Eddie Van Halen

Drenched in Blog: Fair Warning

Drenched In Blog: Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want

Drenched in Blog: Happy 25th, Thriller

Last Night: Van Halen at Toyota Center

David Lee's Froth

Diamond Dave rants on fashion, being a digital gigolo, his rival/tourmate Sammy Hagar, a pending lawsuit and a bunch of other stuff

Guilty Pleasures, Part II

More music figures confess their deep, dark secrets

Thriving -- or Simply Surviving?

After all these years, Alex Van Halen insists his band isn't "D.O.A."

Rotation

After all these years, Alex Van Halen insists his band isn't "D.O.A."

Steady Eddie

Decades of torn-up road behind him, Van Halen's guitar god keeps chugging ahead

The Lost Years

Dead for almost a decade, Culturcide comes festering back to life

The Reverend Red Rocker

Platitudes on life, religion and music from the depths of a tequila bottle

The Night Diamond Dave Rejoined Van Halen

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Swell Guy

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Honor Bound

A fictional look at the future of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Wack's Very Special Holiday Music Guide

For Those About to Rock

Guitar Hero cranks rhythm-gaming up to 11

True Blue Confessions

Let's join Madonna for a friendly round of Celebrity Breach of Confidentiality

Feels Like Old Times

With Sammy Hagar back on stage, Van Halen trudges on

My Way

Stanley Jordan plays his own kind of jazz

New Bands from Old

Or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Ignore Audioslave"

Jug Ugly

Aaron Loesch and band find inspiration in life's throwaway objects

Where Is He Now?

Rik Emmett of Triumph, after we return

Eddie Van Halen Can't Drive 55, But He Is 55

Daniel Kramer​Today marks the 55th anniversary of the world receiving the gift of the illustrious finger-tapping stylings of Eddie Van Halen. Hard rock wouldn't be the same without his goofy face on stage wailing away on his "Frankenstrat" and his strong arm tactics behind the scenes. Rocks Off ha ... More >>

Jeff Beck, Speaking Without Words

Photos by Jason Wolter​ Aftermath supposes that, when it comes to music, poetry is where you find it. But unlike the evergreen Beatles vs. Stones debate, or the even more pronounced vinyl/CD/MP3 back-and-forth, the line between those who prefer their music with lyrics and those who can take it str ... More >>

The 6 Absolute Ugliest Custom Guitars On The Planet

​Rocks Off is currently in the market for a good guitar yet has next to no money, so for the past few months we've been tantalizing ourselves by poring over the multitude of guitars of the Internet. There are some mighty pretty signature guitars out there, including Angus Young's signature Gib ... More >>

Top 10 Last Words By Famous Musicians

​Musicians tend to be a mouthy lot. It takes a certain kind of soul to want and express your own inner world to the outer world at large. So when the time comes for them to shuffle off this mortal coil, they often have some very interesting exit lines... 10. Ludwig Van Beethoven, "Friends a ... More >>

Last Night: Billy Idol At House Of Blues

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Billy Idol House of Blues August 25, 2010 See a slideshow of snarls and sweat from last night's show. Hot in the city. Tonight. Billy Idol, that ever-grinning Dorian Gray of rock and roll, didn't really need to yell "Sweat! Sweat! Sweat!" during "Dancing With Myself" ... More >>

Cowboy From Hell: Dimebag Darrell's Best Guitar Solos

findagrave.com​This blog is stupid, because Rocks Off - this member at least - loves everything that Pantera did. In turn, that means we like everything that the Texas metal gods' late guitarist, Metroplex-bred "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, did. But still, let's look back and some of the best solo ... More >>

25 Famous Bands' Less Famous Previous Names

​As promised, here are the answers to Rocks Off's "Original Band Name" quiz from Tuesday. John St. Lee, if you'd care to email us, we'll see what we can do about getting you a prize. Do you like Devo? 1. Chicago: At about 25 or 6 to 4, the Windy City jazz-rockers realized The Big Thing sucked ... More >>

