“I was using the same sets of 9-46 EVH guitar strings made by D’Addario for years, although in the studio we’ll change gauges depending on the tuning. But when I went over to play at Wembley, during the rehearsals I was so nervous that I was bending everything out of tune. I was in a room with Justin [Hawkins], Josh [Freese] and Dave [Grohl], and in between every little break I’d have to retune. It was horrible. I felt like I was wasting everyone’s time. 

“We gauged up to a heavier set of 10-48 strings and it worked. Before then all my guitars had .009s because that’s what Dad used. But the .010s have been very helpful in terms of maintaining tuning. I don’t need lower tension since I’m not using a Floyd or anything like that. You have to work a little harder, but it keeps everything in check.”

You’ve been touring with your band for more than two years. Do you plan on including them in the recording process, or are you going to continue working by yourself?

“It’s very possible, but currently I’m not sure if I’m ready to completely let go of the recording process. I have such a good time recording. It’s the only opportunity I get to play drums anymore. The core DNA, at least so far, of the Mammoth albums is that whole creative process between Elvis and me. But ask me three albums from now, and maybe I’ll be sick of it. I really don’t know. But for now I enjoy the process too much, selfishly, to give it up. 

“I may just ease into it. I would absolutely love to collaborate with the guys in the band. Maybe the most realistic prospect is having an individual member appear on one song here or there, like maybe Frank does a solo on this or Jon is on that. Maybe their involvement will start to seep through over time instead of just making a full album right away. But that’s yet to be seen. We’ll just have to see what happens.”

• Mammoth II is out now via BMG.

This year is not like any other. The response to the 2023 greatest guitar solo poll nigh-on overwhelmed the administration at Guitar World. It was a record turnout, and once we collated the votes, and our editors meticulously weighed up each solo’s melodicism, influence and technical prowess, we had a truly formidable top 10 on our hands.

The number one spot will come as no surprise. This was the year that gave us this decade’s Heartbreaker, its Eruption. We might all debate the guitar solo’s place in composition, the form it should take and whether it is even necessary in the first place, but it’s not going anywhere.

The solo will outlive us all, and this top 10 presents documentary evidence that the solo is ever-evolving – that at its best it can tell a story, give us a sense of spectacle, and even offer a window into a player’s soul. And if it sets your head on fire, then all the better.

10. Towa Bird – Boomerang

TikTok’s Towa Bird is just going to have to savor the irony in charting in the top 10 guitar solos of 2023 having already declared on this very website that they are “arrogant”. But then art is all about contradictions and subverting expectations, and if you’re the sort of player who discovered the guitar then mainlined Jimi Hendrix’s recorded output, then how could you deny yourself the pleasure of a few bars on the treble clef to cut loose?

Speaking to Guitar World in June, Bird said Boomerang’s solo had to “feel like a conversation”, and you can hear that in the phrasing – it’s inviting a response. Tone-wise, Boomerang is awesome, and should be a surprise to no one that a TikTok star should make use of plugins to dial in an electric guitar sound.

“Being able to do that in the box is really helpful,” said Bird. “Throwing things into different rooms, playing it on two different guitars and then having two different distortions or fuzzes was just so fun.”

9. Big Wreck – Hangers On

Ian Thornley was never going to wake up one morning and find Mike Varney’s face pressed up against his window with a big fat contract to draft him onto the Shrapnel roster. That’s not his game. But that is not to say that he is not a formidable lead guitar player, whose solos are often essential to his songwriting, an opportunity to say what he wanted to say in verse but perhaps couldn’t find the words. 

That’s when you can let the guitar say what you couldn’t, and this solo – teased out, sparse but not minimalist – has an elliptical quality, an air of Peter Green about it. Not that it is blues, but rather that it is phrased with all due care and attention as it should be.

8. Angel Vivaldi – Six

If you’ve heard the name but have yet to experience what he sounds like on record, then Angel Vivaldi’s Six is the perfect introduction to his talents. It’s not as though it is the quintessence of his output. Vivaldi’s protean appetites have taken him all over the map, dabbling in all kinds of genres. But it’s as good as DNA and dental records for identifying the marvel with the Charvel: his style, how he addresses the electric guitar, note choice, intonation, pressure on the strings and melodic disposition. 

“Six is the truest song from a compositional, arrangement and melodic sense,” he told GW. “It’s the one that best shows my ‘signature sound,’ as they say.”

It’s fusion, rock through the blender, a melodic arc that’s a pure flight of fancy. This is the sort of thing that might come of a fever dream after spending all night night woodshedding on Joe Pinnavaia’s Truefire course with nothing but strong cheese and crackers for sustenance.

7. Matteo Mancuso – Silkroad

It’s not, ‘How can Matteo Mancuso play all of this fingerstyle?’ It’s a case of fingerstyle making all of this possible, allowing Mancuso to apply classical guitar techniques to rock and take the instrument into uncharted territory.

It’s early days but let’s be bold and call it now: Mancuso is a generational talent. The amiable Sicilian has made an audacious debut with The Journey, and Silkroad, its opening track, is a product of his adventurous musical appetites, dedication to practice and application.

The lion’s share of The Journey was performed on a Yamaha Revstar, but on Silkroad you’re hearing a Pacifica, and like the physical Silk Road, this connects cultures, a fusion of east and west, a taste of something fresh on the palate that we have never experienced before. Suggested wine pairing: Frank Cornelissian Susucaru rosato, served chilled.

6. Nita Strauss – Surfacing (feat. Marty Friedman)

The undisputed shred heavyweight collab of the year lived up to the hype. Even for Hurricane Nita, who plays with Alice Cooper, has played with Demi Lovato, and can play most of us under the table, this was a moment where it came full-circle.

Strauss is not the first to have pored over Friedman’s Exotic Metal Guitar DVD for insight but few of us get the opportunity to send a track by way of the G.O.A.T. and engage in some back and forth for – arguably – the instrumental rock guitar track of the year.

Strauss says the experience taught her a lot about telling a story with the instrument, note choice and how to make melodies pop out. It made her a better player.

“This collaboration was such an education for me, as a sort-of young guitar player at the foot of the master!” she said. “The first metal song I ever heard had Marty playing guitar on it. We fleshed out the whole concept together. I sent him some riffs and then he sent back this crazy song with his own ideas.”

5. Avenged Sevenfold – Nobody

If the riff to Nobody was so simple it almost sounded like the push-button drone of a synth, then Synyster Gates' efflorescence of sweep-picked arpeggios offers a complex counterpoint, the audio equivalent of pairing a child’s crayon drawing of a donkey with a machine-learning algorithm. And it totally works, closing out the track with a masterclass in lead guitar as narrative device.

This virtuosity is a signature move of Synyster Gates, and is such that we have come to expect it. But sometimes you’ve got to sit back and admire it, to appreciate anew. Just imagine if this was your very first song you wanted to learn on guitar – to the exclusion of all other songs – the length of time it would take between learning the riff and the solo. Well, it could take years, maybe never.

4. Queens of the Stone Age – Paper Machete

That players spend so long trying to sound like Queens of the Stone Age, picking up fuzz pedals, overdrives, taking solid-state practice amps out of cold storage is all well and good. It’s good, healthy tone-seeking fun. But just so long as we all don’t underestimate how difficult it is to actually play like them. Y’know, that’s the important bit. 

As with Josh Homme and Troy Van Leeuwen’s tone, so it is with their arrangements, with riffs you’ve got to count, informing a groove you have to somehow innately feel, and then you’ve got solos like TVL’s here that are as good as copy-protected. 

Van Leeuwen’s phrasing makes it sound as though it has been made up on the spot, a work of high-flying studio improv, but the note choices are all on point, in dialog with the tricksy melody, and tonally… Well, give it some neck pickup and a Univox Super-Fuzz and see how you go.

3. Red Devil Vortex – More Luck Than Brains

Red Devil Vortex sound like they are named after some energy drink that had to be removed off the market for our cardiovascular integrity’s sake, and listening to More Luck Than Brains and then trying to get those pull-offs just right on the seven-string guitar, tricksy tapping and all, might similarly give you palpitations. 

Luís Kalil’s solo starts with the difficulty set to hard before taking it to advanced/expert, stepping on the Whammy for squeal-good kicks and sending us out to the hotdog stand with that ridiculously adroit legato style of his.

Watching the playthrough vid that the Brazilian virtuoso shot, we were taken by that signature reverse tapping move – a little theater goes a long way – but also a cleanliness next to godliness when it comes to those pull-offs to open strings. Check it out and see if you can play it. Just remember to breathe.

2. Mammoth WVH – Take a Bow

In any other year, this would have to take number one spot. Take a Bow is a solo that has everything and then some, and it is the ‘then some’ that is remarkable – the legend, the history that brought us here.

Because this is a solo brought to you courtesy of rock guitar’s Excalibur, the Frankenstein MacGuyver’d into being by Eddie Van Halen, and his son, Wolfgang. It is a solo that gives you the impression that two-handed tapping was taught at the dinner table between main course and dessert, or that it runs in the family.

But, of course, there were no tapping lessons at the Van Halen dinner table; there was conversation like any other family. Of course these skills don’t run in the family; they are developed over the years. They are a creative choice. 

And while it might be a no-brainer that WVH should use EVH’s gear in the studio, it’s Wolfgang’s daring creative choice to deploy these tapping skills on a track that’s as epic and ambitious as anything he has written.

Given the context, the weight of history, that makes it all the more gutsy and poignant. Oh, and it’s just nice to hear that guitar in action again. Take a Bow is a real gift to Mammoth WVH’s audience, and to his father’s.

1. Extreme – Rise

The moment Rise hit YouTube, announcing Extreme’s then forthcoming studio album, Six, after 15 long years, Nuno Bettencourt’s phone lit up with messages from his peers. Legends like Steve Lukather and Brian May got in touch with him.

The messages were thank yous – a bit odd, but the penny soon dropped. They were thanking Bettencourt for bringing back an art that was lost, not just the act of a guitar solo – they’ve always been here, always will be – but the art of performing them.

That was what made the difference, said Bettencourt. It was the presentation. There is a case to be made that Rise isn’t necessarily the best solo on the album. There is an abundance of audacity on Six, the sound of Bettencourt on a tear and in the form of his life. But seeing him perform it, evidence before our very eyes that it wasn’t punched in or trickery we were hearing, made it all the more visceral.

As guitar solos go, this is a nuclear strike, a supernova. This is the guitar solo as pop-cultural event, as though the excitement of a sold-out stadium rock show could be harvested, reconfigured and reappropriated for 55 seconds of God-level shredding.

Shredding is an inadequate word but it’s what we’ve got. Best solo of 2023? Best solo of the 21st century so far, from rock guitar’s most imaginative, most effervescent lead stylist.

Earlier this year, rising electric guitar star Wolfgang Van Halen revealed a fascinating tidbit of information about Mammoth II, the forthcoming sophomore album from his band, Mammoth WVH.

One of its tracks, Van Halen told Guitar Interactive, featured his uncle operating his wah pedal. 

We know what you're thinking, and the answer is no, the uncle in question was Patrick Bertinelli, not Alex Van Halen – the elder brother of Wolfgang's father, Eddie. 

“The song I'm Alright, for that solo with the wah... I kind of got bored with the operation of it, so I had my uncle Patrick do it,“ Van Halen explained to Guitar Interactive.

"You'll see on the back of the album, 'All songs written and performed by Wolfgang Van Halen, except for wah operation on solo of I'm Alright by Patrick Bertinelli.'“

I'm Alright is the follow-up to Take a Bow, a tune that also features its fair share of tapping.

Of course, Wolfgang's father, Eddie Van Halen, was a tapping pioneer, and the technique – even his father's unique twists on it – evidently rubbed off on him.

“I feel like every song, or at least every solo, [on Mammoth II] has a tapping lick at some point,” Wolfgang told Guitar World in a recent interview.

Of his technique (and his father's before him), Van Halen said to GW, “I guess my approach just came from growing up and watching Dad do it. I’ve been around tapping my whole life! What I often do is grip the neck with the thumb on my right hand, which frees up the index finger to tap. That’s just how I’ve always done it. 

“A lot of the sound is in the rhythm of how you tap,“ he continued. “I’ve seen a lot of players who aren’t familiar with the concept almost tap like they’re pulling up on the string towards themselves, you know? That’s not really how you should do it. You should be more in-line and parallel with the neck. Just watch videos of Dad doing it and you’ll see how he got that sound…“

To read Guitar World's full interview with Wolfgang Van Halen – which also covers how djent shaped his rhythmic approach, the likelihood of a Van Halen tribute show, and his use of Eddie Van Halen's most iconic gear – step right this way.

Wolfgang Van Halen is a happy man. On a warm summer’s day, he has just performed an acoustic set with his band Mammoth WVH for the very first time – for a select audience at the new Fender headquarters in London’s West End. 

“I think it went well!” he grins, tying his hair back to uncover his eyes. “I usually write things on acoustic, so that’s kinda where all my ideas start. It was different but also a bit familiar.”

There is, of course, a lot of gear in this place, which houses showrooms for Fender’s other music brands – from Jackson, Squier and Gretsch to Charvel, PreSonus and EVH.

Here, you can find instruments and amps of all shapes and colours, catering for just about every kind of guitar sound you can possibly imagine, from vintage-style semi-hollows through mini tweeds to seven-string war machines via high gain stacks. 

But as a laidback, easy-going guy, Wolfgang tells Total Guitar: “Today I was just using whatever guitar they gave me. I wasn’t too fussy; whatever works!”

The three-song acoustic set began with Another Celebration At The End Of The World, the lead single from new album Mammoth II, which saw Wolf executing a second-string tapping lick on the third, fifth, eight and tenth frets to spell out the Eb minor pentatonic scale on the Fender Paramount acoustic in his hands, tuned half a step down. 

He then led the four-man band through another new single, Like A Pastime, before closing with a cover of the Foo Fighters hit My Hero in tribute to the late Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins, whose life was celebrated with two star-studded concerts last year, where Wolfgang joined forces with Dave Grohl, Justin Hawkins and Josh Freese to perform some of Taylor’s favourite Van Halen tracks.

Wolf laughs as he describes one moment in the acoustic set – his solo in Another Celebration At The End Of The World. “Having to play that first solo was funny,” he says. “I’m doing this double-tappy thing with my finger while moving the root note. It’s almost more about the rhythm of it all because it keeps repeating and going over and over without resetting on the one. I had a lot of time to work on things like that. I asked myself, ‘Do I want it to reset, or shall I just keep it going until I get to this bendy thing at the end?’”

And there is an air of quiet confidence about him as he settles on a grey leather sofa in the acoustic lounge to discuss the new album – and also what he has planned for the EVH brand he oversees with his late father Edward’s long-time tech Matt Bruck.

As with 2021 debut album Mammoth WVH, the new album was written and performed by Wolfgang alone, and once again tracked at 5150 Studios in California, where every Van Halen album from 1984 onwards was recorded. “For me,” Wolf says, “it’s always been home. There’s an old-school vibe, but we’ve updated the board and screens.”

