Wolfgang Van Halen Reveals the 2 Van Halen Albums That Changed His Life
Wolfgang Van Halen recently pointed to two Van Halen albums as being among the records that changed his life when the Mammoth WVH bandleader listed 11 life-changing albums in total.
His albums round-up came in an interview with Louder, where one can see Wolf's wide range in rock taste as he put AC/DC, Tool, blink-182, The Beatles and more among his most impactful albums.
But the 30-year-old son of the late Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen said he "wanted to pick a Van Halen album, because obviously that can be ignored in my upbringing and influence."
Those albums are Van Halen's Fair Warning and Balance, and here's why they made his list.
Fair Warning (1981)
Wolfgang Van Halen's first life-changing album pick from Van Halen takes us to "Mean Street." Fair Warning features songs like "Unchained," and "So This Is Love?" (the albums are listed in no particular order, according to him). Fair Warning was released in 1981 and this is what Eddie Van Halen's son had to say about it:
"Fair Warning, the Roth era album is a very special album to me. It was an album where my dad just said, "Fuck it" and did what he wanted. I think that's why it's a cult classic - it was never really a huge album compared to the others...And it's so quick - it goes by in 36 minutes or something, but it just makes you want to start it again. It's such a great, dark, fun album that I think gets overlooked."
Balance (1995)
Wolfgang Van Halen's second Van Halen album pick that changed his life is Balance, which was released in 1995, and here's what thinks about the album:
Socially, it's [a] phenomenal-sounding album - it sounds incredible. It might be the best-sounding Hagar album, maybe the best-sounding Van Halen. The Hagar era shows another side of my father's playing as well. I like how he leaned more into the melodic stuff - some of the most beautiful melodies he's ever written have been in the Hagar era with things like Dreams or the song "Not Enough" from Balance.
The album also features songs like "Amsterdam" and "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)." Wolfgang Van Halen says he loves "all of the Van Halen albums" and that "I don't think you can fully represent what Van Halen is without looking at both the Roth and the Hagar era."