The 10 Best Rock Samples In Hip-Hop

​Rocks Off just finished reading Ian Christe's 2007 Van Halen biography, Everybody Wants Some, which chronicles the band's history from the Van Halen boys' entry into the U.S., the upbringing of David Lee Roth, and devastating, fatal 1985 crash into Mount Sammy Hagar. Sad stuff if you're a Rot ... More >>

Sammy Hagar: Red Rocker, Crue-Shaming Sex Machine

​Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock By Sammy Hagar with Joel Selvin It Books, 256pp., $26.99 During the tour to support Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, singer/guitarist Sammy Hagar certainly took the record's title to heart. Because just about every night during Eddie's 20-minute guit ... More >>

Your Favorite Bands: How To Correctly Pronounce Their Names

​Back in December 1998, when Eminem was just hitting MTV and rap radio, we remember people pronouncing his name as "Eee-mine-im," and not the candy-inflected way it actually was. We even made the mistake during our first viewing of "My Name Is" late at night on the video channel and calling a ... More >>

Baby's Cryin': Rockabye Baby Sends Us Lullaby Renditions of Van Halen

Yep. ​The folks at Rockabye Baby! remake hard rock from the likes of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Tool, and the Smashing Pumpkins into baby-friendly jams with "soothing mellotrons, vibraphones and bells," replacing all the things that made those bands perfect for well, making rock and roll babies. Thi ... More >>

Thriller Turns 30: Five Reasons It Rocked

​Today marks the thirty-year anniversary of the release of Thriller, which broke basically every record in the book. It remains the best selling album of all time with over 10 million in total sales. It not only solidified Michael Jackson as one of the biggest pop stars of all time, it deliver ... More >>

Van Halen Announces 2012 Tour On Twitter, Official Site

Soon. But older. And less hair. ​Here it is folks, your first stirrings of Van Halen's 2012 tour, long rumored, but now a sweet reality. OK, we won't believe it until we have a tour tee in our hands outside Toyota Center and a sweaty, torn ticket stub in our wallet. Late Sunday night on Twit ... More >>

The Top 10 Hard Rock and Metal Guitarists of the '80s

Yes, yes, shred until you bleed!​Well, it's the day after Christmas and many of you probably have some holiday blues. Maybe you had a rough Christmas. Maybe your family is making you crazy. Maybe you didn't get that brand new navel ring you wanted or perhaps you filled up on so much food and e ... More >>

Van Halen Set To Hit Houston's Toyota Center June 24

blabbermouth.netDavid Lee Roth and Wolfgang Van Halen on Thursday night at NYC's Cafe Wha​Just minutes after pictures from Van Halen's Cafe Wha? club show in New York City hit rock blog Blabbermouth, industry site Pollstar added a June 24 date at the Toyota Center for the band. Kool & The Gang ... More >>

Flying High Again: Five-ish Guys That Made the Flying V Famous

Photo by Jeff BalkeMy ultra-classy Gibson guitar refrigerator magnets including the V (second from right).​There are few instruments more distinctive than the Flying V. It's odd that a guitar this funky looking has been commonly used by a wide range of guitar players from country and blues to ... More >>

Iron Men: Five Rock 'n' Roll Cancer Survivors

​Sad news emerged today that heavy metal godfather Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma. It was a big shock for Black Sabbath fans, as the group's original lineup have a new album and a world tour planned for 2012. Though already counted among rock and roll's ultim ... More >>

The Hair Balls Super Bowl Live Blog: Remember To Piss

Oh here go hell come. ​In some alternate universe, the streets of Houston are currently bathed in Miller Lite, Reliant Stadium and every bar in town is a watch party, with even the homeless folks are wearing soiled Texans jerseys. But alas, our Houston Texans only made it into the second round ... More >>

Van Halen's A Different Kind Of Truth: A Track-By-Track Breakdown

​First off, Van Halen's first album in 14 years, A Different Kind Of Truth is - in the words of my friend Lisa - "better than it should be." And I agree. The guys could have slacked off on this and coasted on their legend - however possibly tarnished in the eyes of fans - but Truth is no cas ... More >>