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New Van Halen (Kind Of)

If you’re thinking that the debut album from Wolfgang Van Halen, the son of Eddie Van Halen, is going to be the second coming of Van Halen, think again.

Wolfie says, “I’m not trying to be my father, I’m trying to be me.”

Playing all the instruments on the album, he also goes onto say, “I cannot stress this enough. It’s just me. This isn’t me baiting you, and then all of the sudden Dave [Lee Roth] is singing a song, or Al [Van Halen] is drumming on one song, or Pop is doing a solo. It wouldn’t be a solo album then. It’s not a Van Halen album. It’s a Wolfgang Van Halen album.”

As for what we can expect, he says, “Rock. It may venture into some Pop-y places, and may venture into some Metal-y places, but it’s centered in Rock. I view it as a Rock record.”

While the album is not done yet, nor has a release date, it’s already been endorsed by Sammy Hagar, who posted a note to Wolfgang. He writes, “The only way you will ever be happy and satisfied is doing your own thing the way you hear it in your head and feel it in your heart! You inherited genetically enough talent for 10 lifetimes. Use it the way you want. P.S. I’ve heard a couple snippets and they are bad ass!!! Hope I run into you someplace once we all get out of prison ha ha. Stay safe. Love to your mom & dad.”

And Wolfgang responded with, “Thanks so much for the kind words, Sam! Can’t wait for you to hear it. Much love to you and yours.”

 

And, in Van Hagar-era news, Scandal singer Patty Smyth, who Eddie Van Halen had interest in replacing David Lee Roth before going with Sammy Hagar, says she declined the offer because, “They were heavy drinkers. I don’t drink. I never saw myself living in L.A. I was, like, ‘I’m from New York. We don’t move to L.A.’

“It’s all semantics because if [Eddie] had said to me, ‘Let’s make a record,’ then I would have said yes to that. But joining the band — to me then, ‘Oh god, they fight all the time, him and his brother, and I don’t want to get into a volatile situation.’ And I was probably heavily hormoned out because I was eight months pregnant, so there was a state of mind that I was in of how I need to take care of myself. But I regretted turning him down. For a long time, I regretted it. When you start to have regrets, I was, like, ‘Oh, man. I would’ve made so much money.'”

While we wait to see if Van Halen will ever work again, it’s never too late as Patty will release her first album in 28 years, It’s About Time, on October 9th.

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