Brothers

De: Alex van Halen

Narrado por: Alex van Halen

Featuring an exclusive, never-before-heard piece of music, the last written together by the legendary Van Halen brothers!

In this intimate and open account—nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you’ve ever read—Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate.

Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen’s love letter to his younger brother, Edward, (Maybe “Ed,” but never “Eddie”), written while still mourning his untimely death.

In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers’ childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother—the kind of mom who admonished her boys to “always wear a suit” no matter how famous they became—a woman who was both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behavior. But mostly his is a story of brotherhood, music, and enduring love.

"I was with him from day one,” Alex writes. “We shared the experience of coming to this country and figuring out how to fit in. We shared a record player, an 800 square foot house, a mom and dad, and a work ethic. Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the experience of becoming successful, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of spending more hours in the studio than I’ve spent doing anything else in this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only hope to achieve in a lifetime."

There has never been an accurate account of them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward’s life and death.

©2024 Alex van Halen (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Brothers: Alex finally breaks his silence…somewhat

Let me start off by saying full credit where it is due, I immensely appreciate Alex having the courage to not only write a book about his life with Eddie, but also narrate it too which I’m sure had to be somewhat outside of his comfort zone. As a second generation diehard and lifelong Van Halen fan, I was really looking forward to this release and a a very rare opportunity to hear Alex speak his mind publicly. And while brothers has no shortage of praise for Eddie and his qualities and talents in his life, I can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed in how surface level it goes as a whole. For starters, I was hugely bummed to find out day one that Alex cuts their story off in 1985 right at the breakup of the original lineup of Van Halen with David Lee Roths exit. As any casual or above Van Halen fan knows Van Halen had multiple more chapters in the bands and more specifically, Eddies lifespan as a whole over the next 35 years. And well, yes, a number of those years were an extremely dark period of his life, Ed persevered and ultimately retook control of his life in what is my opinion, an incredibly inspiring rebirth that was more than worth mentioning! Another issue for me was the seemingly ongoing hazing of Michael Anthony while steadily praising Roth. You can count on practically one hand with fingers to spare the number of times Alex even mentions him directly throughout the book despite him having been, by Als own indirect admission, an integral part of the band. I also felt Al relies a bit too much on quotes from other people throughout the book where he could be inserting more of his own thoughts and experiences on the current matters at hand. Sammy Hagar is not even mentioned a single time that I can recall despite, you know, 4 #1 albums in a row with the man! Overall not bad by any stretch, just felt a bit rushed and thin throughout.

An honest expression of love for a brother. A full account of the Van Halen story.

I was a beautiful series of memories, and an expression of truth and love about what and who Van Halen was and is! Alex does not sugar coat. His story is an experience unlike any other . I was left with a knowledge and uunderstanding of who my rock heroes are, it is a fun ride through their history and a passionate description of his and Ed' ridride through life and rise to the top. It is clear that he loves his brother and family dearly and misses him so very much. Love continues even after death. Love continues! Thank you Alex for sharing your story!

Do not miss this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed learning more about Alex and Eddie’s relationship as brothers. It was great that Alex read the book, and he read it with honesty and emotion. I almost cried at the end when he was talking about Eddie. You can tell he deeply misses his brother. This is a really great work of art!

The love for his brother.

Alex honesty on his life and the band. Family when they were younger, growing up,partying. I cried for Alex on the last chapter. I know how it feels to lose a sibling.

The love between brothers for the music

It was honest and beautiful and I recommend it to any one of any age musical or not.

Fun Read But Nothing New for Hard Core Fans

If you’re looking for a Ted Templeman or Noel Monk style inside the camp book, this isn’t it. The magic here is hearing the most media shy of the four tell his story. I didn’t know boats had a smell! I wanted more about the inner workings of the band but this is a must read for any Van Halen fan. His dedication to his craft and his deep love for his brother shine here. Well done, Alex. Thanks for giving me one more experience of waiting in line for a new Van Halen release. That alone took me back!

Heart felt

Loved the book.
Van Halen can never be duplicated because nobody can ever have that Van Halen sound.
Most 80s bands all sounded the same but Van Halen sounded like Van Halen.
(Dirty movies is a severely underrated song by the way)

Alex seems to have learned from all his past experiences whether they were good or bad, and has turned into the wise old teacher spreading wisdom around like you’d see in those old karate movies.

“Brothers” will make you laugh cry, wonder, dream

This is perhaps one of the best books of its kind that I’ve ever read or listened to. In part, it is very much due to who the author is — Alex Van Halen, one of the all time great drummers. This is his story and his love letter to his brother, Edward — easily the greatest and most revolutionary guitarist to ever live on par with other prodigious musicians such as Mozart even if the form and style of their music differed. I was ten years old when “1984” came out and can safely say that Van Halen changed my entire life as I pursued (and continue to pursue) music and playing guitar. Van Halen to me was and remains bigger than life — in particular the original Van Halen. And, as big as they were and still are (even if only in our individual and collective memories), they seemed curiously approachable and down to earth.

To me, as a kid watching videos of them and listening to their music, they seemed like the best of the American rock n roll experience. And, furthermore they seemed like people you would want to know and be grateful to know. The loss of Edward Van Halen was and remains prolific to countless millions (myself included). But, to no one is that loss more profound than to Alex and perhaps Wolfie (who is making his name and defining himself with that Van Halen spirit in a way that sets him apart from the pack today).

This audio book was narrated by Alex himself, and for that I am grateful as the sentiment and meaning of his words, thoughts, emotions, and reflections is conveyed in a honest and thoughtful way. I don’t know if we will ever hear more music from Alex, but I hope we get more books from him. Van Halen forever!

An emotional and factual read…

I will listen to this probably 3x to absorb all the info. A few highlights to me; Some stories and facts never in print before, a deep sense of who Alex grew into being as a later stage adult (universal understanding of humanity), his ability to call Ed “to the carpet” when it was fair to do so and his honesty about Dave and how much that early bond meant in his life(Alex’s life). I think he called that correctly in this book and saw the good and the bad about Dave but also summed it up perfectly by admitting that the band was always better as a whole and not individually-No one was bigger or could make life bigger by themselves. It was a family affair. The band and the brothers.

The truths

The whole book was an emotional rollercoaster, Love everything. Thank you Alex for this book.