Five demos that should be on a VAN HALEN album!

[James in New York]

Published on Mar 21, 2021
5 awesome demos that should be on the Van Valen albums!

Plus: a live unplugged classic! Check it out!

Tracklist:
- I Want Some Action
- It's The Right Time
- That's Why I Love You
- I Wanna Be Your Lover
- Kicks

- Right Now (live acoustic)

[James in New York]

5 awesome demos that should be on the Van Halen albums!

Bonus: The King Eddie in a rare rehearsal. Check it out!

Tracklist:
- Babe, Don't Leave Me Alone
- Young & Wild
- Eyes Of The Night
- Big Trouble
- We Die Bold

- Eddie Van Halen 1984 Rehearsal Jam

[I Coulda Hada VH]

My list:

Light In The Sky
We Die Bold
Babe Don't Leave Me Alone
Angel Eyes
Woman In Love

[JUNGLE DRUMMER]

Light In The Sky
Eyes Of The Night
Woman In Love
Angel Eyes
Baby Don't Leave Me Alone

[Dave's Dreidel]

I don't think Angel Eyes should be on an album, just doesn't fit. Maybe they could have released it as a stand alone single, or a B side to something, like LZ did with Hey Hey What Can I Do.

[Dave's Dreidel]

Sometimes I wonder how good they could've been with a real, proper manager running the band for their entire tenure.

[Dave's Dreidel]

Side note:

Isn't Kicks a cover song, Paul Revere and the Raiders, or someone like that?

[JUNGLE DRUMMER]

I don't think Angel Eyes should be on an album, just doesn't fit. Maybe they could have released it as a stand alone single, or a B side to something, like LZ did with Hey Hey What Can I Do.

Agree to disagree. Its a great song.

And even though they never demo'd it, Summertime Blues shouldve been on DD instead of both DITS and PW. Their version destroyed all others. Yes, it obliterates even the Who's version.

[I Coulda Hada VH]

I don't think Angel Eyes should be on an album, just doesn't fit. Maybe they could have released it as a stand alone single, or a B side to something, like LZ did with Hey Hey What Can I Do.

For my $, Hey Hey What Can I Do is the greatest B side ever recorded.

[Sloth]

First and foremost, it's gotta be We Die Bold. I'd probably throw We Die Bold in there too, and last but not least, We Die Bold.

[DFVH5150]

Side note:

Isn't Kicks a cover song, Paul Revere and the Raiders, or someone like that?

Yes, and that's a Dave solo demo, too. Not VH.

[DFVH5150]

My list:

1. Get the Show on the Road
2. Show No Mercy
3. Here's Just What She Wanted
4. Light in the Sky
5. I Want Some Action

[Brett]

I’ll go on record as saying I never liked Angel Eyes. At all. Yep I’m the guy. Plus it’s just Dave right? It wasn’t really a Van Halen song.

It’s hard to think which of those songs would be good on an album because I listen to them now and some of them sound really dated so it’s like I don’t know.

I think if I had to pick five that didn’t make it to an album in some form I’d go with these. Let it be known that I don’t like any of the redone demos that are on ADKOT except for She’s The Woman, but I won’t count those original demos in my list. I’m also not counting songs that have parts taken from them for other songs, like Voodoo Queen or Get The Show On The Road.

Show No Mercy
Babe Don’t Leave Me Alone
We Die Bold
Light In The Sky
Woman In Love

[I Coulda Hada VH]

I’ll go on record as saying I never liked Angel Eyes. At all. Yep I’m the guy. Plus it’s just Dave right? It wasn’t really a Van Halen song.

It’s hard to think which of those songs would be good on an album because I listen to them now and some of them sound really dated so it’s like I don’t know.

I think if I had to pick five that didn’t make it to an album in some form I’d go with these. Let it be known that I don’t like any of the redone demos that are on ADKOT except for She’s The Woman, but I won’t count those original demos in my list. I’m also not counting songs that have parts taken from them for other songs, like Voodoo Queen or Get The Show On The Road.

Show No Mercy
Babe Don’t Leave Me Alone
We Die Bold
Light In The Sky
Woman In Love

We have 4 of the same 5. Great minds.

[Brett]

We have 4 of the same 5. Great minds.

Well honestly there aren’t that many that haven’t had pieces of them taken for other songs now, or that aren’t covers, I tried to not use those. Like Young and Wild was not a Van Halen song, it was a cover. So if you take those songs out of the mix, there aren’t a huge amount left that are complete songs that we know of. And technically Show No Mercy’s intro was used on Take Me Back, but it’s such an inconsequential part of the whole song that I didn’t count that one.