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Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga | 
| Author: Ian Christe
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $12.95
You Save: $13.00 (50%)
New (45) Used (9) from $12.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 37573
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.4 x 1
ISBN: 0470039108
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.421660922
EAN: 9780470039106
ASIN: 0470039108
Publication Date: August 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New book excellent condition
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Product Description
The first definitive biography of the ultimate American rock band
How did a pair of little Dutch boys trained in classical music grow up to become the nucleus of the most popular heavy metal band of all time? What's the secret behind Eddie Van Halen's incredible fast and furious guitar solos? What makes David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar so wacky? And, are all those stories about groupies, booze bashes, and contract riders true? The naked truth is laid bare in Everybody Wants Some--the real-life story of a rock 'n' roll fantasy come true.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 Decent Overview June 20, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Like the masses, this book offers a decent overview of Van Halen especially those who are not too familiar with the band. It was a light and enjoyable read.
However, there were several spelling and grammatical errors. Many quotes seem second hand and incomplete. One still is not completely sure if David Lee Roth was fired or quit. To me it seems like a mutual disolvement. In general there are a lack of details.
The band members seem like your typical rock n rollers who are all about sex, drugs, and rock n roll. David Lee Roth showed me something by volunteering as a EMT specialist as well as being an adventurous soul. Eddie Van Halen certainly is a talented musician but seems like a terminal alcoholic. What has he learned from this experiences? The band members seem to constantly be quarreling with each other.
A few interesting anecdotes kept my attention. However, a more first hand account with more exclusive details would have made this book more appealing.
 I'd rather listen to Gary Cherone than read this again. May 27, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Sadly, this is a book that any Van Halen fan with a library card could have written. In fact, they probably could have written it better. Not only is the book filled with old information from less than credible publications, it also features poor grammar, inaccurate (or just plain wrong) facts, and even misspellings! In the age of spell-check, there is simply no excuse for such an amateur effort. Van Halen fans deserve more, and like the Roth reunion, we're just going to have to be patient.
I DID NOT READ THIS BOOK: April 11, 2008
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
I just have to comment on the stupid editorial review at the top. I was a VH fan at the age of 8 and savagely loved every tune til Sammy arrived. To call them "the best heavy metal band of all time" is a joke. Even they would agree. That honor MUST forever go to the Grandfathers of Metal: LED ZEPPELIN!! LZ eats Van Halen for breakfast. Zeppelin were monsters of metal that came bashing down out of the sky bringing earth to its knees.
 Why did they even bother? March 24, 2008
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
The author's pretentiousness, arrogance and mendacity all but ruined this book. Their writing didn't do much for me either. Precisely who were they trying to impress with all that overwrought language? Its rock and roll not Tolstoy. Get over yourself. I could barely make it through the foreword without wanting to vomit. Amongst the more nauseating statements you'll come across are Ian's declarations that he is the first person to ever write a book about Van Halen (he's absolutely not) and that he felt the need to master Eruption before doing the book so as to deem himself worthy of writing about Van Halen. Talk about pathetic testosterone-driven displays of self-aggrandizing and ego-stroking. Given his lack of cred until we see a vid of the author dazzling us with his amazing cover of Eruption posted over on youtube I'd say its a bunch of bullocks.
Had Ian Christe written this under oath he'd now be facing multiple charges of perjury. Luring fans with false professions of seedy revelations of the group members personal lives and habits is despicable. Who taught this guy how to present and market his work...Geraldo Rivera?
Ian's first book was pawned off to us as an encyclopedia of metal but in reality was nothing more than a love letter to Metallica that all but ignored Van Halen's historic contributions to the metal scene and metal guitar playing. Which begs the question how did he suddenly and so mysteriously learn so much about Van Halen? Halfway through this current book the answer became apparent. To their credit several of my fellow fanatics have pointed it out on here. The verdict is in. Ian Christe thoroughly ravaged material from all the other books ever written on Van Halen. This character even dared to go as far as to lift parts from Diamond Dave's Crazy From The Heat. If Valerie had released her book before Ian's one has to suspect he would've nicked some of her material as well and then attempted to pass himself off as Eddie's ex-wife.
So great is my disappointment I've decided to pop my cherry and post my first review with the hopes it will serve as a harbinger for future fans who are debating whether or not to purchase this product.
WARNING. There is not a spec of information or data within its pages the average fan hanging around a VH messageboard doesn't already know and would not share with you for free.
Ultimately this will be remembered, if at all, for being the most ridiculously overwritten, overhyped and altogether unnecessary of all the Van Halen books to ever see the light of day.
 Somebody get me a doctor! ;-) January 24, 2008
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is one of those books that is for info. only -- this is no major literature effort, but who expected that? If you loved VH in the 70s or 80s, it's really entertaining and gets into the technical guitar stuff you wouldn't know about otherwise. If you want Britney type coverage, I don't think they had it then... but Adnan wouldn't have lived through it! Go see these guys - they rock! DLR can't do the split jumps off the drums any more. But he actually sings some.... and eddie is still eddie. Holy NOT the Monsters of Rock tour!
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