Mammoth II is the mark of a man growing more and more comfortable in his own skin. Case in point: it’s perfectly natural for the child of someone who popularised, if not invented, two-handed tapping in rock music to be somewhat partial to the sound it creates.

On the debut album, there was certainly a fair bit of that stuff, though admittedly the man at the helm of the music was exercising a level of caution. This time round, however, the gloves are off and he’s going for gold – two-handed techniques are unapologetically everywhere.

“I was trying to find out who I was on the last record but I came into this one with a lot more confidence,” he reasons. “I feel like every song, or at least every solo, has a tapping lick at some point!”

There is one song, Erase Me, that features a solo that’s completely tapped with a phaser effect engaged – almost like there’s no denying who the musician is and where he came from.

At the mention of this, Wolfgang simply smiles and nods. You get the feeling that he’s now earned himself full creative license to say what he needs to say without compromise.

“It’s funny how that Erase Me solo changes from a triplet rhythm to another kind of rolling idea,” he says. “I really like playing that lead. And yeah, I kicked on the phaser for that one. To my ears it felt like a very phasey song, I think I ended up leaving it on the whole time!”

Like his father, Wolfgang uses his right index finger to tap, rather than the middle, which is what most players tend to go with. He’s never really given it that much thought, however, admitting it’s something that “came very naturally” given how much time he spent around one of the most inventive minds in guitar music. 

If you’ve ever seen the footage of Wolfgang performing the tapped part of the Eruption solo, shared last September to commemorate 45 years since it was recorded at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, you’ll already know he’s highly advanced when it comes to this particular skill. 

“Most players use their middle… really?” Wolfgang says. “I guess my approach just came from growing up and watching Dad do it. I’ve been around tapping my whole life! What I often do is grip the neck with the thumb on my right hand, which frees up the index finger to tap. That’s just how I’ve always done it. 

“A lot of the sound is in the rhythm of how you tap. I’ve seen a lot of players who aren’t familiar with the concept almost tap like they’re pulling up on the string towards themselves, you know? That’s not really how you should do it. You should be more in-line and parallel with the neck. Just watch videos of Dad doing it and you’ll see how he got that sound…

“I kinda don’t even know how to describe it, I just do it! I guess it just comes down to practising, like with anything. You have to do it slow until you can manage it. Play at one speed until you’re good enough and also getting sick of it and then you bump it up five or 10 BPM to see if you can still nail it at a faster speed. 

“Just keep going. The more time you put in, the better you get. It’s like that 10,000 hour rule. You definitely don’t just wake up being able to do fast stuff on guitar. You gotta keep at it because it’s a result of all those thousands of hours learning.”

When Wolfgang last spoke to Total Guitar at the beginning of this year, he teased that the new music would stretch the parameters of what his band are capable of. And while many a group have used notions such as “the melodic bits are more melodic and the heavy bits are heavier” to help drum up excitement for their latest creative ventures, in this case it’s actually true.

The album’s opening track Right – with its low E octave riff, descending chromatics and thrashing rhythms – sets the mood of the album perfectly in that regard, stacking what could be his hardest riffs against his very biggest hooks.

“I think this song is a great representation of my whole outlook on music and the fact I started out on drums,” he says. “It’s a very rhythmic sort of thing. It’s also, for some reason, one of many songs where I apparently refuse to start on the one. This main riff starts on the up! It’s a perfect blend of melody and aggressive heaviness without either of them cancelling each other out.

“They’re living together in perfect harmony, because you’ve got the really melodic chorus but after the crazy solo there’s practically a fucking djent part! The last time we spoke, I said I was pushing the boundaries of what this band could be. Well, here you go!” 

Much like the song itself, the solo graduates through its own stages of metamorphosis – from the octave bends at the start, the high string diads and E minor blues to the frenetic alternate picking and two-handed taps.

“I like to write my solos almost as if they’re their own little songs,” he explains. “On this one I was really trying to accentuate that rhythm without going right into the main solo first. It introduces that section without throwing the listener off the beat. I didn’t want to just throw a bunch of stuff on top of it – I wanted to lull people into the rhythm and then let the solo take over! It ebbs and flows in a way that tells a story – it’s not just wank the whole time.” 

But of course, all lead guitar players tend to have that devil on their shoulders, and Wolfgang certainly is no exception. “Oh, there’s plenty of wank near the end, for sure,” he laughs, adding, “like all good solos should have!”

If the opening riff to Like A Pastime sounds almost like a CD skipping, that’s because it was written while the guitarist had been listening to Swedish tech-metal and trying to explain the concept of polyrhythms to his fiancée. He still has that initial demo on his phone and plays it to TG just to illustrate how big ideas can spring from the most unlikely of places.

“I had been listening to the new Meshuggah album and was trying to tell her how much I like it,” he recalls. “I was saying stuff like ‘Listen to how they do this on top of other stuff like that, isn’t that so cool?!’ And she was like, ‘I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about!’

“So I had this idea to bring her into my studio and ended up recording this one-minute-long demo. The early title for it was ‘Polyrhythm’! I just wanted to show her how guitars and drums could lock in together playing different rhythms, and it ended up being a really fuckin’ good song.” 

The track is also notable for the staccato harmonised lines that show a different side of Wolfgang’s creative personality, this time in the form of an “almost new wave kind of thing”.

Describing himself as a “songwriter first and foremost”, it was a piece that simply didn’t call for any lead guitar stunts. Despite the largely overwhelmingly positive reaction to the single, he’s aware of a vocal minority hoping for more fretboard pyrotechnics, and rightfully points out there’s always a time and place for such things.

“There were a couple of people who were disappointed, but not every song needs a solo,” notes Wolfgang. “Solos are fun but you need to respect the song. If you listen to a song just for the 20 seconds after the second chorus, come on, that’s kinda disrespecting the song!”

Other highlights from the album include Miles Above, which thickens out A-string powerchords with the lower fifth interval on the E string (“I always heard that trick in Weezer riffs, it’s almost like an inversion”), and I’m Alright, which employs layered arpeggios to set the stage for the honky-tonk pianos and octave chords of its “classic-sounding” chorus.

But one of the album’s biggest guitar hero moments arrives in the form of Take A Bow, which starts with a suspenseful chord that descends one note at a time and eventually builds into one of the most epic solos we’ve heard from Wolfgang thus far, tastefully milking notes from Bb Dorian in a way not dissimilar to David Gilmour and even nodding to the Van Halen Panama solo with its G-string bend and multiple taps higher up the neck…

“Yeah, that G-string bend and tap was very much one of my dad’s moves,” he says, “and it just ended up in what I do, too! That song is very special to me. It all started with that opening idea, where I’m playing a chord and moving down on one of the strings. It’s very mature and moody for us. 

“And the solo is also unlike anything I’ve done before. I was just sitting there jamming along to the riff on repeat and ended up crafting that whole thing, crescendo-ing with that tapping part. I was just following my ears and what felt right while sat there. 

“Maybe if there is a David Gilmour connection it’s because of the gaps in between the notes and, like you said, that whole Dorian feel. If it sounds like a guy in a room with his eyes shut, that’s pretty much how it came about!”

Take A Bow is also notable for being the only track on the album to feature any of the historic instruments from the family collection – specifically, one of the most iconic guitars in the history of rock ’n’ roll. 

“The Frankenstein was what I used on that solo,” Wolf says. “I was thinking about using it for a bunch of songs, but in the end it was only that solo because it meant a lot to me. I didn’t even just use the Frankenstein, I had it plugged into my Dad’s original Marshall head and cabinet… so it was exactly what he used for the early Van Halen stuff. I think you can hear it’s that tone. 

“Everything else was done through my 50-watt 6L6 5150III through a 4x12, the exact same head and cab I used at the Taylor Hawkins shows – which, for some reason, on tape I named ‘Noel’ and ‘Liam’ at the Wembley gig! And, believe it or not, those clean guitars at the beginning are my new SA-126, not a Tele or single-coil guitar. Which goes to show how versatile this guitar is – it doesn’t even have a split-coil mode. I was using my neck pickup and we added a little bit of reverb, that was it!”

Speaking of which, the guitarist’s new SA-126 signature guitar (referencing his father’s birth date, much like the 1991 Van Halen instrumental 316 was named to celebrate Wolfgang’s arrival) is now slated for a 2024 release. 

Wolfgang describes his third prototype in Tobacco Sunburst as “the sound of Mammoth II” given that it was used for the riffs and leads heard every track – except for the aforementioned Take A Bow solo. There is no definitive date on the release but the guitarist is able to confirm: “Burst and Stealth Black will most likely be among the different finishes”. 

Matt Bruck has also confirmed, “Ed left lots of ideas”, and teased a 24-fret Wolfgang model as well as hardtail options, the former of which can be seen in Mammoth VH co-guitarist Jon Jourdan’s hands in the Another Celebration… video. While the SA-126 is very much Wolfgang’s priority right now, there are plenty of exciting things in the works.

“We take it very seriously,” he says, of his duties overseeing the family brand and continuing the legacy. “I’m in meetings all the time with the higher-ups at Fender. We have a long-planned future. There were so many ideas that my dad left us, as well as ones me and Matt are coming up with, like the SA-126. There’s so much in store. 

“It couldn’t be in better hands with Matt also in charge. He’s so important, so brilliant and so smart. He’s been working for the brand since the beginning. I’m just there to help make sure everything’s happening properly and being there because that’s what my Dad wanted.” 

There has also been excitement over the new EVH collaboration with Boss, reimagining Eddie’s favoured SDE-3000 delay rack in pedal form, with Eddie’s own settings included.

“It’s an incredible pedal,” Wolfgang smiles. “Matt worked very, very hard on making sure it was an absolute perfect recreation of my dad’s original rack settings. I think Pete Thorn did a wonderful job demonstrating what that pedal is capable of in the promotional video. I’ll definitely add it to my ’board at some point for some fun.”

But anyone hoping to hear Wolfgang engaging those classic sounds for covers of Panama, Hot For Teacher and On Fire – as he did at the two Taylor Hawkins tribute shows – would be advised not to hold their breath.

As sad as it may be for a lot of fans, Wolfgang sees little chance of a Van Halen reunion tribute show or tour to honour his father. It is what it is, he shrugs.

“Unfortunately, with the way Van Halen operates and has operated, I don’t think it’s possible,” he admits. “With Foo Fighters and what they pulled off with the Taylor Hawkins tributes, the whole organisation from the ground up is very rooted in not too much personnel.

“With Van Halen and all of the history behind it, there may be a bit too much of that to be put aside for what should happen. Personally, I feel like I got my closure when I played the Taylor Hawkins tributes, because – at least just for me – they were just as much about my dad as they were Taylor.”

Joe Satriani – the man who at one point was mooted to play guitar in any Van Halen tribute event or tour – was so impressed by Wolfgang’s performances at the Taylor Hawkins concerts that he counted himself out of the running and admitted that no one but Wolfgang should be up there playing those songs. “That was very kind and sweet of him,” Wolfgang says. “Joe is a wonderful guitar player that can pretty much do anything.”

When he launched Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang vowed that with this band he would never play Van Halen songs – a vow he intends to keep. That said, he expresses pride in how he performed those songs at the Taylor Hawkins shows. 

“If there was ever any time to do it, it was then,” he says. “And I was happy that I found the strength to pull it off, because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it. But man… It happened and I’m very happy I did it. Panama was so fun to play. Obviously I’m intimately familiar with the music, but I never knew how to play that stuff. I had to learn all of it in the month building up to the first show.

“Hot For Teacher is another example of that clever rolling tapping thing. It’s not just tapping up in one direction, barring in one place. It moves up and down on the same string before moving onto the next. And then it goes into that boogie riff. On paper, that song would never have been a successful single! What kind of hit starts with a drum solo into a guitar solo for a minute and a half? It’s pretty funny…

“I guess things like that came really natural to me because I grew up around all that stuff. And On Fire was a blast – the leads are almost like warm-up at points when you’re climbing up those scales really fast. I was very grateful for the opportunity to be part of those celebrations – it meant a lot! I got a lot of my feelings out when we did those shows. That’s what I’ve come to terms with…”

He pauses for a brief moment before stating in conclusion: “When it comes to Van Halen, there’s too much that isn’t quite right. Some things are just the way they are, unfortunately. But right now, it’s all systems go with my own band.”

• Mammoth II is released on August 4 via BMG.

Two young electric guitar stars adorned the cover of Guitar World's January 2023 issue (which looked at 2022's most impactful guitar-related news and players): Wolfgang Van Halen and Nita Strauss.

Now, Van Halen and Strauss are primed to hit the road together. The former's band, Mammoth WVH, will headline a number of North American shows in November and December, for which Strauss and her own band will serve as the opener.

Strauss, for one, is fresh off the release of her long-anticipated sophomore solo effort, The Call Of The Void. Highlighted by collaborations with David Draiman, Alice Cooper, Marty Friedman, and Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz, the LP also features a notable “Eruption moment” in the form of the hater-battling shred-fest, Digital Bullets.

Van Halen and Mammoth WVH, meanwhile, are prepping for the release of their sophomore effort, Mammoth II. Though not slated to be unleashed on the listening public until August, the LP has been prefaced by an impressive run of singles, including Take a Bow, which features Eddie Van Halen's original Frankenstein guitar and original Marshall amp rig.

“It’s an absolute honor to announce that we’ll be joining the incredible Wolfgang Van Halen and Mammoth WVH on this run to finish out the year,“ Strauss wrote on Instagram today (July 17). “See ya on the road!“

The Mammoth WVH/Nita Strauss tour will criss-cross the continent this fall and early winter – starting with a November 4 show at The Rave in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and closing out with a December 9 gig at The Belasco in Los Angeles. You can see a full list of tour dates below.

For tickets and more info on the tour, visit Mammoth WVH.

Mammoth WVH/Nita Strauss 2023 Tour:

11.4.23 – Milwaukee, WI - The Rave 
11.5.23 – Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
11.7.23 – Columbus, OH - The Bluestone
11.9.23 – Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
11.11.23 – Grand Rapids, MI - Elevation at The Intersection
11.13.23 – Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall
11.14.23 – Montreal, QC - Theatre Beanfield 
11.15.23 – Boston, MA - Big Night Live
11.17.23 – Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
11.18.23 – Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
11.19.23 – Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
11.21.23 – Atlanta, GA - Buckhead Theater
11.22.23 – Lake Buena Vista, FL - House of Blues
11.24.23 – Houston, TX - Warehouse Live Ballroom
11.25.23 – Dallas, TX - The Factory in Deep Ellum
11.26.23 – Austin, TX - Emo’s
11.28.23 – Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre 
11.29.23 – Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot 
11.30.23 – Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
12.2.23 – Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
12.3.23 – Seattle, WA - The Showbox
12.4.23 – Portland, OR - Roseland Theater 
12.7.23 – San Diego, CA - House of Blues 
12.8.23 – Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
12.9.23 – Los Angeles, CA - The Belasco

Mammoth II, the upcoming effort from Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth WVH, is already shaping up to be one of 2023’s best guitar albums.

