Photographer: VAN HALEN With WOLFGANG Sounds 'Untouchable'

Legendary rock photographer Ross Halfin has updated the "Diary" section of his web site with the following message (dated December 13, 2006):

"Head off to meet up with Edward Van Halen. It is hot today and I'm in black which doesn't help my thumping head. I feel like I'm being cooked in the sun — tortured...

"Edward is in a great mood, he's easy to work with. And I'm not saying who or what I shot, but I will tell you Edward played a couple of CDs which I thought were from 1978 (it was from two days ago) of VAN HALEN rehearsing with [Eddie' son] Wolfgang Van Halen on bass. It was jaw-droppingly amazing. They played 'On Fire', 'I'm The One', '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. I don't like that word (too American) but the band rock — really rock. 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. I want to go and play the first album as soon as I get home. Had a blast listening to them, it made me remember why I liked music in the first place. Having Edward's son on bass has rejuvenated them.

"They were rehearsing later that afternoon. I was invited — I wish I was staying...Got to LAX and got moved to the front of the plane. I was going to shoot the night sky, but couldn't get motivated. I'm still feeling ill — I should have stayed and watched VAN HALEN."

As previously reported, it's looking more and more like David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen will reunite at least one more time in VAN HALEN. Eddie and his brother Alex are prepping for a tour next year, with Eddie's 15-year-old son Wolfgang on bass instead of Michael Anthony, but no singer has been officially announced. Now Eddie told Guitar World magazine, "I'm telling Dave, 'Dude, get your ass up here and sing, bitch! Come on!'... As it stands right now, the ball is in Dave's court. Whether he wants to rise to the occasion is entirely up to him, but we're ready to go."

There had also been talk recently that another member of the VAN HALEN clan would be the new singer, but most reports have said the job belongs to Roth, according to Launch Radio Networks.

As for having his son in the band, Eddie said, "Wolfgang breathes new life into what we're doing. He brings youthfulness to something that's inherently youthful. He's only been playing bass for three months, but it's spooky. He's locked tight and puts an incredible spin on our (stuff). The kid is kicking my ass! He's spanking me now, even though I never spanked him. To have my son follow in my footsteps on his own, without me pushing him into it, is the greatest feeling in the world."

There's no word on when the new lineup will be officially unveiled.