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David Lee Roth Voices Frustration with Van Halen

Roth says, "Truth be told, Edward and I haven''t written a new song in 20 years."

Tokyo, Japan (January 13, 2013) -- In a new interview with Rolling Stone, David Lee Roth spoke out about his frustration with the direction of Van Halen.

Regarding the recent album and new material, he told RS, "I would certainly look forward to working with Ed on some new material, but we have yet to do that. Almost all of the music that you hear on our most recent album was written and demoed before the first album...truth be told, Edward and I haven't written a new song in 20 years."

He expressed similar frustration with the band's tour schedule, which has seen numerous dates cancelled and postponed, pointing out he's been back with the band for about six years and, "we have yet to travel to Europe, South America, Japan, anywhere outside of those basic 50 cities in the United States...I don't know where the Van Halen future lies aside from the States."

Roth's biggest frustration, perhaps, was in the absence of Michael Anthony. "It's a disappointment, just as not having a chance for a reunion of the original band...what we have at our fingertips is arguably one of the greatest high tenor voices ever – that was in Michael Anthony." He added that he's offered ways to make this happen, "But so far there hasn't been any response, so hope and faith are not actual tactics and strategies – they're strippers from Albuquerque."

Roth discussed an upcoming project with John 5 called, Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar & Grill that he says is an autobiographical "jukebox musical" in the style of The Book of Mormon with 15 songs they intend to take to the stage.

You can read the whole interview at Rollingstone.com