Not only have the first few singles from Wolfgang’s sophomore album demonstrated his evolving songwriting chops, but they’ve also hinted at a record that will see him totally let loose on his lead work.

That’s clear from Take a Bow. Mammoth WVH’s longest recorded song to date and an “evolution” of the guitarist’s musicality, the single stole headlines for featuring a two-hand tap-heavy guitar solo performed using Eddie Van Halen’s iconic Frankenstein and original Marshall amp rig.

But Wolfgang’s approach to two-hand tapping is unlike most other guitarists – and that’s because of a technique quirk he inherited from his father.

The quirk is concerned with Wolfgang’s tapping hand: whereas many guitarists opt to use the middle finger to tap, owing to guitar pick-holding logistics, Van Halen instead uses his index finger to do the job, just as Eddie used to do.

Though difficult to decipher on the studio version, Mammoth WVH gave the song its live debut earlier this week, which showcased this particular approach to the technique that is most commonly associated with his father.

Speaking in the new issue of Total Guitar, Wolfgang explained how it was never a conscious decision to tap this way – it was something he naturally absorbed through watching his father play guitar.

“I guess my approach just came from growing up and watching Dad do it. I’ve been around tapping my whole life,” he explains. “What I often do is grip the neck with the thumb on my right hand, which frees up the index finger to tap. That’s just how I’ve always done it.”

And, according to Wolfgang, we’ll be seeing this EVH-centric approach to two-hand taps all over the rest of Mammoth II: “I was trying to find out who I was on the last record but I came into this one with a lot more confidence,” he says. “I feel like every song, or at least every solo, has a tapping lick at some point.”

This particular index finger-lead approach to the technique, while still favored by many players, goes against the popular trend, and sets Wolfgang apart from many of his contemporaries.

Steve Vai, for example, leads with his middle and ring fingers, while his index finger and thumb look after the guitar pick: “A lot of people [use their index finger]. I just don’t like that,” Vai said in an online lesson. “For some reason it never felt right. And then you’ve got to fool with the pick.”

Yngwie Malmsteen, likewise, uses his middle finger when he taps, as evidenced in his own video lesson.

In his Total Guitar interview, Wolfgang goes on to give his top tip for tapping, citing the importance of pulling down on the string when you release your tap hand and, of course, starting slowly “until you can manage it”. 

“You should be more in-line and parallel with the neck,” Van Halen says. “Just watch videos of Dad doing it and you’ll see how he got that sound.

“I guess it just comes down to practising, like with anything,” he continues. “Play at one speed until you’re good enough and also getting sick of it and then you bump it up five or 10 BPM to see if you can still nail it at a faster speed. 

“The more time you put in, the better you get. It’s like that 10,000 hour rule. You definitely don’t just wake up being able to do fast stuff on guitar. You gotta keep at it because it’s a result of all those thousands of hours learning.” 

Head over to Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Total Guitar, which features the full interview with Wolfgang Van Halen.

Mammoth WVH’s new single Take a Bow dropped last week, and a few days later (on June 28), Wolfgang Van Halen and band took to the stage in Lisbon, Portugal to give the song its live debut.

The studio version of the song is notable for being Mammoth WVH’s longest yet (thanks in part to a deliciously shreddy solo). 

However, it has also turned heads because Wolfie recorded it using Eddie Van Halen’s legendary Frankenstein electric guitar, as well as one of his dad’s original Marshall head and cab setups.

While the gear might be a little too precious – OK, priceless – to warrant frequent tour outings, Wolfie and band appeared to have little issue bringing his recording and its prodigious solo to life onstage at Lisbon’s Altice Arena. 

Fan footage from the gig shows Wolfie – armed with a matt black version of his forthcoming EVH SA-126 semi-hollow – whipping up the crowd through the tune’s riff-y opening minutes, before leading into the solo with a series of pitch-perfect bends and pinched harmonics that appear disarmingly clean and, dare we say it, breezy.

The clip’s vantage point is a little distant (and pan-happy) when it comes to WVH’s actual fretting, but the audio quality is good enough during the guitar solo to evidence its confident execution.

As with the much-anticipated studio version of the solo, Wolfie’s live outing lures you into a false sense of security before it ramps up in technicality, climaxing with some awe-inspiring two-handed tapping runs – utilizing that classic Van Halen index finger tapping technique in the process.

Van Halen has said the song represents “one of those evolutions” for him as a player, but it is also, for lack of a better phrase, really fun. 

Take a Bow follows previous singles, Another Celebration at the End of the World and Like a Pastime. All eyes now turn to the second Mammoth WVH record, Mammoth II, which arrives August 4.

Wolfgang Van Halen has shared the latest single from Mammoth WVH’s upcoming album, Mammoth II, titled Take a Bow – notable for being the longest song he’s recorded so far, with some very special gear choices.

Namely, Take a Bow was put together with the help of Eddie Van Halen’s legendary Frankenstein electric guitar, as well as one of the original Marshall amp head and cab combos that informed the sound of Van Halen’s early years.

It’s a song that Mammoth WVH fans have been patiently waiting for ever since the band’s leader revealed such historic equipment would have a cameo on Mammoth II during a conversation with Guitar Interactive earlier this year.

Brought out of the Van Halen gear vault for the track’s solo, the Frankenstein is wielded impeccably by its custodian for Take a Bow’s guitar solo, which crops up around the halfway mark during the seven-minute song.

Remarkably, its presence can not only be heard but felt. A handful of wailing bends announces its arrival, before some lithe pentatonic licks lure listeners in for the main fretboard firework show.

As you’d expect, Wolfgang further channels the tones and techniques of his late father by rifling through two-hand tapping licks aplenty, each passage increasing in urgency and technicality as the solo speeds along.

Understandably, Van Halen said he felt the solo turned out “really special”, and said it made him happy to “capture some of dad’s history on this song forever”.

“It was the last song we finished. It’s officially the longest song I’ve released to date, and I feel the guitar solo is really special,” he said of Take a Bow. “I played the solo on the original Frankenstein guitar and through Dad’s original Marshall head and one of the original cabinets. 

“It’s straight up what he used on the earliest Van Halen records. It makes me happy to capture some of Dad’s history on this song forever.”

During his previous conversation with Guitar Interactive, Van Halen spoke of Take a Bow beyond the spotlight-stealing gear choices, describing the song as an “evolution”.

“That moment when I came up with it was like, ‘Okay, this is one of those evolutions,’” he reflected. “This was not on the first album, and this is a new side of myself that I think you start to unravel and see as time goes on. 

“That’s a really special moment. I think it’s one of the more special things I’ve recorded with Mammoth. I’m very excited for people to hear it.”

On the gear front, it’s not the first time the Frankenstein has been used on a Mammoth WVH track – Wolfgang also recruited his father’s Holy Grail guitar for his first studio album – nor will it be the only guest gear to cameo on Mammoth II.

While documenting the album’s recording process, Wolfgang also shared pictures of the other guitars that would be making it on to the tracklist. That collection includes the radically modified Gibson SG from Dirty Movies and a Veilette Citron Shark baritone guitar.

Mammoth II – which has been previewed with Another Celebration at the End of the World and Like a Pastime – is available to preorder now ahead of its August 4 release.

Back in 2021, Wolfgang Van Halen shared his thoughts on the use of backing tracks during live shows, saying rather frankly that he thought the practice was “lame as hell”.

He did make exceptions for some situations – “unless it's like, for a keyboard part that you can't necessarily get,” he said – but for the case of vocals and guitars, he made himself pretty clear: “You should just stay home and listen to shit on Spotify if they're going to play to tracks like that.”

Well, his opinion on the matter hasn’t wavered one bit, with the Mammoth WVH frontman doubling down on his stance during a recent conversation with Ola Englund.

When asked about his Taylor Hawkins tribute show shredding taking people by surprise – even leading to accusations of using backing tracks – Van Halen replied, “You never know... hell, half the people live, it’s tracks nowadays. It’s just a fucking bummer.

“Everybody else draws their own line with what tracks are acceptable or not, but it’s like, if you’re pumping in the main guitar riff and the lead vocals and actual fucking drums – like, pre-recorded drums – that’s a problem. You should be able to play your shit.”

Echoing his earlier comments, Van Halen went on, “I can understand [if] you don’t have a keyboard player so [you] need the pad, that’s fine, you can’t carry around a 60-piece orchestra, so you’ve got the strings – that’s fine. But lead vocal, main guitar, main bass and the drums… you should be playing that.”

The topic turned to the question over whether over-production in modern music has lead to an over-reliance on backing tracks to recreate certain songs, but Van Halen’s approach remained rooted in traditional approaches.

“I never do anything in the studio that I can’t do live,” he asserted. “Sure, there are tricks that you can do to do stuff you wouldn’t normally be able to do, but why would you want to do that? It’s about creating music that you’re capable of doing and you could do live.

“I got to a concert to see bands play the fuck out of their music. That’s what we try to do with Mammoth. First and foremost, we are playing everything and we’re doing it to the best of our ability.”

The use of backing tracks during live shows is a hot topic of conversation in the guitar world, with Dream Theater’s John Petrucci recently taking a far more laissez-faire approach to the practice, while still sharing some of Van Halen’s sentiments.

“It depends on what people are doing,” he mused to Guitar World, “because some people don't tour with their whole bands, so they have sound effects and things going on. If they're up there playing their asses off, and they have some sound effects backing that up while they're doing it, that doesn't really bother me.”

His approach further contrasted with Van Halen’s on the subject of bass tracks, specifically, with Trooch saying a “pre-recorded bass player” would be acceptable “to keep the show going”.

But, he stressed, “Having said that, I think that if anybody's up there faking it or pretending, that's a whole different thing.”

Van Halen is gearing up to release his second Mammoth WVH studio album – Mammoth II – which has so far been previewed with Another Celebration at the End of the World and Like a Pastime.

Once again, he called upon some of his father's most notable guitars – as well as his original Van Halen Marshall amp head and cab – for the effort.

Wolfgang Van Halen is gearing up to release his second Mammoth WVH studio album, Mammoth II – an effort that he recently told Total Guitar would feature some of his late father's most notable electric guitars.

But, as it turns out, guitars weren’t the only thing that Wolfgang retrieved from the EVH gear archives while he was putting together Mammoth II: he also called upon Eddie’s original Marshall head and cab from Van Halen's early years.

Speaking to Guitar Interactive, Wolfgang confirmed that the original Frankenstein – a guitar that he also used for Mammoth WVH’s self-titled debut – was once again called into action, but was notably paired with those original amps on just one track on the album.

That track is Take A Bow, with Wolfgang using “basically everything [Eddie] used for those original classic albums” for the song’s yet-to-be-heard guitar solo.

“I think the most fun little detail in terms of tone about that, it was the one moment I recorded on the album with my dad's original Frankenstein guitar,” Wolfgang explained. “And not just the guitar, but also the original Marshall head that he used for the original Van Halen albums, and one of the original cabs. 

“It was basically everything he used for those original classic albums, and you can hear that on certain bends,” he went on. “It's kind of crazy – there are certain notes where it's like, ‘Wow, that sounds like Van Halen I.’”

Unfortunately for us, Take A Bow hasn’t yet been released, and unless it gets a single release it won’t be until the album arrives on August 4 that we’ll be able to hear that solo and those Van Halen-esque tones.

Take A Bow isn’t just notable for the gear it employed, though – it’s also meant to be a significant marker in Wolfgang’s songwriting career, with the guitar star describing the song as an “evolution”.

“That moment when I came up with it was like, ‘Okay, this is one of those evolutions,’” he reflected. “This was not on the first album, and this is a new side of myself that I think you start to unravel and see as time goes on. 

“That’s a really special moment. I think it’s one of the more special things I’ve recorded with Mammoth. I’m very excited for people to hear it.”

As well as the Frankenstein, Wolfgang used a host of other guitars that once belonged to his father on Mammoth II. Back in October last year, he teased on social media that EVH’s radically modified Gibson SG that can be heard on the Dirty Movies slide solo would be featured, as would a Veilette Citron Shark baritone guitar.

So far, Mammoth II has been previewed with two singles: the two-hand tapping-loaded Another Celebration at the End of the World, and Like a Pastime, which played around with polyrhythms.

Mammoth II is due August via BMG Records, and is available to preorder now.

Wolfgang Van Halen has premiered Like a Pastime, the second single (and second track) from Mammoth II, the sophomore full-length album from his Mammoth WVH project. 

The follow-up to the album's tapping-heavy lead single, Another Celebration at the End of the World – which dropped in March – Like a Pastime takes the Grammy-nominated outfit's sound in intriguing new directions. 

Like a Pastime "centers around a 4/4-time signature, but with a polyrhythm on top," Van Halen explains in a press release. 

"I was teaching my fiancé what a polyrhythm is, and I stumbled upon this idea. The kick drums are accentuating it. It’s certainly one of my favorites and a completely different vibe than anything on the first album.”

Indeed, the propulsive track has an almost-U2-like feel in its more atmospheric verses, before it explodes into an anthemic chorus.

You can give it a spin below.

Stretching Mammoth WVH's sound, Van Halen told Guitar World in an interview earlier this year, was an integral part of his plan for Mammoth II when he began recording the album last October.

"I think on this current material, you can hear me challenging myself a bit more," Van Halen explained to GW. "I’ve gotten more confident and I know what the project is now, rather than trying to figure out what it was from the start, like on [Mammoth WVH's self-titled 2021 debut album].

“On the debut there was this width of what the project was – on the left you had songs like Distance and Circles, those softer vibes, and on the right you had tracks like Stone and The Big Picture. In the middle, there were songs like Mammoth or Epiphany and stuff like that. What I want to do with this album is widen what that breadth is. 

“Further left, for example, there’s a song that’s all on piano... so it has more of a softer vibe. But on the right, there’s some really heavy shit in comparison to the debut! That’s what I find really exciting, it’s fun to stretch the definition of Mammoth on both sides.” 

Mammoth II is set for an August 4 release via BMG Records, and can be pre-ordered now.

For tickets and more info on Mammoth WVH's forthcoming 2023 North American and European tour dates, visit the band's website.

Welcome to Guitar World’s weekly roundup of the musical highlights from the, erm, world of guitar. Every seven days (or thereabouts), we endeavor to bring you a selection of songs from across the guitar universe, all with one thing in common: our favorite instrument plays a starring role.

Mammoth WVH – Another Celebration at the End of the World

What is it? Wolfgang Van Halen returns with the first slice of anthemic hard-rock to be taken from his forthcoming sophomore effort, Mammoth II, due in August. Another Celebration at the End of the World is a breakneck riff-fest with a thrashing middle section and a fretboard tap-dance that is sure to be on every guitarist’s must-learn list.

