Ye Olde Metal: Van Halen's 5150

The 2013 Martin Popoff short ebook about the making of the Van Halen album, 5150.


Author Martin Popoff explains:


“It’s always a blast talking with Sammy Hagar, and our 5150 analysis includes lots and lots of Sammy just letting her fly. 5150 shocked the world, proving that Van Halen could not only survive the departure of David Lee Roth, but thrive, with the band taking the album to #1 on the charts on the strength of smash hits like ‘Why Can’t This Be Love,’ ‘Best Of Both Worlds,’ ‘Dreams’ and ‘Love Walks In.’”


“’Love Walks In’ has a real story to it,” notes Hagar. “One night after everybody left, Eddie said, ‘Let me just play you something I’ve got on this piano.’ He goes to the piano and starts playing, and I went, ‘I love that.’ I had goosebumps. So I actually wrote the lyrics and did the whole thing that night on a cheap mic. That was used on the record, and everybody else overdubbed. Things happen like that. And there’s nothing you can do to make it better.”


“He sang all the backups,” says Hagar of Van Halen’s secret weapon and keeper of the peace Michael Anthony. “Mike is the background sound of Van Halen – he would sing the high parts. You take Mike out, you don’t have a Van Halen sound.”