Ever since Van Halen reunited with David Lee Roth for a successful and highly lucrative tour a few years back, there’s been tons of chatter about the band heading into the studio with the mercurial front man. Last week the Van Halen brothers extended their agreement with publisher Warner / Chappell Music to put out songs written by the pair.
As part of the announcement, Warner/Chappell has confirmed that the group is currently in the studio working on a new album – set for a 2011 release – with Roth. Van Halen will tour behind the album according to Live Nation chairman/Van Halen manager Irving Azoff. What remains to be seen is whether Eddie is capable of writing good songs after a such a long layoff.
Let’s take a quick look at some other stories of note…
- Hendrix Estate to release second set of deluxe reissues
- Jakob Dylan replaced by Grace Potter on moe.down bill
- Umphrey’s McGee: New Fall Dates and New Jersey Nods
- Vevo has pulled its artists’ videos from MTV’s websites
- The Jerry Jams CD features tracks from Phish, SCI & WSP
- U2 resumed touring last week after Bono’s back surgery
Reissues are generally put out for highly-regarded albums at least a decade old. Ropeadope has never been a record company that does things like the rest of the industry, so they have only waited six years to reissue Antibalas’ outstanding 2004 release, Who Is This America? The afrobeat classic, Antibalas’ third album, will get the reissue treatment on August 17 complete with a previously unreleased track. Look for a special limited edition package featuring the CD, the album download and a reprint of the Ropeadope Running Man t-shirt at both Antibalas’ and Ropeadope’s websites.
