Van Halen’s plans for 2011 are coming into focus.
The Van Halen News Desk reports that the band will enter the studio in January to begin work on a new album, their first with David Lee Roth since 1984, and their first new music with Roth since ’96.
Sources tell the VHND that the band is very eager to tour, and that they want to tour behind new material. Eddie Van Halen has been very busy during most of 2010 writing music. Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen often join Eddie in the 5150 studio and the three of them have been hard at work jamming and recording demos. The three Van Halens have been sending the music to David Lee Roth, who’s adding the lyrics. Two of the VHND’s sources have heard some of the early versions of the tracks (without vocals) and were very pleased. The music is said to sound like straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll and “very Van Halen.”
After talking to several producers, the band has chosen Grammy award winner producer/songwriter/musician John Shanks (whom Clive Davis calls “the father of that guitar-driven kind of pop sound”).
Shanks has worked with Miley Cyrus, Bon Jovi, Keith Urban, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, Sheryl Crow, Santana, Rod Stewart, Melissa Etheridge, Alanis Morissette, Hilary Duff, Train’s Pat Monahan, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Pink, Liz Phair, Jessica Simpson, Ashlee Simpson, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, and many more.
In January, 2011, David, Eddie, Alex & Wolfgang will head into the studio to begin recording with the much sought-after producer. The band is hopeful that the recording sessions will lead to a full studio album that would be completed and available sometime next year.
Interestingly, the band is planning on recording in John Shank’s Henson Studio as well as Van Halen’s 5150 Studios, making next month the first time Van Halen will record anywhere outside of their own studio since it was built in 1983, with the exception of some vocals that were recorded in Vancouver in 1994 for the '95 "Balance" release.
The band is reportedly re-exploring Eddie’s extensive library of unreleased songs and riffs, even reaching back to their early unreleased demos for added inspiration. The band is retooling and tweaking some of this mostly-unheard music, which have completely new lyrics from Roth. Eddie is said to even be considering developing a song or two from the material that he wrote for “The Wild Life” movie score in the mid 1980′s.
It is very unlikely that there will be any confirmation from Van Halen themselves about any of this. The band has a definite policy of not talking until their plans are 100% solid and everything is in place. They don’t want to announce any plans that might not pan out, so as to not disappoint fans.
The TRUTH about the Van Halen rumors:
And now for the die-hard fans, the Van Halen News Desk will tackle all the currently widespread rumors and either shoot them down or confirm them as true.
Rumor: Van Halen are working towards finishing recording of a new studio album with David Lee Roth and a single is slated for release before the end of this year.
FALSE. The band starts recording in January.
Rumor: The band will tour extensively in 2011, taking in North America, and likely European and Australian dates.
FALSE. Although a 2011 tour may occur, no such tour is currently planned.
Rumor: Numerous reports about new music coming from the band are true. There is new music recorded with the expectation of an all-new studio album featuring David Lee Roth to be released in 2011. What is not known right now is the time frame for this.
Mostly TRUE. The band has written lots of new music and hopes to complete an album, but a nothing is definite right now.
Rumor: DLR’s vocals are being recorded away from the 5150 studio.
Partially True. This is true, but only in regards to the early demos, not the final recording. This is what many bands do before entering the studio. The entire band will reconvene in the studio in January.
Rumor: Eddie has recorded most of the bass parts for the album.
FALSE. Eddie could have recorded some of the bass parts for the early demos when Wolfie wasn’t around, as he often did when Michael Anthony was in the band. Wolfgang has been recording demos all year, and he’ll be playing all the bass parts on the finished tracks.
Rumor: There is a deal in place between Warner Bros. and the band for a new album.
FALSE. If a new album is released, it will most likely be a direct deal with Walmart or Best Buy.
Rumor: Van Halen has chosen Ross Hogarth to produce new music.
FALSE. The producer they chose is John Shanks. Hogarth is an engineer rather than a producer, and is not involved with Van Halen whatsoever.
Rumor: Chris Cornell from Soundgarden has recorded some background vocals on some of the new music.
FALSE.
Rumor: A spokeperson for Van Halen recently clarified that the band isn’t doing anything and that there will definitely be no new album or tour next year.
FALSE. A spokeperson for Van Halen did indeed shoot down the recent rumors of planned tour and an album near completion. He was being honest in doing so, since there is currently neither a tour planned, nor an album near completion. However, he did say that the band is currently “working on stuff”, but gave no further details.
Rumor: The main reason that the band never released a DVD of the 2007-2008 tour was because the band members could not reach a financial agreement over the deal.
FALSE. The reason that it wasn’t released had nothing at all to do with finances. The band simply wasn’t happy enough with the footage and felt that many camera angles weren’t right.
Rumor: Warner Bros is preparing to release Blu-Ray editions of “Live Without a Net” and “Live Right Here Right Now.”
Unknown. We don’t know if this is true or not.
Rumor: Warner Bros is releasing limited edition remastered vinyl releases of Van Halen II, Women And Children First, and 1984 on Dec. 13th, 2010.
True, except for release date. The 3 vinyls will be released, but they’ve been pushed back until sometime in early 2011.
Rumor: Warner Bros is preparing to release re-masters of the Sammy Hagar era catalogue
Partially True. They are talking about releasing remasters of the Sammy Hagar era albums, but nothing has been decided yet.
Here’s an additional thought on VH – while the band is working on new music, could someone in their organization invest some time in doing something/anything with their website? The site hasn’t been updated in a year…and it offers nothing in the way of content.
VH management really need to look into this whole “internet thing” the kids are talking about these days…
Van Halen – Summertime Blues
Ibirapuera Gymnasium - Sao Paolo, Brazil - January 21, 1983
