Product Description

"The VAN HALEN Story: The Early Years", chronicles the rise of four young musicians from their formative years to their transformation into a worldwide phenomenon.

Hear the group's gripping tale told by the people who were there when it all began childhood friends, fellow musicians, roadies, bodyguards, producers, and the band themselves. Rare footage and never-before-seen photos help to further document their remarkable story.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25967 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-12-09
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 65 minutes

Customer Reviews

Focus on the very early years; satisfactory documentary
This is a documentary about one of the greatest rock bands ever, Van Halen, beginning with each member's early musical years and ending with the departure of David Lee Roth in 1985. It's a cool story, augmented by lots of interesting photos and some rare film footage. The finished product is unfortunately plagued by portions of bad sound and amateurish filming (alas, not as polished as VH-1's "Behind the Music") but with a run time of 70 minutes, there's a lot that's worth watching.

The best part about the presentation of the Van Halen story is the diversity of people who were interviewed for this documentary: childhood friends, fellow band members, other musicians, roadies, bodyguards, and record producers. Some of their stories are outrageous (hey, it's rock 'n' roll after all!) and are thus a blast to contemplate. Since the focus is strictly on the early years of the group, there was much I didn't know concerning who played in the original band, who did the early vocals (Eddie), how the guys met, and how Van Halen's stage act progressed and was influenced by David Lee (who adopted much of his stage persona from Black Oak Arkansas' "Jim Dandy" Mangrum, who appears on this disc!).

Somewhat disappointing, you hear very little of the band's popular tunes (a snippet of "Eruption" does pop up at one point). I'm guessing that this is because there may have been a copyright issue. Another negative is that a significant portion of the commentary provided by Alex and Michael is via phone interview, and the sound leaves a bit to be desired. Also, there's one part where Gene Simmons' voice is practically unintelligible due to poor sound quality. Unfortunate perhaps, but it adds to the "underground" feel of the video.

If you're a fan of Van Halen specifically (count me in), or great rock bands in general, see how this story compares to the others you know. I'm hoping that there will more discs in this series to cover the rest of the band's history.

GREAT story of the early years of Mammoth aka Van Halen
Amazing documentary about the formative years of the best rock and roll band ever. The DVD covers Alex and Edward's early years playing with small garage bands, all the years with David Lee Roth, and concentrates mostly on the club days and the first world tour. The is about as good as a documentary could possibly be without the band's involvement. Interviews with many people who were very close to the band.

These people are inverviewed extensively:
* Mark Stone - Original VH bass player whom Michael Anthony replaced
* Andy Johns - Legendary record producer
* Eddie Anderson - Roth's former body guard & manager
* Gregg Emerson - VH drum technician and childhood friend
* Jim Dandy - One of Roth's prototypes. Roth was compared to him in the club days
* Neil Zlozower - Original VH photographer & partner in crime
* Dave Weiderman - long-time manager of The Guitar Center in L.A.
* Tom Broderick - VH's soundman in 1978
* Kim Fowley - Sunset Strip concert promoter - booked the band into the Whisky a Go-Go
* Jeff Hausman - Creator of "The Inside" Van Halen magazine & VanHalenStore.com
* Susan Masino - Survived VH's stay at the Sheraton Hotel, 1978
* Mike Levine - (Triumph) talking about playing the US Festival with VH
* Ron Wikso - drummer with DLR around 1994
* Dennis Neugebauer- good friend of DLR's in the high school days
* Mario Maglieri - owner of the Whisky a Go-Go
* Doug Anderson - shows his Van Halen Museum
* Roger Rennick - saw VH play at various backyard parties
* Mike Kelly - VH historian who attended most of their Starwood and Whisky shows
* Tony Codgen - guitarist from Michael's original band, Snake
* Plus exclusive interview footage with David Lee Roth & Eddie Van Halen! (Note: these two interviews were not conducted for this DVD, they were filmed a few years ago, but they are exclusive interviews and they fit in nicely).

Narrated by J.J. Jackson from MTV fame.

PLUS vintage audio interviews with:

* Alex Van Halen
* Michael Anthony
* Gene Simmons

NEVER SEEN PHOTOS!
Rare stills will be seen for the first time from Mark Stone, Tom Broderick, Gregg Emerson, Eddie Anderson, Norman Seeff (who took lots of amazing shots taken from the Woman and Children First album cover sessions), Robert Alford and more.

The documentary is loaded with Kick A** rock music. Plus there are two short bonus segments; footage of The Atomic Punks (most popular VH tribute band) and Doug Anderson shows his VH Museum.

A great look beneath the surface of the formation
As all Van Halen fans know, they (the brothers) haven't surfaced in many years- there have been no documentaries, VH1 programs, DVD's or anything about the band because both they and Warner Brothers are uncooperative to this sort of thing. I have to commend the makers of this DVD for accepting that fact and still creating a compelling, fast-moving and fun to watch DVD which is completely LOADED with RARE PHOTOS by the way. By finding old childhood friends and roadies of the band they have unearthed a treasure trove of candid photos, alternative album cover shots, backstage passes, old Pasadena and Hollywood flyers, etc. I have NEVER seen any photos of Edward and Alex playing with Mark Stone as MAMMOTH- yet this DVD has photos of them as well as flyers!. This isn't your typical record company authorized VH1 type show- but it is excellent in it's own right as an alternative, believe me you will hear stories coming from those around the band in the early years that would probably never surface on any official show.