Since the board was launched in October 2000, over 3,600 people have become registered users. Many more simply "lurk", ie. view the messages without ever posting.

Every day there seems to be someone new, claiming to be an "insider". These guys (and sometimes girls) pop up out of nowhere and readily tell everyone what's been going on at Camp Van Halen.

Some of these "insiders" are believable, others not. After being messed with by these anonymous "insiders", many PD regulars have simply decided to believe nothing until an official announcement is forthcoming. This stance is admirable, and is the sensible option. The only problem is, if someone did come along one day who really did know what has been happening and blabbed the story on the board, chances are nobody would believe him/her.

Today, like most other days, another person showed up and let loose with a bunch of information. His story was so long, so detailed and so well written, many are convinced that he's telling the truth. The message has been re-printed below. I'll let you decide for yourself.

Author: MattGerst
Status: Foot Soldier
Posts: 2
From: Portland, OR
Registered: Jan 2001
Posted: January 30, 2001 01:03 PM PST

This will be a long message, so I hope that you'll afford me some patience. Let me explain how I came about this information. During the years 1983-1995, I worked in the Los Angeles area in a firm which deals in marketing and promotions. We do not specifically work with the music industry, but from time to time we are offered work therein. I was transferred to the satellite office in Portland, Oregon in late 1995 and have been here since.

I realize, also that this is a first time post, and will most likely be my only post on this board. I work in front of a computer console for at least 5 hours a day, and I do not care to spend my free time on the computer because I do not equate it with a leisure activity. My son Eric, who does spend time on this particular board, shares a common love of the music of Van Halen (one of the few things he agrees with me -his old man- about, I guess I brought him up right), and he lets me know from time to time some of the info that gets posted on this board as well. Most of it is laughably bad, misinformed or misconstrued. My son has begged me for the last year to post my knowledge of VH here, but I was reluctant to do so. In the course of the last few weeks he has made some very good arguments to me why I should bother. Until December, I wouldn't have had much to post in the way of favorable information anyway, and I did not post. Besides, if he hadn't set up this account for me, I'm sure I wouldn't have done it on my own time. So here goes.

(He also said if I didn't spill what beans I had that he would do it for me, and I gotta love him, but he tends not to be so unbiased when he posts, so finally I agreed). In the duration where I was living in the Los Angeles area, through work, I was involved with any number of people in the music industry. One of my (then, brand new) co-workers (10 years my junior) and some others at the office were slightly involved in a project regarding the marketing of the "OU812" album. The co-worker and I were very excited because it meant that we got to go out to 5150 and meet the band. My co-worker (and still one of my best friends) also plays guitar for a local band. They do covers mostly of 70's-00's rock music. They're good at what they do, but (not his real name, but I'll call him Brian) Brian is a total technical/equipment freak. He loves to talk guitars, not having played any instrument he baffles me to say the least when he starts quoting guitar jargon.

On assignment we met Van Halen at the time. The recording of "OU812" was almost complete, and we had some marketing matters to clear up with them. After that business was taken care of, Brian and Edward VanHalen started to talk shop, and the next thing you know, we were there an additional two hours. I was lost in their conversation, but I did get to meet Sammy, Michael and Alex (who is extremely funny in person.) It was great.

Edward told Brian not to be a stranger, which was his ticket back to 5150. I have had the fine privelage of being in Brian's company (not work related) on 3 more visits to 5150. Brian does not overdo his welcome there, but he does visit Edward at least once a year, and calls him maybe 2 or three more times during the course of any given year.

I was back at 5150 for the start of the "Balance" sessions, one time more during the middle of the III sessions and once again just before Christmas of 2000. Again, I do not hang out with Edward, we don't go bowling together and he probably only knows me by my first name because of my association with Brian, but I count myself lucky. I am not a true "insider" but I'm happy just to have met the man and be able to report some of what I know.

I have not met David Lee Roth at this point, but Edward told Brian to come around in June or so and maybe listen to some new music. So maybe I'll get the chance to meet David then. Through my visits to 5150 and from Brian, I have distilled the following information regarding the band.

