The album Alex Van Halen is working on with Steve Lukather will include unreleased material he recorded with his late brother Eddie.
In an interview with Brazil’s Kazagastão, Alex says, “Ed and I had a lot of stuff that we made, that we made musically that we never let go. Many people have asked, what about releasing unreleased stuff? Well, we’re not gonna release it in its embryonic form because it wouldn’t make any sense. But I’ve been fortunate enough to have Steve Lukather, who was a good friend of Ed’s, and we’re working on putting a record together, but it has to be of the quality and the level of where we left it. Not just to say, ‘Hey, here’s some music that we made. If you like it, that’s great.’ No. It has to be the quality that we expect…
“These are recordings that were going to be the next [Van Halen] record, and that were stopped because [Ed] didn’t live that long… The drums are already recorded. The drums, the guitar and the bass (Wolfgang Van Halen) are already in there. What we didn’t have is a vocalist, and obviously the subtleties and the glue — we call it the glue or the spackle.”
As for working with Lukather, he says, “I can work things out on a keyboard, but it takes me too long to figure it out. And by that time, the moment is gone. I went to Steve’s house several times and we played a piece of music and he goes, ‘Yeah, I got it. That’s it. That’s all we need.’ Then he can do all the connective tissues. He knows where to put the solo, as far as structure and organ and structure and an organization. I have my opinions and he has his, and they are just opinions. So he can facilitate things that would’ve taken me 10 times as long. And I love the guy. We’ve known him for years.”
And as for whether it will feature a vocalist, Alex says, “We originally had plans to — I think I can probably say without talking outta school, one of the singers who we really, really, really wanted to use for the new stuff was Paul Rodgers, and he has a relationship with Luke and we grew up on Free and all that, but [Paul] can’t do it anymore. And it was very difficult for him to bring himself to say, ‘No, I can’t. Count me out.’ I respect that. I’m saddened and disappointed, but you know, that’s life… He knows he can’t do it — which I think is better than saying, ‘Yeah, I can do it,’ and then not be able to do it.”
They are currently looking for another singer.
“I’m 72. We gotta find somebody in that age group who was exposed to the same musical experience that we have. Otherwise, it doesn’t have the depth.
“I can’t remember what the expression is, but there’s a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is knowing that a cucumber is a vegetable. Wisdom is knowing where to put it. [Laughs]…
“I really believe that the universe will work something out to where this project will come out the best it can possibly be. We have no other intent other than to have it come to fruition.”
When completed, it will be Alex Van Halen’s first new music since releasing the song “Unfinished” that he recorded with Eddie in conjunction with the audiobook version of 2024 memoir, Brothers.
