Van Halen fans are in for treat with the recently released book, Tonechaser – Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey With Edward Van Halen. The tome by musician, friend, and journalist Steve Rosen chronicles the pairs relationship between 1977 and 2003.
In addition to major in-depth chats with Van Halen over the course of his most important years creatively, Rosen is able to paint a vivid picture of life on the road, hanging out, recording at 5150 and just simply existing in the rarefied air Eddie Van Halen lived and breathed.
Steve Rosen spoke about the difficulty in juggling the dual-role of being both a die-hard Van Halen fan — and an actual buddy to the guy creating the music: “Ed would ask me about a song or he would play something for me and I'd go, 'Yeah, really good' — when in my head and my heart I'm thinking, 'This is so remarkable, I don't even know the words for it, Edward. What and I supposed to say, to you?' And his response to me — because I almost came off as if I was underwhelmed — was, like, 'Well, man, I thought it was really neat, I thought it was really good.' I had to walk this line between going overboard every second I was with him.”
Tonechaser – Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey With Edward Van Halen is available via Amazon.