Today 11/16/2020 Wolfgang Van Halen, son of Eddie released a new song called “Distance” It’s a track that he is dedicating to his late father, guitar virtuoso Eddie (see: The Afterlife Just Picked Up An Amazing Guitarist: Eddie Van Halen Dead at 65).
Although it’s a one man show, a la Aldo Nova, he’s calling his band, Mammoth WVH. Mammoth was the original band name that Van Halen used, which is a clever homage. Wolf is playing all the instruments and singing. Recorded at Eddie’s famous at home studio 5150. I’ve been wondering when he planning to release some of this music. Today is the day for at least one song to sample.
Wolf was Howard Stern’s radio guest on Sirius this morning at 6am PST. I listened via the “Free preview” (Thank you, Sirius) since we don’t have a subscription to the service. I was subscribed and had a Sirius radio when Howard first went over to Sirius.
One of the things discussed toward the end was Wolf explaining what happened with Eddie in 2017 being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and only given six months to live. Then he flew over to Germany and got some sort of treatment that gave him three more years. Wolf said Eddie had warmed up to the idea of one gigantic “Kitchen Sink Tour” which would have included all three VH singers, assuming they agreed to it, of course. That would have been something hearing VH music from all three VH eras. In our dreams.
A bonus track was played on the show called “You’re to blame” that was very good, but you can check out the “Distance” video on the official Mammoth WVH channel, embedded below if allowed.
This song is really good. I wasn’t altogether surprised, but Wolf is right: it’s not Van Halen, but it’s got a great hook, good melodies and touching lyrics. Reminds me a bit of Creed for some reason. It’s definitely more modern rock than the 80s crazy guitar rock. Was glad to hear a solo in there. Maybe that’s my biggest complaint with the 90s rock movement was the guitar solos getting axed, pun intended.
Maybe the release of this song and the overwhelming positive early feedback I’m seeing will shut up the idiots who didn’t think Wolf had talent. I knew he did when I saw him playing bass on the Van Halen tour. He was never just some famous guy’s kid, he’s got the goods.
Last week, Wolf was under fire from an idiot on Twitter.
Anytime enough people get together, the a-holes come out. Unfortunately, the social media character limit texting service Twitter is no exception. After all, we have a currently sitting President who can’t stop diarrhea of the tweets on Twitter.
Just for disclaimer, I’ve used Twitter on and off since it was in beta. I’m not that active there and these days it is mostly used to provide snippets of new posts here. I will sometimes retweet or like tweets by others, but am definitely not very active on the service. Some people spend way too much times on social media liking, sharing and getting into arguments with people they will likely never meet offline. Life is much too short for too much of that activity.
I liked Wolf’s response to the troll.
On Friday, Wolfgang shared a tweet he received from what appears to be a trolling account in which his skills were denigrated and his achievements were belittled.
Wolfgang Van Halen Responds To Accusation That He Is ‘Leeching Off’ His Father’s Name For Solo Single – Blabbermouth.net
“Still leeching off of your fathers name I see,” the offensive tweet read. “You talentless fucking hack. Leave the band and give your spot back to it’s rightful owner you lowlife cunt.”
In response, Wolfgang wrote: “I don’t have the energy to come up with a joke for this, just look at this lame asshole lol. What a sad life this dude must lead.” When a Twitter follower advised Wolfgang to ignore the trolls, he
I don’t understand why people must treat others this way online? What on earth has Wolfgang Van Halen done to anybody? The kid was 15 and his father gave him a shot to join one of the greatest party bands of all time, his family also, by the way, Van Halen. Sure, what happened to the bassist Michael Anthony was a bummer, but blood is thicker than water and Mike seemed to get it.
As it turns out, this was Eddie’s last run out there, so who better to play with than his own son?
Meanwhile, Wolfgang has been working on his own music. He’s going the Aldo Nova route. There are no guest appearances by his dad or uncle on drums or any of the VH singers, it’s all Wolf. For now, all we can listen to is one track, “Distance” and watch the video.
Add to that Wolf has been working on this solo album for a long time, so none of the douche comments from some anon Twitterer make any logical sense.
I know albums are tough to sell, but I’ll buy Mammoth WVH album when it comes out. I like the two songs I’ve heard.
I bought the “Distance” single to show support. Wolf doesn’t need the money, of course (UPDATE 8:36am PST: proceeds going to charity: Mr. Holland’s Opus: https://www.mhopus.org/ that provides instruments to underprivileged students — GREAT CAUSE, btw), but it’s my way of throwing some cash in his guitar case. Wishing Wolf the best in his musical aspirations!
UPDATE 11/17/2020 @ 12:46pm PT: It’s a great feeling, a cosmic justice sort of thing when good things happen to good people doing good things. “Distance” hit #1 on all of iTunes, not just rock but everything. I’m sure Eddie is smiling somewhere, looking on in appreciation.
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