It’s the usual kind of quiet in the Van Halen camp these days, as the band works behind the scenes to get things in order for the upcoming release of their first new record with David Lee Roth since 1984 – the year and the album.
Last week, VH released a photo of themselves with the senior management team at Interscope Records, to which they’ve reportedly been signed, although that has yet to be "officially" announced.
One guy who is doing a lot of talking about VH these days is
Sammy Hagar, who continues to field media questions about his former band.
The challenge for fans – and the media – is to understand that Hagar admits his information is out of date: he hasn’t spoken with the brothers in years and anything else he’s getting seems second-hand, at best.
In a new session with Rolling Stone, Hagar takes shots at VH with info he says is five years old.
"I heard this record is old outtakes from the old days. I mean, stuff from before I even joined the band," says Sammy. "I heard this five years ago, though. Michael Anthony was curious if his background vocals would wind up on the album. I don't think it's a bad idea. It's kind of interesting. Bob Seger did it, and so did the Rolling Stones. I think it's an interesting thing to do in your old age if you can't come up with fresh, good stuff – or you can't get along. Because from what I heard, they aren't working with new material. Ed and Dave didn't actually write new songs. They took old stuff from previous sessions, and then maybe Dave had to go in and add vocals because they just had scat vocals, or even no vocal part at all."
While insisting he’s not "dogging them," Hagar says "I'll be the first guy waiting in line at the record store, if I could find one anymore. I'll be really curious. I think they owe the fans that. I would love to see them make a great record. They have some of the most loyal fans in rock, and they've been treated so, so bad these last 20 years."
Read more of Sammy’s comments at Rolling Stone here.
Thanks for the report to Hennemusic.com.
(see what i did there? lol...) Rock On!
