Book review: On track….VAN HALEN- every album, every song by Morgan Brown

April 15th, 2023 by andynathan

Sonicbond Publishing (Release Date 24.02.23)

The latest in the ever expanding ‘On Track’ series finds author Morgan Brown with the unenviable task of saying something fresh about Van Halen, given how much has already been written, especially after Eddie Van Halen’s sad passing a couple of years ago. Indeed just a year ago I reviewed the comprehensive ‘conversations with’ which is referenced extensively in this book.

In contrast to many of the regular authors in this series, this is only his second work, with the first being The Damned, not obvious bedfellows. On the other hand it makes him a good person to point out that, at least in their early days, the band’s fusion of the technical proficiency of heavy and progressive rock, the pumped up and concise energy of punk and a pop sensibility made for a unique combination.

There are two aspects of his writing that are distinctive. One is that as befits a musician, writing about a band that boasted one of the most revolutionary guitarists in rock history, his descriptions of each song go into great technical detail. As an example, ‘the bridge drops to A minor, the tricky rhythm remaining in 4/4 but accented in 3/8 for two bars. Roth circumvents the off-kilter feel with a single note vocal line in straight eighth notes’- you will think of ‘Jump’ in a new light next time you hear it on the radio.

The other difference is that his biases are freely on show, compared to some of the blander or more measured series authors. In particular, Sammy Hagar gets panned for his lazy lyrical style either of bland universal themes or lewd partying, without Dave Lee Roth’s tongue in cheek charm and film and literary inspirations.

Indeed when it comes to the Van Hagar period the song assessments become notably less technically intricate, presumably through a combination of the band becoming less innovative and the author failing to hide his boredom cum distaste for what he sees as some of their corporate rock stylings. It leads him into some judgements I personally wouldn’t agree with, including that they suffered ‘the ignominy of supporting soft rock (sic) behemoths Bon Jovi whose fanbase were indifferent’ whereas I recall them going down extremely well on that 1995 UK stadium tour.

No punches are pulled on the ill-starred Van Halen 3, yet his affinity for the Roth fronted version of the band comes over when he gushes once again over the songs on a ‘Different Kind of Truth’.

Without doubt this is one of the best written efforts in this series and his trenchant opinions make this an Interesting read both for committed and casual Van Halen fans, and one you will frequently find yourself either agreeing with or being infuriated by. ****

Review by Andy Nathan

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