Alex Van Halen

Had the privilege of getting to know Al pretty well from '90 to '99 while
I was freelancing as a music journalist. We would get invited out to catch
numerous shows per tour and we had a ball (especially on the BALANCE tour).

I cannot stress enough how professional and down to earth the two
brothers were. And their love of playing is unsurpassed. I was really
impressed with their closeness and their constant desire to create new
music.
 
Alex Van Halen's zebra stripe drumset is on display at the guitar center in west los angeles. You can get close and see how the bass drums are linked. It looks like its been played hard too. They wont let you play it though :(
 
Alex was always fond of the "big" kit, but within' that was always 2 kicks, 2 racks, and almost always 2 floors. 2 crashes, one left, one right. Everything else is just packin' more drums in on top of more drums.


He he he. I was t that show.
SMILE was the other hot local act at that time. Grammer, Gervin and Jim Volpe on drums if I remember correctly. If you remember a band called RINCON from that era Harry, that was me. They used to get all their equipment from Dr. Music on Foothill, next to the SEARS.
 
The bass drums in the beginning of hot for teacher are amazing.
Alex is good, i just don't like the fact that he uses ride cymbal bells all the time (it sounds like it). Unique style though, I like his work with the bass drum; like in poundcake.

It's the old story of how its done. I think it's toms in the beginning and then the shuffle added. I'm not sure though.
I actually like the way he used his ride bell and how he rides the crash. I think he has been pretty creative w/the bell of his ride. In a few tunes (one on Diver Down;forget the name) he plays the bass drum straight and lets the ride bell do all the talking along w/Eddies guitar. Very cool IMO.
Also w/the bass drum thing, a song that comes to mind is Girl Gone Bad. Its got a Bonham feel to it. A lot of cool fills in there too.
 
Super nice pics...

Yeah...Alex is underrated. Not only a great player, but with his own sound. His drums always sound amazing.



Cheers.
LG
 
I just listened to Women and Children First, to and from work. Cradle will Rock, Romeos Delight, T.Y.Whiskey Home, Loss of Control and Simple Rhyme are all great tunes. Great album in general, but those are my favorites. Very unique drumming. Not your standard rock drumming. A lot of cool stuff thrown in. Especially Simple Rhyme.
 
The bass drums in the beginning of hot for teacher are amazing.
Alex is good, i just don't like the fact that he uses ride cymbal bells all the time (it sounds like it). Unique style though, I like his work with the bass drum; like in poundcake.

It's funny. I was never impressed by Van Halen mostly because of Dave's gigolo appearance and sexual innuendos. To me they looked cheap and I never captured the amazing musical abilities.
Now, some 30 years later I discovered "Ain't talkin bout love" and I cannot stop playing this song and I especially like Dave's amazing voice and the ride work on it coupled with the great snare sound. Go figure.
 
Van Halen 1 has some really great playing by Alex. Over the years he has always had a very distinct sounding snare too. I never thought he was anything special when they first came out, but over the years really listsning to what he is doing I realize he has a lot of talent.
 
Hats off to Mr. Van Halen. He always amazes me.

BTW did you guy see Alex now has his signature Paiste 2002 24" Big ride?
 
Alex is THE MAN.

I remember seeing him with VH in the DLR days... blew me away.
END OF.
 
I'm glad this thread has some new life!

I absolutely love Alex Van Halen's style of play, mostly because lots of times I can't figure out what he's doing! He plays with such power, yet there's always an undercurrent of nuance that you just can't put your finger on (at least that's how it is for me).

And his style and sound are very unique, even for a rock drummer. He plays and sounds very different from his contemporaries. I do think that his cymbal play is somewhat over the top, as in, a little too much, but hey - that's Alex! One of my favorite songs is "Loss of Control", as mentioned by mikeybbdrummin above; a very underrated song in my book.

I had a go a little while back at covering my favorite Van Halen song, "Girl Gone Bad". To me this is Van Halen's most underrated song; underrated because I think it's so good musically, by all the band members.