Standout guitar moment: The tapping section grabs the limelight, but can we all appreciate Wolfie’s pinpoint intonation and vibrato for a second? Proper chef’s kiss stuff.

For fans of: Alter Bridge, Tremonti, The Winery Dogs

– Michael Astley-Brown

Nita Strauss – Winner Takes All (featuring Alice Cooper)

What is it? Having briefly left the shock-rock legend’s camp for a high-profile stint with Demi Lovato, Nita Strauss has returned to Alice Cooper’s fold. Now – with Cooper’s charismatic appearance on the guitarist’s new song, Winner Takes All – their collaboration has even extended to the studio. This song is a high-stakes crusher that makes us all the more excited for the Ibanez signature artist’s seemingly imminent second solo effort.

Standout guitar moment: Can’t argue with that solo, can you? For all the braggadocio of Cooper’s lyrics and vocals – not to mention her absolutely diabolical rhythm tone – Strauss makes sure that it’s the melodicism and intonation of her ferocious lead break that sticks with you the most, as opposed to its impressive speed.

For fans of: Rob Zombie, Andrew W.K., John 5

– Jackson Maxwell

Ida Mae featuring Marcus King – When Eden Was My Girl

What is it? A dream pairing of UK roots duo Ida Mae and the Southern rocking blues talents of Marcus King. Ida Mae’s Chris Turpin and King make formidable sparring partners. It's a four and a half-minute song, but it feels surprisingly tight for all the intricate guitar wrangling.

Standout guitar moment: The track builds to a scorching peak at the mid-point as Turpin and King exchange some of their fieriest playing, but we love the moment when it drops down to a scuttling rhythm lick and then back into the silky verse section.

For fans of: Larkin Poe, Greta Van Fleet

– Matt Parker

Cory Hanson – Twins

What is it? Last year, John Frusciante waxed lyrical to us about his favorite modern-day guitar players, and among them was Cory Hanson, best known as the leader of LA psych-rockers Wand. Now embarking upon his own solo endeavors, Hanson has released the second single from slightly icky-sounding new album Western Cum.

Thankfully, Twins sounds a lot better than that album title, all Eagles-esque pop-country at the start, before a wall of guitar layers psychs up the joint. Throw in that lap steel break and Hanson’s wiry solo, and it’s easy to see why he’s won the plaudits of some of the biggest names in guitar.

Standout guitar moment: Dear lord, the guitar tones are simply incredible on this. Retro, roomy, but right in your face, they add an extra dose of personality to Hanson’s hummable leads.

For fans of: Wand, Ty Segall, Eagles

– Michael Astley-Brown

Ayron Jones – Blood In The Water

What is it? The dynamite lead single from the Seattle native’s forthcoming second LP, Chronicles of the Kid. A powerful rumination on the evolution of trauma through time and generations, Blood In The Water is a killer display of Jones’ guitar prowess and skills as a storyteller. 

Standout guitar moment: Those Hendrixian, swirling arpeggios in the song’s opening bars will suck you in straight from the get-go, and will leave you utterly defenseless when Jones executes a dramatic slide, and turns the song on its head with an absolute freight train of distorted, multi-tracked riffery. That’s sweet and spicy, for you! 

For fans of: Jimi Hendrix, Audioslave, Gary Clark Jr.

– Jackson Maxwell

LA Priest – It’s You

What is it? The latest conjuring from the unique mind of Sam Dust (formerly of UK cult band Late Of The Pier). He has a knack for melding squelching samples made on his DIY electronic gear with funky, manipulated Strat licks. It’s You is the laid back first single from his latest collection, Fase Luna.

Standout guitar moment: That guitar solo is a bend-y pleasure – woozy and slightly unnerving, like all of Dust’s finest work.

For fans of: Prince, Unknown Mortal Orchestra

– Matt Parker

Sylosis – Deadwood

What is it? At this stage, Josh Middleton is one of heavy music’s most influential guitarists, shredding the ’boards with both Architects and Sylosis, and the latter’s first material of 2023 is serrated metal polished to a terrifying gleam. Deadwood displays Middleton’s And Justice for All roots, taken to contemporary levels of brutality with some frankly death-defying displays of alternate picking.

Standout guitar moment: Yeah, that solo is just ridiculous – particularly the accuracy of the harmonized double-tracking. Scarily good.

For fans of: Bleed From Within, Lamb of God, The Black Dahlia Murder

– Michael Astley-Brown

Hannah Jadagu – Warning Sign

What is it? The third preview we’ve gotten from the up-and-coming singer/songwriter’s forthcoming debut album, Aperture, and perhaps the best of the bunch. Confident, propulsive and armed with one hell of a groove, Warning Sign sounds like the future – we can’t wait to see what the rest of the album has in store for us…

Standout guitar moment: Though light on guitars in its first half, Warning Sign is seasoned by a slinky, multi-tracked six-string break later on that bears more hook-y gifts than its brevity would imply.

For fans of: Radiohead, Japanese Breakfast, Arlo Parks

– Jackson Maxwell

Body Type – Holding On

What is it? The second single from the Australian indie rock band’s forthcoming album Expired Candy. It’s a smart, hooky tune that bounces back and forth between vocalists Annabel Blackman and Sophie McComish and is skewered throughout by fuzzy, overdriven lead guitar lines.

Standout guitar moment: It’s less of a moment and more of a permeating presence, but it’s that bouyant and infectious lead work that meanders throughout, in a very positive way.

For fans of: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The Goon Sax

– Matt Parker

Wolfgang Van Halen has announced his second album, Mammoth II, and with it its first single, Another Celebration at the End of the World.

Our first taste of Wolfgang’s sophomore effort continues the contemporary hard-rock template set by his 2021 debut, with chunky riffs, ferocious energy and anthemic choruses, but leaves a little more room for the guitar to let loose.

There’s a fiery fill leading into the second verse, and bursts of rapid-fire tremolo picking over the supersized middle eight riff, but the standout is a show-stopping tapping section that leads into a series of positively wailing bends. We like.

Although the video for the song features the Mammoth WVH live band, Wolfgang once again handled all songwriting, vocals and instruments on Mammoth II, which was also recorded at 5150 Studios and produced by Michael “Elvis” Baskette.

Mammoth II’s 10 tracks find Wolfgang stretching his wings beyond the sound of his first release, spanning heavier influences such as Meshuggah as well as songwriting craft inspired by the Beatles.

“I knew that I wanted the new album to contain elements of what people heard on the debut, but also giving me a chance to branch out a bit,” he says.

“Another Celebration at the End of the World is definitely a song that showcases what people can expect from the new album. It is a high-energy rocker with some fun guitar moments on it. I also pushed myself vocally and it is a song I can’t wait to get out and play live. I can see it being a fixture in our live set moving forward.”

The album is due out on August 4, and set to be supported by a global tour from the Mammoth WVH live lineup, which includes Wolfgang Van Halen, Frank Sidoris, Jon Jourdan, Ronnie Ficarro and Garrett Whitlock. The band are currently supporting Alter Bridge in the US, before supporting Metallica on their global tour later this year.

Last time we spoke to Wolfgang, he was preparing to use his father’s most notable guitars for the solos on the record, while much of the album was recorded on his new EVH semi-hollow design, the SA126.

The full tracklisting for Mammoth II is as follows:

1. Right?
2. Like A Pastime
3. Another Celebration At The End Of The World
4. Miles Above Me
5. Take A Bow
6. Optimist
7. I’m Alright
8. Erase Me
9. Waiting
10. Better Than You

Mammoth II is available to preorder now. For more information on the release and future tour dates, head over to Mammoth WVH.

The recording sessions for Wolfgang Van Halen's second album as Mammoth WVH are well underway.

In fact, Wolfgang revealed in a newly-published interview with Total Guitar, the follow-up to 2021's Mammoth WVH is just about complete, but for the guitar solos.

Most of the forthcoming album, it turns out, was recorded using Wolfgang's still in-development signature guitar, the semi-hollow EVH SA-126. For the solos, though, Wolfgang intends to dig deep into the electric guitar collection of his late father, Eddie Van Halen.

"The only thing I have left to do is track the guitar solos," Wolfgang said, "so what I want to do is go through some of Pop’s notable guitars and do a solo with each of them. Guitars like the Frankenstein or the Shark, stuff like that."

Wolfgang also used Frankenstein – the most famous of his father's many custom guitars – for solos on two Mammoth WVH cuts, Mammoth and Feel.

In a recent interview with Guitar World, Matt Bruck – who now heads up Eddie Van Halen's guitar brand, EVH, with Wolfgang – emphasized that, though it's gone through extensive road-testing at Mammoth WVH shows in the last year and change, the much-anticipated EVH SA-126 "is still a work in progress."

For his part, in conversation with Total Guitar, Wolfgang revealed that he didn't originally plan on using the SA-126 prototype for the entire album, and was pleasantly surprised – as the recording process went on – by the guitar's tonal versatility. 

"It [the SA-126] is on pretty much the entirety of the album," he said. "We were almost surprised as we kept going through. It was like, ‘Wow, okay this works for this, too’ and ‘Oh my god, this works really well again over here!’ From the cleans to the really heavy stuff, it sounded crazy!" 

To read Total Guitar's full interview with Wolfgang Van Halen – which also covers the young guitar hero's pedalboard, the perks of being a one-man-band in the studio, and why he chose to primarily use semi-hollow guitars for Mammoth WVH – pick up a copy of the latest issue of the mag at Magazines Direct.

Wolfgang Van Halen will begin recording the second Mammoth WVH album today (October 4), he has revealed.

In a new post on social media, the multi-instrumentalist and son of late guitar icon Eddie Van Halen shared three photos of his father jamming in a recording studio eight years ago, and discussed the timeline of his musical evolution as a solo artist, from the initial tracking of Mammoth WVH to the recent pre-production of its long-awaited and yet-to-be-titled followup.

“On December 28, 2014, I was getting ready to start tracking what would become the first Mammoth album,” he says. “I had been practicing drums in the studio when Pop came in, grabbed my bass and started jamming with me. It was so much fun. It’s little moments like these I feel I took for granted. Moments that I can’t have anymore.”

He continues: “As I’m getting ready to start tracking the second Mammoth album tomorrow (I’ve been in pre-production the past month), I can’t stop thinking about this moment and how he won’t be around for it this time. I’m still not used to it. I don’t know when or if I’ll ever get used to it.

“It’ll be two years in three days and I don’t feel any different. All of these emotions just kinda sitting in me at all times. Sometimes it’s easier to carry, other times – like right now – it isn’t. His pride is what keeps me going, but without him here it’s easy to get lost. Easy to get stuck in my head. Easy to fall into that familiar cycle of doubt and self-loathing.

“Somehow, I’ve figured out how to keep going. Music is all I have left when it comes to feeling close to him anymore. But knowing he won’t be here this time to laugh, jam and hang throughout the whole process is tough now that I’ve gotten here. All I can do is try my best and continue to be the son he was proud of.”

Wolfgang concludes simply, and poignantly: “I just miss my dad.”

The multi-instrumentalist touched on his ideas for the second Mammoth WVH album earlier this year in an interview with Full Metal Jackie [per Blabbermouth].

“Basically, I certainly don't wanna take as long as it did [to record Mammoth WVH],” he explained. “I think throughout that first process, I was really just figuring out what it was and who I was as my own artist, finding my own sound and discovering who I was as a lead singer, as a songwriter.

“But when it comes to the next album, now that I've figured out what this is and who I am, within the context of it, I'm really excited to figure out how to condense that process to as an efficient of time as possible, so I can get an album done in a third of the time while it being twice as good. It's always a personal challenge.”

Earlier this month, Wolfgang Van Halen announced the deluxe edition of Mammoth WVH, though I Don’t Know It All – a track revealed during the opening show of Mammoth's Young Guns tour with Dirty Honey – was absent from its track list. It is yet to be seen whether it’ll appear on the outfit’s sophomore outing.

He recently offered a killer tribute to both Taylor Hawkins and his late father Eddie with a performance of the Van Halen classic, Panama at Foo Fighters’ recent tribute concert to their late drummer in LA.

Though he previously stated that he would never play the track onstage – “I’m not fuckin’ playing Panama for you guys,” he said on social media following his father’s passing – Wolfgang lightheartedly acknowledged his hypocrisy, screen-shotting the comment and captioning it “Twice*." 

Wolfgang Van Halen has announced a deluxe edition of his Mammoth WVH 2021 self-titled debut, and revealed that he’ll shortly be entering the studio to record a followup.

The deluxe version of Mammoth WVH, which arrives November 11, will feature Talk & Walk – a track previously only available on the Japanese edition of the album – as well as two never-before-heard songs: As Long As You’re Not You and Goodbye.

Naturally, Talk & Walk was uploaded to YouTube shortly after the release of the Japanese version of Mammoth WVH last year – and has been played live by the band on several occasions since – but for those who haven’t yet tracked it down, it’s a straightforward hard rock rager with massive electric guitar riffs and effortlessly catchy vocal hooks. Listen below.

Mammoth WVH are set to play a string of European dates from November 1 – making stops in Hamburg, Oslo, Berlin, Paris and more – before wrapping up at London’s O2 Arena on December 12.

But before he heads out, Wolfgang Van Halen will enter the studio to begin recording the followup to Mammoth WVH, as he revealed last week in communication with fans on Twitter. After one fan encouraged Wolfgang to “give us the Mammoth followup album ASAP,” the rocker replied: “I start next week!”

Wolfgang touched upon his approach to the second Mammoth WVH outing earlier this year in an interview with Full Metal Jackie [per Blabbermouth].

“Basically, I certainly don't wanna take as long as it did [to record Mammoth WVH],” he explained. “I think throughout that first process, I was really just figuring out what it was and who I was as my own artist, finding my own sound and discovering who I was as a lead singer, as a songwriter.

“But when it comes to the next album, now that I've figured out what this is and who I am, within the context of it, I'm really excited to figure out how to condense that process to as an efficient of time as possible, so I can get an album done in a third of the time while it being twice as good. It's always a personal challenge.”

Notably, I Don’t Know It All – a track debuted by Mammoth WVH during the opening show of their Young Guns tour with Dirty Honey earlier this year – will not appear on the deluxe version of the group’s debut. 

It was reportedly recorded during the sessions for that album, but remains to be seen whether it’ll feature on the group’s sophomore effort. As evidence that it will, Wolfgang told Eddie Trunk in February that “we have some leftover tracks from the first album that I’d like to take another look at – maybe add stuff or maybe redo entirely”.

In other Wolfgang Van Halen news, the rocker made an appearance at Foo Fighters’ recent Taylor Hawkins tribute concert earlier this month, in which he surprised fans by performing two classic Van Halen cuts: Hot For Teacher and On Fire.

The deluxe edition of Mammoth WVH is available to preorder and presave now.

Alter Bridge have announced they will be hitting the road with Mammoth WVH next year for an extensive tour of North America.

