Photographer says current Van Halen lineup as good as ever musically

Noted photographer Ross Halfin says the current lineup of Van Halen is as good musically as the group ever was. Halfin, who's shot virtually every great rock act for the past 30 years, has been taking pictures of Van Halen since their early days. He got together with the band last week in Southern California, and on his rosshalfin.co.uk website, he wrote, "I'm not saying who or what I shot, but I will tell you Edward (Van Halen) played a couple of CDs, which I thought were from 1978 (it was from two days ago) of Van Halen rehearsing with Wolfgang Van Halen on bass. It was jaw-droppingly amazing. They played 'On Fire,' 'I'm The One,' (and) 'Atomic Punk.' I'm not listing the rest, but I will tell you the band sounded untouchable. On 'Jamie's Crying,' they did a long bass-lead jam on the intro -- the band rocked."

Halfin added, "It was as exciting as the first time I saw them. They will come back and destroy the world. One of the tightest, freshest sounding groups ever.... Having Edward's son on bass has rejuvenated them."

Halfin wouldn't say who was singing and there's been no official word as to who will be on vocals. However, in Guitar World magazine, Edward Van Halen challenged David Lee Roth to put up or shut up as to whether the singer wants his old job back.

Van Halen is currently plotting a tour for next year.
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