Sammy Hagar Says “New” Van Halen is Just Repackaged Old Van Halen

(Photo by Craig Allen/Getty Images)

Sammy Hagar expressed serious doubt in an interview with Rolling Stone last week about Van Halen’s “new” material actually being new.

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With Van Halen it’s always been a “Will they? Won’t they?” sort of existence.

“Will they get along on tour?” ”Will they reunite?” Etc, etc.

Nobody knows this better than Sammy Hagar. He witnessed first-hand what it is like, which is why he is skeptical about Van Halen reuniting this time around.

When asked about Van Halen reuniting, Hagar said:

“How long has it been since they did a record? And that last one doesn’t count. You have to go back to 1995. For them to take that long to make a record, I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. If it does, it better be good. Oh man. It actually might be. I’m not dogging them. I don’t understand why they couldn’t do something by now. Though I kind of do understand.”

The interviewer then asked him to respond to VH signing with Interscope:

“I thought they signed to Sony. Hmmm . . . Interesting. I’ll be the first guy waiting in line at the record store, if I could find one anymore. I’ll be really curious. I think they owe the fans that. I would love to see them make a great record. They have some of the most loyal fans in rock, and they’ve been treated so, so bad these last 20 years. I’m a real fan friendly guy.”

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Then, Hagar got down to the nitty gritty and expressed doubts that the “new” material is even new.

He said:

“I heard this record is old outtakes from the old days. I mean, stuff from before I even joined the band. I heard this five years ago though. Michael Anthony was curious if his background vocals would wind up on the album. I don’t think it’s a bad idea. It’s kind of interesting. Bob Seger did it, and so did the Rolling Stones.”

He continued:

“I think it’s an interesting thing to do in your old age if you can’t come up with fresh, good stuff – or you can’t get along. Because from what I heard, they aren’t working with new material. Ed and Dave didn’t actually write new songs. They took old stuff from previous sessions, and then maybe Dave had to go in and add vocals because they just had scat vocals, or even no vocal part at all.”

Aside from the picture that surfaced with Van Halen and Interscope execs, no formal announcement or confirmation has been made regarding a new album.