The Wolfgang Van Halen-led outfit will join up with Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti and co for a hefty 30-date stint around the country, which kicks off on January 25 at the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa, Florida.

Divided into two legs, the first part of the tour will see the electric guitar heroes visit Nashville, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts and more, before concluding proceedings at Chicago’s The Riviera Theatre on February 18.

The second leg will pick up on March 10 at the Quapaw Downstream Casino Resort in Oklahoma, with the tour wrapping up at California’s Highland Yaamava' Theater at Yaamava' Casino Resort on April 1.

During the two legs, Mammoth WVH will serve as direct support to Alter Bridge, who have also recruited secondary support acts Red and Pistols at Dawn for the first and second legs, respectively.

“Looking forward to these tours guys,” Van Halen said. “Thank you so much for having us!”

It will be the second time in as many years Alter Bridge and Mammoth WVH have shared a tour bill, after the pair teamed up with Halestorm to announce a comprehensive set of European tour dates to promote Alter Bridge’s upcoming album, Pawns & Kings.

Scheduled to kick off in November in Germany, the trio will visit Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, Spain, England and more, before concluding on December 12 in London.

Alter Bridge’s new album will arrive October 14, and has already been previewed by the hard-hitting title track and scorching second single, Silver Tongue. 

The album will reportedly see Kennedy and Tremonti swap their usual roles more regularly, with Tremonti also teasing that it was Kennedy who penned Pawns & Kings’ heaviest riffs.

For more information about upcoming tour dates, head over to Alter Bridge’s website.

A full list of the 2023 dates can be found below.

• Jan 25: Tampa Seminole Hard Rock, FL
• Jan 27: Orlando Hard Rock Live, FL
• Jan 28: Atlanta Coca Cola Roxy, GA
• Jan 30: Nashville Ryman Auditorium, TN
• Feb 01: Montclair The Wellmont Theater, NJ
• Feb 02: Huntington The Paramount, NY
• Feb 04: Silver Spring The Fillmore Silver Spring, MD
• Feb 05: Philadelphia Franklin Music Hall, PA
• Feb 07: Wallingford The Dome At Toyota Oakdale Theatre, CT
• Feb 08: Boston Roadrunner, MA
• Feb 10: Waterloo Del Lago Casino Resort, NY
• Feb 11: Toronto History, ON
• Feb 14: Detroit The Fillmore, MI
• Feb 15: Indianapolis Murat Theatre At Old National Centre, IN
• Feb 17: Prior Lake Mystic Lake Casino Showroom, MI
• Feb 18: Chicago The Riviera Theatre, IL
• Mar 10: Quapaw Downstream Casino Resort, OK
• Mar 11: Kansas City Arvest Bank Theatre At The Midland, MO
• Mar 14: Chesterfield The Factory, MO
• Mar 15: Oklahoma City The Criterion, OK
• Mar 17: Houston 713 Music Hall, TX
• Mar 18: Dallas South Side Ballroom, TX
• Mar 20: Denver Mission Ballroom, CO
• Mar 21: Salt Lake City Union Event Center, UT
• Mar 23: Seattle The Paramount Theatre, WA
• Mar 25: Airway Heights Northern Quest Resort & Casino, WA
• Mar 28: Anaheim House Of Blues, CA
• Mar 29: Tempe Marquee Theatre, AZ
• Mar 31: Reno Silver Legacy’s Grande Expo Hall, NV
• Apr 01: Highland Yaamava Theater At Yaamava Casino Resort, CA

Mammoth WVH have canceled the remainder of their Young Guns US tour with fellow rockers Dirty Honey, following members of their touring crew testing positive for Covid.

Six dates in total have been canceled, including last night's show at The Ritz in Raleigh, NC. Other affected dates include April 6 in Charlotte, NC; April 8 in Nashville, TN; April 9 in Dothan, AL; and April 10 and 12 in Orlando, Florida.

Despite Mammoth WVH's cancelation of their shows, Dirty Honey will still perform as scheduled on these dates. For fans who bought tickets chiefly to see Mammoth WVH, refunds are available at point of purchase.

“After an incredible weekend in Las Vegas with my family for the Grammys, I flew back yesterday to meet up with my band and crew in North Carolina to continue the Young Guns tour,” says Mammoth WVH leader Wolfgang Van Halen.

“This morning as everyone took Covid tests to re-establish the bubble that has served us on the tour, we came to find that members of our band and crew who didn't travel with me were positive.

“I have tested negative via rapid and PCR tests for the last five days in preparation for the Grammys and still continue to do so. With only six shows left in the tour, it breaks my heart that we unfortunately won't be able to continue. Mammoth WVH will do our very best to make up the dates that we missed to the fans in those markets in the future.”

This is the second hiccup the Young Guns tour has faced due to the Covid pandemic. Due to the surge of the Omicron variant late last year and early this year, the originally scheduled run was postponed by a month.

Notable highlights of the tour have included Wolfgang Van Halen's solo acoustic version of Distance in Sayreville, NJ – which he performed after guitarist Jon Jourdan was unavailable for the show – and the debut of an unreleased song, I Don't Know It All during the opening night in Denver, Colorado on February 20.

The band have also performed a tribute version of Foo Fighters' My Hero nightly since the passing of Taylor Hawkins on March 26.

But perhaps the biggest moment for guitar lovers was when Wolfgang debuted a prototype semi-hollow EVH guitar for a cover of Alice in Chains' Them Bones, and proceeded to nail the solo note for note despite his strap falling off mid-song. The guitar has since been dubbed the SA-126, named in honor of Eddie Van Halen's birthday.

Mammoth WVH are set to hit the road again later this month, supporting Halestorm on select dates. Commencing April 29 at the Pima County Fair in Tucson, AZ, the trek will make stops in Casper, Wichita, Charleston and more, before wrapping up at Pointfest in Maryland Heights, MO on May 21.

• April 29 - Tucson, AZ - Pima County Fair
• May 10 - Billings, MT - MetraPark Arena *
• May 11 - Casper, WY - Ford Wyoming Center *
• May 13 - Council Bluffs, IA - Stir Cove *
• May 14 - Wichita, KS - The Wave *
• May 15 - Springfield, MO - Gilloz Theatre
• May 17 - Chattanooga, TN - The Signal
• May 18 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm
• May 19  - Daytona Beach, FL - Welcome To Rockville
• May 21 - Maryland Heights, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Pointfest

* supporting Halestorm

Last year, Wolfgang Van Halen detailed the recording of the band's self-titled debut in an interview with Total Guitar, explaining why it was important for him to carve his own musical path independent of his late father, Eddie Van Halen.

“I’m just not milking off the legacy,” he said. “I’m sure that’s up for debate for some people that hate me, but I’m being myself. I’m not sitting there doing covers of Panama and going, ‘If you want Van Halen, come to me!’ If you want Van Halen, go over there.”

Wolfgang Van Halen performed an acoustic version of Distance on Wednesday night (March 30), after his band Mammoth WVH were left without their touring guitarist Jon Jourdan.

Mammoth WVH have already lost regular touring guitarist Frank Sidoris  to the current Slash tour, after they were forced to postpone their dates with Dirty Honey due to Covid. However, Sidoris’s replacement Jourdan was also unable to make their March 30 date. Who knew guitarists were so hard to come by?

The temporary lineup issue meant the rest of the band – completed by bassist Ronnie Ficarro and drummer Garrett Whitlock – had to think on their feet for their Sayreville, NJ show, performing as a trio and changing many of the song arrangements on the fly.

In a bold move, for Distance – a profound tribute to his late father, Eddie – Van Halen opted to take to the stage armed with nothing but a Taylor acoustic.

“I know, there’s some parts missing, but I’m doing my fucking best, man. I’m so sorry,” Van Halen told the audience. “When it comes to this next song, there were so many parts that I decided to strip it down. If you guys want to sing along with me, go ahead…”

As you can see from the fan footage, the new spin on the track seems to connect just as powerfully with the crowd and also proves a fine showcase for Van Halen‘s vocal talents. 

In addition, the band followed Distance with a cover of Foo Fighters’ My Hero, dedicated to the late Taylor Hawkins, which they’ve performed nightly since the news of Hawkins’ passing on March 26.

Elsewhere on the tour, the band’s setlist has leaned heavily on Mammoth WVH’s self-titled debut album, which was released last year. They also debuted a new track, I Don't Know It All, onstage in February at the start of the run. 

Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey’s Young Guns tour continues until April 12. Head to the Young Guns tour site for tickets and information.

Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth WVH performed a cover of Foo Fighters’ My Hero during their show at Boston's Big Night Live over the weekend (March 26) as a tribute to the latter band’s late drummer Taylor Hawkins, who passed away Friday, March 25, at the age of 50.

The gig took place as part of Mammoth WVH’s Young Guns tour, with the rock outfit including a faithful rendition of My Hero as the penultimate song of their set.

According to Van Halen, it was a last minute inclusion to the running order, with the multi-instrumentalist revealing the band had learned and rehearsed the song on the morning of the show.

Speaking to the crowd prior to the performance, Van Halen said, “We lost somebody really important yesterday. And he was a hero to me, and a hero to all of us, and a hero to countless people out there. So, we feel this is necessary.

“We worked this out this morning,” he continued, “so please excuse any rough edges, but we just had to fucking do this.”

Van Halen, who had his sunburst EVH SA-126 model over his shoulder, began the cover by wielding a drumstick and aiding Mammoth WVH drummer Garrett Whitlock with the track’s pumping opening beat – a nod to Hawkins’ generational presence behind the kit.

He then returned to the microphone and, with the help of fellow guitarist Frank Sidoris, made his way through the track’s immensely infectious guitar parts, with Whitlock continuing to honor Hawkins’ charging drum line.

It was a moving rendition, one filled with emotive vocals and emotionally charged performances from the entire band, with Van Halen concluding the outro by saying, “Rest in peace Taylor. We love you.”

Hawkins’ death was confirmed over the weekend via a statement posted to the Foo Fighters’ social media. It read: “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins. 

“His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”

In the wake of his passing, musicians have flocked to social media to pay their respects to the drummer, who was part of the Foo Fighters lineup from 1997 all the way up until his death.

Tom Morello, Brian May, John Mayer and Ozzy Osbourne are among those who have paid tributes to Hawkins in the wake of his death, with Mayer calling him “a brilliant musician, sweetheart, and an inspiration to millions of people – many of whom took up drumming because of him."

Slash also dedicated a live rendition of his song Starlight to Hawkins during a recent performance with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, and told those in attendance, “First of all, he was a great fucking guy. A fucking sweetheart. He was a really good friend and a kickass drummer.

“[We’re] completely crushed that we’ve lost him," he added. "So we wanna do a song tonight and dedicate it to him. So we’re gonna play something we haven’t played actually on this whole tour, but we’re going to do it tonight.”

Wolfgang Van Halen is currently on the road for his postponed Young Guns tour with his Mammoth WVH bandmates and Dirty Honey. And, as we reported last month, the band’s shows have offered up a number of surprises both on the setlist and in the gear department, with Wolfgang offering a teasing glimpse of an elusive, as-yet-unannounced EVH semi-hollow electric guitar.

Besides some live footage and a few Instagram snaps, details on the guitar have been sparse. That is, however, until now, after the multi-instrumentalist discussed his upcoming signature during an appearance on Chris Shiflett’s Walking the Floor podcast.

While in conversation with Shiflett, Wolfgang revealed the name of the upcoming guitar will be SA-126 as a tribute to his father and late guitar icon Eddie Van Halen, whose birthday is on January 26.

“There are so many people who are like, ‘Why don’t you develop your own guitar?’ It’s like, ‘I’ve been doing that this whole time,’” Wolfgang revealed. “We’re developing a guitar I’m very excited about.

“I’m calling it the SA-126: Dad’s birthday is January 26,” he continued. “He named a song, 316, after my birthday. SA [means] semi-acoustic. That’s been the code name, and the more I’ve sat with it, the more I really like it.”

That’s not the only nod to his father, though, with Wolfgang also revealing the guitar’s single f-hole has been turned into what he calls an "E-hole" – an appointment that pays homage to Van Halen’s initial.

“It has one f-hole, but we’ve modified it so it’s an E-hole, for dad,” he explained. “I’m really stoked about it, and I think people are going to dig it when they see it.”

However, Wolfgang remained tight-lipped over when the guitar will be officially released, though confirmed he's in the midst of a “crash-testing” phase – inspired by how his father tested his signature gear – to see if it holds up to scrutiny.

As a result, we can expect to see many more snaps of the six-string in the coming months. “That’s what this next year of touring will be: getting the idea of it out there and seeing people’s response to it,” Wolfgang said.

Van Halen, who was previously seen playing a Gibson ES-335 on stage, also took the opportunity to explore his relationship with semi-hollow guitars, which stems from an old guitar he found in his father’s personal collection.

When asked about his affinity for the model, and why he doesn’t play an EVH Wolfgang model more, Wolfgang replied, “The main thing with Mammoth is that I wanted to establish my own identity and my own sound.

“When we started recording [the album],” he continued, “the first guitar that was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is starting to become its own thing,’ was when I pulled out my dad’s ‘59 ES-335.

“And it was so old that when I tried to tune it – I believe the tuning pegs were ivory or something – they crumbled in my finger. Like, it just turned into cinnamon in my finger. But when we recorded it, it sounded amazing, and that’s when I got that bug for the hollowbody sound.”

Head over to Wolfgang Van Halen's Instagram page to keep up to date with any forthcoming tour snaps, which will undoubtedly give us further looks at the SA-126 as it evolves.

Mammoth WVH kicked off their postponed Young Guns Tour with Dirty Honey this week, and the Wolfgang Van Halen-fronted band has already peppered their set with a number of surprises, both on the setlist and the guitar racks.

Recent performances have featured a rendition of Alice in Chains classic Them Bones – footage of the cover, taken from Salt Lake City on February 21, has been uploaded online and finds Wolfgang and fellow guitarist Jon Jourdan on fine guitar and vocal form.

There was one minor setback, however: one minute into the performance, Wolfgang’s strap comes clean off his mysterious new semi-hollow.

Ever the professional, the multi-instrumentalist proceeds to play the song’s one-finger drop-D powerchord riffs one-handed, before propping the guitar up on one leg to tackle Jerry Cantrell’s iconic solo note-for-note – bar some additional two-hand-tapped fretboard fireworks at its conclusion, natch. Thankfully, a tech dashes on to fix the guitar strap malfunction in time for the final chorus.

But what, exactly, is that guitar slung – and not-so-slung – around Wolfgang’s shoulders? A new Instagram snap, posted below, gives us some clues.

It seems the Mammoth WVH leader has made a few tweaks to the formula of his namesake guitar to better match the qualities of his usual go-to instrument, the Gibson ES-335, giving birth to a semi-hollow EVH Wolfgang.

The new model features a single swooped f-hole design, along with individual volume and tone controls for each humbucking pickup, a smart three-a-side headstock and a Mammoth WVH inlay at the 12th fret. All of which begs the question: could this be a Wolfgang Van Halen signature guitar?