Bottom line is that he's in my elite list of favorite drummers, and I hope to cover another of his songs soon. Alex Van Halen rocks.
 
I'm glad this thread has some new life!

I absolutely love Alex Van Halen's style of play, mostly because lots of times I can't figure out what he's doing! He plays with such power, yet there's always an undercurrent of nuance that you just can't put your finger on (at least that's how it is for me).

And his style and sound are very unique, even for a rock drummer. He plays and sounds very different from his contemporaries. I do think that his cymbal play is somewhat over the top, as in, a little too much, but hey - that's Alex! One of my favorite songs is "Loss of Control", as mentioned by mikeybbdrummin above; a very underrated song in my book.

I had a go a little while back at covering my favorite Van Halen song, "Girl Gone Bad". To me this is Van Halen's most underrated song; underrated because I think it's so good musically, by all the band members.

Bottom line is that he's in my elite list of favorite drummers, and I hope to cover another of his songs soon. Alex Van Halen rocks.

I agree. Funny, I mentioned Girl Gone Bad in my last post too.
Like I have said in defense of Neil Peart..............same goes for Alex....It doesn't matter who is faster, hits harder, or more technical NOW.......................what matters< to me anyways, is what Alex brought to the table in his day. His style is very unique. And nobody will convince me otherwise.........................My favorites/major influences (and I never say the best on the planet) are Gregg Bissonette, Neil Peart and Alex Van Halen....................I incorporate all three in my style of playing, and I thank them all for the great drumming that made me like them in the first place!!
 
Not a fan of DLR era VH, plus I cant stand Alexs' early "signature" snare sound. Like some of the Sammy stuff, but overall wouldnt call myself a fan. On some of the Sammy stuff he did have some great drum sounds though. No matter who the drummer is, the one thing I absolutely DETEST is when guys ride their crash cymbals. "Humans Being" is my fave VH song, I thought "Wow, finally something heavy from these guys", then he has to ruin it (I think during the solo) riding the crash!

No denying the guy is unique though, just wish he wouldve played in a band I liked more.
 
I'm glad this thread has some new life!
He plays with such power, yet there's always an undercurrent of nuance that you just can't put your finger on (at least that's how it is for me).

Thats it for me, AVH has always managed to do that "It Sounds Simple, but it aint" trick and its been the thing that makes all VH songs brilliant. PopRocktacular
 
Hi guys, I just came across this thread and had to reply even though it is an old one.

In particular I would like to address a couple of assertions made throughout the thread regarding Hot for Teacher and 1. That Alex over-dubbed this part and 2. That Alex never played the intro live.

Both these assertions are factually incorrect, he did not over-dub the intro and he certainly has played it live in the past.

The following YouTube link is a live recording from the 1984 tour that should put the debate to rest. Listen to the start and the ending where he expands on it at the end of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjCDyNJMABw
 
Hi guys, I just came across this thread and had to reply even though it is an old one.

In particular I would like to address a couple of assertions made throughout the thread regarding Hot for Teacher and 1. That Alex over-dubbed this part and 2. That Alex never played the intro live.

Both these assertions are factually incorrect, he did not over-dub the intro and he certainly has played it live in the past.

The following YouTube link is a live recording from the 1984 tour that should put the debate to rest. Listen to the start and the ending where he expands on it at the end of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjCDyNJMABw

YES, thank you! I wouldn't comment on this age old debate, but earlier (years ago) posts here are just plain wrong. Here's a young drummer giving the best lesson I've seen for the HFT intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssNrAODsmIE
 
He sure has had some interesting kits...
Alex+Van+Halen+++Ludwig.jpg

Looks like he took 4 24x14 bass drums and strapped them together to make a couple of 24x28 basses...

4159011187_3434f4b55f_o.jpg

VanHalen88.jpg

Van%2BHalen.Alex%2Bdrums.RRHOF.10-11.jpg
 
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