Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal

by Greg Renoff

Overview

The bestselling, vivid and energetic history of Van Halen’s legendary early years featuring 230 original interviews — including with former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and power players like Pete Angelus, Marshall Berle, Donn Landee, Ted Templeman, and Neil Zlozower

“Fascinating (even for non-VH fans) ... A book almost anthropological in its level of detail.” — Vulture

“It’s the tale of hardworking kids with nothing in common learning to fuse pop and heavy metal into a new sound that completely changed the music world. It also vividly shows that the personality clashes that would later destroy the band were there from Day One.” — Rolling Stone

“A fascinating read.” — Pasadena Star News

“The book is fantastic.” — Ted Templeman, Grammy-winning music producer for Van Halen and David Lee Roth

“If you’ve got it bad, got it bad, got it bad for Van Halen, get Van Halen Rising.” — Martha Quinn, original MTV VJ, Sirius XM host

After years of playing gigs everywhere from suburban backyards to dive bars, Van Halen — led by frontman extraordinaire David Lee Roth and guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen — had the songs, the swagger, and the talent to turn the rock world on its ear. The quartet’s classic 1978 debut, Van Halen, sold more than a million copies within months of release and rocketed the band to the stratosphere of rock success. On tour, Van Halen’s high-energy show wowed audiences and prompted headlining acts like Black Sabbath to concede that they’d been blown off the stage. By the year’s end, Van Halen had established themselves as superstars and reinvigorated heavy metal in the process.

Combining exhaustive research and original interviews, Van Halen Rising reveals the untold story of how these rock legends made the unlikely journey from Pasadena, California, to the worldwide stage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770412637
Publisher:	ECW Press
Publication date:	10/01/2015
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	467,654
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Greg Renoff was born in the Bronx, New York, and grew up in New Jersey. Renoff earned his Ph.D. in American history from Brandeis University and is the co-author of Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer’s Life in Music. He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his wife and two daughters.

Editorial Reviews

08/24/2015
Most accounts of major bands focus on the fame and fortune of rock stardom. By contrast, Renoff (The Big Tent) covers America’s preeminent hard rock act in the years before they became famous. He argues that Van Halen “transformed the staid sound of metal into something that sounded fresh and vibrant” by fusing essential metal elements, such as heavy rhythms and guitar virtuosity, with monster hooks and soul-inspired grooves. Renoff charts Van Halen’s earliest years playing in the garages, gymnasiums, and backyards of suburban Pasadena, Calif. Drawing on many interviews with band associates, he details how drummer Alex Van Halen and his guitar prodigy brother, Eddie, hooked up with born showman “Diamond” David Lee Roth and bass maestro Michael Anthony to become California legends. Armed with a bottomless well of confidence and “impossibly tight pants,” Roth led Van Halen to the top of the Pasadena backyard party circuit, building a following that helped the band score a record deal and, eventually, rock immortality. Renoff’s book is a thoroughly entertaining read that will appeal to every hard rock fan. Agent: Bob Diforio, D4EO Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

This prehistory is usually glossed over in accounts of the band, but in Van Halen Rising, author Greg Renoff devotes an entire book to it. It’s the tale of hardworking kids with nothing in common learning to fuse pop and heavy metal into a new sound that completely changed the music world. It also vividly shows that the personality clashes that would later destroy the band were there from Day One.” — Rolling Stone

“In an excellent new book called Van Halen Rising, author Greg Renoff argues that, in the era of disco and punk, Van Halen’s arrival saved heavy metal. While that may be hyperbole, there’s little arguing that the backyard party band from Pasadena put Los Angeles back at the center of American rock & roll, where it’s largely stayed ever since.” — LA Weekly

“Renoff explores in depth Van Halen’s reluctant journey from back yard band to superstardom and, in particular, the role of David Lee Roth’s ambition and entrepreneurial skills.” — Forbes

“Renoff’s book is a thoroughly entertaining read that will appeal to every hard rock fan.” — Publishers Weekly

“It’s a rollicking roll through the life and times of a group that mowed through more groupies and drugs than could possibly be good for a young fella ... a fascinating read.” — Pasadena Star News

“The author draws on interviews with many key players to tell the band’s story, and he does a fine job of showing what it must have been like for the members of Van Halen ... The lack of interviews with Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth is notable, but not a serious drawback; many good music biographies have been written about stars who did not actively participate in the writing. And this is a very good one indeed.” — Booklist

“Fascinating (even for non-VH fans) ... A book almost anthropological in its level of detail.” — Vulture

“I really loved reading Van Halen Rising. I couldn’t believe the insight Renoff has into the production process behind the making of Van Halen’s debut. He truly gets it! The book is fantastic.” — Ted Templeman, Grammy-winning music producer for Van Halen and David Lee Roth

“I thought I knew a lot about Van Halen, until I read this book. It’s exceedingly rare to find such a comprehensive portrait of any band’s pre-history, even for canonical groups like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. So to stumble across this level of research about the early days of VH is like hearing studio-quality demos of songs you did not even know existed.” — Chuck Klosterman, author of Fargo Rock City and Killing Yourself to Live

“Let us guess — you’re one of those people who thinks they know everything about Van Halen, right? You don’t. At least not until you’ve read Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal, the forthcoming book by historian and self-proclaimed Van Halen diehard Greg Renoff.” — Van Halen News Desk

From the Publisher