Fans have also noted the relic job applied to the Ivory finish, which Wolfgang has confirmed to be a nod to Eddie’s 2015 Tour Relic Replica, although he also has a non-relic’d sunburst version of the new design, which can be spotted in live performances of previously unreleased track, I Don’t Know At All.

Assuming it makes it to production – and given Wolfgang Van Halen is now at the helm of EVH Gear alongside his dad’s longtime tech Matt Bruck, we’d bet good money on that happening – the new model would mark the first semi-hollow design to emerge from the Fender-owned brand. Presumably, those strap buttons will receive a few tweaks before guitars begin leaving the factory, however.

Up until now, EVH Gear has been best known for its array of solidbody guitars based on Eddie Van Halen’s Wolfgang design, as well as other classic striped configurations played by the guitar legend throughout his career. Wolfgang Van Halen’s semi-hollow design could mark a bold new chapter for the firm.

The Young Guns Tour continues through March and into April – we look forward to seeing if Wolfgang pulls any other surprise guitars out of the bag during the trek.

Mammoth WVH debuted a never-before-heard song during the opening show of their postponed Young Guns US tour with fellow hard rockers Dirty Honey on Sunday night (February 20).

The Wolfgang Van Halen-fronted outfit served up a 12-song setlist at the Ogden Theatre in Denver, Colorado, which included 11 of the 14 tracks on their 2021 self-titled debut, as well as the world premiere of a new track titled I Don't Know It All.

With chugging powerchords and anthemic choruses, the track highlights Wolfgang's love of Jimmy Eat World, which he revealed in a 2021 interview with Guitar World. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, the song was recorded during the sessions for Mammoth WVH, however it was left off the album.

There's no official word yet on whether I Don't Know It All will receive an official release, but after Mammoth WVH played it during the tour's second stop in Salt Lake City, Utah yesterday (February 21), it looks like it'll be a staple of the band's setlist for the remainder of the Young Guns tour.

Mammoth WVH's lineup currently features frontman Wolfgang Van Halen, guitarist Jon Jourdan, bassist Ronnie Ficarro and drummer Garrett Whitlock. Frank Sidoris – who has previously contributed to Mammoth WVH in a live capacity – is currently on tour with Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.

Dirty Honey's setlist on Sunday included five tracks from their 2021 self-titled debut, as well as five tracks from their eponymous 2019 EP. They also included guitar, bass and drum solos, as well as their recently released cover of Prince's Let's Go Crazy.

“I've seen Wolf play with Van Halen, I've seen him play with Mammoth now,” Dirty Honey frontman Marc LaBelle told Rolling Stone in November. “Super talented, love the songwriting, I genuinely enjoy his music, which I think is pretty rare for me, especially in the modern rock era. I'm very happy to be going out with an artist that plays music that I like.”

“That's definitely a huge bonus, to be part of this sick bill,” Wolfgang added. “Dirty Honey are awesome. It's really fun to be two of the youngest and hungriest bands in the LA rock space, banding up and kicking ass together... We're both kind of echoing the past, but making it our own and taking it to the future.”

Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey have pushed back the start of their joint Young Guns North American tour due to the ongoing Omicron COVID surge.

Originally set to begin in late January, the trek will now begin in late February. Any of the tour's dates that were scheduled prior to February 20 have been rescheduled until after March 5.

"We take the health and safety of the bands, road crews, local venue staff and especially our fans very seriously," wrote both groups in a statement.

"Due to an abundance of caution regarding the recent COVID surge, we have decided to postpone the start of the Young Guns tour to February 20, in Denver, Colorado. Any performance that was scheduled prior to February 20 has been rescheduled until after March 5. 

"The shows scheduled from February 20 through March 5 will remain as previously announced. The show in Portland, Maine – originally scheduled for January 28 – is canceled and all ticket holders for that event can receive a refund at point of purchase." 

The revised tour schedule, however, has allowed the bands to add a handful of additional shows to their itinerary. Tickets for those shows will go on sale on Friday, January 14 at 10 a.m. local time.

Both Mammoth WVH – who only played their first show in July 2021 – and Dirty Honey raised their profiles significantly with high-profile opening slots last summer. Mammoth, fronted by Wolfgang Van Halen, opened for Guns N’ Roses, while Dirty Honey toured with the Black Crowes. 

You can check out the full, revised itinerary of the Young Guns tour below. For tickets and more info, stop by the Young Guns website.

February

20: Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO
21: The Complex, Salt Lake City, UT
22: Revolution, Boise, ID
24: House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
25: Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA

March

1: House of Blues, San Diego, CA
2: The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
4: The Marquee, Tempe, AZ
5: Fantasy Casino, Indio, CA
9: House of Blues, Dallas, TX
10: Aztec Theatre, San Antonio, TX
12: Diamond Ballroom, Oklahoma City, OK*
13: Uptown Theatre, Kansas City, MO
15: The Rave, Milwaukee, WI
16: House of Blues, Chicago, IL
18: The Bluestone, Columbus, OH
20: Roxian Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA*
23: Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI
24: Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, ON
26: Big Night Live, Boston, MA
27: Toad's Place, New Haven, CT*
28: Webster Hall, New York, NY
30: Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
31: The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA

April

1: Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD
3: Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
5: The Ritz, Raleigh, NC
6: The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC
8: Marathon Music Works, Nashville, TN
9: The Plant, Dothan, AL
10: Hard Rock Orlando, Orlando, FL

* Tickets on sale this Friday, January 14, 2022

Here we have it, the top 20 guitar albums of 2021, as chosen by you, and you didn’t disappoint. You could glue all of these album covers to a whiteboard and it could well be a mood board taken from the editorial prow of the good ship Guitar World.

There are some evergreen choices here, with guitar players who always find themselves in the guitar-playing community’s good graces. But even among them, no two are strictly alike, with blues-rock titans sharing space with grunge trailblazers and pioneers of shred.

But there are some new players, too, those making their presence felt for the first time. Not all here are necessarily technical virtuosos, and many who ration that instinct to cut loose. After all, what makes a great guitar album is no different to what makes a great album. 

As the player and songwriter behind your number one choice argued when he spoke with Guitar World earlier in the year, the song has got to come first – no matter how satisfying it is to feel those strings under your fingers, your ear must always have the casting vote.

• The 10 best guitar riffs of 2021
• The 10 best guitar solos of 2021

20. Samantha Fish – Faster

Samantha Fish has been threatening to make an album like Faster for years. Well, not threatening, more like drip-feeding the idea into her sound like a work of subliminal advertising that would have marked her for a successful career on Madison Avenue.

Now that she has taken the plunge and hired the estimable Martin Kierszenbaum (aka Cherry Cherry Boom Boom) as producer, she can turn loose all those pop elements and demonstrate just how resilient an art form blues-rock can be, and how conservative and staid we have been with its housekeeping over the years.

You can hear the influence of Prince, of Lana Del Rey, and of course Lady Gaga, whose name is inextricably linked with Kierszenbaum. But recording Faster at The Village, where Fleetwood Mac tracked Tusk, feels like an act of surreptitious pop engineering, and it takes her guitar playing into new and exciting spaces. 

It’s still a guitar record. Kierszenbaum got Fish to dial in a tone, and that was the tone – a Gibson SG into Fender Super Reverb and Deluxe Reverb amps – with less emphasis on the pedalboard. And it’s further proof that she’s one of the best blues-rock players around. But it shows that, given the chance, she could and should cross over. Why not go pop?

19. Jerry Cantrell – Brighten

A master of deploying acoustic guitars alongside electrics to heighten the depth of a mix, Jerry Cantrell this year debuted his first solo album since 2002’s Degradation Trip. It traffics in a gauzy ‘70s feel, the mood effortlessly modulating between downbeat and optimistic, with a three-dimensional production job and compositions anchored by those yowling drones that have become the hallmark of Alice in Chains over the years. 

Again, this is another audiophile record, with Cantrell taking the connoisseur approach, plugging his Les Pauls and trusty G&L Rampage into a variety of amp heads – most certainly his signature Friedman heads somewhere – and playing a bunch of Gibson Songwriters alongside Martin and Guild acoustics.

18. The Black Keys – Delta Kream

Delta Kream is a lovingly created work of musical revivalism that finds the Black Keys paying dues to their Hill County blues heroes R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough on an album of blues standards. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are joined by the likes of Burnside’s longtime sideman Kenny Brown and others sitting in on album that’s celebratory, poignant, and a reference point for vintage electric guitar tone.

And there is some sorcery in those sounds. Most of us are not from North Mississippi, and yet the area will come alive in our imaginations when we press play. That’s the power of blues storytelling, sure, but also of guitar tone, and its power to sell us the illusion and color in the gaps. Not to get all sentimental or anything, but that is pretty magical.

17. Julian Lage – Squint

Jazz guitar phenom Julian Lage’s Blue Note debut would be way higher on the list if jazz enjoyed the same exposure as pretty much any other style. But as things stand, maybe jazz is just too dangerous for mainstream audiences to get behind. That’s right, Lage might well be a mild-mannered mensch but his playing style, note choices and compositional sensibility are 100 percent danger. He is a musically book-smart Evel Knievel. 

Of course, it’s Lage’s name on the cover, but the improvisational brio brought to bear on this stylistically adventurous deep dive into the history of jazz, and how it is contextualized by the blues and rock ’n’ roll artforms that orbit it, is facilitated by the stellar contributions of bass player Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King. The chemistry within that trio is something we all aspire to.

16. Tremonti – Marching in Time

Listening to Mark Tremonti’s latest solo album is a little like following Dwayne 'The Rock’ Johnson on Instagram. You will find yourself all set to embrace a shapeless Sunday, and after some French toast and maple syrup – two rounds, you deserve this – you might have some pentatonic noodling planned from the comfort of your easy chair, maybe a cold one to slake your thirst. “Siri, just where did I leave my Blues Junior?” 

But such indolence is brutally punctured by the urge to ‘put in the work and get some gains’. For the fitspo set, that means the gym, grunting and Lycra. For guitar players, that means three to four hours of regimented, structured practice; the gains we’re chasing are the ability to attain a level of insouciant virtuosity, the kind that allows Tremonti to transition from the poignant to the spectacular and back again. Fast and furious, if you will.

15. Billy Strings – Renewal

Billy Strings is a ridiculous player. Again, the virtuosity feels unrehearsed and instinctive – with as communal and celebratory a genre as bluegrass, it has to be. The songwriting is wise beyond his years. Well, we say that, but wisdom and foolishness lies in every demographic, and all it takes for a great songwriter of any age is to be able to scan the horizon and intuit the universal truths that shape and color our all-too-brief time on this planet.

There are many highlights on Renewal. Secrets is as action-packed as the third act of Avengers: Infinity War but is written and composed in such a way as to invoke the Wachowskis’ bullet time, as though the world slows and all that musical information can make a beeline straight for your heart. 

High-tempo music from a superhero songwriter can still make you cry. And if it doesn’t, then Love and Regret will. No matter where we are from, who we are or on which slice our bread is buttered, that speaks to us all.

14. Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram – 662

Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram is playing fast and loose with his at-home privacy here, giving away the first three digits of his telephone number – well, the area code. But that is thematically judicious, as the music here and stories told are all rooted in his Mississippi locale. 

There were a few things about Kingfish’s playing that identified him as a next-gen bluesman of some repute, but his tone and his vibrato have got to be right up there. Just listen to the spanky scratch of the title track’s rhythm figure, and then that piping hot Strat juice that arrives by way of the lead. 

His phrasing is righteous, too, which is only appropriate; for if you are going to hold a note and bend it for the audience to lose their minds to, then it had better be the right note.

13. Spiritbox – Eternal Blue

The Canadian trio’s much-anticipated debut is an exercise in dynamics, tension, atmosphere, and, on occasion, just surrendering all of this to the cleansing nuclear fire of Mike Stringer’s xenomorph guitar. 

The explosive shifts in tone are perhaps something learned from the post nu-metal cognoscenti – “My, Mr. Stringer, that verse/chorus shift really does have Stephen Carpenter’s eyes” – but Stringer’s abrasive down-tuned style, made possible by extended-range guitars from the likes of Abasi Concepts and Aristides, is a beast all his own. 

Does it feel shallow to admit we’re suckers for a pick slide that sounds like there is a tear in the space/time continuum? For all the big ideas here, it’s often the primal triggers that hot-wire the audience’s critical faculties.

12. Gojira – Fortitude

Gojira’s blockbuster metal has always been underpinned by an arthouse sensibility, and that’s what makes albums such as Fortitude sound so profound and yet fundamentally satisfying in the rock ’n’ roll sense of the word. 

Joe Duplantier and Christian Andreu’s guitars work in lock-step over the virtuoso time-keeping of Joe’s kid brother and drummer Mario, creating grooves that command a physical reaction from those exposed to them. And yet Duplantier is writing about things that make us consider our position in this world, expanding his arrangements accordingly, subsuming elements of prog, post-metal and electronic music. 

From anyone else we might call this ambitious but, for Gojira, this is second nature, instinctual, and they made sure to capture it in every take in the studio by going all-in chasing an inspiring sound and then recording it while the energy was fresh.

11. Paul Gilbert – Werewolves of Portland

How much fun can one grown man have on his own? Werewolves of Portland is like an exercise in solo musicianship that from the outset might seem like a Herculean task akin to swimming the Atlantic, but in Gilbert’s antic and outsized imagination it’s just what you do when the occasion arises. 

Yes, Gilbert plays everything here, and it’s a record that reminds us that instrumental rock can be primarily fun. Gilbert’s humor is all over this. Turning idle thoughts of, ‘Should we move away from Portland? Things are a little hectic’ into a bonkers paean to the fifth least populated state in the US, Hello! North Dakota, and creating a battle-shred spectacular advancing the idea that a piece of great pie will bring comity and unity to the world, Argument About Pie.

There are no vocals, but in a sense there are. Gilbert wrote lyrics and expressed them with slide guitar, a process that seems like the most organic way to incorporate one of our more traditional techniques into most spectacular arrangements, making the guitar instrumental not only fun but a singalong experience.

10. Smith/Kotzen – Smith/Kotzen

Smith/Kotzen? That sounds like it could be the name of a delicatessen in downtown Kansas City, but in our timeline it is a project of prodigiously talented guitar players and neighbors Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen, who turned some downtime into studio time for a hard-rock two-hander.

Remarkable, isn’t it, even more so that former tennis star Pat Cash made the introductions. Here, the Iron Maiden guitarist Smith and former Poison guitarist Kotzen dovetail politely, like two old friends shooting some pool. 

With most of his gear in storage, Smith even used Kotzen’s rig, but when he steps up to the table, there’s no denying it’s him. Like on Running, which echoes Maiden classic Moonchild with a Pat Thrall-inspired solo. As for Kotzen, he pulls out all the tricks, goes a bit nuts with the rotary speaker effects, and meets Smith in the middle when the project circles back to blues-driven hard rock.