1: Why Gary Left.
During the recording sessions for the follow-up to VanHalen III, Edward and Co. apparently met with reps. from the Warner Bros. Label who said that (in a nutshell) the new music was great, but where's the first single? WB personnel didn't think that any of the new music had "HIT" written all over it. They were impressed but felt that they didn't have a "Unit Shifter" or something that would translate into a CD single from the album. They didn't want to repeat the "Without You" release from III (i.e., great radio song, but never released as a bona fide single). Van Halen met with WB a month or two later with some additional material (I think 3 more songs) and the WB reps said the same thing. "Where's the single?" Gary was most distressed at this and felt that he couldn't get VanHalen back to the selling level of Sammy or Dave, and this ultimately led to his resignation which did catch the rest of the band rather by surprise. The rest of VH still considered the follow up a "go". I myself heard rough versions of "Say Uncle" and "Left For Dead" (which was a GREAT song, I'll be very surprised if at least the guitar riff is not used in some shape or manner on the new album) and another song which had no lyrics at the time, and I'm not sure what track it eventually became.

2: The rest of 99 and 2000.
Van Halen first contacted David Lee Roth through his management company and tried to set up a meeting with him regarding the option of rejoining Van Halen. At first he politely declined saying he had his own tour to do. Sammy was then contacted and he flatly refused any such offer. This was the only time he was contacted, as it has been reported to me through Eric that it has been said he was contacted twice. He was not.

While Van Halen were weighing their options on possibly hiring a 4th singer, there was a chance meeting between either Mike or Al and Dave who happened to run into each other. I know for fact that it was not Edward, so it had to be either of those two. Dave said that he was not opposed to working with Van Halen again, but some issues had to be worked out with his own band, and with the remaining trio of Van Halen. Thus began the long, slow dialogue between the two camps.

A moderator (counselor) was brought in, in late April or May of 2000. As a wake-up call to all those who thought an album was possible last summer, they had only been together (the whole band) twice at that point. The trio of Van Halen were still laying down tracks, but DLR was not part of it.

They spent the whole of May-Sept. working out issues amongst themselves. Only in the early part of Oct. 2000 did they completely agree to try and recapture the magic. There were some get-togethers during this period (I believe in July and August) where the whole band got together (and from my info, it was not at 5150, but possibly a soundstage on the Warner Bros. lot they had rented) and jammed.

The moderator came up with some simple principles for the band to follow if they were to get along, mostly it can be boiled down to these although I'm not sure I word word it as the moderator did.

1. Agree to disagree.
2. Respect and Protect your differences.
3. Alllow plenty of time.
4. Allow plenty of space.
5. Forgive the inequities of today for the wisdom tomorrow brings.

There was another motto, of which I am not sure, so I will not repeat it here. Edwards "Tounge Cancer" scare was not life threatening, but was more serious than has been reported. He is in fine health now, and his haircut is not the result of Chemotherapy or radiation treatements. The new album was not started in earnest until Oct. 2000 The basic idea is that Edward, Alex and Michael layed down preliminary tracks and sent them to Dave. In turn Dave would send back some lyrical ideas over these tracks and it was decided from there what looked like a good song to pursue or not.

Oct. 2000-present.
The new album will be called Van Halen, but will most likely feature a sticker saying "Van Halen with David Lee Roth". If the upcoming album and tour do work out (don't fool yourselves, it may still not happen, it is about a 70/30 chance at this point) then the next album will not feature this sticker. There is no new album title at this point.

When I met Edward in Dec. 2000 with Brian he said that nothing's official at this point. Mike jokingly said that "Aren't we supposed to call the album 'Tabula Rasa?" which Edward and Alex both laughed at, but was never their own idea. So apparently they do hear of some of the internet rumors, and are aware of them. Anybody who mentions any album title in the next couple months is dubious at best, and likely just imagining. Thusly, the new album will not be called "Handle With Care", "Hindsight is 20/20", "Tabula Rasa" or any of the other rumors out there.

They are jokingly referring to the working title as "Studio Time" which I think may have propigated the misnomer "TIME" as a working title. Although Edward said not to pay particular attention to any titles that we saw on various tapes, "Cuz it'll probably change soon", I did notice that one of the titles was the same as one Eric told me was posted here a few weeks ago. I don't know if that person has more info than me, but I thought that the coincidence was worth mentioning. I cannot vouch for the other titles or the supposed lyrics that were listed here, but I can say that if this person got one of the working titles right, they may be onto something. Maybe not.

David Lee Roth has not been sighted by neighbors or curious onlookers with any frequency because until the later part of December he had been there less than a dozen times. He is simply going there to lay down vocals and not to hang out. Edward has said as much as that they all need a lot of breathing space.

