Sammy Hagar, as he often does during interviews, turned heads recently when he said he’d written a song inspired by a dream he had about Eddie Van Halen, and had tapped Joe Satriani to bring it to life. Now, the Red Rocker has released the song, Encore, Thank You, Goodnight, and it represents a surprise new chapter in the Van Halen storybook.
With Michael Anthony on bass and esteemed session drummer and long-time Satriani collaborator Kenny Aronoff behind the kit, it takes the current iteration of the Best of All Worlds band to the studio.
For his part, Satriani is clearly reveling in his role, peppering the song with tapping licks, stadium-size chords and a potent recreation of Eddie’s legendary tones.
The song starts with a wild flurry of tapping that, while evoking Eddie’s virtuosic flavors with startling accuracy, still carries a little Satch spirit. It gives way to rolling drums, some pick slides, and massive power chords before Hagar takes the spotlight.
“This song is my final bow to that part of my life,” Hagar said of the song prior to its release. “It’s not meant to be anything more than a thank-you – with love, with respect, and with one hell of a guitar solo.”
Before Hagar had approached Satriani for the Best of All Worlds tour, the guitarist had previously said he never wanted to learn Eddie’s riffs and leads, fearing it would imprint too much on his own ideas.
But when he took the job, he left no stone unturned as he had a custom amp built to recreate his favorite era of Eddie Van Halen’s tone, rebuilt his live rig, and made some choice mods to his guitars.
Now, fully immersed in the task, it feels like he’s really letting fly on Encore…, and it’s something that will delight Van Halen and Satch fans the world over.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times about life after Eddie, Hagar says, “I miss the guy so much. Thank God we connected towards the end, otherwise I’d be heartbroken.
“It was so important to me that we did connect in that last year. Eddie said to me, ‘Don’t tell anyone about us talking because I don’t want to be answering questions about rumors of a reunion.’
“But he said, ‘Next year, we’re gonna get together – we’re gonna make some noise. Let me beat this shit, and let’s do it.’ He goes, ‘Please don’t talk to anyone – not even Al (Van Halen).’ I’ve never said that to anyone, and I bet you Al is gonna have a fucking fit.
“It hasn’t been the same since Eddie died,” he adds. “Things aren’t the same without that hope. After the 2004 tour, with Eddie being in the condition he was in, I was very angry with him. I was hoping that we’d get together and play (again) someday.
“I’ve never gotten back to that level since. That was the pinnacle of my career. But more than that was the creativity and the energy we had together writing songs like Right Now, When It’s Loveand Love Walks In. He brought something out of me that just ain’t the same without him. At my age, you sit there and wonder: If Eddie was alive, could I reach that again? Now that dream is gone.”
Hagar and Michael Anthony were absent from Van Halen’s last album and the subsequent tours, with David Lee Roth back in the fold and Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen on bass.
The Best of All Worlds tour allowed Hagar to pay tribute to Eddie in his own way, and after their successful first tour, he admitted “a million guys” could have taken Satch’s spot, but he trumps the rest for one specific reason.
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