Unchained: The Eddie Van Halen Story

Brilliant item this was for a gift and the recipient was well plsed

I purchased this for my husband as a Christmas present as we are both huge Van Halen fans [we actually walked back down the aisle to 'Eruption' after our wedding last year] My husband read it in a couple of days, so engrossed by it was he. It is exceptionally well written and covered things that we didn't know. R.I.P Eddie, you really are a legend

Quite short and not in-depth. Doesn’t flow very well. The Ted Templeman book and the Conversations book are better at telling Ed’s story, I think.

Good read. Eddie was a wild cat! RIP to a legend

As long time VH fan the interviews with all were so compelling and informative. Highly recommended

I am a huge Eddie Van Halen fan & found this book very informative

Paul Brannigan’s new EVH bio certainly won’t be the final word as the immense talent and contribution of Eddie Van Halen’s body of work and massive influence on the guitar will continue to grow for generations to come. It goes without saying that EVH turned the rock guitar world upside down when Van Halen was unchained and unleashed in 1978. EVH was my generation’s Jimi Hendrix and I was fortunate to be a teenager and guitar player and later experiencing Van Halen Live in Detroit for their Women and Children First tour in ’80 at Cobo Hall. They blew the proverbial doors off the walls. Most of us playing guitar in the ‘70’s cut our teeth on Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix and when EVH broke through it was like nothing anyone had ever heard before. Pure fire. A truly “I guess you had to be there” moment in time. I like that author Brannigan included Jas Obrecht references since Obrecht was the first to get the ultimate Eddie Van Halen interview in Guitar Player magazine. Jas has to be credited as the rock journalist that cracked the code akin to exposing Houdini’s magic. It was in this seminal interview where EVH revealed his tapping technique. The rest is history. No one sounded like Eddie… and then everyone did and rock music turned to shit again and that ship sailed. Goofy hair-glam bands posturing the VH formula. Most of Brannigan’s bio is curated and aggregated from previous articles and pieces together an entertaining read from beginning to end. My only question is: Where are all the photos? EVH was so photogenic and would have been nice to see some rare or unique pictures included. Otherwise, add it to your rock biography shelf and enjoy. .

I’ve read a half dozen Van Halen/EVH books so there’s bound to be 90% overlapping of information amongst them. But Brannigan’s book often slides in additional detail and insights that add real depth of understanding to the Van Halen band’s journey that were overlooked by other authors striving mostly for sensationalism. Despite having read those others, i enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it highly.