The Chronicles of Michael Christopher
Writings. Musings. Mediocre Photography. Travel. Skulls.
I'm pleased to announce that the audiobook for Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock is now available across all listening platforms. While the print and eBook came out last October, I had been concurrently working diligently on the audiobook version, which was quite the experience and one that I look forward to taking on... Continue Reading →
Anticipation was high for the Van Halen reunion with David Lee Roth in the summer of 1996 when it was revealed that Sammy Hagar had departed the ranks of the SoCal party rockers and their OG singer had returned to the fold. Unfortunately, the (re)union was short-lived, and after a disastrous fallout at the MTV... Continue Reading →
The fine folks over at Johnny Beane TV are going to have me on this evening at 8:00pm on their program Talkin' Van Halen to discuss my upcoming book Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock, which comes out next Wednesday, Oct. 6. Tune into the show live or catch it on the replay. It's... Continue Reading →
Last week, the guys over at Halenville Live! had me on to discuss my upcoming book, Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock. It was a lengthy conversation that any Van Halen fan will find enjoyable as everyone on the show is a huge fan of the band - including myself! You can watch the... Continue Reading →
The Sammy Hagar vs. David Lee Roth debate will likely go on forever, but the first time any real comparison could be made was when the latter dropped his debut solo LP, Eat 'Em and Smile, in July 1986, a scant few months after Van Halen released their first effort with Hagar at the mic,... Continue Reading →
Following two keyboard-driven albums, Van Halen got back to basics on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, their third LP with singer Sammy Hagar. Part of that had to do with the ever shifting musical landscape and a need to stay relevant, but it also was due to bringing in producer Andy Johns, who had previously worked... Continue Reading →
Come the late spring of 1991, it had been just over three years since a new album by Van Halen was released. It was long overdue then when the single "Poundcake" dropped ahead of the upcoming For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge LP that June. Starting with the sound of a drill raking over the strings of... Continue Reading →
According to the most hardcore of Van Halen fans, the fourth album, Fair Warning, is unquestionably their best. It's pretty safe to say I fall into that lot, so it only made sense for me to do a track-by-track of the record for Ultimate Classic Rock. The piece can be found here, but it's worth... Continue Reading →
It was really going downhill in early 1996 for Van Halen with Sammy Hagar, and the drama surrounding "Humans Being," a song they initially did for the soundtrack to the film Twister, was the final straw for the second era of the band. Over at Ultimate Classic Rock, I did a deep dive on just... Continue Reading →
Anniversaries are nothing new when it comes to music writing. It helps quite a bit during dry times when there isn't much else happening in the industry. That's been the case over the past several months due to the pandemic, and it will be for many more to come unfortunately. The silver lining is there's... Continue Reading →
The Chronicles of Michael Christopher 