9. Billy F. Gibbons – Hardware

Billy F. Gibbons only gets cooler the hotter he gets, and out there in the California High Desert, not far from Joshua Tree National Park, where Hardware was tracked, things were mighty hot. 

Hardware sees Gibbons joined by guitarist Austin Hanks and drummer Matt Sorum and rocking out. There’s a little more engine grease to these arrangements than on his bluesier releases, with tracks like She’s On Fire making use of Sorum’s power, and West Coast Junkie making full use of whatever gear was already there when Gibbons arrived at the studio. 

Just what do you do when you find a vintage Fender Jazzmaster, a ’61 Fender Piggyback amp and Fender Reverb tank idling in the studio? Well, of course you write a track that’s electrified by the antic energy of surf rock. Hardware is testament to what you can get down after spending three months under the sun with only cacti and rattlers for company.

8. Mastodon – Hushed And Grim

Hushed And Grim sees Mastodon process the loss of their friend and manager Nick John with one of their most audacious albums of an audacious discography. Guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher are masters of mining the borderland between melody and dissonance, the savage and the philosophical, and here they shift feel on a dime. 

One moment might find them in a holding pattern around a vocal harmony, the next they are referencing the riff firestorms of earlier releases Remission and Leviathan, which harnessed the apocalyptic influence of Neurosis and the weight of the Melvins to spectacular effect.

Quite where they go from here is hard to say. This is a double album that leaves nothing on the floor. Tracks such as Pain with an Anchor weave tangled roots of guitar textures, in which you could get lost for days. Skeleton of Splendor has a fairytale airiness to it. 

More Than I Could Chew, meanwhile, is like the band’s career in just under seven minutes: the inordinate spectacle of the riff, Brann Dailor’s lead drumming exploding like popcorn in the microwave, then a reach for the sky prog middle-eight and outro solo.

7. Mammoth WVH – Mammoth WVH

For a guitar community still processing the loss of one of its most brilliant elders, Mammoth WVH’s debut is right there with you, with Wolfgang Van Halen paying tribute to his father’s work on tracks such as Mr. Ed, and indeed his life, on Distance. 

We might all know what Distance is explicitly about, but it’s a song that speaks to anyone who has lost a loved one. Although we might recognize some of Eddie Van Halen’s hard-rock grammar here, the language and dialect is all Wolfgang’s, on a hard-rock sound that is very much his own, perhaps augmented and shaped by the influence of Soundgarden and Tool, which makes 21st-century hard rock a very different – and more knowing – beast than its ‘80s counterparts. But then, these are very different times.

6. Greta Van Fleet – The Battle at Garden’s Gate

Greta Van Fleet were born too late but are not alone in their predicament, and they have duly created a sound offering succour and enlightenment to those who continue mourn the aesthetic largesse of classic rock’s big beasts. 

Most of which, if not all, are artistically extinct, but their lifeblood courses through the veins of Jake Kiszka and company, and GVF have the imagination and ability to reinterpret this sound for the digital age. If there’s a sense of melancholy under the triumph of their bold arrangements, perhaps it’s from the recognition that popular culture is convulsing in the information age. 

Kiszka talks about The Battle at Garden’s Gate being cinematic, and it is; this is Peter Jackson’s Deep Purple, Spielberg’s Zeppelin, with Kiszka cast as a Fitzcarraldo figure hauling the GVF steamship over the hill. But cinema as we know it is being killed, too. Maybe all that’s left is grand gestures of defiance such as this.

5. Dream Theater – A View From the Top of the World

Few bands have been more aptly named than Dream Theater. The creative horizons imagined by John Petrucci appear beyond the limits of the conscious mind. He might dress in black, dig metal, and have a rig that could be seen and heard from space, but there’s something of an 18th-century composer’s sensibility to how Petrucci arranges his songs. 

Take the title track. To call it epic feels a little redundant; it’s 20 minutes long, but even after six we get the feeling we’ve left Earth behind, as though the atmosphere itself has changed. Petrucci’s playing is, of course, redoubtable, inspired and peerless, and it makes for a great study piece for guitar players with designs on expanding their repertoire and musical vocabulary.

But that’s not what Petrucci has in mind for Dream Theater, at least we don’t think so. It’s all about the gift of surprise. Progressive music is not easy. It can be a stultifying torture if the ideas don’t match the ambition. 

But with Dream Theater, the ideas just keep coming at you, with Petrucci generous in lacing his songwriting with the gift of surprise, because he knows that long-form musical entertainment is not meant to be a chore. And if that means getting his friends at Ernie Ball Music Man to design him an eight-string Majesty so he can rethink the instrument anew and write a hulk jam such as Awaken the Master, then so be it. Now, that’s entertainment.

4. Joe Bonamassa – Time Clocks

The world’s highest-grossing bluesman doesn’t get enough credit for his off-menu musical choices. Sure, he’s a blues-rock player to his bones, but he’s a blues-rock player who is often at his best when taking the genre off the beaten path. Time Clocks is a prime example.

This, he once told us, was to be the ‘NY subway album’, which he made sound like it was to be almost improvisational, recorded with a minimum of fuss and using the 24/7 rhythms of the Big Apple to inform the jams. 

But once he unloaded some choice picks from Nerdville – a 1959 Les Paul Standard here, a ’68 Thinline Tele with an all original Parsons/White B-Bender there – the songs decided otherwise, with Bonamassa bringing all his Chris Squire, prog influences to bear to the fore.

Yes, he can shift to bar room melancholy if and when the song requires it, but the compositions on Time Clocks are often too elegiac to shake themselves into a 12/8 shuffle. That was not the rhythm of New York City in the winter months of February 2021.

3. Iron Maiden – Senjutsu

Iron Maiden have always been one of the more ambitious bands to arise out of the NWOBHM cohort but back in 1981, few could have looked into the tea leaves, seen Eddie’s face staring back at them, and forecast an album like Senjutsu.

Senjutsu is built on the maxim ‘more is more’. Perhaps it is written this way by happenstance, by virtue of Iron Maiden’s unorthodox approach of showing up at a studio with a bunch of songs written before writing in situ until an album presents itself.

If their antic debut and the midnight thrills of Killers offered the gratification of a cheeseburger and cold lager, Senjutsu offers a 12-course tasting menu with wine pairings, and it leans fully into the three-guitar dynamic for maximum effect. 

In Janick Gers, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, Maiden have myriad options and exploit them throughout, weaving guitar harmonies in and out, doubling parts and lending the gamed-out expanse of Senjutsu’s more progressive tracks a sense of theater.

2. Gus G – Quantum Leap

Gus G is the Willy Wonka of mainstream metal shred guitar. Every now and then, somebody has his ear exclusively, and taps into his electrifying style for their own gratification. In the recent past, Ozzy Osbourne was Charlie with his golden ticket, maintaining his unerring reputation for always securing the services of a top-tier guitar player before doing anything.

But on Quantum Leap, Gus G is getting high on his own supply of everlasting gobstoppers and working an almighty sugar rush on his signature Jackson Star. Quantum Leap does not shy away from the noble business of fretboard fire-raising, but throughout Mr G keeps that melody front and center.

There’s a Japanese video game sensibility to how he builds the solos on this. Big Friedman-esque gestures will resolve themselves in tricksy diminished scale runs, before riding off into the sunset atop a burnished steel power metal riff. 

And if the riff doesn’t get you, then a flagon of fizzy lifting drink will. Carbonated, highly sugared, delicious. And, okay, serious point, we could also look at Quantum Leap and call it a work of shred postmodernism, with the G man referencing the leading lights of the Satch generation and putting his own imprint on it. 

1. John Mayer – Sob Rock

The idea for Sob Rock could have come from a therapist. Here we are in the frantic present, and if you have been keeping up with affairs, you might notice things are a little topsy-turvy. Perhaps recognizing the scale of our present-day funk, John Mayer – arch entertainer and master guitar player – takes evasive action through the medium of soft rock, executing a Toto 180 and planting us back under the protective shoulder pads of a late ‘80s aesthetic.

And what do you know, even those too young to be familiar with the candied scent of Harmony hairspray were all in, too. This time capsule of Mayer’s construction has everything we need; there’s some beautifully manicured guitar tones here, with that carefully worked quality that suited the era’s production styles. 

As Mayer explained to Guitar World, much of it was inspired by his fantasy of having a song of his turn up on Eric Clapton’s Journeyman. “I loved him so much that I’m not afraid to go, ‘I just want to feel what that’s like…’ Like, the experience of plugging a Strat with noiseless pickups into a Soldano with a chorus pedal. And to hear that back on your own song is funny, poignant, touching, exciting, titillating.”

That in essence, is Sob Rock. It is an album of fantasy. It has guitar solos all over it, each delivered in conversational style – a little like how Mayer speaks, right? – with meticulous chops. But they are grounded in reality. They know the song is the boss. And Mayer knows it’s not 1988, which is why it was important to sound like it is.

• The 10 best guitar riffs of 2021
• The 10 best guitar solos of 2021

The nominations for the 2022 Grammy Awards have officially rolled in and – though the Justin Biebers and Ed Sheerans of the world got their fair share of nods as one would expect – there's plenty of other guitar greatness that's been recognized across the board.

Notably, H.E.R. – who earlier this year scooped up the Grammy for 2021 Song of the Year with I Can't Breathe – has been nominated for the Album of the Year award for Back of My Mind and Song of the Year again for Fight for You (a song that, mind you, already won H.E.R. an Oscar back in April).

The signature Stratocaster-toting guitarist and singer/songwriter was also nominated for half-a-dozen other Grammys – Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for the Damage, Best R&B Album for Back of My Mind, Best Traditional R&B Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media for Fight for You, and last but not least, Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for Hold Us Together (Hope Mix), her collaboration with Tauren Wells.

Back in March, we cited H.E.R. high in our list of 12 guitarists who changed the game over the previous 12 months, and we're certainly glad the Grammys feel the same way. 

• How to watch the Grammys 2022

Elsewhere, the nominees in the rock, metal and alternative categories were an intriguing mix of the old guard and the new.

Reliable stadium-fillers Foo Fighters, AC/DC and Paul McCartney all picked up multiple nominations – the Foos for Best Rock Performance, Song and Album, AC/DC for Best Rock Album and Performance, and Macca for Best Rock Song and Album.

Posthumously, Chris Cornell received a pair of nominations, for Best Rock Album (No One Sings Like You Anymore Vol. 1) and Best Rock Performance for his cover of Nothing Compares 2 U.

Weezer, Kings of Leon and Wolfgang Van Halen's Mammoth WVH also received Best Rock Song nominations, while Black Pumas were recognized in the Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance categories. The latter category was also rounded out by a nomination for Deftones, for the nine-string-driven Ohms.

Deftones were also nominated for Best Metal Performance, a category that was rounded out by nods to Dream Theater, Gojira, Mastodon and Rob Zombie.

Guitar-heavy LPs from Fleet Foxes, Halsey, Japanese Breakfast, Arlo Parks and St. Vincent made up the nominations for Best Alternative Music Album, while Snarky Puppy's Mark Lettieri – rounding out a year that saw the release of his PRS signature guitar, the Fiore – received a nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, for his Deep: The Baritone Sessions, Vol. 2 album.

Some top-tier guitar-slingers also made it into the country, roots and bluegrass categories. Billy Strings received nods for Best American Roots Performance (for Love and Regret) and Best Bluegrass Album (Renewal) and Jason Isbell (speaking of folks who got a signature guitar in 2021) was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance, for All I Do Is Drive.

Modern country superstar Chris Stapleton cleaned up as well, with nods for Best Country Song and Album, and Best Country Solo Performance for You Should Probably Leave. We assume though, that this isn't the recent You Should Probably Leave performance that Jimmy Fallon sat in on.

We haven't even gotten to blues yet, either. Between the two of them, the Best Traditional and Contemporary Blues Album awards saw nominations for blues artists both established (Joe Bonamassa, The Black Keys and Steve Cropper) and up-and-coming (Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Cedric Burnside and Shemekia Copeland). 

Finally, as we've noted, there's plenty of engrossing guitar work on the Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift albums that between them received a number of marquee nominations.

Let's face it, the Grammys don't ever please everyone with their nominations (we would've loved to see some recognition in the jazz categories for Julian Lage and his 2021 masterpiece, Squint, for instance), but if you come looking for the guitar in this year's categories – in any and all forms – you won't be disappointed.

For a full list of all 2022 Grammy nominees, head on over to the Grammys website.

Mammoth WVH and fellow LA rockers Dirty Honey will join forces for a co-headline tour of the US, kicking off in January next year. 

Dubbed the Young Guns Tour, it follows both band’s summer stints in support of some of rock’s biggest names – Wolfgang WVH with Guns N’ Roses and Dirty Honey with Black Crowes. 

Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth WVH only played their first show in July, before joining GNR’s stadium tour just four days later and set off on a three-month stint around the US.

Wolfgang Van Halen was later invited onstage with the band for a raucous rendition of Paradise City at one of their final performances, in Hollywood, FL on October 2.

Dirty Honey have been around a little longer, forming in 2017. They have previously supported Guns N’ Roses and The Who, but they went down a storm on tour with the Black Crowes this summer. 

The Young Guns tour will kick off in Chicago, IL at House of Blues on January 21 and will see the two bands play venues across the country, before concluding March 5 at Fantasy Casino in Indio, CA.

Tickets for the dates go on sale November 5 and you can check out the full list of dates below. Head to the Young Guns Tour site to buy tickets and merchandise.

Mammoth WVH / Dirty Honey Young Guns Tour dates

January 2022

• 21 House of Blues, Chicago, IL
• 22 The Rave, Milwaukee, WI
• 24 The Bluestone, Columbus, OH
• 25 Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI
• 26 The Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, OH 
• 28 State Theatre, Portland, ME
• 29 Big Night Live, Boston, MA
• 30 The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA

February 

•  1 Webster Hall, New York, NY
•  2 Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
•  4 Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD
•  5 The Ritz, Raleigh, NC
•  6 The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC
•  8 Marathon Music Works, Nashville, TN
•  9 Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
• 11 Hard Rock Orlando, Orlando, FL
• 12 The Plant, Dothan, AL
• 15 The Aztec Theatre, San Antonio, TX
• 16 House of Blues, Dallas, TX
• 18 Uptown Theater, Kansas City, MO
• 20 Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO
• 21 The Complex, Salt Lake City, UT
• 22 Revolution, Boise, ID
• 24 Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA
• 25 House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV

March

•  1 House of Blues, San Diego, CA
•  2 The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
•  4 The Marquee, Tempe, AZ
•  5 Fantasy Casino, Indio, CA

Wolfgang Van Halen has sprained his ankle whilst exiting his Mammoth WVH tour bus, and will perform with a protective boot for the next four to six weeks.

The incident happened before the band's October 20 show at the Mars Music Hall in Huntsville, Alabama, and led Wolfgang to pull a “Dave Grohl” and perform the set sitting down.

