Rare Recordings Featuring ‘80s Guitar Legend Offered for Sale
- - Rare Recordings Featuring ‘80s Guitar Legend Offered for Sale
Craig RosenDecember 20, 2025 at 4:33 AM
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(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Van Halen was known for two distinct frontmen during their heyday from the late 1970s through the early 1990s—David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. Yet despite those outsized personalities, the core of the band was always its namesakes—late guitarist Eddie Van Halen and his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen.
Writer and filmmaker Andrew Bennett is driving that point home by offering some rare recordings from the band’s rehearsals at their 5150 studio. They were recorded from November 2006 through January 2007, after longtime bassist Michael Anthony had been dismissed from the band and replaced by a young Wolfgang Van Halen, yet before David Lee Roth rejoined the band for their reunion tour later in 2007.
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Bennett is offering the rare recordings for sale on vinyl through the site vhsessions.com. Known as The 5150 Sessions, the recordings feature only “Ed, Al and Wolf,” the site says.
The full description reads: “From the collection of writer and filmmaker Andrew Bennett during his time documenting Van Halen as Wolf joined the band in 2006 and into 2007 leading up to the reunion tour. These recordings are from rehearsals at 5150 from November 2006 to January 2007, recorded straight to the 5150 soundboard.”
“Eddie, Alex, and Wolfgang Van Halen were rehearsing full set lists twice a week, and since this was prior to the return of Dave these recordings are performed with no singer. Finally, no Sam versus Dave debates,” it concludes, referencing the debates Van Halen fans have over which era was the best.
The vinyl LP is being offered for $50.
Although there is no singer on the recordings, a check of the track list reveals all the songs are from the Roth era with the 10-track album featuring “Unchained,” “Atomic Punk,” “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love,” “I’m the One,” “Runnin’ With the Devil,” “Panama,” “Romeo Delight,” “Hot for Teacher,” “On Fire,” and “Somebody Get Me a Doctor.”
The site also offers samples of each song that reveal there’s some studio dialog. On the intro of “Hot for Teacher,” Eddie can be heard saying, “How about some Alex Van Halen?” before the trio rips into the song. Excerpts of “I’m the One” and “Unchained” are also available for sampling.
Bennett posted about the release on his Facebook account and some fans weighed in with their approval.
“It’s for real. I got mine a few weeks ago and it’s really cool to hear the boys just playing together. Nice ‘fly on the wall’ sort of thing. Except this fly would be blown off the wall! 😂,” one fan wrote.
This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 20, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
