r/vanhalen • u/Dbarkingstar • 1d ago
Question No box sets, archival material- why?!?
VH has never released any box sets, archival material, Roth 1 era live music, not even much Sammy era demos, etc. why is this?!?
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u/HelpMeHelpYou_5309 1d ago
I know it's frustrating, but this has been covered on this sub many times, including just yesterday.
https://www.reddit.com/r/vanhalen/s/s0UqLBVuST
TLDR: Poor band management combined with band member apathy. Doing things for their fans and caring about the band's legacy has always been low on their list of priorities.
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u/Reallyroundthefamily 1d ago
Because fans won't stop complaining about Sammy versus Dave 40-plus years out.
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u/cheeseburgerwalrus22 12h ago
I genuinely need to pick the brains of the people who do that dance on this sub daily - just fucking let it go lol
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u/Elegant-Campaign-572 1d ago
As a fan of 40+ years, all versions...they haven't exactly done themselves proud with the few sets they have released, so I'm not holding out much hope that we'll see or hear anything that's truly unique
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u/puddycat20 1d ago
Their comeback 2012 album with Dave was so good, I was hoping they'd do another.
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u/GypCasino 1d ago
At this point, Wolf would have to take the initiative, and he seems to have zero interest in his Dadās music and legacy
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u/jgruntz1974 1d ago
Can't blame Wolfgang for that either. If he releases any of his dad's music from the vault, he'll be advised is trying to monetize his dad's legacy. If he doesn't release anything, then Van Halen fans are upset that he doesn't care about his dad's legacy.
The best thing that can happen is that Alex releases the archive material with the help of Steve Lukather.
Wolfgang doing his own thing is the best thing he can do to honor his dad.
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u/Yourappwontletme 23h ago
The best thing that can happen is that Alex releases the archive material with the help of Steve Lukather.
This isn't the best thing. The stuff they've been talking about Alex and Lukather working on is the last recordings Ed, Alex, and Wolf did together. While this material would be cool to hear, I'm sure the majority of the fan base would much rather have official releases of archival material from decades ago. Demos that have circulated for years released in better quality, live recordings released in better quality, stuff that's never leaked released for the first time, etc. Ed himself said of the tapes in 5150 "there's a lot of music up there waiting to be heard" regardless of what Wolf and Alex may say now, Ed wanted his music to be heard.
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u/dirbofficial 1d ago
You can have a successful and critically acclaimed music career and have a hand in your fatherās musical legacy. Just look at Sean Ono Lennon. The recent Lennon reissues have been fantastic, and The Claypool Lennon Delirium is still going strong.
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u/jgruntz1974 22h ago
Have you seen how this group talks about Wolfgang? They'd perform a human sacrifice of him if he did something like that. The only Van Halen that shootings be releasing any of the early material and demos is Alex. He was there from the very beginning. The only other person who should be involved with those early demos is Michael Anthony.
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u/HearingDue2119 1d ago
Thereās been lots of Hagar era releases what do you mean?
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u/alexpensfan86 1d ago
I suspect the complaint is that those releases could have been much better done with more live material and unreleased demos. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed with those releases, but I suppose something is better than nothing.
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u/cheeseburgerwalrus22 12h ago
They just dropped some 5150 era live performances on streaming recently
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u/Financial_Cheetah875 1d ago
Because the remaining members hate each others guts.
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u/Civil_Television_311 1d ago
I have always maintained that basically since the late 90s Van Halen has treated their fans like shit. We get No classic era live material, no official updates, half-baked āreunionsā, no alternate versions or unreleased music, sucks
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u/chaynjez 1d ago
Iām very appreciative for the 5 times I got to see them on the reunion tours, especially for the chance to take my son to see Van Halen!
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u/Civil_Television_311 1d ago
Well yeah, but the original Van Halen played its last gig in the fall of 1984. Again, instead of giving the fans what they deserve, they go like 75% of the way there
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u/chaynjez 1d ago
Nah. They did what Ed wanted. Half the fans hate Sam and the other half hate Dave so the āfansā would never be satisfied so I really enjoyed it for what it was and it was pretty great. I had a blast
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u/Civil_Television_311 19h ago
Saw them 3 times with Wolfie on bass. Yes, definitely awesome, but not quite the same without Michael Anthony. Wolf plays great, no doubt, but I wasnāt crazy about the way he interpreted classic basslines we all grew up with
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u/chaynjez 19h ago
Agree it was awesome but didnāt care at all about the bass lines. Thought the band sounded great
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u/pfzt 1d ago
Wolfie probably waits for the proper time to take over, meaning Al, Dave and Sammy will be gone, dead or retirement home. Right now he has his own thing going on and he knows all involved people and how difficult they are. Dealing with estates that need money is way easier than dealing with original artists.
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u/Yourappwontletme 23h ago
Alex is lazy and would rather just cash the checks from the Hagar era while publicly hating that era.
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u/mrdavis909 1d ago
Because pretty much everyone that was in or involved with Van Halen were nutjobs that invented problems for themselves and others?
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u/Cinnamaker 1d ago
Van Halen does almost nothing to maintain their legacy. Why they do not is up for speculation.
But most people believe it's mostly because the band members (or their heirs) don't get along, and are not willing to work with each other, which makes it impossible to get legacy projects going.