Brothers
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4.5 • 279 Ratings
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
Featuring an exclusive, never-before-heard piece of music, the last written together by the legendary Van Halen brothers!
In this intimate and open account—nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you’ve ever read—Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate.
Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen’s love letter to his younger brother, Edward, (Maybe “Ed,” but never “Eddie”), written while still mourning his untimely death.
In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers’ childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother—the kind of mom who admonished her boys to “always wear a suit” no matter how famous they became—a woman who was both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behavior. But mostly his is a story of brotherhood, music, and enduring love.
""I was with him from day one,” Alex writes. “We shared the experience of coming to this country and figuring out how to fit in. We shared a record player, an 800 square foot house, a mom and dad, and a work ethic. Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the experience of becoming successful, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of spending more hours in the studio than I’ve spent doing anything else in this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only hope to achieve in a lifetime.""
There has never been an accurate account of them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward’s life and death.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Alex Van Halen shares his stories of the bond between brothers and the brotherhood between band members. In this soul-baring memoir, he goes all the way back to his and Eddie’s childhood in the Netherlands—both brothers taking compulsory classical piano lessons, watching each other’s backs, and inheriting alcoholism from their jazz musician father. Following their emigration to America, he describes their band’s beginnings—the days of playing covers in clubs to get by, the formation of a different kind of brotherhood with David Lee Roth’s arrival, slaying as an opening act, and blazing through the largely live-in-the-studio recording of their debut. Alex isn’t shy about revealing the rock star antics, the perks and price of fame, or the clashing of wills within the band. He shows lots of love for Roth’s “flashes of brilliance interspersed with genuine insanity” and closes his narrative with Dave’s 1984 departure from Van Halen. But he ends the audiobook by discussing the hole his brother’s death left in his heart. His straight-from-the-gut narration delivers every emotion with maximum impact. And the inclusion of an unreleased, unfinished track from the brothers is the cherry on top for hardcore Van Halen heads.
Customer Reviews
Quick, enjoyable read
I have a bad habit of getting bogged down with heavy, deep-thinking reading and this book was the perfect antidote to that.
Brief, but it gives you most of what you want
If you’re thinking about listening to this, you’ll get most of what you’re after. This is Alex’s take on his relationship with his brother, more or less concluding at the end of the Dave era. There are some insights into things that happened after 1984, but it’s mostly the beginning until Dave leaves.
Basically, it’s about Alex, Eddie and Dave. Sammy is noted as a nice guy but he’s only name checked a few times. Michael Anthony is mentioned more than Sammy, but only slightly more than a bass player who proceeded him in the early days that you probably never heard of. Alex’s parents are referenced more than Michael, but less than their engineer and producer. Basically, it’s as though there were really only 3 people there, which in terms of ego and creative direction, may have been accurate.
I’m kind of torn between giving this 4 and 5 stars. It is pretty short and only covers part of the whole history. Then again, it covers the parts you want to know about and doesn’t waste your time going too deeply into the details about the parts you’re less interested in.
Brothers by Alex Van Halen
In 1978, I was in high school and somewhat reluctantly bought Van Halen’s debut album on the recommendation of a sales associate at my local record store. I played it half a dozen times and was transfixed. Later that week Jamie’s Cryin’ was blasting as I walked into my friend’s house party. It became our go-to rock album my junior year—and the memories attached to it remain indelible. Many Van Halen album purchases followed throughout the years, and now. decades later, I stumbled upon this gem of a book and learned about the bonds of family, brothers, and the true creative spirit and passions that inspired it all.