February 18th, 2007
From: http://www.rollingstone.com/
Van Halen recently announced that they'd be touring together with their
original frontman David Lee Roth for the first time in twenty-three years.
Roth spoke exclusively to our Brian Hiatt about burying the ax with Eddie,
playing the old favorites with a different attitude and the possibility of
a permanent VH reunion. He also dropped more metaphors than we ever
thought humanly possible. Read highlights from the interview, which will
appear in its fully-realized form in the next issue of Rolling Stone,
which hits stands everywhere February 23rd:
* On his first post-reunion jam with Eddie:
Eddie and I wrote the songs, every note, every syllable, as if we invented
a language that only we can speak. It was an easy, natural thing...When
you speak a language that you both created, it's natural to go, "I know
you." So it was very easy. There wasn't any stumble at all. I just showed
up, and twenty minutes later, it was the usual, "How's the wife, how's the
kids, let's play." When you're born to do that language, you speak it
naturally. I never forgot it.
* On how rehearsals are going:
The chemistry is combustible. There's an explosive sound there that is, I
think, perhaps...unless you were there, which most folks weren't, than you
may have forgotten. This is really sophisticated, smart stuff. Everybody's
at the top of their game in terms of...it's not just intangible things. My
voice is arguably better than it was when I left the band back when. I
love what I do, perhaps for some different reasons now than I did, more so
than I did. It's a privilege to do what I do for a living.
* On whether or not the reunion will be permanent:
God willin', and the creek don't run dry, just like Grandma Roth used to
say. Barring any act of God or Ferrari...yeah. I have hope and faith, and
that's more than just the name of a couple of strippers from Albuquerque.
-- Rolling Stone
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