Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga

I'm a Van Halen, and Rock Music fan. I saw the papers, magazines, interviews, videos etc.. I thought I could have written at least the majority on my own knowledge. I was wrong. The book goes in depth, displaying many quotes that you can't believe made it into print.Read the true stories of what happened, not the spin. I love photo's, and could have hoped for more. Each principal part in the book contains a handy Timeline for its chapters. Some nice lists in the back, Bands and songs they used to cover, Tribute bands of Van Halen, and a great Index for referencing. I'll be proud to sit this book on my shelf.

I received this book as a gift and as a longtime Van Halen fan, I read it cover to cover in two sittings (the Roth years... and then the Hagar years). I think Christie did an excellent job capturing the history... and essence... of this very complicated band of brothers. He provided just enough detail to keep it interesting and engaging, while not drowning the reader in tangents and off-topic stories (no one cares who Michael Anthony took to his senior prom, so it's good he left those types of details out). While I'd heard and read many of the stories through the years, it was the little nuggets I picked up throughout the book that made it fun. I didn't realize that Sammy wrote "Stand Up" on the Rockstar soundtrack. I didn't know Eddie had to put chickenwire around his studio to ground it. Those are fun facts any serious VH fan should know. As a fan, it's admittedly been hard to watch what's happened to VH over the past 10 years. And you sense at times Christie (who is clearly a fan) wants to provide a more personal commentary on the Van Halen juggernaut. And who can blame him, when talking about Van Halen, it's easy as a fan to let one's emotions surface. But Christie wisely takes the high road, reporting the good with the bad and ultimately showing that no one (excepty maybe Mikey) is perfect in this perfect storm of a band. Overall, I encourage any and every fan of VH to get this book. And when you're done with it, pass it along. More people need to undertsand the power, passion and pomp that is VH.

I'm not sure what's going on here, but it feels like some posters have axes to grind (or ulterior motives). Luckily the book itself is not so slimy. Christe delivers the VH story, with the insight of someone tuned into the achievements of the band: four awkward outsiders actually finding their way to fame and fortune in 1970's California, and one incredibly gifted guitar player's rise to hone his talent and define his sound. Christe is enough of a musician himself to appreciate Eddie Van Halen's gifts and hard work, and is familiar enough with the party's settings and heavy rock's artistic milieu that he can draw out some great connections. Referencing Guitar Player as a source for some of Eddie's quotes is, despite the complaints of some in these reviews, actually quite encouraging: Christe takes the guitar hero seriously in thoughtful moments, spilling his thoughts about his profession to legions of young admirers--a key slice of the VH pie. The book's a lot of fun, and a great piece of American musical history.

WTF? I was surprised to see any negative reviews of Everybody Wants Some, but it looks like all were suspiciously written in the same style by first-time reviewers. Smells fishy to me. Well, here's a REAL review of Everybody Wants Some from antimusic.com: "The most staggering aspect of the book is that it's an unauthorized biography. As a general rule, I usually don't enjoy unauthorized biographies because they tend to be glorified tales written with a lot of assumptions and tall tales that even a casual fan would raise their eyes with suspicion. I never hoisted my eyebrow once as Christe's research is nothing short of astonishing; minute details are given ranging from specific recording sessions, family lineages, failed auditions for singers, the numerous attempted reunions with Roth and the most important aspect for guitar geeks-a detailed outline of guitars used, created and played by Eddie Van Halen over his entire life. Christe knows this band, loves this band, pulls his hair out over their internal drama and as a result has written the definitive Van Halen story. Once you pick it up it you will need to unchain yourself from your chair because it's impossible to put down whether you are a Van Halen or Van Hagar fan." "Even if the band sat down one day to write their story, it would be biased with revisionism. No authorized biography would ever be this factual or truthful. If recent actions are any hint, it probably wouldn't even mention Michael Anthony. Christe puts the reader right in the emotional thick of the action from the 1920's in Europe to the present day reunion in 2007. Christe makes you feel like an insider with his fastidious quotes and personal insight. Don't get me wrong, Christe dishes dirt, but does so without judgment and makes sure he has the facts straight." "The band should give Christe a portion of future proceeds from record sales just for writing this book, because as a result of reading it, I am reevaluating records I had forgotten about years ago and it appears I underestimated them. 'Everybody Wants Some' is the essential gift every Van Halen fan should have. Do yourself a favor and buy this book before you buy a t-shirt at the reunion concert. Christe has written a book that is stylish, succinct, breathtaking and as dazzling as an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. If you ever stared in the mirror and attempted to imitate David Lee Roth with leaps and splits from the "Jump" video, then this book is for you."

I can guess why nobody ever tackled the Van Halen story before -- too many competing versions of events, too many dark periods, too much legend standing in the way of the truth... Not to mention the story seems to change every day of the week. But this book treats the whole Van Halen phenomenon like some kind of 16th century swashbuckling adventure, complete with battles against bootleg T-shirt pirates and holding innocent maidens captive. The ups and downs of Roth, Mike Anthony, Hagar, Cherone, and the Van Halen family are presented in a totally entertaining but fair way, with a cool writing style that never gets in the way of the main characters. I thought I would stop reading after the Roth years, but that's when the plot really thickens. I would complain that it took 25 years to get the book Van Halen deserves, except I think it was worth it!