A Dutch newspaper reports that Alex Van Halen has turned to Toto guitarist Steve Lukather to get a new Van Halen record off the ground.
The revelatory article from the brothers’ home country says that the unfinished recordings they made together before Eddie Van Halen’s passing in 2020 will form the basis of the project. That means pulling from the same catalog of ideas that “Unfinished” was lifted from last year.
That song, one of the last songs the Van Halen brothers worked on together, had been released to promote Alex’s new memoir, Brothers.
He’d mentioned how many similar recordings existed, harmonizing with claims once made by Michael Anthony of a vast archive of unheard material. Curiously, however, there was talk of using AI to turn Eddie’s “little pieces” into full songs by allowing the technology to understand and recreate the nuances of Eddie’s world-slaying talents.
It seems Alex now wants a human touch to bring the same idea to life, one that was immensely close to Eddie during his lifetime. The pair famously played on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, Lukater the rhythm parts, and Edddie a solo that, according to Alex, prompted David Lee Roth to quit the band.
Beyond that, Eddie played bass on Lukather’s debut solo album, with the virtuoso getting a songwriting credit for the opening track “Twist The Knife”. Both brothers would later feature on Lukather’s 2003 Christmas album, “Santamental” – so if you want to hear Eddie lend his chops to “Joy to the World”, you know where to look.
In that sense, there are echoes of how Pantera have reunited, with the late Dimebag Darrell’s void filled by his long-time friend Zakk Wylde.
Discussing the project with De Telegraf, Alex Van Halen is confident Lukather is the right man for the job.
![Steve Lukather - Twist The Knife [HQ] (CC) - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/I-jfOily6bw/maxresdefault.jpg)
“Ed and Steve Lukather were very good friends, and they often worked together. There is no one who can do this process with me as well as he can,” he says.
Speaking of the Van Halen archive of riffs and ideas last year, Alex told Rolling Stone: “They’re all little pieces... A bunch of licks don’t make a song.”
He then turned his attention to AI, believing it could analyze “the patterns of how Edward would have played something.
“You’re gonna think I’m out of my fucking mind,” he added. “But when conditions are right, things will manifest.”
There is no indication as to who else would feature in the band, although Alex had mooted Robert Plant as an ideal frontman for the AI-fueled project, so his recruitment policy may transfer over here. Wolfgang may get the nod for bass, considering he said the band’s 2006 reunion couldn’t have happened without him.
It seems unlikely that David Lee Roth would play a part, with Alex Van Halen saying a tribute tour with Joe Satriani fell apart after the singer refused to play tribute to Eddie during the shows. Interestingly, Jason Newstead had been asked about joining that tour.
As such, there is plenty to speculate about and very little truth to digest.
De Telegraaf, however, approached Lukather for comment while Toto toured the country.
“Did Alex say that?” was his response. “Oh, in that case, the news is true. Ed, Alex, and I were very close for years. It is true that we worked on it together.”
Meanwhile, Wolfgang Van Halen has opened up about his difficulty dealing with his father’s death before finding purpose in his life again with Mammoth WVH.
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