Unreleased Van Halen Recordings To Be Released 'When It Feels Right'

10-20-2024

Alex Van Halen is including the previously unreleased track "Unfinished", the final instrumental song he composed with his brother Eddie Van Halen before his death, as a bonus on the audio version of his forthcoming memoir "Brothers" and Alex says that he is looking at revealing more unreleased music from Eddie "when it feels right".

Eddie and Alex recording a large amount of song ideas at legendary guitarist's 5150 Studio and when speaking to Billboard about "Brothers", the drummer spoke about that material and if it will ever be released. He said that yes, but cautioned that it does not sound like Van Halen and he isn't in a rush to share that tracks.

He said, "I'm not in a hurry. I do have a certain obligation to keep it to Ed's standards. He was meticulous and he was a pain in the ass...and I need to have access to the right takes, 'cause not every day did we play at our best. But we always had the tape recorders running. We didn't go in the studio like, 'Yeah, we're gonna make a record from beginning to end.' We had little pieces here, little pieces there, you put 'em away until the time comes and you go, 'Hey, I think I like that piece...' and then go back to it and build something from there."

Alex understands that fans are eager for the music, but he also revealed that might not be what they expect. "I know people want to hear it, the other side of the coin is this doesn't sound like Van Halen. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't."

But Alex has thought about how best to release the songs and shared that he is He says that he is "looking forward to getting some people involved...other musicians and producers. You have to have the right team, because not everybody can do everything. So we'll see."