Van Halen: Details on a Report of a New Album
In a surprising update, a Dutch outlet quoted Alex Van Halen saying a new Van Halen album is in the works.
The outlet in question is De Telegraf. While their article is behind a paywall, Guitar World noted the outlet quoted AVH saying that not only is there an album in the works, but Toto’s Steve Lukather is also involved.
“Ed and Steve Lukather were very good friends, and they often worked together,” said Alex in the interview with De Telegraf. “There is no one who can do this process with me as well as he can.”
De Telegraf also quoted Lukather saying, “Did Alex say that? Oh, in that case, the news is true. Ed, Alex, and I were very close for years. It is true that we worked on it together.”
Very little else is known about this alleged album. However, this report brings to mind the infamous and mysterious 5150 vault, which is supposedly filled with all sorts of music.
Alex Van Halen said in a November 2024 appearance on Talk is Jericho that there’s “probably three or four records [worth], if not more” in the 5150 vault.
He added, “No, I’m serious. There was some good stuff in there. And you have to remember when you’re in the thick of it, sometimes the really great stuff kind of passes you by and it’s not until you revisit it, going, ‘Whoa! I forgot about that. This kicks ass!’ But that takes time. And you want to do it right. I want to do it right.”
Of course, fans did get a taste of some vault material recently with “Unfinished,” an instrumental track that was featured in the audiobook recording of AVH’s memoir, Brothers. “Unfinished” was the last song Eddie and Alex Van Halen wrote together before his death in October 2020.
