Chickenfoot VS. Van Halen - Best Of Both Worlds

[Pete]

Michael Anthony has lived in both worlds, so he’s probably more curious than most when it comes to the new VH album – the band’s first with David Lee Roth in 27 years, and first with his replacement, new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen.

“Yeah, I’m curious to see what they come out with, but there’s no type of competitive type thing,” the bassist tells Ultimate Classic Rock.

“It’s funny, I go online, and see what the fans are saying, you know, ‘Oh my God, it’s gonna be Van Halen against Chickenfoot this year, both things coming out, and what’s going to be better?’ and blah blah blah. If they out put out a great album, that’s great. I just know that ours is great, and I’m really proud of it.”

Anthony was unceremoniously dumped as VH bassist for reasons, he believes, have nothing to do with music.

“Some Van Halen fans say I left the band to hook up with Sammy, but I never said, ‘I quit’,” Michael told Mojo last year.

“There was nothing going on in the Van Halen camp, but Eddie kinda backed me up against a wall. . . Eddie felt that I was a traitor. I helped hook Sammy back up with them for the 2004 reunion tour, but Eddie didn’t want me to be a part of that originally, so I took a big pay cut.

“I’m not crying, I didn’t need the money. I did that because I wanted to play for the fans. I signed away any legal rights I had with the name, the trademark or whatever. I did it because if that was the last time Van Halen would ever be on stage, I wanted to be part of it.”

“The major reason why I’m not in Van Halen (now) is because I became friends with Sammy again. The Van Halen brothers never got over that. If they hold a grudge, they hold it forever.”

For Anthony, it’s all old news as the past is best left in the past.

“Well, you know what?! As far as people saying, ‘Do you miss Van Halen?’ or any of that kind of stuff, I’ve totally moved on. Man, I am just in my total happy place right now.”

Anthony celebrated his 57th birthday last week and let Chickenfoot fans know what’s up with their new record.

“Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes!,” wrote Anthony on Facebook. “The only thing that makes my day better is that mixing on the new Chickenfoot CD is done! It’s a lot heavier than the first record and I can’t wait to get it out there!”

[blackers45]

COOL

[hojam]

I am turned off by VH....possibly forever. So, I really don't give a darn if VH makes another album or not.

I am however, looking forward to the new Chickenfoot record

[Equinox]

Jun 30, 2011 15:16:42 GMT -5 hojam said:

I am turned off by VH....possibly forever. So, I really don't give a darn if VH makes another album or not.

I am however, looking forward to the new Chickenfoot record

If it's as good as the first one, I'm in. I'll believe VH has a new record out when it actually comes out.

[Pete]

Van Halen have announced live dates headlining a big festival in Australia for Sept.

[Pete]

Former Van Halen bass player Michael Anthony seems to have found new life in the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot; and if you ask Anthony, he’ll whole-heartedly proclaim Chickenfoot are “like how Van Halen was in the early days.”

“It’s four friends getting together and having a good time,” Anthony told Ultimate Classic Rock about the band, which includes his former Van Halen bandmate Sammy Hagar, as well as guitarist Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. “I guess a lot of that has to do with, you know, we’ve all had our own careers and done really well. So, it’s not like we have anything to prove, and we don’t need to do it for the money, so we can do it just purely for the enjoyment of making music.”

He added that Van Halen’s ’04 reunion was more than a little uncomfortable because, “the way that turned out, Eddie didn’t want me on that tour anyway, because I was a ‘traitor,’ because I sided with and was jamming with Hagar…”

As for Chickenfoot’s sophomore album, the men hope to release the new single in July (“Why wait?”), adding the new tracks are “maybe a little darker” than the last release.

“I think we’ve really evolved as a band. The first CD, we just had so much fun jamming, we had some ideas and we put it together kind of quick, because everybody else had their schedules to keep,” he said. “Even though we actually kind of did it the same way this time, we were a lot more comfortable jamming with each other, and I think we dug a lot deeper. There’s a lot more meat to these new songs.”

He also promises Chickenfoot will tour this year, hopefully in the fall. Meanwhile, Van Halen are plugging away on their new album, and according to Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti, it rocks.

[Pete]

Attention, Van Halen fans. The heavy metallers’ long-awaited new album is in the can and, according to Alter Bridge/Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti, it’s “incredible.”

The guitarist told Austria's Mulatschag TV: “Recently, I was in Los Angeles and Wolfgang [Van Halen, bass player] invited me to his dad's house, and I got to go to 5150 studios and watch Eddie and Alex [Van Halen] and Wolfgang play their new record from front to back. So I was one of the only people who have heard the new Van Halen. It was incredible.”

The album is on the books to drop this fall, and the band is expected to tour in the support of the release. It’s Van Halen’s first studio album with singer David Lee Roth in 27 years. Producer John Shanks (Bon Jovi, Melissa Etheridge) recorded the effort.

Tremonti, a good friend of Wolfgang Van Halen, went on to reminisce about first meeting Eddie’s son.

“We played with Van Halen years and years ago at Madison Square Garden and [the] Palace in Detroit. The first time I saw Wolfgang, he was just a little… probably five-year-old kid or six-year-old kid,” he said. “Eddie, that day, gave me one of his guitars, so I got to know Eddie. Then years went by and Wolfgang ended up being a fan of Alter Bridge, so we got to know him through Alter Bridge...”

[Trexx]

Bring on the NEW V.H. !



My ears are ready, Eddie.