Over two years after Van Halen reunited with David Lee Roth for the most successful tour in their history, the group and DLR have reportedly started work on their first album since, umm, 1998's "Van Halen III" with singer Gary Cherone. According to the Music Mix, pop producer John Shanks was the first to confirm Van Halen are in the studio after tweeting "here we go kids... vh," then posting a picture of Eddie Van Halen's amp. Shanks also teased fans by tweeting pictures of Kiss and Johnny Cash emblems, so there's that, too.
News of Diamond Dave and Van Halen hitting the studio isn't all that surprising since Van Halen publisher Warner Chappell said last year that a new album and tour would happen in 2011. But given all the frontman drama that band has been through since their self-titled debut -- from David Lee Roth to Sammy Hagar back to Roth (for an awkward minute) to Gary Cherone back to Hagar and finally back to Roth -- confirmation that the band is really back in the studio with Roth is probably reassuring to fans.
David Lee Roth is working on his first Van Halen LP since "1984" -- though VH teamed with Roth for a pair of new tracks on 1996's "Best Of, Volume 1" -- but this still isn't the reunion of the Van Halen fans have been clamoring for, since bassist Michael Anthony was jettisoned from the group and replaced with Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang, in 2006. But fans will once again get to hear Roth sing over Van Halen's sky-scraping riffs on a bunch of new songs soon.
[Photo: Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage.com]