The ‘Van Halen Encyclopedia’ is a treasure trove of information on one of hard rock’s most legendary bands. Heaven knows we’ve quoted from it more than a few times. Now, author C.J. Chilvers is seeking to release a new hardcover edition of the book — with your help.

Chilvers has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the new edition of the book, which may add as many as 30 pages to the already-massive 320 included on the most recent version. A $10 pledge gets you a pdf version of the new book, with $25 earning you a hardcover copy.

As for what motivated him to create a new edition, Chilvers tells us, “It’s really about the amount of secrets that have been sent to me in the last decade. It’s too much to keep to myself. Everyone seemed to love the design and feel of the first edition hardcover, so I wanted to bring back that level of quality. But books are much more expensive to produce now and thousands of people have the 1999 edition, so it’s a matter of determining the level of interest out there.”

All eras of the band, and all solo projects will be featured: “I’ve never played favorites with singers or side projects. I’m a guitar player, so I’ve always gathered information with a bias towards the music, not towards the politics of vocalists. You’ll find exhaustive information on Dave, Sammy, Gary and every side project, no matter how brief.”

That includes, of course, information on the band’s new album, ‘A Different Kind of Truth.’ Chilvers’ main goal seems to be to set the record straight about the band’s history. “What always surprises me is the amount of misinformation that gets out there. Sometimes it’s the band themselves — I’ve found a few mistakes — or maybe mis-remembered stories — from their latest video interviews — that don’t line up with the facts I’ve gathered. But sometimes, it’s just blatant, self-serving stories that contradict eyewitnesses from people who wish history had gone a different way (coughs) Gene Simmons (coughs).”

Watch the Van Halen Encyclopedia Kickstarter Pitch

More From 96.1 The Eagle