The album was in the top 10 on the Amazon sales chart at the time of writing.

Purchase from amazon.co.uk

March 9, 2000 - Believe me, I am just as frustrated as the rest of you about the lack of news coming out of the Van Halen camp. Just remember: no news is good news. Before you know it Van Halen will be all over the mainstream press again, and you'll forget all about the recent slow times.

The only information that has come out in recently is the confirmation that Sammy Hagar won't be rejoining Van Halen. This isn't news to regular readers of the site. Hagar has made it clear since Gary Cherone departed that he is focused 100% on his post-Van Halen solo career, both as a musician and producer of fine tequila!

Sammy said on the Howard Stern show this week that he would be interested in performing with Van Halen if they are inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Fame, but that would be as far as it went.

Last week I mentioned in the Snippets section that the Las Vegas Sun were predicting that members of Van Halen would be appearing at the Nascar race on Sunday March 5. Their tip proved to be accurate. Michael Anthony was in attendance with some friends.

March 10, 2000 - The latest Van Halen tribute album was released on March 6 in Japan and Europe. Produced by Bob Kulick, the album features many distinguished artists playing faithful covers of your favourite David Lee Roth era Van Halen songs. For more information, check the Dec 1999 archive page. There is still no release date for the USA.

You can purchase the CD via import from Amazon in the UK. At the time of writing, the CD was #41 in the Amazon album sales chart!

Very soon, The Inside will be selling the Tribute CD for a cheaper price. Stay tuned.

March 24, 2000 - Believe it or not, we're approaching the 15th anniversary of David Lee Roth's departure from Van Halen. Van Halen history says that David Lee Roth left the band on April 1st, 1985 after recording six of the best rock albums of all time with the Van Halen brothers and Michael Anthony.

Since then, David Lee Roth has released five studio albums, an autobiography, plus a greatest hits compilation. He also gave a push to the careers of musicians such as Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan, Gregg & Matt Bissonette, Brett Tuggle, John Lowery and Mike Hartman.

On the other side of the split, Van Halen hired Sammy Hagar and continued their outstanding success with four multi-platinum studio albums (all peaking at #1), plus a live album and two live home video releases.

As Van Halen fans, you know that the relationship between Van Halen and Sammy Hagar eventually soured, resulting in Hagar's sudden departure which was announced on June 26, 1996. While being a slow year in terms of new material being released, 1996 was a significant year because of the following events:

• Early 1996: Van Halen records two new songs for the Twister soundtrack: Humans Being and the still unreleased Between Us Two. The latter was never completed, so Edward and Alex wrote and recorded Respect The Wind to take its place.
• June 26: Van Halen announce that they are in the studio with David Lee Roth. In the same press release they confirm that Sammy Hagar is no longer with the band, and that they are "currently considering a replacement".
• October 2: David Lee Roth releases his "open letter", stating that "Van Halen and I will not be consummating our highly publicized reunion".
• October 3: Van Halen reply with their own press statement, revealing that they had been working with another singer and would make a final decision when contract considerations were resolved.

After the 1996 Van Halen/David Lee Roth split, both sides struggled to keep the popularity and publicity they had been used to over the previous two decades. Van Halen's inaugural effort, Van Halen III peaked at #4 on the album charts and sold a disappointing 500,000 copies. Every previous Van Halen album had gone multi-platinum (2 million+). Van Halen (1978) and 1984 have sold more than 10 million copies each.

David Lee Roth was a little more productive, releasing his autobiography and two albums post-1996. However, he failed to regain his legendary status in the current musical climate. Both albums sold well under 100,000 copies each, and his 1999 tour, while starting with some impressive crowds as a festival headliner in Europe, ended up being limited to mostly club venues.

It's almost 5 months now since it was announced that Gary Cherone had left Van Halen. As you know, the only official statement from the Van Halen camp has been "no news is good news". Dave's official web site has been silent since December 10.

If the silence from both camps continues until April 1, let's use that day to appreciate all the music Van Halen and David Lee Roth have given us over the past 20+ years. If the current reunion rumours are true, April 1, 2000 would be the coolest day to officially announce it.

March 27, 2000 - Further to yesterdays report, all of the shows listed in the scan below for RFK Stadium have been confirmed by Pollstar. Except for Van Halen!

Pollstar: RFK Stadium Dates
Pollstar: Dave Matthews Band Dates

March 26, 2000 - The Van Halen reunion rumours are really starting to hot up. Last week I was informed that an independent ticket broker had posted flyers to its members advertising that Van Halen would be playing RFK Stadium in Washington DC on July 4. I obtained a scan of the flyer this morning and present it to you here.

One of the most persistant rumours over recent months has had Van Halen playing the 80,000 seat FedEx Field in Landover, MD on July 4. This latest rumour about a show at RFK Stadium obviously contradicts the previous one, but strengthens the speculation that Van Halen are planning a full-on stadium assault if the alleged reunion with David Lee Roth goes ahead.

The silence is still deafening from the Van Halen camp. Meanwhile, David Lee Roth's Internet representatives are spreading the word via Dave's mailing list that the Diamond one is currently working on the next DLR Band album.

March 30, 2000 - I've done a few of these polls since last November, but I'm still interested in how you, the fans, are reacting to all of the Van Halen rumours. If you haven't done so already, check out this story from MTV News. Of most interest is the following quote:

"sources close to band confirm that Roth and Van Halen are currently working together"

What do you think? Are you a believer? Have your say in the VHND Reunion poll below.

(POLL CLOSED)