Keeping fans updated in real time, the multi-instrumentalist posted a photo of his foot in the boot to social media with the caption: “Ate shit walking off the bus this morning and sprained the fuck outta my ankle. Now I gotta rock this boot for four to six weeks.”

“Looks like this boot's gonna get some show experience,” Wolfgang continued, determined not to let the injury hinder the band's imminent show. “We'll see you tonight Huntsville.”

Updating fans shortly afterwards on Twitter, he wrote that the band's pre-show soundcheck was “interesting”, adding: “Looks like I'm gonna be Dave Grohl-ing it tonight, folks. Be patient with me.”

In a new social media post, Wolfgang hails the show a success despite his injury: “Welp... never done that before, but we pulled it off! Thanks to Huntsville for making it such a special show!”

Wolfgang's “Dave Grohl-ing” comment is in reference to the Foo Fighters leader, who in 2015 broke his leg after falling off the stage during a show in Gothenburg, Sweden, but managed to finish the concert sitting down.

Following the accident, Grohl had fashioned a Foo Fighters-branded, Game of Thrones-style stage throne, complete with lights, smoke machines and over a dozen electric guitar necks, on which he played the band's subsequent tour dates.

Since recovering, the frontman has lent his throne to other musicians, including Greyhawk bassist Darin Wall, who stopped a mass shooting, and Axl Rose, who required a seat to perform after breaking his foot at a warm up show for Guns N' Roses' 2016 Not In This Lifetime... reunion tour.

“Axl took it out with Guns N’ Roses, then he took it out with AC/DC, and then all of a sudden I became the guy you come to if you break a limb on tour, like Thrones R Us,” Grohl told Classic Rock earlier this year.

It remains to be seen whether Wolfgang Van Halen will have a throne made, though we'd love to see one adorned with Mammoth WVH imagery and several EVH Wolfgang necks.

Mammoth WVH recently wrapped up their first tour with Guns N' Roses. The run reached a high point earlier this month when Wolfgang Van Halen joined the legendary rockers onstage in Florida for a show-stopping performance of Paradise City.

The band now continue their own tour, though fans shouldn't expect to hear any Van Halen songs at their shows. Earlier this week, Wolfgang said it was “fucking exhausting” to keep reiterating he'll never play his father's music with Mammoth WVH.

Since the passing of Eddie Van Halen, and subsequent rise of Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang Van Halen has shut down requests from fans for him to play Van Halen songs while onstage with his solo band.

On numerous occasions, he's been vocal about the fact he wishes to build a reputation based on his own music, and not ride on the back of his father's legacy.

Back in June, in an interview with Total Guitar, Wolfgang said that his father “would rather people not try and sound like him but sound like themselves”, adding that he's being himself, and “not sitting there doing covers of Panama”.

And now, the multi-instrumentalist has revealed that he is “fucking exhausted” by social media users asking him to incorporate Van Halen's music into his Mammoth WVH repertoire.

In a new Twitter exchange, one fan writes: “Why after all your resistance against Van Halen fans did you decide to add WVH to your band name? Honest question.” To which Wolfgang replies: “Last I checked it was my fuckin' name.”

In a series of tweets following the exchange, Wolfgang writes: “It's this dumb shit where people pull things out of context and boil shit down in dumb ways so they can be mad at me that pisses me off.”

To clarify his stance, he continues, “I've never had resistance against VH fans. All I've ever said is: 1) You'll never hear VH at a Mammoth show. 2) I'll never ‘replace’ my father in VH and continue the band. But y'all just keep finding new reasons to hate me daily. It's fucking exhausting.”

Earlier this month, on the one-year anniversary of Eddie Van Halen's passing, Wolfgang penned a touching tribute to his late father.

“I'm not ok,” he wrote. “I don't think I'll ever be ok. There's so much I wish I could show you. So many things I wish I could share with you. I wish I could laugh with you again. I wish I could hug you again. I miss you so much it hurts.”

Days after performing their first-ever live gig last week at the Bottleneck Night Club in Kansas, the Wolfgang Van Halen-fronted Mammoth WVH took to the stage for their debut opening set for Guns N’ Roses.

The performance, which took place at Hersheypark Stadium in Pennsylvania on Saturday (July 31), marks the first time Wolfgang and his group have opened for the legendary rock band since news of a joint tour broke early last month.

It kicks off a four-month stint around the US, which will see Van Halen’s rock outfit join Slash and co for shows in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Portland, Las Vegas and more.

Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock prior to the performance, Wolfgang admitted he was “really nervous”, saying, “I’m a very anxious person. But in a funny way, it’s very similar to how I started out in Van Halen, where the first show I played was at an arena in Charlotte, N.C. 

“This time,” he continued, “it’s at a stadium in Hershey, Penn. So it’s following in a really funny way – but definitely still terrifying. It’s an honor to be there ... and I’m going to do my best.”

There were no signs of any first-show-of-the-tour nerves for Wolfgang, though, as he, guitarists Frank Sidoris and Jon Jourdan, bass guitar player Ronnie Ficarro and drummer Garrett Whitlock treated those in attendance to live renditions of tracks from Mammoth WVH’s debut album.

Lucky for us, one eagle-eyed attendee filmed the 10-track opening performance in its entirety, catching on camera the set’s standout six-string moments, including the gargantuan riff and blistering, two-hand-tap-infused solo from You’re To Blame.

Other powerful renditions include Distance – the track Wolfgang penned for his late father, Eddie Van Halen – which Mammoth WVH’s frontman introduced by saying, “This next song is a little tough for me to play, so if you guys can help out if you know it, that would be great.”

“First show with GnR down!” wrote Wolfgang on social media after the gig. “Hershey was incredible. Thanks to everyone in the Guns N’ Roses camp for having us out. It’s an absolute honor to be here.”

Mammoth WVH’s next performance is today (August 3) at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.

For a full list of tour dates, head over to Guns N’ Roses’ official website.

For the first time ever, Wolfgang Van Halen led his Mammoth WVH bandmates onto the stage on Tuesday night (July 27) to perform their debut concert.

The surprise show, which took place at Bottleneck Night Club in Lawrence, Kansas, in front of a sell-out crowd, was announced the day before the event, and saw Wolfgang and co road test the tracks that appeared on his recently released self-titled album.

While the band have already made its live TV debut with a performance of Distance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the Kansas concert is the first time the rock outfit have hit the road and played in front of an audience at a venue.

It will serve as a warm-up to the band’s upcoming debut tour – a four-month stint around the US supporting rock icons Guns N’ Roses, which is set to kick off on July 31.

“Show number one is officially in the books,” wrote Wolfgang on social media. “Thanks so much for coming out and sharing this special night with us, folks. I won’t forget it.”

Kicking things off with the scorching show-opener Don’t Back Down, Mammoth WVH went on to treat those in attendance to live renditions of You’ll Be the One, Mr. Ed and Horribly Right.

The oh-so sweet, ever-so-slightly dissonant strums of Resolve, the modulated main lick from Talk & Walk and the high-gain six-string stabs of Think It Over all cropped up on the setlist, which also featured the gargantuan riffs of Mammoth and the rapid runs of Feel.

Distance, the track that Wolfgang penned in tribute to his late father and electric guitar great Eddie Van Halen, also made its way on to the set list, cropping up as the concert’s encore track. It preceded an as-yet-unheard track that went by the name of As Long as You’re Not You.

For a full list of upcoming Mammoth WVH tour dates, head over to the Guns N' Roses official website.

Guns N' Roses have announced rescheduled dates for their 2020 US tour, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With an additional 14 dates, the tour now commences July 31 at the Hersheypark Stadium in Pennsylvania, and is set to feature Wolfgang Van Halen's Mammoth WVH as a supporting act. 

This, of course, will mark a rather stratospheric touring debut for WVH, who has to date only played a handful of TV appearances, most recently with an acoustic performance of Distance on the Today Show.

The run promises a “massive touring production”, and will wrap up with two back-to-back shows at the Hard Rock Live arena in Florida on October 2 and 3.

It will see Mammoth WVH play tracks from the project's upcoming self-titled debut album, which drops June 11 via EX1 Records/ Explorer1 Music Group.

It was recently revealed that Wolfgang played Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstein guitar on two of the forthcoming album's tracks. However, it's unlikely fans will see the guitar in the flesh on the tour, as the multi-instrumentalist has repeatedly expressed his wish not to tread the same path as his late father. 

Tickets for the rescheduled dates go on sale Friday June 4. For more information, head over to Guns N' Roses' website.

See below for a full list of dates:

• Sat Jul 31 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium* 
• Tue Aug 03 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park 
• Thu Aug 05 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium 
• Sun Aug 08 – Detroit, MI – Comerica Park 
• Wed Aug 11 – Fargo, ND – FargoDome 
• Fri Aug 13 – Missoula, MT – Washington-Grizzly Stadium 
• Mon Aug 16 – Commerce City, CO – DICK'S Sporting Goods Park
• Thu Aug 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Banc of California Stadium
• Sun Aug 22 – Portland, OR – Moda Center*
• Wed Aug 25 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center at San Jose*
• Fri Aug 27 – Las Vegas, NV – Venue to be announced*
• Mon Aug 30 – Phoenix, AZ – Phoenix Suns Arena*
• Wed Sep 01 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center*
• Sat Sep 04 – Napa, CA – BottleRock Napa Valley^
• Wed Sep 08 – Indianapolis, IN – Lucas Oil Stadium
• Sat Sep 11 – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena*
• Sun Sep 12 – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena*
• Thu Sep 16 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field
• Sat Sep 18 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater | Summerfest
• Tue Sep 21 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center*
• Thu Sep 23 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center*
• Sun Sep 26 – Baltimore, MD – Royal Farms Arena*
• Wed Sep 29 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena*
• Sat Oct 02 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Arena*
• Sun Oct 03 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Arena*

* = New Tour Dates
^ = Festival Date/Mammoth WVH Not Performing

Wolfgang Van Halen has dropped another new track from his forthcoming Mammoth WVH effort, which is, appropriately enough, titled Mammoth.

The new song sees Wolfgang deliver some hard-hitting single-string riffs, which build to an anthemic, arms-aloft chorus. There are some killer harmonized lead lines around the three-minute mark, too.

Mammoth marks the sixth track to arrive from Mammoth WVH, following Distance, You’re To Blame, Don’t Back Down, Think It Over and Feel, though Wolfgang describes the new release as the song that best encompasses the overall vibe of his debut.

Mammoth WVH – which features Wolfgang handling all guitar, bass, drum and vocal duties – is set to arrive on June 11 via EX1 Records/ Explorer1 Music Group, and available to preorder now. Its full tracklisting is below:

1. Mr. Ed
2. Horribly Right
3. Epiphany
4. Don’t Back Down
5. Resolve
6. You’ll Be the One
7. Mammoth
8. Circles
9. The Big Picture
10. Think It Over
11. You’re to Blame
12. Feel
13. Stone
14. Distance

Wolfgang Van Halen has released Feel, the fifth single from his forthcoming, self-titled debut Mammoth WVH album.

The track sees the multi-instrumentalist deliver a driving hard-rock arrangement, foregrounded by a series of chunky riffs and a killer breakdown.

Watch the track's accompanying lyric video below:

While Feel centers primarily around that monstrous main riff, there's some noteworthy lead work to be lapped up, too, in the form of a tasty bend-heavy guitar solo around the 2:27 mark.

Prior to Feel, four tracks had already been released from Mammoth WVH – Distance, Wolfgang's emotional tribute to his late father Eddie Van Halen, the riff-driven You're to Blame, Don't Back Down – the music video for which features multiple Wolfgangs – and the anthemic Think It Over.

Wolfgang Van Halen gave his Mammoth WVH material its live debut back in February where he was joined by guitarists Frank Sidoris and Jon Jourdan, bassist Ronnie Ficarro and drummer Garrett Whitlock to perform Distance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Mammoth WVH is out on June 11 via Ex1 Records/Explorer1 Music Group and is available to pre-order now. Check out the record's tracklisting below:

1. Mr. Ed
2. Horribly Right
3. Epiphany
4. Don’t Back Down
5. Resolve
6. You’ll Be the One
7. Mammoth
8. Circles
9. The Big Picture
10. Think It Over
11. You’re to Blame
12. Feel
13. Stone
14. Distance

Wolfgang Van Halen has revealed two new tracks from his forthcoming Mammoth WVH album, Don’t Back Down and Think It Over.

Don’t Back Down is accompanied by a music video that sees four Wolfgang Van Halens (plus two more on production duties) performing the single – a fuzz-heavy riffer in the vein of previously unveiled track You’re to Blame – at 5150 Studios.

Wolfgang, of course, handled all instruments and vocal duties on Mammoth WVH’s forthcoming self-titled debut, and the video gives us an insight into his unexpected guitar choices for the record: a Gibson ES-335 and Fender Starcaster, running through an EVH 5150III head.

The track is very much Wolfgang’s own hard-rock vision, but keen-eared Van Halen fans will note the neat flanged pick scrape Easter egg at the track’s finale.

Think It Over, meanwhile, adopts a more anthemic pop-rock approach, with expansive Foo Fighters-esque chords and a huge chorus hook.

The new songs follow Distance, Wolfgang’s tribute to his departed father, which received its debut live performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last month.

Mammoth WVH is out on June 11 via Ex1 Records/Explorer1 Music Group and available to preorder now.

The album's full tracklisting is as follows:

1. Mr. Ed
2. Horribly Right
3. Epiphany
4. Don’t Back Down
5. Resolve
6. You’ll Be the One
7. Mammoth
8. Circles
9. The Big Picture
10. Think It Over
11. You’re to Blame
12. Feel
13. Stone
14. Distance

Wolfgang Van Halen's Mammoth WVH made an appearance on NBC News' Today Show last Friday (February 19) to perform an acoustic rendition of his track Distance. 

Armed with a Taylor acoustic guitar and flanked by an army of other acoustic instruments wielded by live band Frank Sidoris, Jon Jourdan, Ronnie Ficarro and Garrett Whitlock, Wolf offered up a stripped-back version of the tear-jerking song, which was penned as a tribute to his late father and electric guitar great Eddie Van Halen.

The rendition came a week after Mammoth WVH's first-ever live outing, following their appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on February 12.

Speaking to the Today crew before the performance, Wolfgang Van Halen spoke about what Distance meant to him personally, and discussed the emotional message behind the song.

“It’s almost like a mantra for you when you lose someone that’s anyone who plays a large role in your life," he explains. "That’s my mantra when I think about my dad.” 

Wolfgang was also asked about the process of recording the album in which he assumes all instrumental and vocal responsibility, saying, “a normal band would have a guitar player, bass player, drummer and singer… I’m the one doing all of that.

“Every single thing you hear is a bunch of me’s all at the same time!” 

Mammoth WVH's self-titled debut album is now available to preorder in a range of formats, including exclusive color vinyl and autographed CD.

For more info, head over to Mammoth WVH's online store.