Van Halen Scores #2 Debut

GO VAN GO: Lost in the tumult of the Grammys, Adele’s impressive run and the death of Whitney Houston, Van Halen’s Interscope comeback album, A Different Kind of Truth, the SoCal group’s first studio effort with lead singer David Lee Roth since 1984, debuted impressively at #2 with 187k in sales. Give credit to a near-perfect set-up orchestrated by manager Irving Azoff with Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine and Steve Berman, which included a pair of exclusive listening parties on both coasts and a tour, starting later this month, that is off to a fast start at the box office. In a time when rock is struggling to maintain its hold on the marketplace, that’s a job well-done. (2/15p)