VAN HALEN: WELCOME TO BONER COUNTRY, POP. MARK TREMONTI
Van Halen, featuring the young squire Van Halen (left); Mark Tremonti (inset)
The reason that Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti is the world’s luckiest guy is not cuz he gets to party with amazing singer Scott Stapp 24/7. Nay, Tremonti is Lord Luckynuts cuz he’s buds with Wolfgang Van Halen, who is the bassist of Van Halen. Which somehow means that Eddie Van Halen, also of Van Halen, trusts Tremonti enough to allow him a live preview of new Van Halen jamz.
Tremonti described Thursday his visit to 5150 (via Van Halen News Desk):
“Wolfie asked if me and my buddy Eric wanted to go checkout rehearsals the next day over at his dad’s house. And I said [laughs] ‘Of course!’ [laughs] So he picked me up the next day and we drove to this big, gated home and we get to 5150 studios. It was just me, my buddy Eric, Wolfie and Eddie in one room, and then Alex was in the other room behind some plexiglass, and then they played down the entire new album.
“What makes it so great is that they took what they could from all their old demos back in the ’80′s and pretty much did what they could to create songs out of old ideas, so it sounds like vintage Van Halen. Musically it sounds in the [early ’80’s] era. I didn’t hear any vocals – David was not there. It was just the three of them and the music sounded like very authentic, old school Van Halen. It was a just a crazy experience to sit there and watch. Eddie was four feet from me, and Wolfie was on the other side. The guys were very excited to be doing what they’re doing.
“I remember commenting on Wolfgang’s bass parts; I said, ‘Man, that was a great chordal thing you did at the end there.’ And then Eddie looked at me and joked, ‘Wha-wha-wha … how was my part?’ [laughs] I said, ‘Dude, you’re Eddie Van Halen. Your part is incredible every single time! [laughs].”
Yeah ha ha. After that praise of Wolfie’s chops, Tremonti went on to call the lad “very, very talented” and modest despite his dad’s renown. Hmmm. Three hearty compliments? That’s suspicious. Wait I see what’s going on here. The price for early listens to new Van Halen music is public endorsement of Michael Anthony’s replacement, the guitarist’s kid, a dude 35 years younger than his bandmates whose life in no way resembles the scenarios in Van Halen music, a rich kid named Wolfgang. That’s a hard sell. Especially to cynical youths and stodgy olds, i.e. MetalSucks readership. If only there were some way I could help cough cough.
–ADF
No official release or add dates have been announced for new Van Halen music. However, since Saturday, David Lee Roth’s website displays the message “Get Ready …”
