Mr. Bungle’s “Loss Of Control”

If you had told me in 1991 that Mike Patton would eventually do a spot-on cover of Van Halen’s “Loss Of Control” fronting Mr. Bungle with Scott Ian on rhythm guitar and Dave Lombardo on drums I’d tell you you were crazy. “You’re crazy!” I’d say, then storm off to my 4pm-7pm shift at Penguin […]

MCMLXXXIV

So by the time Van Halen’s 1984, or MCMLXXXIV was released in January of that year and you were a fan of Van Halen you were pretty much in one camp or another. You either dug the heavier synthesizer trip Eddie was taking and liked that at times they were starting to sound like Asia, […]

Diver Downer

In my life, Van Halen have gone from being hailed as Gods to being complete clowns back to being a source of great love and nostalgia. Growing up in the Midwest in the 80s you were limited on cultural growth and expanding ones tastes musically to Top 40 radio and physical print mags you found […]

Women And Van Halen First

There was a time in the early 90s where if you admitted to being a fan of Van Halen you were ostracized by everyone around you; family, friends, neighbors, that nice senior couple that lived down the street and even the clergy. There were camps set up across the US where admitted Van Halen fans […]

Mean Streets

Sorry you cinephiles, this isn’t a post about Martin Scorsese’s classic film. No, this is far less cool. So uncool that I’ll probably lose some longtime readers. Yes, what I’m going to write about will probably shatter quite a few preconceptions you all may have had about me. I’m not the debonair, suave, and dangerous […]