Mammoth WVH
Mammoth WVH EX1 RECORDS
Van Halen The Younger strides out as a one-man band on his first album.
The son of Eddie Van Halen, Wolfgang began his apprenticeship in the family firm early, tinkering around on uncle Alex’s drum kit during soundchecks when he was nine, before dad bought him his own kit. Five years later he’d taken up guitar and was making occasional appearances on stage with the band, duetting with dad on the instrumental 316 that was written to commemorate his birthday. He was just 15 when he joined Van Halen full-time as their bassist, following the acrimonious firing of Mike Anthony along with frontman Sammy Hagar.
That explains why Wolfgang had no qualms about playing all the instruments on this, his first solo album, as well as doing the vocals. He’s more than competent at whichever instrument he happens to have in his hands at the time. You might wish for the thrill of hearing musicians sparking off each other in the studio, but Wolfgang renders such a concept irrelevant amid the modern-day hi-tech recording studio. And hearing him go a little crazy on drum and bass during provides its own
