Although not completely confirmed, it has been reported by various sites and even the producer that Van Halen are in the studio recording a new studio album. The current line-up of Van Halen is David Lee Roth on vocals, Eddie Van Halen on guitar, Alex Van Halen on drums, and Eddie's 19 year old son Wolfgang Van Halen (aka Wolfie) on bass. If this album is complete, it'll be the first Van Halen album to feature singer David Lee Roth since the 1984 album from uh...1984. However their producer is a curious choice as pointed out by radio DJ and host of That Metal Show on VH1 Classic, Eddie Trunk. The producer for Van Halen's new album will be John Shanks, who confirmed in a tweet on Twitter that he was indeed producing the band's next album. Shanks does have some rock credibility, having produced Bon Jovi's last couple of albums. Shanks has also produced albums for Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, and Jane's Addiction but his rock credits end there. According to Wikipedia Shanks has produced albums by Kelly Clarkson, Diana DeGarmo, Bo Bice (all former American Idol finalists), Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, and other lame-ass artists.
This is both good and bad. It's good because it's been a long time since Van Halen have released an album. Their last album was 1998 dud Van Halen III which was the only Van Halen album to feature Extreme singer Gary Cherone (note that I don't own the album. I got every Van Halen album except Balance and Van Halen III. I just hear it sucks). Van Halen have been reunited with Diamond Dave since 2007. What bothers me about the new Van Halen is that original bassist, Michael Anthony, was kicked out for ridiculous reasons. So who's hired to replace him? Eddie's teenage son, Wolfie. I'm not saying that Wolfie is a bad person or musician. I went to see this line-up during that 2007 tour and they were great. What bothers me is that we were so close to having the original line-up back together. Also, Wolfie is only a few months older than me which isn't right. You don't put a kid in Van Halen. It looks like Wolfie is there to stay so I've lived with this. The choice in producer for the album is very weird. This Shanks guy may've produced Bon Jovi but it's their newer material he's produced, which isn't liked much by fans who like the albums Slippery When Wet and New Jersey. In short, Shanks seems like the producers who over-polishes rock albums.
Still, I'll definetely get the new album and be judge the album when it's actually out. Hopefully, Van Halen got a kick-ass album up their sleeves!
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