Van Halen‘s last studio album, “A Different Kind of Truth”, has made a comeback on streaming services. This 2012 release had mysteriously vanished from platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music in October 2022.
In a revealing interview last October on SiriusXM‘s Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk, Wolfgang Van Halen (who played bass on the record) shed light on the album’s disappearance. He explained that the album was pulled because “some people involved” didn’t favor it. Wolfgang elaborated, “The contract ran out on putting it up on streaming services. So we’ve been working on getting it back, but there are some people involved who do not like that record and are not making it easy to get it back up.”
When host Eddie Trunk pressed Wolfgang about whether these “people” were connected to the album’s production, Wolfgang confirmed, “Yeah.” Eddie hinted at a specific individual by asking, “Might that person commonly be known by three initials?” This appeared to point toward singer David Lee Roth. Wolfgang‘s response: “Probably. I mean, yeah, you can put it together.”
Wolfgang candidly admitted, “I hate to say it because people will think I’m making stuff up, but it’s, like, man, I’d love to have the record back up there, but Roth doesn’t like it and he’s not working with us to get it back up there.” He also advised fans to hold onto physical copies of the album.
Eddie Van Halen, the legendary guitarist, passed away in October 2020 after a battle with throat cancer. His death at 65 occurred in a Santa Monica, California hospital surrounded by loved ones. Van Halen had been on hiatus since concluding their U.S. tour nearly nine years ago. Speculation in early 2019 suggested a reunion of the classic-era lineup, but these plans were derailed by Eddie‘s health issues.
Now that “A Different Kind of Truth” is back on streaming platforms, fans old and new can once again enjoy the final studio effort of this iconic band, despite the internal conflicts that almost kept it out of the digital realm.
