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A review by tobin_elliott
Brothers by Alex Van Halen
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This was the final of the three audio books I completed on the drive from Canada to NY.
I enjoyed the hell out of this one. With something like this, I do find I enjoy it more when it's the author that narrates the book, and every time Alex mentioned something he did that wasn't...let's say, appropriate...it was his little chuckle that just brought it home.
His love and admiration for his brother shines through, that was going to be a given, but it was more his mostly positive observances of David Lee Roth that caught me by surprise. Yet, it was also tempered—quite fairly, in my mind—by his criticisms of DLR toward the end of the book.
Where I am surprised is that the entire story ends with the release of the 1984 album, and DLR's exit from the band. From the distinct, and rather pointed, ignoring of Sammy Hagar in this book (he literally mentions his name once, more as a joke than anything, and brings up the song "Right Now" only because it was one of two #1 singles for the band), that he harbours an intense dislike of him, and simply didn't want to go there.
I could be wrong, but that's how it felt to me, so if I have any criticism of this book, it's that it only tells the first third of the story. We're missing the Sammy Hagar (and the very short Gary Cherone) years, and also the longer years of silence from the band afterward.
But still, what was revealed was amazing, and Alex has some fantastic insights into not just the rockstar business, but also the creative process.
I enjoyed the hell out of this one. With something like this, I do find I enjoy it more when it's the author that narrates the book, and every time Alex mentioned something he did that wasn't...let's say, appropriate...it was his little chuckle that just brought it home.
His love and admiration for his brother shines through, that was going to be a given, but it was more his mostly positive observances of David Lee Roth that caught me by surprise. Yet, it was also tempered—quite fairly, in my mind—by his criticisms of DLR toward the end of the book.
Where I am surprised is that the entire story ends with the release of the 1984 album, and DLR's exit from the band. From the distinct, and rather pointed, ignoring of Sammy Hagar in this book (he literally mentions his name once, more as a joke than anything, and brings up the song "Right Now" only because it was one of two #1 singles for the band), that he harbours an intense dislike of him, and simply didn't want to go there.
I could be wrong, but that's how it felt to me, so if I have any criticism of this book, it's that it only tells the first third of the story. We're missing the Sammy Hagar (and the very short Gary Cherone) years, and also the longer years of silence from the band afterward.
But still, what was revealed was amazing, and Alex has some fantastic insights into not just the rockstar business, but also the creative process.