Research on charge-density-wave (CDW) ordered transition-metal dichalcogenides continues to unravel new states of quantum matter correlated to the intertwined lattice and electronic degrees of freedom. Here, I will present our recent inelastic x-ray scattering investigation of the lattice dynamics of the canonical CDW compound 2H-TaSe₂ complemented by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density functional perturbation theory. Our results rule out the formation of a central-peak without full phonon softening for the CDW transition in 2H-TaSe₂ and provide evidence for a novel precursor region above the CDW transition temperature T_CDW, which is characterized by an overdamped phonon mode and not detectable in our photoemission experiments. Thus, 2H-TaSe₂ exhibits structural before electronic static order and emphasizes the important lattice contribution to CDW transitions. In a second part, I will discuss recent results by my colleagues at IQMT on CDW transition in BaNi₂As₂ which triggered the project I am working on with Petr Cermak.