Edward and Co. have recorded about 25 musical tracks for the new Van Halen to work on. Of which, David has completed 5 vocal tracks (as of Dec.) and are considered complete. There is also a 6th track which is an instrumental, which will likely be included. The working title of that was listed as "Time" again, short for Studio Time.

This may be where some of the "Time" album title rumors started. And again, this may change. I have had the privelage to hear 3 of the tracks in their rough form. (no vocals) I have a mixed review of these (maybe to the disappoinment of some of you readers). One track which is stellar starts off with an accoustic guitar intro, and then gets 'bluesy' real quick. It's great, but I doubt that it would be the first single.(Not really mainstream). The second track was an uptempo number in the vein of "Dance The Night Away" but sounded like it could've come off of 1984 or 5150. The guitar solo is subdued but awesome. The third track is the strange one. It's REALLY strange to be blunt. I suppose it would be like hearing the opening to "Mean Street" before the song kicks in, and not knowing where it's going. It was a very rough demo, and not knowing where it may lead from what I heard is the reason I call it strange. It was slightly over a minute long at the point I heard it. It was interesting, but really different. Brian asked Edward if we could hear some of the songs with the vocals complete and Edward just smiled and shrugged and said "Not just yet because it all could change".

Van Halen were originally supposed to be done recording by the middle of April, but it looks as though it will continue until June and perhaps July. They expect to have 16 songs finished by that point and will whittle it down to 12 or 13 (including at least the one instrumental) for commercial release. They were approached by some movie studio with ties to WB. to record a cover song for an upcoming fall movie release. If the reunion goes smoothly, they will release it to the soundtrack but it will NOT appear on the new album. Possibly a b-side to the second or third single, or a double a-side. This may explain VH's connection with "Magic Carpet Ride" from Steppenwolf. Edward never elaborated and I didn't know about the Steppenwolf song until Eric told me later after it was posted here.

[VHND note: If you search for performances by VAN HALEN on the ASCAP database, "Magic Carpet Ride" appears on the list, along with every other song Van Halen has released officially. Link: http://www.ascap.com/ace/ACE.html]

Edward does not expect to release the first single until AT LEAST JUNE. Anybody who says different should be doubted until then. Van Halen would like to have the album out by August at the latest. They would like to tour probably beginning in early Oct.

They will not play stadiums this year, but the tour (if it happens) will probably be broken into a couple of legs. If all goes well, they will do some stadiums next spring and summer. There will be no stadium tours this year. They will concentrate on selling out 16,000-22,000 venues this year, possibly playing two nights in some major cities.

Edward is really concerned about the sound at these venues, and is reluctant to play anything bigger until they are sure they can handle it from the soundboard smoothly. Concerning ground travel, Dave will be travelling separately from the rest of the VH clan, at least at first. If they travel by air, they will travel together. Van Halen have no direct timetable for the new album. Again, they would like to be done by June or July, but it may take longer.

It was said that whatever they release as a first single will precede the album release by approximately 7 or 8 weeks. There may be information leaks as soon as late March from the band itself, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Van Halen wants to wait at least until all the vocal tracks are near completion to make the "Big Announcement" I figure at least April or May, judging from the fact that they are completing one new track every 2-3 weeks.

Van Halen is doing their best version of "No Comment" right now, because they don't want to jinx anyting. This also explains Dave's silence, as if all goes well, he basically will be only Van Halen's "Featured" vocalist this time around. This is not a slight to DLR, but only represents the true situation in the VH camp as best I can discern.

According to what I know, David Lee Roth may perform "Yankee Rose" at the concert and possibly one Sammy song, but those both were in doubt. Dave is not really keen on singing anything from Sammy, but will if he can do a solo song. I would prefer to see them just play from the new album and the first 6 VH's myself, that way there is no false pretense.

I do not fear any bad response to my posting this letter. Edward is a very amicable sort, and it seems he is more concerned with not saying anything himself as opposed to anything being said on his behalf. This is also why WB isn't saying anything either. It's correct in that Dave is recording with the band, but they have everything to lose if they actually SAY it and it does not work out. I figure that Dweezil Zappa can get away with it without hesitation, so I'm not worried myself. I'm just reporting what I beleive to be true from my encounters with Van Halen and visits to 5150 and my connection with Brian. At least maybe this will stop some of the nonsense rumors that Eric has told me about.

Everybody just hold tight, we'll hopefully be hearing some new VH in July and have an album by Labor Day. I for one am keeping my fingers crossed.