Tag Archives: van halen

Features, Milestones

Van Halen’s “5150” Celebrates Its Thirtieth Anniversary (1986-2016)

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In 1984, Van Halen had released an album of the same name and while this release brought their fans blockbuster hits such as “Jump”, “Panama”, “I’ll Wait and “Hot For Teacher”, the dramas going on behind the scenes were at an all-time high and creative dissonance was causing too many rifts when it came to both Eddie Van Halen and singer David Lee Roth. Roth would split from the lineup in 1985 and after some considerable searching a new voice was decided upon in Sammy Hagar and their first music together would come to us with “5150”. Today, the 7th album in the Van Halen catalog reaches its thirtieth anniversary and I’m here to share some personal reflections on this milestone.
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Features, Tours and Festivals

Van Halen Announces Summer Tour For 2015

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Hot off the news about the first-ever live album in “Tokyo Dome Live In Concert” (which I discussed HERE in the event you missed it); the legendary Van Halen has announced a summer tour. Let’s take a look at the full press release, dates and promotional art. I’ll close out with some editorial of course.

The Press Release:
In celebration of a 2015 Summer/Fall North American Tour, VAN HALEN will perform a special concert for Jimmy Kimmel Live March 30 on Hollywood Boulevard. Featuring some of the band’s essential rock and roll classics, the concert will be broadcast over two nights, March 30 and March 31, on the late night talk show and marks VAN HALEN’s first U.S. television performance with original lead singer David Lee Roth. Jimmy Kimmel Live airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. / 10:35 p.m. Central time on ABC.

VAN HALEN is touring North America beginning July 5 in Seattle, Washington at the White River Amphitheater, with concerts scheduled through October 2 in Los Angeles, California at the legendary Hollywood Bowl. Special guest Kenny Wayne Shepherd will support all dates along the tour. Tickets for the Live Nation-promoted tour go on sale beginning April 4 at www.ticketmaster.com and www.livenation.com with special pre-sale information being announced locally. A complete list of tour dates can be found below.
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Features, Milestones

Van Halen’s “1984”: Big Brother’s Still Watching @ 30 Years (1984-2014)

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January was a great month for Hard Rock and Metal bands releasing iconic albums as it was only the other day that Judas Priest celebrated thirty years of “Defenders Of The Faith” (which was toasted HERE) and now it was Van Halen’s turn to soak up the rays of praise as “1984” hit the record store shelves thirty years ago today. I have to admit that the money I was making as a Wall Street messenger back then was being put to good use and the record shop was a regular place to visit and walk out with something. Van Halen was one of those bands that I was listening to since the very first album and they were one of my top three bands of all time. The other two are KISS and Judas Priest and each has had works covered on the core PiercingMetal website in addition to these blogs. The anticipation was high about “1984” because friends and I had been hearing the single “Jump” for a few weeks and while the memory has faded on when we all first saw the video for the tune, I would like to think that this was not too long after the album hit the street if not before. One should realize that in this time in music the video drove added sales to the album.
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