Van Halen: A Visual Biography

by Martin Popoff

Once past the unfortunate fact that Van Halen didn’t have the greatest album covers in the world, millions of fans around the world would attest that this is a band eminently deserving of a Wymer Visual Biography. From the single sleeves through the passes, posters and promo items and of course, most especially Dave, Ed, Mikey and Al themselves (and Sam, Gary and Wolfgang!), Van Halen was an explosion of colour and action, resulting in a feast for the eyes within the pages of this sumptuously appointed book you now hold in your hands.

As one celebrates this legendary band in karate-kicking action, from the mid-‘70s all the way up until the last tour in 2015 and many solo points and projects in-between, provided for your reading pleasure is one of Martin Popoff’s celebrated detailed timelines, stuffed with trivia that swiftly moves us through 40 years of massive rock history from one of the storied greats of the genre.

“Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” “Jamie’s Cryin’,” “Unchained,” “Jump,” “Panama,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Why Can’t This Be Love,” “Finish What Ya Started,” “Right Now”… these are some of the biggest anthems of all time, and accompanying the tunes is the narrative of two opposing lead singers, Diamond David Lee Roth and Sammy “Red Rocker” Hagar, both of whom are also represented in detail vis-à-vis their solo careers amongst the celebration of the core band at hand.

The end result is a beach-balling an’ sun-tanned symphony of words and pictures, indeed a book that differs from previous Van Halen photography projects through the inclusion of so much rare memorabilia, side ephemera and otherwise nifty pictures of paper goods perking up each page as one basks in what this band managed to accomplish over four decades of white-knuckle rock on the edge.

Genres: Music

224 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2020

About the author

At approximately 7900 (with over 7000 appearing in his books), Martin has unofficially written more record reviews than anybody in the history of music writing across all genres. Additionally, Martin has penned approximately 85 books on hard rock, heavy metal, classic rock and record collecting. He was Editor-In-Chief of the now retired Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, Canada’s foremost metal publication for 14 years, and has also contributed to Revolver, Guitar World, Goldmine, Record Collector, bravewords.com, lollipop.com and hardradio.com, with many record label band bios and liner notes to his credit as well. Additionally, Martin has been a regular contractor to Banger Films, having worked for two years as researcher on the award-winning documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, on the writing and research team for the 11-episode Metal Evolution and on the ten-episode Rock Icons, both for VH1 Classic. Additionally, Martin is the writer of the original metal genre chart used in Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey and throughout the Metal Evolution episodes. Martin currently resides in Toronto and can be reached through martinp@inforamp.net or www.martinpopoff.com.

Reviews

[James Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contain a wealth of pictures from all stages of Van Halen’s career, from the earliest days in small clubs to the final tour. There are pictures of all of the personnel and there is also a timeline. Mention is also made of the solo careers of DLR and Sammy, and Anthony’s post firing career. Given the loss of Edward, which clearly occured post-publication, this is definitive work on the group’s career.

[Robert Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended for all VH fans. RIP King Edward.